i i | i} ROBSON MOTORS Chrysler, Plymouth Sales and Service | Tires and Batteries Oil and Greasing Repairs to All Makes of Cars Electrical Service H COURTENAY, B. C. Day Phone 404 Nite 356-R-2 wy; Cane, Sst Flowers for All Occasions P.O. Box 302 Courtenay, B. C. Stop... RIVERSIDE HOTEL & COURTENAY B. C. ————— ees Phone 315 P. O. Box 217 CENTRAL GARAGE CYRIL BURNS GENERAL REPAIRS - WELDING TIRES - BATTERIES - PARTS Courtenay, British Columbia _—<———————— ————. Phone 350 Corfield Motors Limited Sales -:- Service Ford — Mercury — Lincoln Courtenay, B. C. Phone 357 P. O. Box 143 LOWE'S GREEN GROCERY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES Also Dealers in Confectionery, Tobacco and Oriental Fancy Goods COURTENAY, B.C. P.O. Box 279 Telephone 100 T. BOOTH & SONS | Groceries and Tobaccos i | H | WATAGOOD BRAND COFFEE COURTENAY BRITISH COLUMBIA Page Thirty-eight Sergt. Clark split his forces, continuing to Fort Grahame with Const. McKenney while Game Warden Jank, with Don Sharpe and Ludwig Strandberg trekked to the Ospika River, 17 miles south-east of where the trapline of the deceased partners followed the west bank of the Finlay River. EVIDENCE OF INDIAN’S GuILtT FouND The latter party entered the cabin of Joe Pierre, a Beaver Indian. Game Warden Jank immediately recognized a home-made briefcase as belonging to Messmer who had pridefully proven his craftsmanship the previous July. A small Indian-work pouch filled with .22 cart- ridges, a number of .300 Savage shells and a .22 Cooie rifle were gathered up and a suitcase was found containing a gold- filled watch. Most startling discovery was-a .300 Savage high-powered rifle which, with the same easy familiarity as a stockman recognizing cattle, Game Warden Jank recognized as also belonging to Messmer ; a belief later confirmed when the serial number tallied with the permit issued Messmer. The trio hastily returned to Finlay Forks where Game Warden Jank met Alex Prince, the suspect who came close to being the victim of mob violence, and, as trappers looked on intently, placed Prince under arrest under a poaching pro- vision of the B.C. Game Act. Gilliland was instructed to keep Prince within a cabin isolated from the others on the fringe of the tiny settlement yet fairly close to field headquarters of the posse. News of the arrest spread like wild- fire among already enraged trappers and lynch talk broke out afresh. Soon after, Sergt. Clark was told that Prince had something to say. “Me find German boy,” Prince greeted Sergt. Clark, who hastily gave Prince a cigarette he asked for in the ‘same breath, then proceeded to caution accused in both pigeon English and as prescribed by law, as the group settled in the dimly lit cabin and Const. McKenney prepared to take notes. As Prince acknowledged that he under- stood the warning being given him no less than four times, his effeminate left hand toying with the cigarette showed up in startling contrast to the right hand. It was the hand of a labourer, with an odd horny growth in the webbing be- tween thumb and index finger like a dwarfed finger, the result of tedious use of a skinning knife. The tiny Indian, features softened in the near-dark of the cabin, looked particularly innocuous compared with the figures bulking about him, until one glimpsed his eyes. “Then you could believe anything,’ as Const. McKenney later recalled. Sergt. Clark appreciated that even though Game Warden Jank had assured him that Prince had served as an inter- preter on several occasions for of Indians, extreme care was warranted ensuring that the nomadic, bush Ind knew what he might face. Suspect DescripEs MuRpDER Prince described how on Febru; 18th, 1944, he had gone to Collins Cr and en route stopped at the cabin of two Germans, who gave him a cup tea. He asked Messmer for a watch < promised to return it. And on Febru: 22nd he returned to the German ho cabin. Hans was away. Eugene gran his request to stay overnight and g; him a cup of tea. “Eugene ask me for drink. T say WAVERLEY HOTEL FRELONE AND CONTI, Proprietors ® LICENSED PREMISES e CUMBERLAND B.C. When on Vancouver Island, Make Your Headquarters at THE LORNE HOTEL. COMOX, B.C. , Licensed Premises JEAN BURNS LADIES’ WEAR e RELIABLE MERCHANDISE - BEST PRICES SQUARE DEALING ‘ COURTEOUS ATTENTION - GOOD SERVICE e VICTORIA - NANAIMO - COURTENAY AND PORT ALBERNI, B.C. SUBSCRIBE TO THE SHOULDER STR, ISLAND HOTEL R. N. WILLIAMS, Proprietor COMFORTABLE ROOMS e COURTENAY, B.C. Piercy Funeral Home Wallace at Pidcock Street Courtenay, British Columbia THE SHOULDER STR: