“What struck me about the whole job,”
he recalls now, “was the absolute perfection
of it. It was too well done. Fires don’t
just allow themselves to be confined within
restricted areas.

“These boys bungled.”

Mr. Walker visited Tacoma. There he
heard that the watchman and the owner
had spent the Christmas holidays of 1937
together in that city. A charge of con-
spiracy was laid, but the man who talked
to Walker in Tacoma refused to come to
Vancouver to give further evidence in the
case.

This informant had told Walker that he
had seen the two men together in Tacoma
but later when the deputy marshal sought
further information the man contradicted
his first story and stated, “I made a mistake.
I saw only one of the men. I didn’t see ‘em
together.”

But Walker found out that his quarry
had other plans. The two men already had
looked over a stretch of ranchland in the
Big Bend country of Washington and they
intended putting their insurance money into
this project.

The case was developing in one way, but
was gradually getting more tangled and
complicated in another sphere. The watch-
man could not be located anywhere. He
seemed to have disappeared completely, and
Walker at times felt that he was backing a
losing proposition.

But with the tenacity of a bulldog and
the perseverance of Victor Hugo’s famous
police officer of Les Miserables, this fire
sleuth kept his nose to the trail and kept
asking thousands of questions in the hope
of receiving perhaps one sensible answer.

Then he heard that his man was down
in Ohio.

“T wish he would light somewhere,
tered Walker. “The guy is a regular
will-o’-the-wisp. He’s worse than some of

Phone 66

WM. HAUG & SON

Masons’ Supplies and Coal

Brick Manufacturers and Tile

Kelowna, B. C.

” mut-

those leprechauns we find in Ireland. They
are never where you expect them to be.”

So over to the little town of Findley,
Ohio, he went. In this spot, about 45 miles
south of Toledo, he made numerous in-
quiries. Before going over to Findley, how-
ever, he picked up an F. B. I. agent in
Toledo who also was looking for the watch-
man.

The two officers, Canadian and American,
visited the man’s home, but again they
encountered a blank wall. Walker talked
to his daughter, a fine girl, who was born to
the watchman’s first wife, but this woman
could give little encouragement. Her father
had done little for his family, and they
were living in abject poverty.

He found out that his man had been
there, though, but had skipped out shortly
before.

Findley was his home town, and when
he arrived back to the bosom of his family
he told them that he had spent the passing
years in Oklahoma. He never mentioned
Canada, and his family and the neighbours
never suspected he was lying.

The case was developing a lot of angles,
but Walker felt that he did not yet have
sufficient evidence to bring the matter to
court and obtain a conviction. For two
years he had lived, ate and slept with his
cannery fire, and it seemed that every time
he turned up a new clue there was always
something lacking.

He refused to give up, though. In the
back of his trained and analytical mind
there was a constant feeling that he had
a big case to smash, and he determined to
push it to the limit.

Back and forth he travelled, asking ques-
tions here, turning up little incidents there,
posing as having a small interest in the case
when the occasion demanded such, but
always prying, seeking, digging for that
tiny link which he knew would complete
his chain and bring a solution of the crime
and the satisfaction that he was doing a
job and doing it in the only way in which
it should be done.

A LEAD AT Last

In the course of his investigation he
learned that his quarry had received a
money order while in an Oklahoma town.
This order for $250 he told friends was

S. M. SIMPSON LIMITED
Kelowna, B.C.

Manufacturers of

Lumber of All Kinds, Millwork, Box Shook
and Fruit Veneer Containers

Johns-Manville Building Supplies

“back pay” from his former employer, the
cannery owner. a
“And now,” thought Walker with a grin
of satisfaction, “the net is closing in. One
more step like that and the case is ended—
perhaps we won't need any more develop:
ments.’

Back to Tacoma travelled this tireless
detective, and there he called on every bank |
in the city to find out if, and when, a
cheque had been written for such amount
and by whom it was written. He had no
luck. The blank wall was still confronting _
him, challenging him to break through or ©
scale its difficult obstruction.

Then Walker remembered the Oklahoma
angle, and he communicated with the
sheriff there. Some little time passed and
word came back from the law of that oil
boom state that the cheque could be identi
fied by checking with the First Nao
Bank in Seattle.

This was Walker’s next stop, and ie
was the forging of the final link in his
troublesome chain. From here on the evi
dence piled up like a snowball rolling down
a hill, The two men, owner and watchman,
had spent a New Year’s night together in
Seattle, had dinner and later went to a
concert. :

The cheque told the story. The case was
gradually taking shape and Walker was
full of confidence.

It must be remembered that all during the
investigation, which covered two years, the
owner of the cannery maintained that he
had not seen his watchman since the day
after the fire.

In spite of overwhelming evidence he
stuck by his story until the facts grew so
strong that he was no longer able to deny
the truth.

And as an example of his nerve one might —
be reminded that while the case was pending

:_ “CROWN, KELOWNA”
e: A.B.C. 5th EDITION

Laurel Co-operative Union

Successors to
The Crown Fruit Co. Limited

Growers, Packers, Shippers, Exporters
Okanagan Fruits and Vegetables

KELOWNA, British Columbia

&

Cable Address:
Code:

EAT RIGHT
FEEL RIGHT

AN APPLE |
EVERY DAY

B.C. TREE FRUITS LIMITED
’ Kelowna, B. C.

Page Seventy-two

THE SHOULDER STRAP