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flushed. As their dust drifted toward us I asked Odell, 'Who's that happy pair?'
    He grunted. 'Barry Tolman, prosecuting attorney of this county. Going to be president some day, ask him. The girl came with your crowd, didn't she'Incidentally, she's easy on the eyes. What was the crack about ginger ale?'
    'Oh, nothing.' I waved a hand. 'Just an old quotation from Chaucer. It wouldn't do any good to throw stones at them, they wouldn't notice anything less than an avalanche.-By the way, what is this stone-throwing gag?'
    'No gag. Just part of the day's work.'
    'You call this work'I'm a detective. In the first place, do you suppose anyone is going to start a bombardment with you and me sitting here in plain sight'And this bridle path winds around here for six miles, and why couldn't he pick another spot'Secondly, you told me that a Negro that got fired from the garage is suspected of doing it to annoy the management, but in that case it was just a coincidence that he picked fountain pen Crisler for a target both times'It's a phony. You didn't show me the bottom. Not that it's any of my business, but just for fun I thought I'd demonstrate that I'm only dumb on Sundays and holidays.'
    He looked at me with one eye. Then with both, and then he grinned at me. 'You seem to be a good guy.'
    I said warmly, 'I am.'
    He was still grinning. 'Honest to God, it's too good not to tell you. You would enjoy it better if you knew Crisler. But it wasn't only him. Another trouble was that I never get any time to myself around here. Sixteen hours a day! That's the way it works out. I've only got one assistant, and you ought to see him, he's somebody's nephew. I had to be on duty from sunrise to bedtime. Then there was Crisler, just a damn bile factory. He had it in for me because I caught his chauffeur swiping grease down at the garage, and boy, when he was mean he was mean. The nigger that helped me catch the chauffeur, Crisler had him fired. He was after my scalp too. I made my plans and they worked.'
    Odell pointed. 'See that ledge up there'No, over yonder, the other side of those firs. That's where I was when I threw stones at him. I hit him both times.'
    'I see. Hurt him much?'
    'Not enough. His shoulder was pretty sore. I had fixed up a good alibi in case of suspicions. Crisler checked out. That was one advantage. Another was that almost whenever I want to I can say I'm going out for the stone thrower, and come to the woods for an hour or two and be alone and spit and look at things. Sometimes I let them see me from the bridle path, and they think they're being protected and that's jake.'
    'Pretty good idea. But it'll play out. Sooner or later you'll either have to catch him or give it up. Or else throw some more stones.'
    He grinned. 'Maybe you think it wasn't a good shot the time I got him in the shoulder! See how far away that ledge is'I don't know whether I'll try it again or not, but if I do, I know damn well who I'll pick. I'll point her out to you.' He glanced at his wrist. 'Jumping Jesus, nearly five o'clock. I've got to get back.'
    He scrambled up and started off headlong, and as I was in no hurry I let him go, and moseyed idly along behind. As I had already discovered, wherever you went around Kanawha Spa, you were taking a walk in the garden. I don't know who kept the woods swept and dusted off the trees for what must have been close to a thousand acres, but it was certainly model housekeeping. In the neighborhood of the main hotel, and the pavilions scattered around, and the building where the hot springs were, it was mostly lawns and shrubs and flowers, with three classy fountains thirty yards from the main entrance. The things they called pavilions, which had been named after the counties of West Virginia, were nothing to sneeze at themselves in the matter of size, with their own kitchens and so forth, and I gathered that the idea was that they offered more privacy at an appropriate price. Two of them, Pocahontas and Upshur, only