Page:Randall Parrish - The Red Mist.djvu/53



HE truth in all its ugliness came to me then in sudden revealment. This was no accident, no result of unpremeditated quarrel between the two men. Harwood's death had been deliberately planned, and the effort made to cast suspicion on me, while the murderer escaped. This was why Taylor had insisted on our traveling together so long. It accounted for many things which had puzzled me in the conduct of my companion. And the plot had been successful so far as Taylor knew. The Major lay dead, with my blood-stained revolver—evidently the weapon which had struck the blow—lying beside him. Dawn would reveal the deed, and I would be discovered alone in the house. Only my wakefulness, my desire to investigate, had interfered with the complete success of this hideous plan.

But why had Harwood been murdered? What purpose did his violent death serve? Who was Taylor? And what had brought him all that distance to do a deed like this? The two men were apparently friendly; there was a secret understanding 39