To the Greater Southwest Insurance Company, Office in Kingman, Arizona.

The following is an account of expenses incurred during my investigation of the Red Rock matter.

Expense account, item 1, $1.70 for a telegram to Jake Kessler, giving him my flight time.

Item 2, $169 even, plane for an incidentals, Hartford, to New York, to Las Vegas, Nevada.

Early the next morning then, Jake was there at the Vegas airport waiting for me.

Tall, angular, well-tanned, wearing jeans, a denim shirt, high-heeled boots, and a broad-brimmed hat.

Well, he looked like he should have been riding a range pony instead of a car.

We headed east on 95 through Boulder City, then south toward Kingman, Arizona. All right, now, Johnny, now that we've got the how-to-doos over with, I better tell you why I call you out here. Hey, you said something about a murder, Jake. We'll know sure when we get down to Kingman. now back in 52 johnny a couple of boys named ralph garrett and jerry

bisby who were doing quite a bit of prospecting around these parts gold gold silver copper anything they

can find well how they ever joined up together nobody could rightly understand it why do you say that

ralph was okay not much money but a nice wife, home, family. Jerry Bisby. Well, the town

had been hoping he'd go somewhere else for years. Ah, I see. Anyhow, one day, they set out to pound

the rocks up near the town of chloride over near Mount Tipton. Months or so later, though, Jerry

Bisby came back to Kingman alone.

Aw?

Folks asked him where Ralph Garrett was.

He said Ralph had left him to go out and get a job in California.

And left Bisby with the rights to all their claims?

Well, that wasn't even talked about.

Not then.

Yeah, well, go on, Jake.

Anyhow, Ralph's wife claimed it was all a big lie that Bisby had taken Ralph out there in the desert and killed him. But why? Why did she think that? Claimed Ralph almost hadn't gone on that particular trip, that he'd gotten suspicious of Bisby, that he was scared of him, and that Ralph wouldn't have just up and left her like that. Well, did she tell us to the police? Sure did. So they looked around all over the state, even notified the boys over in California, but nobody couldn't find a sign around. I see. So then she got a hold to some relative she has over in the state's attorney's office or in Phoenix. And Johnny, before you knew it, Jerry Bisby was up on trial for murder. Oh, but on such flimsy evidence and without a body, sure, sure. Jerry was acquitted. Now, like I say, that was back in 52. But we only paid off the insurance on Ralph about a year ago, you know, lacking any legal proof that Ralph was dead until that statute of limitation said he had to be here or something. Yeah, yeah, I know. But now about this man Busby, does he still live in Kingman? No, Johnny. As soon as that trial was over, he sold his little place, left town, and never come back. Uh-huh. And with no actual proof that he'd killed his partner... Just a minute. Yeah? Didn't your Eastern papers carry anything about that big windstorm we had out here last week? Windstorm? Biggest one we've had in years. Must have blue 78 a mile now. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, I guess I did read something about that. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, I remember now that wind uncovered the bones of a man, a man who'd apparently become lost somewhere out here in this desert some years ago. Lost, huh? What do you mean the papers didn't say johnny there was a bullet hole in the back of the skull oh from exactly the

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