The Skull

Book Excerpt: ...or a moment he glanced through them. Then he was on his feet again. He crossed the room to a wide rack against the wall. His heart began to beat heavily. Newspapers--weeks on end. He took a roll of them over to the table and began to scan them quickly. The print was odd, the letters strange. Some of the words were unfamiliar. He set the papers aside and searched farther. At last he found what he wanted. He carried the Cherrywood Gazette to the table and opened it to the first page. He found what he wanted: PRISONER HANGS SELFAn unidentified man, held by the county sheriff's office for suspicion of criminal syndicalism, was found dead this morning, by--He finished the item. It was vague, uninforming. He needed more. He carried the Gazette back to the racks and then, after a moment's hesitation, approached the librarian."More?" he asked. "More papers. Old ones?"She frowned. "How old? Which papers?""Months old. And--before."...