I would doubt that Conkling would be lying.
If he were guilty of the crime why return to the scene? If you were guilty, would you return?
I can think of a possible scenario, though it's a bit farfetched.
Let's say Conkling and Mr X had an appointment with Chalem and Lehmann that night; they've in fact told the authorities they were expected at the house, and planned to stay the night. Naturally C&L had set this up, and might have told anyone that they'd be having visitors. Might have written it down; might have said who their guests were to be.
Conkling and X call the victims at around 7:30, a few minutes from the house, asking that the gates be opened. (Good chance that this could be done from inside the house.) Chalem and Lehmann let them in. It's now about 7:35-7:40. All four go into the dining room, and the visitors pull out their pistols and proceed to go to work. By 8:30 or earlier they're finished and away. They start calling the house again; no answer. They call repeatedly, for hours. Meanwhile, they get rid of the guns, do anything else necessary. And then finally at one a.m., "worried", they return, "find" the gate still open, the door unlocked. And then they "find" the bodies.
Note that this rather elegant scheme would have the added advantage of permitting the killers to leave all sorts of physical evidence around without it presenting any danger to them.
Hey, Conkling, if you're reading along, this is just speculation. For all I know you've got a rock solid alibi for the entire evening... |
