Slip Gun (25 page)

‘
I
reckoned what he did surprised his brothers,’ the Scot continued.
‘But Morgan threw down on us and Virgil told Evan to get out the
back way and leave town as fast as he could.’

‘
I
don’t think they was expecting the law to arrive so soon,’ the
bartender remarked. ‘It all happened so fast, there wasn’t a thing
I could do, marshal.’

‘
Where’s Evan now?’ Woodstole asked and his normally languid
air had left him.

‘
He got
away,’ Smith replied. ‘But I’ll find him and fetch him
back.’

‘
You’d
better, Wax,’ the Englishman warned quietly. ‘Charlie’s at Wil’s
office with Cousin Basil and he’s going to take a whole heap of
calming down when he hears what’s happened to young
Alvin.’

‘
Likely,’ Smith answered. ‘But you’d best do it, Poona. If
you don’t, I’ll have to. And I’ll do it any way I need.’

To say that Charlie Hopkirk was
angry when he heard of Robbie
’s death could almost be called the understatement
of the decade. On learning that the killer had escaped, the old
rancher had sworn that he would gather every cowhand in Wyoming
Territory and search every farm-house until he found Evan Jones.
Backed by Wil Jeffreys, Poona Woodstole had finally succeeded in
quietening Hopkirk down. Not only that, but Zoltan Bilak had
arrived to offer all the help the Grange could arrange in running
down and apprehending the killer. So Hopkirk had agreed to take no
action, provided Evan Jones was brought in for trial.

For almost an hour, Smith had
expected a range war to blow up. Diplomatically he and his deputies
had taken no part in the calming of the old rancher. With that
matter settled, at least for the time being, the peace officers had
been faced by the problem of guarding Sir Basil
Houghton-Rand
’s collection of jewelry. Fortunately, most of that work
had been taken off Smith’s hands. The insurance company had
insisted on employing the Pinkerton Agency to guard the collection.
One of their precautions had been to throw a cloud of secrecy over
the affair. Even the date of their arrival had not been announced
and the telegraph message received by Woodstole had deliberately
been wrong. Except when on display, the collection would be kept in
the bank’s safe and one of the four agents was to be constantly on
guard. Due to the urgency of the situation, Smith had not gone
further into the matter of added protection. The jewelry would
remain in the safe until after the fair had been declared open on
Monday. So he had promised to hold a conference with the Pinkerton
men during the weekend and make the necessary
arrangements.

The meeting had been held in
Wil
’s office
at the bank. On returning to the jail, Smith had found Yorck
waiting. Apparently the Jones brothers were the lawyer’s clients
and he had insisted on being present when Smith interviewed them.
After asking if Jeffreys felt fit to work, and being assured that
he did, the Texan had sent him and Ottaway on to the streets. Then
he and Frith accompanied Yorck to the basement cells.

On being questioned, the
brothers had insisted that Alvin had started to draw on them as
soon as he entered the Busted Plough. Virgil did most of the
talking and had declared that he did not know where Evan might be.
When asked why Evan had fled, Virgil had claimed that his brother
doubted if he would get a fair trial in Widow
’s Creek, but was willing to
give himself up to the authorities at Cheyenne or Laramie. Knowing
that he would learn no more with the lawyer standing by, Smith had
ended the interview. The Texan had told Yorck that he was holding
the brothers on the old slow-elking warrant and also as material
witnesses to the killing, so he would oppose the granting of bail.
Although the lawyer had blustered, he knew that the local justice
of the peace would back Smith on the matter. So Yorck had contented
himself with promising to return at regular intervals and ‘protect
his clients from abuses’.

There had only been one
reasonably bright spot in the whole afternoon and evening for
Smith. By the time his various duties had been completed, sun-down
was so close that he could do little more than find the general
direction by which Evan Jones had left the town. However, a
telegraph message had reached Frith from his two companions. The
wounded man had died without speaking, but the Big Indian and Jed
Trotter would reach Widow
’s Creek by Monday. So Smith would have the extra
help he needed during the fair. That piece of news had been greeted
with relief by Jeffreys and Ottaway when they had heard
it.

The night had passed without
incident. Cowhands and farmers stayed away from each other while
Smith and his deputies had patrolled until the town showed signs of
having gone to sleep. Leaving Ottaway and Frith at the office,
Smith had spent the rest of the night in his room at the Simple
Hotel. Next morning, clean-shaven and tidy, he had arrived at
the
office to
find Wil Jeffreys and Lily’s head bartender there with his two
men.

‘
Something’s happened to Lily, Wax,’ Frith announced. ‘She
didn’t go back to the house last night.’

‘
She
left me just after midnight,’ Wil went on. ‘I hoped that Stanley
would be home in time to escort her, but he stayed
here—’

‘
No,
ma’am,’ Frith interrupted. ‘He didn’t stay here.’

‘
That’s
right, Miss Jeffreys,’ Smith confirmed. ‘He came off with me around
midnight and said he was headed for home.’

Before any more could be
said,
Counselor Yorck walked into the office with a sheet of
paper in his hand.

‘
This
was pinned to the front door, of my host’s house, marshal. I
thought that I had better bring it along.’

Taking it, Smith opened it and started to
read aloud.

‘
Warning. If the Jones brothers, falsely imprisoned at the
instigation of the ranchers, are not released by sun-down today,
Lily Shivers and Stanley Jeffreys will be killed. The Friends of
Justice.’

‘
Well?’Yorck asked.

‘
I
didn’t know Lily and young Stan were missing,’ Smith drawled.
‘Somebody’s running a bluff.’

‘
Is
your brother at home, Miss Jeffreys?’ Yorck asked. ‘I say this
because I have heard about this despicable organization called the
Friends of Justice. They took hostages in another town. When their
demands weren’t met, they killed the hostages and took another two
the next night.’

‘
So
you’re saying we should do like the note says, Counselor?’ asked
Smith.

‘
I am
merely pointing out the danger,’ Yorck protested. ‘This matter
could prejudice my clients’ chances if they are brought to trial,
so naturally I am interested in what happens.’

‘
Maybe
they’d best hear about this,’ Smith suggested. ‘You allowed that
you wanted to be on hand every time we questioned, or talked to,
your clients, so you’d best come along.’

‘
Very
well,’ Yorck grunted. ‘I’ll come.’

Going to the basement, Smith
read the message to the Jones brothers. Although Virgil showed no
emotion, Morgan grinned
triumphantly at Wil, the deputies and Yorck.
Clearly the younger brother felt that they were as good as
free.

‘
I want
a message getting to whoever sent this, Counselor,’ Smith remarked
when he had finished reading.

‘
How
can I help?’ Yorck demanded. ‘They pinned that to my host’s
door—’

‘
Likely
knowing you was acting for these
hombres?
Smith interrupted. ‘So, happen you pin up
a note, they’ll find a way of collecting it. I’ll not stop them, or
bother ’em in any way.’

‘
All
right,’ Yorck muttered. ‘I’ll do it.’

‘
Maybe
you’d like to write it down for me when we go back to the office?’
Smith inquired. ‘It’s this. “Warning. If Miss Shivers and Deputy
Jeffreys aren’t set free and brought unharmed to the marshal’s
office by noon, I’ll take out Virgil Jones and shoot
him—!”‘

‘
Shoot—!’ Yorck croaked and Morgan Jones stopped
smiling.

‘
“
If they’re still not here one hour later, I’ll
shoot Morgan Jones,”’ Smith continued. ‘You write it, Counselor,
and I’ll sign it.’

‘
Hey!’
Morgan Jones yelped, grabbing hold of the bars.

‘
You
can’t bluff the Friends of Justice!’ Yorck warned, glaring at the
scared brother while addressing Smith.

‘
I’m
not aiming to try,’ the Texan replied. ‘You don’t reckon whoever’s
got my deputy and Miss Shivers’ll let them go after I’ve turned
this pair free, do you? They’ll know too much. Who took them and
where. They’re dead if I obey. So I’ll do just what I
said.’

‘
Nonsense!’ Yorck snorted, but there was uncertainty in his
voice. ‘You’re an officer, sworn to uphold the law.’

‘
Which
I aim to do, right down the line,’ Smith drawled. ‘And giving in to
threats like this’s no way to do it.’

‘
Miss
Jeffreys—!’ Yorck commenced, turning towards the girl.

‘
Don’t
stand arguing, you crazy son-of-a-bitch!’ Morgan screeched, trying
to grab lie lawyer through the bars. ‘Smith’s not bluffing. He’ll
do it.’

‘
Of
course he won—!’ Yorck snapped, reversing direction and glaring at
the prisoners.

Raw fear played on Morgan
Jones
’ face.
He had learned the identity of the new peace officers and knew
something of their reputations. So he had no doubt that the marshal
would carry out his threat.

‘
You
get—!’ Morgan yelled.

‘
All
right. All right!’ the lawyer barked. ‘Don’t lose your head!’
Waiting until Morgan had stopped speaking, he rounded on Smith. ‘I
won’t have my clients threatened in this manner!’

‘
There’s no threat in it, Counselor,’ Smith replied. ‘Until
noon they’ll be treated as prisoners awaiting trial. After that it
is up to the Friends of Justice.’

Although he had quietened one outburst from
Morgan, Yorck knew that there might be more. In his fear, the young
man could easily say something that would incriminate the lawyer.
Even Virgil, the older and tougher of the pair, looked nervous and
uneasy.

‘
Marshal,’ Yorck said coldly. ‘I wish to speak in private
with my clients.’

‘
That’s
your privilege, Counselor,’ Smith replied. ‘We’ll go and wait in my
office. Just mind one thing. I won’t have your host’s house
watched, or do anything to stop my message being collected by
the
hombres
who left this letter. I don’t want to kill these two
fellers, but I’ll do it if I have to.’

‘
And
I’ll back Marshal Smith on his decision,’ Wil went on. ‘If we give
in this once, it will establish a precedent that could be
disastrous.’

Following
Smith
’s party
from the basement, Yorck returned when he had made sure that none
of them had stayed behind to listen. The cowhand, Robbie, had been
released the previous night, so the lawyer and his clients were
alone. Going towards the cell, Yorck could see he faced a difficult
task.

‘
This
whole damned deal’s gone sour,’ Morgan Jones growled. ‘We never
expected nothing like’s happened.’

‘
And we
didn’t expect your brother to shoot down a cowhand,’ Yorck
replied.

‘
Evan
only meant to throw a scare into him,’ Virgil protested.

‘
Then
why didn’t you get out with him?’ demanded Yorck.

‘
We
aimed to give him a head start and hold them farmers off his back,’
Virgil explained. ‘Only Smith and his deputies arrived before we
could pull out.’

They come so fast and ready they
must
’ve known
we was there,’ Morgan put in suspiciously, looking the lawyer over
in a calculating manner. ‘You get out to the Page place and tell
your pards to do like Smith says.’

‘
I
agree with Brother Morg,’ Virgil went on. ‘We wasn’t told there’s a
bunch of gun-hawks running the law. So we played along with your
crowd. Only the water’s over the willows now. Smith’ll do what he
says.’

‘
I
ain’t getting shot!’ Morg warned, panic in his tone. ‘So you get
word to your pards, or I’ll tell Smith where to find them and who’s
behind this whole deal.’

‘
Don’t
be stup—!’ Yorck blazed.

‘
Marshal!’ Morgan shouted. ‘Hey, Marshal Smith!’

‘
Shut
up!’ the lawyer hissed. ‘Say anything to him and you’ll ruin
everything. I’ll go and get the hostages fetched back. Your only
hope of getting out of here is with our help.’