Tarnished Badge

by Paul Lederer

  ‘What did you call her?’ Bill asked finally, no longer able to keep his curiosity in check. ‘Rita Poole, I mean.’

  ‘I called her Bonnie Sue. That’s her real name. Someone had burned the name “Garret” into a sign above the cottage door. I already suspected it, but the sign was enough proof to me to confirm that Rita Poole is actually Bonnie Sue Garret.’

  ‘She sure gave you a funny look when you spoke that name,’ Billy said, as they walked their horses up the dark road along the gully.

  ‘I don’t imagine she liked it very much,’ Laredo replied.

  Billy could not manage his curiosity for long. ‘All right, Lare— Mr Riley. Who is Bonnie Sue Garret and what makes her important? Assuming she is.’

  ‘Oh, she is,’ Laredo answered. ‘But I don’t want to lay it all out for you just yet. Can you wait awhile?’

  ‘I don’t know if—’

  ‘If I buy you a steak and a cool glass of beer?’

  ‘All right,’ Billy laughed. ‘You do know how to bribe a man. It’s a good thing one of us has a paying job. I was trying to figure out how to come by a meal of any kind.’

  ‘I’m buying. And I’ll hire you a hotel bed for the night,’ Laredo promised. ‘You’ll need a good night’s sleep. I think tomorrow is going to be a busy day.’

  ‘What’s the first thing we’re going to do in the morning?’ Billy asked, as they achieved the flats again and Ellis appeared before them once more.

  ‘The first thing we’re going to do is the last thing Jesse Goodnight would think of doing. We’re going to pay a visit to the local law.’

  ‘But why?’

  ‘Because we’re strangers in a strange town, looking for a bank robber and his take. There will be trouble before this is ended. It would be nice to fill the law in and let them know what side of things we are on.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have thought of that,’ Billy admitted. ‘I suppose you’ve had a lot more experience dealing with local lawmen.’

  ‘Enough, and not always good experiences.’

  ‘Meaning?’

  ‘Some of them just don’t want meddlers, troublemakers of any kind in their towns. Others’ ears only perk up when gold is mentioned – and that can start a whole ‘nother series of problems.’

  ‘Maybe we should have held on to our deputy sheriffs’ badges,’ Billy said, thinking out loud. ‘That might have given us at least some credibility.’

  ‘No more than if Jesse Goodnight chose to wear his,’ Laredo pointed out. ‘No, Billy, we’ll just have to see the town marshal, constable – whatever they have here – and be honest with him. Let him make up his own mind about us, while we consider what sort of lawman we are dealing with.’

  Morning was bright, calm and quiet. Billy Dewitt had slept deeply the night before in the first bed he had occupied for many weeks, courtesy of Laredo. There had been no shooting in the streets to indicate that Jake Worthy might have been found. The truth was probably that, despite the rabid intentions of the posse, most of them were still dog-tired as well and had quickly abandoned their search for the bank robber after a few stops in the local saloons.

  There was a rap at the door and Billy’s nerves jumped, but the familiar voice called, ‘Billy, can I come in?’

  ‘Sure, Riley, I’m awake.’

  Morning sunlight shafted through the sheer blue curtains hanging on the windows. Distantly a dog barked and someone yelled at someone else.

  Ellis, Arizona, was waking up, if slowly. Laredo was a surprise to see. He’d had a fresh shave. His jeans were washed, his dark-red shirt seeming store-clean, his dusty, fawn-colored Stetson now clean and blocked. Billy Dewitt stepped into his trail-dirty jeans, feeling slightly ashamed.

  ‘How did you do that?’ Billy asked, nodding at Laredo’s clothes. ‘Get cleaned up?’

  ‘The hotel sent my things out last night and delivered them this morning,’ Laredo said, sitting in a wooden chair near the window where he could catch the cool breeze. ‘If I’d known you needed some help, I would have said something.’

  ‘I guess I didn’t know hotels did such things for a man. I haven’t spent much time in them. I suppose you have.’

  ‘Too much time,’ Laredo said with a distant smile.

  ‘What now?’ Billy asked, flipping his gunbelt around his waist, reaching for his hat.

  ‘I already told you that we need to talk to the local law. If any shooting does start I’d like them to know what side we’re on. First, though, let’s have ourselves a real breakfast.’

  They walked down the uncarpeted stairs to the hotel lobby. There was a restaurant attached to the hotel and to reach it they passed through anarched entranceway beside the hotel desk. Inside the airy restaurant were nine or ten scattered round tables. Along one wall ran a long bench table for larger parties. All were covered with clean red-and white-checked cloths. Laredo inclined his head toward a table sitting in a corner with four round-back chairs arranged around it.

  It was well away from the doors and windows, Billy noticed. Laredo, it seemed, was always working – whether it showed or not. As expected, Laredo took the chair with its back to the wall. Billy sat and began looking for a waitress.

  One was not long in arriving. A young woman, she was, still in her teens, with dark, slightly-disordered hair and a full mouth attempting to smile its way into a new day which would be filled with hard work, rude comments and demanding customers – all of which were supposed to be handled with good humor in her business. She wasn’t quite up to form yet.

  Laredo asked for a pot of coffee and said they’d be ready to order in a few minutes.

  ‘Are those fresh biscuits I smell?’ Billy asked.

  ‘They are,’ the girl answered. ‘And we’ve honey to go with them this morning.’ Her smile brightened a little as she answered Billy Dewitt. Billy watched as the petite waitress walked away, swaying slightly.

  ‘I think she likes you,’ Laredo said.

  ‘Do you…? Ah, hell, Laredo, you know it’s her job to smile,’ Billy said sheepishly.

  ‘Could be,’ Laredo said. They waited until the waitress came back with their coffee pot and two white ceramic mugs. She was also carrying a plate with four biscuits and a glass jar containing honey.

  ‘I thought you’d be wanting these,’ she said, speaking only to Billy.

  ‘I do, thank you.’ He glanced at Laredo. ‘Are we ready to order yet?’

  ‘Go ahead,’ Laredo answered, pouring their coffee. ‘Just get me whatever you’re having.’

  What Billy was having was four fried eggs, ham and hotcakes with strawberry preserves. The girl scribbled the order down on her pad as if with pleasure. When she left this time, it was with a lingering smile.

  Laredo said, ‘Yes, I’m pretty sure she likes you.’ He took a sip of his strong black coffee while Billy split and buttered a roll.

  The kid said, ‘I sure wish you’d told me how I could’ve got my clothes cleaned.’ He was still looking wistfully after the girl, who had vanished into the kitchen. ‘I must look a mess.’

  ‘You can spruce up and come back for supper,’ Laredo told him. ‘We’ll still be in Ellis come sundown.’

  ‘Ah, she’ll probably be off work by then.’

  ‘Better yet,’ Laredo said and Billy just stared at him, then fell off into his private thoughts.

  With breakfast finished, Laredo led a lagging Billy out into the bright morning sunshine. Laredo stopped the first man they met. ‘Can you tell us where we can find the law in this town?’

  ‘You mean we have some in Ellis?’ the stranger answered with a laugh. ‘If you mean Marshal Hicks, he’s probably taking his morning nap in his office. That’s three blocks down on the other side of the street.’

  ‘He didn’t seem too favorably impressed with this Marshal Hicks,’ Billy said, as they made their way across the dusty street.

  ‘There’s always someone who doesn’t like the local law,’ Laredo replied.

  ‘I suppose. Look, Rile
y!’ Billy called, pointing down the street. Laredo only nodded. He had already caught sight of David Bean and Lester Burnett hanging around the front door of a saloon which seemed not to have opened its doors yet. A small crowd of impatient drinkers waited with them at the entrance for the bartender to swing open the gate to paradise.

  ‘They haven’t found Jake Worthy yet,’ Laredo said.

  ‘Maybe they’re just filling up with whiskey in case they happen to stumble across him,’ Billy said. ‘I can’t see either of those two going up against a man like Jake Worthy sober.’

  ‘No,’ Laredo believed. ‘They’ll just stay around close enough to Goodnight to be able to swoop down wanting their share.’

  The door to the marshal’s office was peeling red. It stood open at this morning hour. Laredo and Billy stepped in and stood exchanging looks with a youngish-looking man with red hair and a sweeping mustache. His hair was neatly parted and slicked down with pomade. He wore gold-rimmed spectacles. Laredo would not have taken him for a lawman, but he occupied the chair behind the marshal’s desk. In the far corner of the timbered room a man of some physical substance wearing a twill town suit stood looking through a stack of what seemed to be Wanted posters. His head was squarish, his nose flared widely across his face. He had a stare for Laredo which seemed accusing.

  ‘Marshal Hicks?’ Laredo asked, looking from one man to the other.

  ‘I’m Hicks,’ the narrow man behind the desk said, sitting up a little straighter. ‘What can I do for you?’

  ‘It’ll take a while to explain,’ Laredo said, walking toward the desk. Billy lingered near the door, hat in hands.

  ‘I’ve got the time; have a seat,’ the marshal said, toeing a chair out for Laredo to sit on.

  ‘There was a bank robbery over in Quirt,’ Laredo began.

  ‘A bank? When was this?’ the bulky man asked, looking rattled.

  ‘Last week,’ Laredo told him. The marshal was smiling when Laredo looked back.

  ‘Mr Dodd here runs the Bank of Ellis,’ the marshal told Laredo. ‘He gets a little nervous when he hears about robberies.’

  ‘Yes, and I have every right to,’ Dodd said with heat. ‘That’s why I come in here so often. I go over every Wanted poster the marshal is sent,’ he told Laredo, ‘although no one else seems to. I want to mark these men’s descriptions in my memory.’

  ‘A wise precaution,’ Laredo said expressionlessly.

  ‘Now, then,’ the marshal said. ‘You were saying….’

  ‘I was with a posse riding after this bank robber led by Sheriff Fowler, you probably know him.’

  ‘Fowler? Oh, yes,’ the marshal said, scratching at his narrow chin. ‘I know Fowler. He’s a good man.’

  ‘When we hit the county line down at Yavapai Creek, Fowler turned back, not wanting to cross it.’

  ‘But you came ahead?’ Fowler asked, leaning forward, his eyes intent.

  ‘The entire posse did. Fowler cautioned them that they have no mandate on this side of the river, but they decided to pursue the bank robber on their own.’

  ‘Well, I can see that they might have a powerful wish for revenge against the man who’d robbed their bank,’ Hicks said, his fingers working their way up from his chin to scratch at his scalp.

  ‘Who’s the bank robber?’ Dodd asked excitedly. ‘Is he here now, in Ellis? Do you think he’ll strike again?’

  ‘The bank robber’s name is Jake Worthy,’ Laredo told him.

  ‘And he’s here! The bank robber?’ Dodd nearly shouted, approaching the marshal’s desk.

  Both Laredo and Hicks ignored the nervous banker.

  ‘Jake Worthy was last seen riding a buckskin horse with a splash of white on its chest, though he may have switched to a three-year-old sorrel by now.’ Laredo then verbally sketched a description of Worthy for the marshal. ‘The posse members believe Worthy will be resting up in Ellis after the long trail. They mean to capture him if they can.’

  ‘All right, you’re telling me that I have a band of well-meaning vigilantes in town,’ Hicks said with a frown.

  ‘I am. I can give you their names if it’s of any help.’

  ‘Help to do what? What do you expect me to do to, or with, these men? Come to think of it, who are you and what are you doing here?’ The marshal’s eyes narrowed slightly behind the lenses of his round spectacles.

  ‘I was with the posse by chance. The bank happened to be robbed while I was staying over in Quirt.’ Billy saw Laredo reach into his shirt and remove a flat, tightly folded document in a leather wallet. ‘Here are my credentials.’

  Hicks took the folded paper and read it slowly, carefully. The seal of the territory of Arizona was embossed at the head, as Billy could see from his distance, but Marshal Hicks seemed dubious for some reason. He let the document flutter to his desk and Laredo picked it up, replacing it in the leather wallet.

  ‘That gives you pretty wide-spreading authorization, doesn’t it?’ Hicks said. ‘Something like a Territorial Marshal.’

  ‘Not quite,’ Laredo said. ‘I haven’t any authority to arrest a man.’

  ‘Just to retrieve the stolen funds.’

  ‘Yes. That’s the sticky part. The new legislature is being lobbied to change the wording of the legal statute, but for now I am the man the Territorial Bank Examiner authorizes to recover any stolen funds. By any means necessary.’

  ‘I don’t think I’ve ever had an occasion to run into one of your sort before,’ Hicks said with a following yawn.

  ‘Then you’ve done your job. You’ve never had a bank robbery,’ Laredo said with a smile in Dodd’s direction.

  ‘Who’s the kid over there?’ Hicks asked as if he had noticed Billy Dewitt for the first time.

  ‘He’s with me, sort-of my apprentice,’ Laredo lied glibly.

  ‘Training him to replace you when you retire, are you?’ Hicks asked.

  Laredo told the marshal soberly, ‘Retirement can come unexpectedly in my profession.’

  ‘I suppose.’ Hicks rose and walked to the iron stove in the corner. ‘Either of you want some coffee?’

  Laredo and Billy both declined. The banker, Dodd, had started toward the door. ‘Time for me to get to work. I’ll see you soon, Hicks. Please let me know if you get any new Wanted posters in.’

  ‘I’ll do that, Dodd,’ Hicks said with an indifferent wave of his hand. When the door had closed behind Dodd, Hicks walked back to his chair, tin cup of coffee in his hand. ‘Most nervous man I ever did meet.’

  ‘It’s a big responsibility he has.’

  ‘Sure. Now back to your situation,’ Hicks said, seating himself. ‘What you have done, you are telling me, is bring a lot of trouble to my little town.’

  Ruffled slightly by the marshal’s tone, Laredo said, ‘It was already here. I just want to clean it up as bloodlessly as possible.’

  ‘It’s your idea to find Jake Worthy and retake the bank loot before these other men can do it.’

  ‘That’s about it.’

  ‘Think pretty highly of yourself, don’t you?’ Hicks asked in a tone that again rankled Laredo.

  ‘Well, I’ve been fortunate enough to have succeeded before,’ he answered.

  ‘I suppose you must have,’ Hicks allowed, ‘or they wouldn’t still have you working for them.’ He sipped at the hot coffee. ‘All right. I’ll leave you to your work. Unless Worthy pops his head up. I’d have to arrest him on sight. Or if these others from the posse start any trouble in Ellis – then I’ll take them in as well. Any of them I have to be particularly careful with?’

  ‘Jesse Goodnight,’ Billy Dewitt put in. It was the first time he had spoken to the marshal, figuring it was Laredo’s job to do so.

  Hicks’s eyes flickered toward Billy. Then he asked. ‘I think I know that name from a while ago. Wasn’t he—?’

  ‘He was arrested and convicted of manslaughter about five years ago for the killing of a gambler named Adonis Klotz.’

  Hicks nodded. ‘I remember that c
ase; not well, but I heard something about it. Stuck in my mind because of the names. Goodnight and Adonis. And Klotz!’ Hicks smiled but Laredo didn’t.

  ‘Well, Jesse Goodnight is here. He’s the leader of the vigilantes.’

  ‘I see. He’ll bear watching, won’t he? Once a killer …”

  ‘He’ll bear watching,’ Laredo agreed. ‘If the others came to Ellis hoping only to get rich on stolen money Jesse Goodnight has come here to do murder.’

  SIX

  Marshal Hicks sat silently sipping his coffee while Laredo ran down the rest of what he knew – holding back only what he now suspected. He explained about Jake Worthy’s failure to provide Jesse Goodnight with an alibi when Goodnight shot the gambler, and Goodnight’s conviction that it was because they were both interested in the same woman in Quirt.

  ‘Toss over your pal for a skirt, huh?’ Hicks murmured in a way that would have been an insult to all involved had they been there.

  ‘Anyway,’ Laredo went on, ignoring the marshal’s comment, ‘it seems that Jake Worthy knew where to find Bonnie Sue Garret and he rode there.’

  ‘We have a party named Garret living in one of the little cottages out in Beacon Valley.’

  ‘That would be Bonnie Sue’s aunt. The posse escorted Bonnie Sue there after we found her alone in the wild country.’

  ‘Mighty Christian of you,’ Hicks cracked.

  ‘The woman hadn’t done anything. Besides, she gave us an assumed name.’

  ‘Rita Poole,’ Billy said.

  ‘Never heard that name around here,’ Marshal Hicks said. Then he asked, ‘If Worthy went by to meet the woman, why didn’t he take her with him?’

  ‘He might have figured that she would slow him down or maybe he was tired of her. More likely he didn’t feel like sharing the money. I believe he took her horse not because he needed it but to keep her from following him.’

  ‘Then Goodnight shows up?’ Hicks asked, almost with marvel. ‘What a lucky woman.’

  ‘That must be what she was thinking when she saw him. And Goodnight now figures he has won back his old love. I’m sure that’s the way Bonnie Sue would play it up. Especially now that she sees Goodnight as having a better hand to play than Jake Worthy.’