by J. T. Edson
‘I don’t recollect anybody around Falls County who matches that description, either,’ McCrindle declared, paying no discernible attention to the remarks of the two peace officers. ‘What does Dex Armstrong say about it, Jubal?’
‘He’s of the same mind as you, “Your Honor-ably”,’ Branch answered. ‘Wasn’t neither him nor any of his deputies could bring the gal nor her husband to mind, which—’specially the one’s’s young ’n’ spry—they wouldn’t be likely to have missed somebody as “shapeful” as she's said to be.’
‘I know I wouldn’t!’ Giradot inserted, rolling his eyes in a particularly Gallic fashion.
‘That’s ’cause you’re French, “mon hammy”,’ the elderly peace officer pointed out. ‘I mind how the fellers back to your old country used to go a-chasing after the “mam-swells” when I was over there with Black Jack and the A.E.F.’ 57 Swinging his gaze to the Major and the judge, he continued in—although there was no noticeable change in his tone—a more serious vein. ‘Anyways, having heard tell’s how the Counselor doesn’t allus stick upright and “true-fully” to his “matter-ri-monious” vows, I sort of pushed him a mite further about what had come off. He allowed the girl never let on she was married until after her husband showed up all mean ’n’ ornery. Afore that, she’d reckoned’s she wasn’t hitched and’d been staying around town with kin for a spell, but was figuring on taking a bus ride down to Austin. ’Cepting for one thing’s come out later, although the Counselor wouldn’t speak up and admit I’m calling the play right, I’d’ve reckoned he’d done the “mis-omey-able” and offered to let her ride there along with him. Which same’d explain what for her husband jumped him and done such meanness to his car.’
‘What makes you think otherwise?’ the judge asked. ‘According to what one of Dex’s deputies was told while asking about them around the town, the Counselor’s head he-hooper, “Wilfri-red” Plant’d been seen and heard getting friendly and offered a ride along of him to a gal who must’ve been her earlier that morning,’ Branch explained. ‘Only, when he got to his car, it wouldn’t start up so’s they could get going and she lit out on him.’
‘Cars break down all the time, mon ami,’ Giradot pointed out. ‘And when it happens, a girl who’s been offered a ride tends to get riled.’
‘You’ll likely be talking from “hex-perry-mence”, I reckon, “mon hammy”,’ Branch conceded dryly. ‘Only, reason being this ’n’ wouldn’t start was it’d had its rotor arm wide looped while he was lally-gagging with her. Which same, tooken with him allowing it was her’s whomped him over his pumpkin head in the parking lot at the Palace Hotel, strikes a half-smart lil ole country boy like me as just a teensy mite “such-pes-cerous”.’
‘She hit him?’ McCrindle queried.
That’s what he said,’ the elderly sergeant confirmed. ‘Allows she did it when, seeing what was happening to his boss, he turned to go for help.’
‘Then she and her husband must have been in cahoots!’ the judge deduced.
‘Well, yes,’ Branch admitted. ‘That’s how the sheriff reads the sign and I float my stick along of him.’
‘But why did they do it?’ McCrindle inquired.
‘The Counselor’s not the most “like-abied” jasper in Texas, way he goes on in court ’n’ “private-airly” ’cording to rumor,’ Branch supplied. ‘Could be they was after him to settle a grudge.’
‘He would have recognized them in that case,’ McCrindle objected. ‘Going by their descriptions, they’re neither of them the kind of folk you’d be likely to forget.’
‘I ain’t gainsaying it, “Your Honor-ably”,’ the elderly peace officer countered. ‘Only they was maybe settling it for somebody else.’
‘Who?’ the judge wanted to know.
‘Well now, “Your Honor-ably”,’ Branch replied. ‘That’s something neither the sheriff or me’s got figured out.’
‘How about the girl’s father, Jubal?’ Smith offered deferentially, his demeanor redolent of respect for the man he was addressing. ‘He’d brought along a rifle, which looks like he was thinking about doing something should Foote get off, and he wouldn’t take any too kind to the part Mervyn played in bringing about the acquittal.’
‘He wouldn’t,’ Branch acceded, but the reservations with which he regarded the possibility were made without any suggestion of airing superior wisdom over the younger and much less experienced peace officer. ‘Only, having toted that old Winchester along what he thought was secret-like, I don’t reckon he’d’ve hired anything else done.’
‘He didn’t strike me as the kind who would hire anything like that done,’ Tragg assessed. ‘If he was so minded, he’d have done it himself.’
‘I’ll go along with you on that, Ben,’ the judge seconded, having made the acquaintance of Simeon Oakes during the trial and formed a favorable opinion of his character. ‘He might have gone after Foote and Mervyn, but it would have been in hot blood and not by hiring somebody to do it for him.’
‘On top of which,’ the Major went on, nodding concurrence. ‘Going by the way the girl and her husband took out Mervyn and Plant, what they did was planned well in advance. So it’s my opinion that they were working off some personal grudge against him.’
‘Or for somebody else, but not Mr. Oakes,’ Branch drawled. ‘That’s the way Dex Armstrong sees it, Maj’.’
‘Does he want us to lend a hand on it, Jubal?’ Tragg asked, the Texas Rangers only being supposed to participate in an investigation if—as had been the case with the trial—they were invited by the local law enforcement agencies.
‘Said he’d be right obliged if we would, seeing’s how he’s certain sure the gal and her husband don’t hail from his bailiwick and’re likely long gone out of it,’ Branch affirmed. ‘Are you of a same mind on it, “Your Honor-ably”?’
‘I am,’ the judge declared. ‘A couple of strangers who looked like them couldn’t have been around Falls County, much less in Marlin, for more than a few hours without getting talked about. If either, or both, had been here for days, I’d have heard some mention of them. Do you reckon they’re tied in with the try at killing Chiverton and Schulman?’
‘There’s nothing to prove they were, or weren’t,’ replied Swift-Eagle, to whom the question had been posed. ‘But I’d be inclined to say, “no” to it. Wouldn’t you, Frenchie?’
‘I would, mon ami,’ Giradot confirmed, having teamed up with the Kiowa peace officer to investigate in the absence of Sergeants Benjamin Goldberg and Hans “Dutchy” Soehnen. ‘And the sheriff’s of the same mind.’
‘What do you make of it?’ McCrindle inquired.
‘We started out by figuring the shooting was done because “Handsome Phil” isn’t as grateful to those two longhorns for their help as you’d conclude he should be, seeing what they’d done for him in the witness box,’ Swift-Eagle obliged. ‘Which being, whoever he had trying to make wolf bait of them are likely professionals and not even part of his gang. Should that be the case, they’d be up and running for the tall timber as soon as things started to go wrong.’
‘Why didn’t you see them?’ McCrindle asked.
‘They weren’t anywhere we could from your place, Judge,’ Swift-Eagle replied, sounding a trifle defensive, he and Giradot having been assigned to the task of watching the rear of the judicial building. ‘We heard the shots and Colin Breda cutting loose, but there was nobody in sight by the time we reached the street.’
‘No witnesses, either,’ the Gallic sergeant added. ‘Which isn’t too surprising, seeing as how almost everybody in town was out front of the courthouse when it happened.’
‘The way it looks to us,’ Swift-Eagle elaborated and, as he went on, Giradot nodded in agreement, ‘The shooting couldn’t have been tied in with what happened to Reece Mervyn. “Handsome Phil” wouldn’t have any cause to be riled at him, particularly as it was likely him who set up the fake alibi. Knowing how close Mervyn is to Hogan Turtle, Foote wouldn’t chance trying to do
anything even if he should have doubts, particularly not using hired guns to do it.’
‘I suppose not,’ McCrindle conceded. ‘Could the fellers who tried to shoot Chiverton and Schulman be the same who took them and made them cut each other’s backs to ribbons with a whip on the road to Groesbeck?’
‘I wouldn’t reckon so,’ replied Tragg, to whom the two peace officers had reported via the telephone which had been used to lure them into the building. ‘If it had been them who tried to do the killing, they wouldn’t have taken the chance of holding up Colin Breda and Paddy Bratton. Or restricted themselves to just making Chiverton and Schulman whip one another. They’d have started throwing lead as soon as the car stopped outside the diner.’
‘Then who were they?’ McCrindle wanted to know.
‘Colin and Paddy have no idea,’ Tragg admitted.
‘Couldn’t either Chiverton or Schulman tell them?’ the judge suggested.
‘Seems not,’ the major replied. ‘From what Colin said, it puts me in mind of a joke they used to do. Schulman would say how he’d had a letter from a man saying he’d kill him if he didn’t stay away from his wife. When Chiverton asked if he was going to do it, he replied, “I would, but the feller didn’t sign his name.’
‘You mean there’s so many after them for the same thing, they can’t guess who it can be?’ McCrindle guessed, having seen the point of the joke.
‘That’s about the size of it, Bob,’ Tragg agreed. ‘Colin and Paddy figure it was done as a result of those two horny sons-of-bitches having got a couple of girls pregnant while they were still playing the burlesque houses. That would explain why the man who did most of the talking called them, “the Wisenheimer and the Dummy” instead of by their names. Anyways, I told Paddy and Colin to see happen they can cut those fellers sign after they’ve seen the prisoners safe to Texarkana.’
‘I’d like to say I hope they’re successful. But, after what those two lying bastards did in my court, I can't,’ McCrindle drawled, knowing that the delay in commencing the investigation would reduce the chances of its success and feeling sure the point had not escaped the Major. Instead of raising the matter, he elected to change the subject and went on, ‘Did Butch Cope say what he was doing at the Brendon Hotel, Jubal, or who put him down?’
‘Reckons he just went there to sort of keep an eye on the gal’s daddy, “Your Honor-ably”,’ Branch replied. ‘He allows he didn’t see whoever it was whomped him over his pumpkin head, nor knows anything ’tween then and when he come ’round in the jailhouse.’
‘His pockets had been turned out when Dave and I came on him, Judge,’ Giradot supplemented. ‘We found his wallet by him, empty. All his money, even the small change he’d got in his pockets, had been taken along with his watch and jewelry.’
‘God damn it!’ McCrindle protested indignantly. ‘We don’t have that sort of thing happen in Marlin!’
‘You’ve never had the town so close to bursting at the seams with strangers, or so many of the municipal and county peace officers concentrated in one small area, either,’ Tragg reminded the judge. ‘Even so, what happened could have been done that way to make it look like it was no more than an ordinary robbery.’
‘You mean that Simeon Oakes could have figured Cope would be around and made it look that way after taking him out?’ McCrindle guessed. ‘What do you think of that, Jubal?’
‘It’s mighty smart figuring, “your Honor-ably”, but there’s just one lil thing wrong with it,’ the elderly sergeant answered, sounding almost apologetic over having to demolish the theory of a leading light in the legal profession. ‘I saw Butch across the street from the hotel, just afore I went up to make sure Mr. Oakes didn’t have the notion to stop “Handi-some Phil” feeling so happy over having been found “hinner-cerent”. Which means he’s got him a pretty fair “ally-bical”, was I asked.’
‘It would certainly hold up in a court of law,’ the judge assessed in his most judicial fashion.
The sound of a car approaching brought the conversation to a halt. It was stopped in front of the building. As everybody in the room looked around, footsteps came from the vehicle and crossed the porch.
‘Saludos, amigos, ’ greeted Sergeant Carlos Franco, coming through the front door. ‘Benny and Dutchy called from Jonestown, Major. They got Foote there safely and with no trouble along the way.’
‘Bueno,’ Tragg ejaculated. ‘Did they say whether the Warden had taken the precautions I suggested?’
‘Si,’ the Chicano 58 peace officer confirmed. ‘They said he went along with them all the way.’
‘That’s the best news I’ve had for a spell!’ the Major declared. ‘Thank god something has gone right!’
Thirteen – They Never Put a Foot Wrong
‘HEY, in there! How about one of you gentlemen showing some of your Southron gallantry by helping me fetch in the coffee and cookies?’
The request, which was made in a feminine voice with the accent of one who had been born and raised in the better class society of New England, came from the kitchen of the hunting cabin. It prevented anybody from commenting upon the statement made by Major Benson Tragg with regard to the information he had just received.
‘Like I told you before you started, Rita,’ Sergeant Ranse Smith replied, standing up. ‘All you have to do is ask.’
The young woman who entered the dining-room a few seconds later was very attractive, with a graceful carriage. There was a healthy glow to her tanned face indicative of much time spent out of doors, engaged in active pursuits. While her reddish-brown hair was cut in a fashionably short, curly and tousled looking, windblown bob, she clearly paid little attention to the current trend for the feminine figure. The thick white woolen turtleneck sweater, the kind of riding breeches known as jodhpurs and suede chukka boots covered a well-developed and curvaceous body which was far from being
boyish in its contours. On the arrival of Judge Robert J. McCrindle at the cabin, she had been introduced by the Major as “Miss Rita Yarborough”, but no explanation of her presence was given or requested.
‘Do you know something, Jubal, Ben?’ the judge remarked, as he went to his car accompanied by Tragg and Sergeant Branch after having partaken of refreshments and talked for a short while longer about the events of the day. ‘Although I shouldn't be saying it, I won’t exactly lie awake at nights feeling sorry for Mervyn, his clerk, Cope, Chiverton or Schulman, happen whoever rough-handled them isn’t caught. But it’s that son-of-a-bitch, Foote, who sticks deepest in my craw. There’s no doubt in my mind that, despite the verdict the jury had to bring in on the “evidence” they were given, he’s guiltier than all hell.’
‘Nor in mine, Bob,’ the major admitted and the elderly peace officer signified concurrence with a vigorous nod. ‘In fact, Schulman came close to admitting they’d committed perjury before Chiverton made him stop speaking.’
‘Even being able to prove they’d lied under oath couldn’t change things as far as Foote’s concerned,’ the judge growled, bitterly and regretfully. ‘He’s had his day in court on the charges that were brought and he can’t be fetched back to face them again now the verdict’s been delivered. Sure, I know it’ll be jail and not just a fine for the bootlegging he was supposed to be doing on the night he raped and killed that young girl, but he’ll still be getting off too god-damned lightly.’
‘That’s the law of the land, Bob,’ Tragg said quietly. ‘And, although I’d be the last to say there’s any fool-proof way to change it and still give a square deal to the genuinely innocent, it can be twisted so many ways to save the guiltier-than-hell as well as protecting them.’
‘Like you say, Ben, that’s the law of the land,’ McCrindle conceded, going to sit behind the steering wheel of his car. ‘Anyways, the best of luck to you with this new Company you’ve formed.’ His gaze flickered to Branch and a smile came to his lips as he continued dryly, ‘Not that you’ll be needing too much luck, with the kind of men you’ve been given. Let
me know how things go, will you, happen I don’t see you again before you pull out?’
‘I’ll do just that, Bob,’ Tragg promised. ‘And thanks for everything.’
‘Just how much does “His Honor-ably” know, Maj’?’ the elderly sergeant inquired, watching the rear lights of the judge’s vehicle departing along the narrow trail which connected the cabin with the main road to Marlin.
‘No more than most other people, although he’s guessed there’s something more to the Company,’ Tragg replied. ‘He came out here to make sure that, should he be asked about what’s been happening today, he’ll have the right answers.’
‘We need more around like him,’ Branch praised. ‘Only, could be he’ll start putting two and two together should we go through with it.’
‘Could be, but I reckon we can count on him to keep whatever he figures to himself,’ the Major asserted with complete assurance. ‘Anyways, we’re going ahead with it regardless. That’s why Company “Z’s” been formed. I only wish we didn’t have to throw so much on young Alvin and Mark.’
‘You-all can count on them like you can on us old hands, Maj’,’ Branch declared, showing just as much confidence. ‘They never put a foot wrong on the chores they’ve handled so far, same’s young Ranse ‘n’ Miz Rita.’
