Shootout of the Mountain Man

by William W. Johnstone

“Objection overruled. He has every right to fire you, and every right to defend himself.”

  “Thank you, Your Honor,” Bobby Lee said.

  “Don’t thank me, young man,” Judge Briggs said. “I fear you have chosen an impossible task for yourself. You may present your case.”

  Bobby Lee held out his hands. “Could I have these handcuffs removed? ”

  “Remove the handcuffs, but keep the shackles on his ankles,” the judge said.

  The sheriff walked over to the defendant’s table and removed the handcuffs. Bobby Lee stood, and rubbed his wrists for a few seconds before he began to speak.

  “Your Honor, I was not a member of Frank Dodd’s gang,” Bobby Lee said. “I am an employee of the Western Capital Security Agency, and I had infiltrated his gang not for any personal gain, but for the sole purpose of setting a trap for him. That’s why I sent a letter to Sheriff Wallace, explaining what I was doing, providing him with information as to the date and time of the holdup—Wednesday, July twentieth, at ten-thirty, and the place, which was the watering tower ten miles south of Lone City. In that same letter, I asked him to be in the car with his deputies in order to facilitate the arrest of Dodd and his confederates.”

  “Objection, Your Honor,” Roswell called. “The letter is not in evidence.”

  “Can you produce the letter, Mr. Cabot?” Judge Briggs asked.

  “No, sir. I sent the letter to Sheriff Wallace, so I don’t have it. But I can prove that I sent it.”

  “How can you prove it?”

  “I would like to call as my first witness Minnie Smith. I told her about the letter.”

  “Objection, Your Honor,” Roswell called. “That would be hearsay. ”

  “Sustained. You cannot call Miss Smith.”

  “Then I would like to call Dr. Baker to the stand.”

  “Did Dr. Baker actually see you mail the letter?” Judge Briggs asked.

  “No, sir, he didn’t see me mail the letter, but I told him that I was going to mail the letter. And I told him before I sent it.”

  “Objection,” Roswell called.

  “Sustained.”

  “May I call Nate Nabors?” Bobby Lee asked, his voice almost pleading.

  “Are you calling Mr. Nabors as a character or a material witness?” Judge Briggs asked.

  “I’m not sure I understand the difference.”

  “A character witness will testify as to your character,” Judge Briggs explained. “He will tell what a fine upstanding citizen you are, when you are not murdering Western Capital Security Agency messengers.”

  The gallery laughed, and Bobby Lee fumed, knowing that the joke and the laughter were at his expense.

  “A material witness’s testimony will provide testimony that provides direct evidence pertaining to the case.”

  “In that case, Your Honor, Mr. Nabors is a material witness.”

  “You may call him.”

  “Nate?” Bobby Lee called.

  “Your Honor, may I inquire if the defendant is going to ask the witness about the supposed letter?”

  “Are you going to ask about the letter?” Judge Briggs asked.

  “Your Honor, I told Mr. Nabors about the letter.”

  “Did you show him the letter? Did he see you mail it?”

  “No, Your Honor.”

  “Your Honor, I object to this witness.”

  “Objection sustained. You may not call the witness, Mr. Cabot.”

  “Your Honor,” Bobby Lee said in obvious frustration. “If you won’t let me call any witnesses, then I don’t know how I’m going to prove that I sent that letter.”

  “If the only witnesses you have are people that you told about the letter, then their testimony would be considered hearsay and is not admissible,” the judge said. “Have you anything else to offer in your defense?”

  “Wait a minute,” Bobby Lee said. “What about Fred Welch?”

  “Who is Fred Welch?”

  “I am Fred Welch, Your Honor,” a man said. He was sitting in the gallery.

  “Mr. Cabot, what is Mr. Welch’s relationship to this case?”

  “He is the postman, Your Honor. He delivered the letter.”

  “Is that right, Mr. Welch?” the judge asked. “Did you deliver the letter in question?”

  “I don’t know,” Welch replied.

  “You don’t know?”

  “Your Honor, I deliver hundreds of pieces of mail every day,” Welch said. “And I deliver a lot of mail to the sheriff. I don’t ever notice who the mail is from, only where it is going. It could be that I delivered the letter that Mr. Cabot is talking about, but if I did, I don’t remember it.”

  “Your Honor, if this witness cannot support the defendant’s claim as to the delivery of the letter, then I see no merit to his being called,” Roswell said.

  “I agree, Mr. Roswell,” Judge Briggs said. “Defense move to call Fred Welch as a witness is denied.”

  “Your Honor, you have not let me call any witnesses at all,” Bobby Lee said.

  “That’s because you have not presented a witness who is material to the case,” Judge Briggs said. “Now, I will ask you again. Have you anything further to present in your defense?”

  Bobby Lee shook his head. “Only that I didn’t do it. I mean, yes, sir, I was there, but like I say, I was there trying to catch the Frank Dodd gang. And if Sheriff Wallace had done what I asked him to do in the letter, if he had been there like he was supposed to, then more than likely Mr. Fletcher would still be alive, and Dodd and the others with him would be in jail.”

  “Objection, Your Honor,” Roswell said. “As the letter is not in evidence, it cannot again be mentioned, either in presentation or summary.”

  “Sustained. Do you understand what that means, Mr. Cabot?” Briggs asked.

  “I’m not sure that I do understand, Judge.”

  “It means that this letter, whether real or supposed, is of no use to you in your defense. You may not mention it again. Do you understand it now?”

  “Yes, sir. Uh, yes, Your Honor.”

  “Do you have anything else to present in your defense?”

  “No, Your Honor.”

  “Very well. Mr. Roswell, make your case,” the judge said.

  “Your Honor, prosecution calls Sheriff Herman Wallace to the stand,” Roswell said.

  “Sheriff Wallace, take the stand, please,” Judge Briggs said.

  Wallace stood, hiked up his trousers, then walked to the front of the courtroom. After he was sworn in, he took the stand, which was a chair next to the table Judge Briggs was using as his bench. Wallace was so big that once he sat down, none of the chair could be seen. As a result, it almost looked as if he were just squatting in the front of the room, and for some reason, despite the severity of the moment, Bobby Lee found the picture funny. He laughed out loud.

  “Do you find these proceedings funny, Mr. Cabot?” Judge Briggs asked sharply.

  “No, Your Honor,” Bobby Lee replied.

  “Then please display the proper decorum in my courtroom.”

  “Yes, Your Honor.”

  “Counselor, you may continue with your direct,” Judge Briggs said.

  “Thank you, Your Honor,” Roswell said. He then turned his attention to his witness.

  “Sheriff Wallace, defense claims that the two of you were working together. He further claims that he provided you with all the information as to time and place regarding the robbery, and that you were to secrete yourself in the express car for the purpose of arresting Dodd when the robbery was attempted. Are any of those claims true?”

  “No, they are not,” Wallace replied forcefully.

  “Let’s dismiss this subject of a letter once and for all. Did you receive a letter from the defendant, outlining all or any of these proposals?”

  “I did not.”

  “Would you have acted if you had received such a letter?”

  “Absolutely,” Wallace said. “For the opportunity to take out the Dod
d gang, I would have done anything necessary. But I never received such a letter.”

  “Do you know Minnie Smith, the person that Cabot attempted to call on his behalf?”

  “I know who she is, yes.”

  “Assuming the judge had allowed her to testify, would her testimony have been credible?”

  “I doubt it,” Wallace replied.

  “Why not?”

  “Miss Smith is—uh—I don’t like to say it in mixed company.”

  “Come, now, Sheriff. We are all adults and we bear a serious responsibility with this trial. So I ask you again. Why do you feel that Miss Smith’s testimony would not be credible?”

  “She is a—soiled dove.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “She is a whore,” Wallace said.

  Roswell nodded, then looked toward the young woman who was sitting in the front row. “Is her profession the only reason you would find her testimony untrustworthy?”

  “No, sir. Like all whores, I suppose, she has her favorite. And for reasons unbeknownst to me, Bobby Lee Cabot seems to be that one, though what she sees in him, I’ll never know.”

  The gallery laughed.

  “I object!” Bobby Lee shouted.

  “What is your objection, Mr. Cabot?” Judge Briggs asked.

  “I object to them calling Miss Smith a whore.”

  Again the gallery laughed, and Judge Briggs made use of his gavel. When the laughter stopped, he looked over at Bobby Lee. “I am going to accept your objection, Mr. Cabot, but not for the reason you stated. It had already been ruled that Miss Smith cannot testify. Therefore any reference to her in any way will not be allowed.” Briggs turned toward the jury. “Please disregard everything you have heard about Miss Smith’s reliability as a witness, as she will not be a witness.” He then addressed Roswell. “And Counselor, if you introduce her again during the course of these proceedings, I will hold you in contempt. Do you understand me, sir?”

  “I do, Your Honor.”

  “You may continue with your direct.”

  “Thank you, Sheriff. No further questions.” Roswell turned toward Bobby Lee. “Your witness,” he said.

  Bobby Lee made no reply.

  “Mr. Cabot, do you wish to cross-examine this witness?” the judge asked.

  “I beg your pardon, Your Honor?”

  Judge Briggs sighed, then stroked his chin. “Do you wish to ask this witness any questions?”

  “Yes, Your Honor.”

  “Then now is the time to do so,” Briggs said.

  Bobby Lee walked over to stand near the sheriff. “Sheriff, when those people from the train brought me in to you as their prisoner, did one of the men who had been guarding me tell you that during the night he had fallen asleep, and that I had loosened my bonds and took possession of his pistol?”

  “Yes.”

  “And did that same man tell you that when he awoke the next morning, I returned the pistol?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you not think that if I were truly guilty, I would have escaped during the night?”

  “The train was running,” Sheriff Wallace said.

  “Has no one ever jumped from a running train before?”

  “I suppose they have.”

  “Don’t you think that the reason I did not try to escape was because I knew I was innocent, and I believed you would back me up?”

  “No. I think you just wanted to try and fool the guard into believing you were innocent.”

  “What would be the advantage of that? He had no authority to clear my name. Only you have that authority.”

  “I don’t know what you mean?”

  “Yes, you do, Sheriff. You knew what we had planned. Don’t you think I had every reason to believe that you would let me go?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe you were crazy.”

  There was more laughter from the gallery, and again, the judge gaveled them quiet.

  “Sheriff, did I not tell you when we returned to the jail that I was surprised that you weren’t in the express car? Did my letter not ask you to do that?”

  “Look here, I never got this letter you are talking about,” Wallace said, pointing at Bobby Lee.

  “Objection, Your Honor, this supposed letter has already been dealt with,” Roswell shouted.

  “Your Honor, you said the others couldn’t testify because I had only told them about the letter,” Bobby Lee said quickly. “The sheriff is the person I sent the letter to. If I did send it, and he denies it, then he is lying under oath, and isn’t that called perjury?”

  Briggs thought for a moment, then he nodded. “It is indeed called perjury, Mr. Cabot. Prosecution’s objection is overruled. You may continue.”

  “Thank you, Your Honor. Sheriff Wallace, knowing that you are under oath, I ask you again. Did you receive the letter I sent?”

  “No.”

  “Without regard to the letter, in conversation did I or did I not tell you that I had joined Dodd’s gang for the purposes of setting a trap for him, and that I wanted you and your deputies to be in the express car?”

  “I don’t recall any such conversation.”

  “You are denying that we spoke about this, and you are denying that you received a letter from me.”

  “Objection, Your Honor, questions have been asked and answered.”

  “Sustained. Counselor, I believe you have taken this line of questioning about as far as you can take it,” Judge Briggs said. “Do you have any questions of a different line?”

  Dejectedly, Bobby Lee shook his head. “No, sir, Your Honor. ”

  “Redirect, Mr. Prosecutor?”

  “No, Your Honor.”

  “Do you have any further witnesses, Mr. Roswell?” Judge Briggs asked.

  “I have no further witnesses, Your Honor, but I do have a letter from the WCSA that I would like to read into the court records as evidence,” Ray Roswell said.

  “And the WCSA is?”

  “The Western Capital Security Agency, Your Honor. It is the private detective group for which Bobby Lee Cabot claims he was working undercover.”

  “You may read the letter,” Judge Briggs said.

  Roswell cleared his throat, then began to read aloud.

  “The Western Capital Security Agency has no record of recommending that Mr. Cabot associate himself with the outlaw Frank Dodd. On the contrary, we would strongly oppose such an idea. If Mr. Cabot was functioning as a part of the Dodd gang, it was for reasons of his own, and not for any type of investigative operation.”

  There was a collective gasp from the gallery.

  “Hell, that proves it right there!” someone shouted. “No need to go on any further with this trial! Hang the son of a bitch!”

  “Quiet! Quiet in the court! “ Judge Briggs said, making aggressive use of his gavel.

  “Your Honor, that doesn’t prove anything!” Bobby Lee shouted. “I didn’t tell the agency that I was doing this.”

  “Are you putting that in the form of an objection, Mr. Cabot?” Judge Briggs asked.

  “An objection, yeah. Uh, I mean, yes, sir, Your Honor. ”

  “Objection overruled.” Judge Briggs looked at Roswell. “You may continue, Counselor.”

  “Yes, Your Honor. I would like to point out to the jury that because of Cabot’s connection with the Western Capital Security Agency, he would know all the schedules, and he would know which trains would be carrying large amounts of money. This would make him a valuable asset to someone like Frank Dodd. And with that, prosecution rests.”

  “Thank you. Summation, Mr. Cabot?”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “This is where you make your final appeal to the jury.”

  Bobby Lee didn’t even stand. Instead, he looked directly at the jury. “I can’t prove that I’m innocent, because neither Miss Smith nor Doc Baker nor Nate Nabors could stand up here and tell you what I told them about the letter, and Sheriff Wallace, who was the only witness I spoke to, lied. Also, I know
that the letter from the WCSA makes it look bad for me, but everything I said is true. I worked my way into the Dodd gang so I could set it up for the sheriff to capture them in the act. Only, the sheriff wasn’t there, so nothing went the way it was supposed to. So here I am, on trial for my life, and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it except tell you that I’m not guilty.”

  “Mr. Roswell, your summation?”

  Taking his cue from Bobby Lee, Roswell didn’t stand either.

  “Gentlemen of the jury, I believe my case has been made,” he said. “All you have to do is consider the facts in evidence. I am confident you will come up with the verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree.”

  After the judge charged the jury, the twelve men retired to one of the other rooms of the hotel to consider. It took but ten minutes for them to return a verdict of guilty.

  “Will the defendant stand before the bench, please? Mr. Reid, approach with him.”

  “He fired me, Your Honor,” Reid replied.

  “Nevertheless, you are the court-appointed attorney of record. I don’t want any technicalities coming up after the fact. Please approach with him.”

  “Yes, Your Honor.”

  “Bobby Lee Cabot, you have been found guilty as charged. It is therefore the order of this court that a gallows be built sufficient to provide the mechanism needed to extinguish your life by hanging, said event to take place on the thirty-first of this month. May God have mercy on your soul. Sheriff, remove the prisoner.”

  “No! “ a woman shouted out loud.

  “Bailiff, remove that woman from my court,” Judge Briggs ordered.

  As the sheriff put the cuffs back on Bobby Lee, he saw one of the sheriff’s deputies escort a weeping Minnie Smith from the hotel ballroom cum courtroom.

  “I’ll come see you, Bobby Lee. I promise, I’ll come see you!” Minnie shouted.

  “Bake him a cake, Minnie! Bake him a cake and put a file in it!” someone called, and to the raucous laughter of all in the court, Bobby Lee was removed and taken back to the jail.

  Chapter Four

  Smoke stood looking at the baby in the cradle. He reached down and pulled away the cover so he could see the baby’s feet. Then he reached down to play with the baby’s toes. The baby smiled up at him. He heard a soft laugh behind him.