Close Call

by Clinton Spurr

“He was in on that card game the night Beutel was killed,” Lassiter retorted, his eyes narrowing as his thoughts returned to the fateful event. “Him and me never did hit it off together! He always figured he was better than me, but nothing he ever did proved it.”

  “He’s a jealous man, and that kind have to be watched. But could it have been Yancey who swore that you drew first, Dane?” Logan was still worrying around the subject, like a dog trying to get at a bone just out of its reach.

  “Did you talk to him after I quit the range?” Lassiter demanded.

  “We sure did!” Shirlton shook his head. “He was emphatic about not seeing what happened.”

  “I don’t get this at all,” Lassiter retorted. “There were half a dozen of us at the table, and Beutel had been niggling at me most of the evening. It was obvious to anyone that he was trying to get me upset. The others sat there playing and watching. A man would have to be blind to have missed the drift of it.”

  “There’s none so blind as them that won’t see,” Logan said thinly. “Mebbe we should get to work on some of those men, Dane. I guess a little scaring and some straight talking might get them to see things in a different light.”

  “I reckon they’ve all made statements to the law,” Lassiter said. “At the time they reckoned I had nothing to fear! They told me that, but between the time of telling me and talking to the sheriff, someone changed his mind.”

  “So what happens now?” Shirlton twisted in his saddle and looked around. “We can’t sit here talking. We’ve got to find a place where we can hide out, Dane. You know what’s gonna happen soon as Boswell hits town, huh?”

  “Yeah! He’ll turn out every able bodied man he can, and they’ll be scouring the range for us.” Lassiter smiled harshly. There was no mirth in his face. “So I reckon the safest place for us will be Pommel, huh?”

  “I’m ready to ride in if you are,” Logan said. “But we’re gonna find ourselves up against the law before this is done. What will we do then?”

  “I want you two to stay out of trouble,” Lassiter said. “I mean that. If the law gets me I’m gonna hang, but that needn’t happen to you two. If there’s gonna be some trouble then I’ll do the shooting. I guess they can’t hang me twice, huh?”

  They chuckled harshly, and Lassiter looked into the faces of both men. He had known Charlie Logan for as long as he could remember, and Pete Shirlton had worked on Cross L ever since the day he left school a dozen years before. They were good men, dependable and very reliable. He knew they would follow him into hell now, but he didn’t want their blood on his hands. He wished he could have ridden on alone, but did not suggest it for he knew they would be offended.

  “Let’s get going,” Logan said. “You work out some plans, Dane, and we’ll help you push them through. Someone around this county knows what’s going on, and the sooner we drop on to him and get at the truth the better for all concerned, huh?”

  “That’s how I see it,” Lassiter said. “But don’t get any false ideas about this. It’s gonna be tough, and dangerous.”

  “I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Shirlton said, his face creasing into a hard smile. His brown eyes were bright and fierce. “Someone’s been making deep plans, and you’ve got a murder label stuck on you and your father is dead. We’ve surely got to do something about that, Dane.”

  “Amen!” Charlie Logan concluded.

  They rode on in the direction of town, and although they watched the ground in front of them they didn’t see Hank Boswell again. They neared Pommel, and Lassiter suggested that they circle and approach from another direction. Night was closing on them now, and the sky was darkening, crimson and purple. They began to circle, and had barely left the trail when a bunch of riders appeared from the direction of town and went galloping along the trail towards Cross L. They pulled into cover, staring at the shadowy figures, listening to the thundering hoofs, waiting until the ominous sound had almost faded before moving on again.

  “That looked like half the men from town,” Logan retorted. “Cuts the odds down considerably, I’d say, Dane.”

  “Yeah. It’ll be the other half we’ve got to worry about,” Lassiter said. “But I figure some of them will have gone out in the other direction.”

  “They ain’t gonna get far tonight,” Shirlton pointed out. “I reckon they’re hoping they’re gonna get lucky. If they can get us quick they’ll have it over and done with, but if they fail to find us immediately then they know they’re in for a long chore.”

  “They won’t take me alive,” Lassiter said thinly. “I don’t have a hope in hell of beating this rap if they get me in jail. I guess I’d rather go down shooting than submit to having a rope tied around my neck.”

  “Let’s look on the bright side, huh?” Logan demanded. “We’d better push on to town before that bunch turns around and comes back. I reckon they’ll soon get tired of looking for us. You got anything in mind yet, Dane?”

  “Yeah!” Lassiter nodded slowly as he spoke. “I figure to talk to the men I played cards with the night I killed Beutel. I also want to have a word with the Judge, or his daughter. I mean to find out who put the finger on me. If we can unearth him we have a chance of making him tell us why he lied. Mebbe a lot of other things will come out at the same time.”

  “Now you’re talking,” Logan said. “Don’t forget that whoever tied you in with murder also arranged for your father to be killed. Two of you in one family with the deadwood on him! They used Beutel to get you out of the way, and they used him again to get rid of your father. Someone is playing for high stakes, I’d say!”

  “I like playing for high stakes myself,” Pete Shirlton retorted. “Let’s sit down at the table and start the game, huh?”

  They went on, and full darkness had fallen by the time they reached Pommel. Lassiter looked around as they reined up on the outskirts, and his lips were a thin line in his face as he recalled the last time he’d been here. He had killed Buck Beutel!

  “We’d better leave our horses outside of town and walk in,” Logan said hoarsely. “What you plan on doing first, Dane?”

  “It’s gonna be difficult for me to see Paula Hendrik without letting the Judge see me,” Lassiter replied. “But I reckon I better try to see her first.”

  “Okay, we’ll cover you while you’re getting to see her,” Shirlton said.

  They left their horses and walked through the shadows towards the main street. Lassiter felt emotional as he looked around. He was tied up inside, unable to think freely. He was shocked by the discovery that his father was dead. He was bitter about the way his brother had received him. Together they would have had a better chance of getting to the bottom of the trouble. Alone he was hindered by the fact that the law had branded him murderer.

  When they reached the Judge’s house, Lassiter paused and looked around. The town seemed quiet, but he knew appearances could be deceptive. He figured the first thing the sheriff would do on learning of his return would be to put a watch on his sister Mary. He had no intention of looking up Mary, and he figured he was safe enough trying to see Paula Hendrik.

  “We’ll be on hand if you need any help,” Logan whispered hoarsely. “What you gonna do, Dane? Do you plan on knocking at the front door?”

  Lassiter shook his head as he looked at the dark shape of the Judge’s house. There were lights in some of the ground floor windows, and a light burned in an upper room. He reckoned the Judge was dressing for supper at around this time, and he knew he had to take a chance on seeing Paula alone.

  “Leave it to me, but if there is an outcry of any kind then beat it for the horses and pull out,” he retorted. “If we do get split up for any reason then we better arrange to meet some place well out of town.”

  “The fork in the trail by Reed’s Cross,” Logan said instantly, and Lassiter showed his teeth in a tight grin as he nodded at the pale ovals that were their faces.

  “Okay, and keep your fingers crossed for me,” he whispered hoarsely.
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  He moved towards the house, and when he glanced back there was no sign of Shirlton and Logan. Both men had vanished into the shadows like ghosts. Lassiter turned his attention to his own business, and went close to the dining room. He knew the Judge’s house quite well from the times he’d visited Paula in the past, and there was a chance that he had a few minutes before the old man followed his strict routine.

  There was no way of looking into the room, and Lassiter moved around to the back, finding a light in the kitchen, and when he peered through the window he saw old Mrs Annan busy at the stove. The old lady had been a friend of his in the past, but he didn’t know how she would receive him after what had happened. He hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath. He would accomplish nothing by hanging back. He had to take the bull by the horns and do what he could before anyone realized what he was up to.

  He tried the kitchen door and it opened to his touch. There was something like a prayer in his mind as he pushed the door wide and entered. For a moment he stood looking at the old lady who had been the Judge’s housekeeper for as long as he could remember, and then he called her name.

  She started at the sound of his voice, then turned surprisingly quickly to peer at him. She was in her sixties, a tall, thin woman with small spectacles perched on her long nose. He watched her face intently, wondering at her degree of shock, and was surprised when she smiled.

  “Ah!” she said. “So you’re back, Dane! Well it hasn’t taken you long to find out where your friends are, has it? Close the door and come and stand in this corner where you won’t be seen from outside. I’ll go and fetch the Judge!”

  “The Judge!” He was startled. “I don’t want to see the Judge, Mrs Annan. He’d have me arrested out of hand. I want to see Paula! I guess she’ll be the only one to help me, if she can!”

  “If that’s what you think, you can turn around and get out of here as fast as your legs will carry you,” the old housekeeper retorted. “The sheriff has been in here tonight for warrants for your two friends Logan and

  Shirlton. The Judge has to obey the letter of the law, but you could do worse than listen to what he can tell you. I will fetch him if you think it’s worth the risk!”

  “What have I got to lose?” Lassiter demanded wryly. “It’s only my neck. But you wouldn’t sell me out, Mrs Annan! If I can’t trust the Judge, I know I can trust you. Okay, so you go and let the Judge know I’m here.”

  She smiled and turned to leave the room, and Lassiter eased his gun in its holster. He was jumping into this feet first, but then he had always been a reckless man. He meant to get to the bottom of the trouble that had caused his father’s death, and the quicker the better, even if the quicker way was more dangerous! He waited stolidly, tense and anxious. But he had to go through with this. He had no other way of trying to get at the buried truth.

  When he heard footsteps approaching the kitchen door, he let his hand rest on the butt of his deadly .45. The door opened and a man came in, peering around, and Lassiter saw a law star pinned to the man’s green silk shirt. His gun leaped into his hand as the lawman halted in some surprise, and his finger trembled on the trigger as he wondered what kind of a sell-out he’d got from the housekeeper.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “WHO ARE you?” the deputy demanded, narrowing his pale eyes as he took in Lassiter’s menacing pose, the levelled gun that had appeared as if by magic in Lassiter’s right hand. He was a young man, around Lassiter’s age, and he was a stranger to Lassiter, who was wondering why there should be two new deputies in the space of eight months.

  “Who are you?” Lassiter countered. “I’ve got the gun so I’ll ask the questions.”

  “The name is Snap Wyman. I’m a deputy hereabouts. But you’re a stranger to me. What are you doing in the Judge’s kitchen, with a gun in your hand?”

  “I’m trying to stay out of jail,” Lassiter retorted, “what else? What are you doing in here yourself, without a hat and not wearing a gun?”

  “I’m here to have supper with the Judge and his daughter.”

  “Ain’t you supposed to be on duty?”

  “We don’t stay on duty twenty-four hours every day.”

  “Surely the sheriff would need you with that posse out of town.”

  “They’re after a man called Lassiter!” Wyman narrowed his eyes, then smiled thinly. “I get it,” he went on, nodding. “You’re Lassiter!”

  “You’re sharp, but it won’t do you any good. Just keep your hands up, huh? I don’t want to have to kill you.”

  “From what I’ve heard about you, I don’t figure you’re the type to shoot an unarmed man,” came the smooth reply.

  “Who have you been talking to?” Lassiter demanded.

  “Paula! She’s told me a lot about you, especially in the past few days, after your father was killed. Say, you know about that, don’t you?”

  “I found out about it,” Lassiter agreed. “Who killed him?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You’re the law! What have you done about finding the killer?”

  “I don’t handle the law around here. The sheriff is the man who gives the orders. I just make sure the law is carried out.”

  “Is that so? How come they took you on the law here? You don’t look like the type to work in with Boswell or Milton.”

  “So you’ve met Boswell, huh?” Wyman smiled. He was tall and thin, and despite the fact that his face was tanned by the sun, he didn’t look healthy. “I guess after meeting Boswell you would think I’m a little different. But I’m the Judge’s nephew, Lassiter, and I took the law badge because the Judge wanted someone to keep an eye on the local law. I’m afraid I haven’t been able to do much, but I do have a sobering effect on the sheriff and Boswell. They can’t run wild while I’m around, and the sheriff keeps me on at his department because he doesn’t want to come out openly against the Judge.”

  Lassiter thought about it, and didn’t know what to make of it. But this man didn’t sound as if he were helping the law department in whatever was going on. If he was the Judge’s nephew then he could be on the level.

  Footsteps sounded outside once more, and Lassiter tightened his grip on his gun. The next moment Mrs Annan appeared, and she tensed when she saw Wyman.

  “Snap, you shouldn’t have come in here,” she reproved gently.

  “Sorry,” he retorted. “You want me to go back to Paula and forget what I’ve seen?”

  “What kind of a lawman are you to be able to forget you’ve seen a murderer?” Lassiter demanded.

  “I have complete trust in my Uncle,” came the swift reply. “If the Judge is gonna see you without shouting for a sheriff then I can accept that he’s trying to do something for the law, if in a roundabout way.”

  Lassiter took a deep breath. He was in no mood to trust anyone. He glanced at the housekeeper.

  “You told the Judge I’m here?” he demanded.

  “Sure, and he wants to see you in his study.” Mrs Annan’s eyes gleamed for a moment. “Snap will show you where the study is if you have forgotten.”

  “I haven’t forgotten,” Lassiter said thinly. He glanced at the deputy. “You better go along with me so I can keep an eye on you.”

  “Sure thing, only don’t get nervous and accidentally pull that trigger.”

  “I never have accidents with guns,” Lassiter assured him. “If this .45 goes off then it’ll be because I want it to.”

  “I heard a lot about your gunskill,” Wyman said, turning and departing from the kitchen, and Lassiter followed him closely.

  The deputy tapped at the door of the Judge’s study, and then entered.

  “Dane Lassiter, Judge,” he said, as Lassiter followed him into the room.

  Lassiter lowered his gun as he saw the Judge, and he stared into the old man’s piercing blue eyes. Hendrik was sixty, tall and thin, gaunt-faced and healthy. He stared at Lassiter for a moment, then got slowly to his feet from the chair behind the desk.

&
nbsp; “Come in, Dane,” he said slowly. “I see you’ve met my nephew. He’s a deputy! Is that the reason for your gun? Well put it away. You’re amongst friends here.”

  “This is a strange way for a Judge to talk,” Lassiter said softly. “You signed the warrant for my arrest on murder, didn’t you?”

  “I follow the law,” came the stern reply. “But at the same time I interpret the facts, and I’m convinced there would be a miscarriage of justice if you were to stand trial and die for murder. If you are arrested you would come before me and be judged on the facts that were presented. My hands would be tied against helping you in any way. That is the strength and the weakness of the law. So bear in mind that if you are arrested then I can do nothing to help you. But if you manage to stay free then I may be able to help.”

  “Why should you?” Lassiter asked.

  The Judge smiled and shook his head. “My daughter is a great friend of yours, and I’ve listened at great length to her arguments against your guilt. She has convinced me that the sheriff is trying to pervert the court of justice in your case. I’ve done what I can to get at the truth, hoping that you would remain away long enough for us to make some progress, but these past eight months have been barren as far as gaining knowledge is concerned. Even Snap here has been unable to leam anything.”

  Lassiter glanced at Wyman, and slowly holstered his gun. The deputy smiled and lowered his hands. Judge Hendrik motioned to a chair.

  “Sit down, Dane, and let me ask you some questions. This is the first opportunity I’ve had to do so. Paula has asked a lot of questions around the town and the county, and I’ve done some work on my own accord, but to no avail. However, there are certain facts in this business that do not stand up to question, and before I decide whether it will be safe for you to stand trial and be acquitted, I’ve got to know a little more about the night Beutel died.”

  Lassiter sat down, his face taut with anticipation.

  “I guess you’ve heard the evidence the sheriff has collected,” he said.

  “I certainly have; too many times, but there are some aspects of the prosecution’s case that don’t hold water when examined closely. I wouldn’t dare advise you to put yourself on the stand and hope that the prosecution will fail to prove their case against you. I think Sheriff Milton would go to any lengths to get the proof he needs. I think we have to keep you out of court until we have the evidence you need to prove your innocence.”