Outlaw Country

by A. T. Butler

  Lowry grinned. “Yeah, I can imagine. Do you think you’d recognize it again if you saw it?”

  “Aye. ’Twas unique enough. Long and narrow. Looked more like a letter opener than a knife, I’m thinking. But the handle had a few decorative stones in it.”

  Jacob and Lowry exchanged a look, but neither gave anything more away to the bartender. The fewer people that knew the details of the murder the better, but the fact that the man seemed to have been killed by his own weapon opened up another big line of questioning.

  “When was this?” Jacob asked. “And who was he threatening?”

  “Just a couple days ago, I’m thinking. No more than three. I didn’t recognize the man he was speaking to but he’s been around since then. Blond fella, mustache. Otherwise unremarkable.”

  Jacob stopped him. “Did he happen to be wearing green boots?”

  Mickey nodded as he stepped away to answer an order from another patron.

  “You know who he means, Payne?”

  “Yeah. Could be. Just earlier tonight in the saloon I spotted a couple strangers watching Timson. One matches this description. The other matches the one Bonnie gave us of a stranger Timson fought with. Sounds like he was making enemies in every direction.”

  “Could he have been targeted? This team or pair or whoever they are following him from whatever town he was in last?”

  “Maybe. I only was able to watch them a couple moments, but I’m not sure they were together. It might just be a coincidence. It might just be that Timson is a target wherever he goes. Seems everyone has a story about him getting into disagreements, don’t they?”

  Lowry nodded. “I think we’ll need to talk to Hall next. We should find out how Timson is spending his time and when he’s coming and going.”

  “Mickey!” Jacob called down to get the bartender’s attention. “We’ve gotta go, but keep an eye on that for us will you?”

  “Sure will.” He nodded at the bounty hunter over the shoulder of the man he was serving. “I’ll send word.”

  Jacob dropped a handful of coins on the bar for him before following Lowry out the door.

  As the pair stepped out into the street in front of the cafe, Deputy Lowry lit a cigarette and took a long drag. Jacob had seen this before. The deputy tended to smoke more when he was unsure or anxious. While helping to investigate this murder technically wasn’t Jacob’s job, at the sight of the cigarette, the bounty hunter knew that the other man would likely welcome his help.

  “Coroner next?” he asked. “Surely he has had time for a cursory look by now.”

  Deputy Lowry nodded. “At least enough to confirm what we think.”

  Jacob led the way down the darkening street. The coroner’s office on the far corner of the intersection was one of the very few buildings still with an interior light on at this time of night. A few short minutes later they had been admitted into the office’s back room, where the corpse of Bob Timson lay on the examination table. His clothes had been stripped off and lay in a chaotic pile on a side table, and the blood from his wounds had been cleaned from the skin.

  Jacob took in the whole of the scene and details at a glance as Lowry introduced him to the county coroner, a slight, pale man in glasses.

  “I’m surprised you haven’t met before,” the deputy said. “Jacob Payne is one of this area’s most valuable bounty hunters.”

  “Martin Sylvester,” the man said, shaking Jacob’s hand. “Shame we’re meeting under these circumstances.”

  “I agree, Mr. Sylvester. It’s helpful you were able to take this on a Saturday night.”

  He shrugged. “It needs to be done. Might as well be now rather than later.”

  “Find anything we can use?” the deputy asked.

  Sylvester nodded, and moved around to the far side of the body. “As you can see we have five separate wounds in the man’s torso. One of them,” he pointed with a scalpel, “is actually a double entry wound. The attacker somehow managed to stab twice in the same place.”

  “So, six separate stabs,” Lowry clarified.

  “Yep.” Sylvester moved to the head of the body. “Two of the wounds must have reached his lungs. We’re looking for a knife at least six inches long. You can see here,” he pointed again, “that the man lived long enough for the blood in his lungs to be coughed up.”

  Jacob noticed the dried blood at the corners of Timson’s mouth and shut his eyes. No matter what this man had done, no one deserved to die coughing up their own blood.

  Sylvester continued as Jacob opened his eyes again.

  “Now, you see this bruise on his bicep?”

  “Wait.” Jacob held his hands up, pausing the conversation. “Before we get too much farther into the inquiry, let’s clear up one thing. Mr. Sylvester, is it at all possible that this man took his own life?”

  “Really, Payne?” Lowry asked with a scoffing laugh. “You think he did this himself?”

  “Let him answer,” Jacob said.

  The coroner narrowed his eyes and spit a glob of tobacco into his mug without taking his eyes off Jacob. “What are you asking for? You doubt my analysis?”

  “No. No, not at all. I’m interested in your professional opinion about the method of death.”

  Sylvester cleared his throat. “It is my professional opinion that this man died at the hand of someone who stabbed him six times, likely after grabbing him by the arm hard enough to bruise.”

  “Why are you even asking?” Lowry sputtered.

  “Something doesn’t feel right about this,” Jacob answered cautiously. “Something about the way the body was found makes me think we are being led in the wrong direction. As though some part of it were staged or … I don’t know. I just wanted to rule out the possibility absolutely.”

  “I find it hard to believe that any man would be capable of stabbing himself six times. Maybe two or three, but six seems beyond someone’s physical capability.” Sylvester leaned back against the table where Timson’s clothes were as he continued. “But even beyond that, the angle of these wounds precludes any possibility of them being self-inflicted. No, sir. Someone else wanted this man dead.”

  Jacob nodded. “Thank you. That’s what I wanted to clarify.”

  Deputy Lowry pressed on. “Did you find anything else on the body?”

  Sylvester pointed to the pile of torn and bloody clothes. “There was nothing in his pockets but a fancy cigarette case, and even that was empty. It’s possible his killer emptied his pockets.”

  “It’s also possible he emptied his own,” Jacob suggested. “We found him in his own sleeping quarters, so maybe he was turning in for the night.”

  “Either way,” Lowry said. “We’re still missing his billfold. If Sylvester didn’t find it on his person anywhere, that needs to be added to the list of questions to be answered.”

  “That list just seems to be getting longer.”

  “Do you still have more to do, Sylvester?”

  The coroner nodded. “I can pull some more details for you. I’ll let you know if I find anything worthwhile.”

  “Appreciate it,” Lowry said.

  “I guess it’s time we head back to the saloon,” Jacob suggested. “Maybe if we can trace Timson’s final moments the solution will get clearer.”

  Chapter Five

  Jacob and Deputy Lowry heard the commotion and crowd from the street outside the Golden Saddle Saloon. A mere murder upstairs hadn’t dampened anyone’s spirits and the men had their quota of whiskey to drink on this Saturday night, They had continued their raucous gathering unperturbed.

  Upon entering, it only took a quick glance around the room for Jacob to realize that Holly had not returned. Jacob wondered if she was still in bed from the shock; he hoped she would recover. Her girls were still playing hostess to the drunk men and doing their job well. Even as they stood near the doorway, Jacob watched a giggling blonde latch on to her man’s arm, her bosom pressed close against him. The lecherous man grinned into her face. Jacob
could imagine the smell of alcohol coming off him as he let her lead him up the stairs.

  “I don’t see Randall down here,” Lowry said. He had been scanning the room himself, while Jacob watched the salacious transaction. “We should head up to the room.”

  Jacob nodded. “Hope we can get some information out of Randall before he’s too far gone.”

  Lowry threw him a grim look, then led the way across the crowded room. He politely but firmly turned aside the two girls who moved to greet them.

  “Not tonight, ladies.” He winked at them.

  Jacob only nodded and followed close behind the deputy to the foot of the stairs. Once they had climbed to the second floor, the noise diminished some though muffled laughter, the tinkle of piano keys and glasses being knocked into each other floated up the stairwell. They made their way down the hallway to where Timson’s door still sat wide open.

  “Doesn’t seem like he did anything to secure the room, did he?” Jacob said.

  “Can I help you? You find anything of interest?”

  Jacob turned to find Randall Hall just behind him, looking over his shoulder into the empty room.

  “Has anyone been in here?” Deputy Lowry asked, using his thumb to point over his shoulder.

  “Not so far as I know.”

  “But you left the door open?” Jacob clarified.

  Randall shrugged. “I mean … you told me not to disturb anything so I didn’t. I didn’t know you wanted the door closed.”

  Jacob resisted sighing at such logic, but only barely. “Has anyone been put on watch? Do you know for sure no one has been in here?”

  “Well, I … uh …” Randall looked farther down the hallway as though checking for other people before continuing. “I did leave to go check on things downstairs, but I don’t think anyone has been in here.”

  “Mr. Hall.” Jacob recognized Lowry had just put on his most intimidating voice as the deputy loomed over the other man. “I told you specifically to keep this room secure and you failed to do so. If you have in any way compromised this investigation I will hold you personally responsible. And I’m sure that won’t be good for your business.”

  “Yes, sir,” he said meekly. “You’re right, sir.”

  “So.” Jacob sighed. “It’s possible someone was in here, huh?” He stood in the doorway and took a careful look around the room. From this standpoint it didn’t appear as though anything had been disturbed, although he couldn’t be certain. “Everything seems fine at first glance,” he told the deputy.

  “Alright, then. Hall, we’ve got some questions for you.”

  “Of course. Yes, of course.” He nodded vigorously. “Why don’t we go down to my office?”

  “And leave the room unguarded again?” Jacob asked.

  “Oh.”

  Lowry rolled his eyes. “Here is fine, Hall. Any guests of yours that come up stairs will just have to deal with the sight of a sheriff’s deputy in your establishment.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Let’s start with how long the victim has been a resident here.”

  “Well, I …” Randall rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I’d have to check my records but I’d guess near a week. Maybe nine days.”

  “And what were his habits while staying here?”

  “He was a bit of an early riser. I’d run into him as early as seven in the morning some days, and then not see him again until mid-afternoon.”

  “Know where he was spending his days?” Jacob asked.

  Randall shook his head. “Some days he’d leave with one of his traveling cases, but I don’t know if he was just going door to door, or if he had appointments places. Some days he didn’t even take any of his wares.”

  “Is it possible the salesman act was a front for something more?” Jacob asked the deputy.

  He shrugged. “Could be. Some of that stuff you found doesn’t really seem like the kind of product a good businessman would haul about the country.”

  “I wonder how much of this all was his, and how much was for sale. Maybe he was looking for a place to settle down.”

  “Yeah,” Randall said eagerly. “That sounds right. I seem to remember him mentioning a woman left back in Boston.”

  “Really?” Jacob was skeptical but he couldn’t put his finger on why.

  “That might explain some of the letters you found,” Lowry suggested.

  Jacob didn’t want to say anything more in front of the saloon proprietor. He was itching to get back in that room and do another thorough search with this new insight.

  “What else can you tell us about Mr. Timson?” he asked.

  “Well, I’m not sure.

  Jacob and the deputy exchanged another glance. “How did you know he had been stabbed?”

  “I found the body didn’t I? Did you find the knife?”

  Lowry nodded before Jacob could stop him. He pulled the handkerchief wrapped weapon out of his inner pocket and showed it to the other man.

  Randall blanched. “Oh no. It was that knife? That … uh …”

  “You’ve seen this knife before?”

  He nodded solemnly. “But I’m not sure I should say. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”

  Deputy Lowry placed his hand on the proprietor’s shoulder. “I understand your hesitation, Randall. I do. But we need to know everything about Bob Timson we can find if we have any hope of solving his murder and catching his killer before he does something else.”

  The man rubbed the back of his neck and frowned. “Well. As I say, I don’t want to be getting anyone in trouble. But I have seen the knife, and not when Timson was holding it.”

  “You say you saw someone else using this knife?” Lowry clarified. “Would you swear to it?”

  Randall nodded. “It probably was nothing. I may be mistaken.”

  “What did you see?” Jacob asked.

  “Well.” Randall shot a look down the hallway again before continuing. “The man seemed a bit sweet on Holly. Especially in the last few days. Kept trying to get her to have dinner with him or making up some reason he wanted her to come into his room. She told me about it and laughed it off, but I got the idea she didn’t relish the attention.

  “Just a couple days ago, I was walking down this very hallway and I heard a conversation going on in there.” He pointed to the dead man’s bedroom without looking. “I heard Holly’s voice, but I didn’t linger. She was laughing and seemed pleased, but when I passed the doorway I saw what they were doing.

  “Holly said something about ‘loving it’ or ‘loving that’ and I saw her reach for that knife.”

  “You saw Holly Merritt handling this knife just a couple days ago?” Jacob said incredulously.

  “Yep. I think maybe Timson was showing it to her, or trying to impress her in someway. She seemed to really like it.” Randall shrugged. “Otherwise I haven’t seen that knife.”

  “Hm.” Deputy Lowry pursed his lips and glanced at Jacob. The bounty hunter couldn’t read the other man’s expression, but he had a feeling they’d be having further conversations about this little piece of information.

  “Thanks, Randall,” Jacob said. “That’s very helpful.”

  “Any altercations you can think of? Defining characteristics? Reasons someone might come after him?” Deputy Lowry redirected the conversation.

  Randall looked thoughtful before shaking his head. “No, sir. Like I told you, he was gone most of the days. I didn’t notice him doing much at night. Sometimes he went over to the cafe or maybe he had a lady friend or something.”

  “Didn’t you just tell us you thought he had a woman back in Boston?” Jacob asked.

  “Oh, well.” Randall shrugged. “Like I said. I don’t know what he was doing. I don’t think I have anything else useful for you. And,” he looked longingly down the hall toward the stairs, “if it’s all the same to you gentlemen, I need to get back to work. Saturday night is a busy time here.”

  “Yes. Fine. Go,” Lowry said with a wave of
his hand. “I might have more questions for you though.”

  “You know where to find me, Deputy,” Randall said over his shoulder as he left them.

  Deputy Lowry and Jacob stood quietly listening as the man’s footsteps faded down the stairs. Jacob took a step into the bedroom and gave the scene another close look. With the trunks all unpacked in the corner, it was difficult to tell if anything was missing or disturbed. He realized he should have taken a better inventory, should have tried to fix it all more carefully in his memory.

  “What do you think?” Lowry asked him, stepping into the room after him.

  “Hard to say. I’m not sure what to make of the fact that both Bonnie and Mickey witnessed Timson get into fights, but that Randall claims not to.”

  “Yeah.” Lowry lifted the edge of the bedspread up and folded it back over the bed. The small blood stain where the knife had been laying stood out against the wooden floor.

  “Think we should check in on Holly?”

  “We need to talk to her. But she might also need to recover from the shock. Maybe it can wait til tomorrow.”

  “Might be a chance she’s avoiding us. Claiming to be ill to get out of being questioned.”

  “You think she’d do that?” Lowry asked.

  Jacob shrugged. “Could be. She’s smart. If she had anything to do with this, she’d have thought of a way out of it.”

  “That’s true.”

  Jacob glanced back through to doorway at the sound of footsteps. Both he and Lowry fell quiet, listening and watching. After a few short moments, one of the strangers Jacob had noticed downstairs earlier stood in the doorway. His dirty dark hair hung over his face, but Jacob still recognized his expression of surprise.

  “Oh, shi—” the man said, and spun around to leave.

  “Stop!” Lowry shouted.

  Chapter Six

  The stranger didn’t stop when ordered to by Deputy Lowry, but instead kept moving back toward the end of the hall and the stairway he had just climbed. Jacob didn’t hesitate; he shoved the deputy to one side and darted after the man. The thud behind him told Jacob that Lowry had slammed into the wall, but he didn’t have time for sympathy. The stranger was getting away.