Chapter 1 – Two Strangers
Dodge City was bustling even though the cattle season had only just begun, so it was understandable that the normally observant US Marshal Matt Dillon failed to notice the stranger. He was just another of the many cowboys and other drifters who had wandered into the town and its saloons. The stranger may have been part of the background for Matt, but Jeff Beckley was paying close attention to the marshal.
A week later Jeff's friend Pete Layton joined him. He and Jeff sat at a table in the Long Branch watching the redheaded saloon owner Kitty Russell talking with Doc Adams. Both men, clean-shaven and of average build, were dressed like cowhands, their dark hair hidden under their Stetsons. Pete signaled to Sam to come out from behind the bar toward their table.
"What'll it be, gents?" the bartender asked.
"Whiskey," the two replied. "Make it a bottle," Jeff added as he handed the money over to pay for it.
"What have you learned?" Pete asked. "When's the best time to take him? We should do it soon even though if we wait a week even more money will be in the bank. The trouble is there might be too many people around by then."
When their shared bottle and Jeff's tale were finished both men rose from their table and walked out the batwing doors of the saloon. They headed in opposite directions, Pete to Wilber Jonas' store and Jeff down Front Street toward the blacksmith shop to check on Quint Asper's progress with the new shoes for his and Pete's horses.
Another night passed as Beckley and Layton blended back into the growing crowds. They nodded at each other when they passed on the steps leading to the upstairs rooms at the Dodge House, but otherwise kept apart. When they did meet on the street, they acted like two friendly strangers who'd happened to meet when they brought their horses to the blacksmith to be shod.
Each night they'd meet in one or the other's room to discuss their observations. By Saturday evening they'd be ready to carry out their plans.
"Jeff, you first. What's his pattern? Who's he close to?"
"He stops by the Long Branch most mornings and always makes it his first and last stop on his evening rounds. When he does, it's to spend time with that female saloonkeeper. He regularly has meals with her at Delmonico's, often also with his assistant, the gangly fellow with the gimpy leg, and the town doctor. The four of them are real close to my way of thinkin'. I reckon, from what I've seen, the redhead's his woman."