Chapter 1 - Arrest
Great Bend's sheriff Rick Miller learned the basics of his trade just before the war, working as a deputy in various towns on the frontier before returning to in his home state of Iowa to join the Union Army and marry Evelyn Kramer, the older daughter of his parents' closest friends. He'd left the Dakota Territory three months after it was formed on March 2, 1861 but made his way back there after being mustered out in '65. The Dakotas were the new home of the 30-year-old lawman until he lost his infant son and nearly lost Evelyn giving birth to him. The tragedy of the loss caused the Millers to move to the relatively more civilized Kansas town where Evelyn's sister Melinda's husband Doctor Ben Wilcox had recently set up his medical practice.
Although it sat on a junction connecting two branches of the Santa Fe and then to other railroads, Great Bend was normally a quiet town. It didn't live up to its reputation one Wednesday night in early September 1876, which annoyed the now middle-aged sheriff. One of the biggest men he'd ever seen, at least six and a half feet tall, was pummeling a not much smaller man in height, but carrying less muscle, in the alley between the stage depot and surprisingly the town's only decent hotel. He approached stealthily, his pistol drawn. Even in the poor light from the gas lamp at the opening to the alley he could see what looked like a woman lying on the ground behind the two men.
"Hold it right there, Mister," he told the more powerful of the two. "That is, unless you mean to kill him."
When he got no reaction, Rick used the barrel of his drawn Colt to smack the man on the back of his head. He had to hit him hard twice before the tall stranger finally dropped his hold on his potential victim and both fell to the ground, joining the woman he'd presumably already beaten unconscious if not to death. The sheriff quickly relieved the man of his sidearm, sticking it in the waistband of his pants while he had the chance and called for assistance from his deputy Tom Chalk who was just coming out of the town's best restaurant.
While Sheriff Miller remained with the prisoner and his apparent victims Tom gathered a few men from the hotel and nearby saloon to get the two barely breathing battered bodies over to Dr. Ben Wilcox's office on the other side of Hadley's Hotel and Saloon. When Tom returned Miller sent his deputy and another trusted citizen to drag the big man he'd knocked cold to a jail cell while he followed after those carrying the beaten man and woman to the town doctor's office.
Rick waited in a chair by the doctor's desk while Ben and his wife, who was also his nurse, dealt with their new patients. An hour later at nine PM, far later than when the sheriff normally finished his rounds and returned to his home on a residential street a block from the jail, Dr. Wilcox had done all he could. Leaving Melinda to look after the two critically injured patients the brothers-in-law walked toward the jail after a brief stop at the sheriff's home to let Evelyn know he'd be back directly. By the time the doctor and lawman arrived at the jail Deputy Chalk had thrown the prisoner's gun belt, coat and hat on the desk and locked him, still unconscious, in one of the cells.
When Rick unlocked the cell so he and the doctor could step inside the prisoner was awake. He sat on the cot rubbing his head, obviously in pain.
"If you're wondering about your headache and those lumps on your head, I'm responsible. It was the only way I could gain control of the situation short of shooting you. Doctor Wilcox here will see if I did any permanent damage while he fills me in on the health of the man and woman lying in his office and patient room. I'm Rick Miller, sheriff here in Great Bend," he said suddenly noticing the badge pinned on the man's chest under his vest. "Ben goes first. Then it will be your turn."
"Both the man and woman are in bad shape from savage beatings. I'm not sure either of them will live, although the man has a better chance. In time I'll know more. Unlike those two back at my office this one will definitely live. You'll know the exact charges, Rick, by the time he comes to trial."
With that Great Bend's doctor left the cell. Rick, postponing questioning in the interests of the meal his wife was keeping warm, followed soon after but not before patting the man down, removing the badge from the man's chest and checking the pockets of his coat on the desk. He then locked the large man's gun belt, money and badge in the jailhouse safe. Bothered by his prisoner being a lawman, the conscientious sheriff of the town about 100 miles northeast of Dodge City and 80 miles mostly west of Salina returned to talk to his prisoner within a half hour. This time he sat on a stool outside the cell.
"This really eats at me, arresting a US Marshal on a possible double murder charge. Maybe you can convince me that what I saw wasn't what it appeared. Start with who you are and why you're here."
"Name's Matt Dillon, out of Dodge City. I delivered a prisoner to Abilene, stayed a couple of days for the trial before starting out for home. I left later than I hoped, so I only got as far as here. Figuring I might as well sleep in a bed as out on the prairie, I put my horse up and headed for the hotel. That's when I spotted Dean Harlow in the alley. Even in the dark I could see whom I was pulling him off of. I have no idea why she'd be in Great Bend and not home in Dodge or how she came to be anywhere near Harlow. From what your town doc says, Kitty's might not make it."
"Sounds like you know both of them. Who are these two?"
"Harlow's a crooked gambler and womanizer. Kitty's Kitty Russell, the owner of the Long Branch."
"I won't ask you why Harlow being with Miss Russell matters so much to you. It will come out at your trial. Is there anyone in Dodge who needs to know what's happened to them?"
"Yeah. Send a telegram to Doc Adams. Let him know Kitty's been badly beaten and I did and am doing all I can to make things right. Tell him to contact me at your jail after he sees her. Nothing against your Dr. Wilcox, but I'd feel better if she were in Doc's care."