Chapter 9
Later at home, well after dark, Jarrod stepped out on the verandah outside the library and smoked a cigar. The air was cool and fresh, and it felt good to just look up at the stars for a while. Jarrod put all his other troubles out of his mind, at least for these few minutes, until someone came out behind him.
"Nick says we're going to go in and help the sheriff tomorrow," Heath said to him.
"Yeah," Jarrod said. "Nick thought it might be a good idea for you to talk to Turner Powers."
"Jarrod, you know Turner doesn't have anything to do with this."
"Actually, Heath, I don't know, but I don't suspect, either. The sheriff's just trying to talk to everyone who was in the area when Len Main was killed, and somebody said Turner was there. Maybe Turner saw somebody suspicious. Who knows?"
"I think maybe I'll suggest the sheriff ask people if they were around the livery when somebody was watching you there. Maybe somebody will turn up in both places."
"Maybe. Suggesting can't hurt."
"How are you doing? Has all this got you on edge?"
"It's got me angry. On edge, yes, especially after the livery stable, but mostly angry. Three men dead. Archer wounded. We have to find this guy."
"I'm with you there. I wish I had some better ideas about how to do it."
"How's Archer doing today? Has Mother said, or did you see him?"
"Mother and Audra both tended to him. Mother thinks he's ready to get out of bed tomorrow, if the doctor okays it when he comes out. That should be interesting, having Archer roam around the house."
"Knowing Archer, he's going to want to go to his own home, if the doctor says it's all right for him to be out of bed."
Heath thought he read something in Jarrod's voice. "Are you worried about that?"
"I don't want to send him home only to have somebody go out to his house and kill him," Jarrod said.
"Good point. Maybe you ought to talk to him about that."
"I think I'll talk to Mother. She probably has more pull with him than I do."
"What time do you want to go in in the morning?" Heath asked.
"We'll leave here about seven, seven thirty," Jarrod said. "I'll go do my own tasks while you go see Turner. Heath – I want you to keep something in mind. Just because you know him, just because you think he couldn't be doing this, doesn't mean he isn't doing it."
Heath nodded. "I know, Jarrod. I hope you realize that just because you're in your office or walking around town in the daylight doesn't mean you can't be attacked. You need to be very, very careful."
Jarrod nodded. "I know."
XXXXXXX
The next day, after his brothers delivered him to the courthouse, Jarrod fetched the file for the case he had on the docket – another saloon brawl with one participant ending up with a broken nose. The trial was set for nine o'clock. Jarrod found the defendant alone on a bench outside the courtroom at eight thirty. He recognized the man – a young guy named Cramer who worked at a ranch near the Miles spread.
"No lawyer, Cramer?" Jarrod asked.
"Can't afford one," Cramer said.
Jarrod looked around. The sheriff was not there. Neither was the man with the broken nose, a man named Swift who worked at the same spread. "Where's Swift?"
"He left town the day before yesterday," Cramer said.
"Left town? Where'd he go?"
"Said he was moving south, that's all. Couldn't stand the sight of me anymore, and the boss said he could leave if he felt that way, so he did."
Jarrod heaved a sigh. He wasn't about to take this guy's word for that, but he said, "All right. You take yourself into the courtroom when it opens up. If Swift doesn't show up before the judge does, we'll see about where we go."
"If he doesn't show up, I won't go to jail, will I?"
"It depends on what the sheriff says," Jarrod said. "Don't go taking off, though. That'll send the sheriff looking for you."
"Okay."
Jarrod headed back to his office, grabbed a quick cup of coffee and gave the secretary some scribbled notes to type up, then headed back to the courtroom. Cramer was sitting inside the room now. Sheriff Madden was in the room, too, as were the bailiff and the court reporter, but that was it. No Swift.
Jarrod approached the sheriff. "Cramer says Swift left town. How long did you have Cramer locked up for?"
"Two days before he made bail," Sheriff Madden said.
"Assuming Swift doesn't walk in the door before the judge does, why don't I just dismiss this case?"
"Suits me, but I'm gonna give Cramer a good hard warning not to get into bar fights again."
Jarrod nodded and went up to the prosecution table. He no sooner had put his briefcase down when the judge entered, the bailiff told everyone to rise, and the judge sat down. Everyone but Jarrod sat back down as Judge Farnham looked around. "Where is everybody, Mr. Barkley?" the judge asked.
"The defendant is here, Your Honor," Jarrod said, pointing to Cramer, "but the victim is not. According to the defendant, the victim has left town."
Judge Farnham eyed Cramer, saying, "Come up here to this table, son."
Cramer came up to the defense table and stood there.
"Do you know the victim well, Mr. Cramer?" Judge Farnham asked.
"Yes, sir, we worked together," Cramer said.
"When did he leave town?"
"Night before last, sir."
Judge Farnham looked around the room one more time and then said, "Do you have a motion, Mr. Barkley?"
"Move to dismiss, Your Honor," Jarrod said.
"Motion granted. Case dismissed," Judge Farnham said, then got up and left the room.
Cramer looked confused. "That's it?"
"That's it," Jarrod said. "You're free to go."
Sheriff Madden approached them. "Let's you and me have a little talk on the way out the door, son," he said to Cramer and escorted him out.
Jarrod saw the bailiff smiling and shaking his head.
XXXXXXX
At the same time Jarrod was finishing his case, Nick and Heath were tracking Turner Powers down out on the ranch where he worked. He was clearing some dead trees not far from the main house along with several other men who looked suspicious when Nick and Heath took him aside.
"What's going on?" Turner asked.
"The sheriff asked us to talk to you, Turner," Heath asked.
"I already talked to him about what I saw yesterday," Turner said. "It wasn't really anything."
"We know," Heath said, "but there was something else he wanted us to ask you. He's asking everybody but he can't do it all himself, so he asked us to talk to you. Were you in town the day before yesterday?"
"Day before?" Turner asked, thinking. "No, I wasn't. Did something happen then?"
"Jarrod ran into somebody in the livery stable," Nick said. "He didn't get a look at him. We're trying to find somebody who might have."
"Sorry," Turner said. "Is Jarrod all right?"
"Yeah, he's fine," Nick said. "Nothing happened."
"You know we got a big problem in town, Turner," Heath said.
Turner nodded. "I know. Somebody's killing lawyers, but that's all I know. Like I told the sheriff, I didn't see anybody near Mr. Main's office yesterday that I didn't know. I gave him the names of everybody I remembered."
Nick and Heath looked at each other. "How about the talk around here?" Nick asked. "Has anybody had anything interesting to say?"
Turner smiled a crooked smile, the kind that said he really didn't think he should be smiling but he was. "A little talk – nothing much."
"What kind of nothing much?"
Turner shrugged. "Jarrod's gotten a couple guys out of trouble – they liked that. But one guy – fella named Norman Alder, works at the stable at the house – Jarrod defended him on a charge a couple years back but didn't get him off. He didn't like that much."
"What kind of charge?" Heath asked.
"He beat up a saloon girl, did some time, but he's been clean since then. No more trouble."
Nick and Heath looked at each other again. "Does anybody else around here not like lawyers?" Nick asked.
"Well – nobody really likes them," Turner said. "You know how it is. You only see them when you're in trouble, and they cost you a lot of money."
"Have you ever hired a lawyer, Turner? Nick asked.
"Me?" Turner laughed. "No. I keep my nose clean. I stay out of trouble. I don't need the grief."
Nick and Heath looked at each other. "I guess we better talk to this guy Alder," Nick said.
