Chester was sitting with Kitty in the Longbranch when Doc came in. He paused at the bar to speak to Sam and the bartender joined him as he made his way to the table. They both sat down and Kitty leaned forward. "Doc?"
The old man was staring at the table and for a moment he didn't move, then he raised his head and took her hand. "Kitty." He looked across the table. "Chester." He shook his head.
Kitty's face turned white and she swayed in her chair. Sam put an arm around her and she buried her face in his chest. For a long moment they were all silent, then Chester asked haltingly, "Doc, what was it? What happened?"
Doc went back to staring at the table. "Foxglove. The coffee was loaded with foxglove."
The only sound in the room was Kitty sobbing in Sam's arms. The bartender patted her on the back, his face blank with shock, while Doc hunched over in his chair as if the effort of sitting up straight was too much for him. Chester looked around at the silent customers-and his jaw tightened. Lee Emerson was standing at the end of the bar.
The young man pushed back his chair, went behind the bar, and picked up Sam's shotgun. "All right, Lee. Move away from the bar."
"Now wait a minute, Chester..." Lee sputtered, his eyes rolling. Chester just looked at him and the farmer inched out to the middle of the floor, sagging in relief as he realized the gun was not following him. It was still aimed at the end of the bar, at the man who had been standing next to him.
Trent Abbot shifted uneasily on his feet. "Chester, don't be pointing that gun at me. What if it goes off?"
"It's goin' off all right," said Chester. His voice was very quiet. "I'll just give you a couple of minutes to make your peace with your Maker."
Abbot looked around wildly. "Are you all just going to stand there and watch a murder? Somebody do something!" Doc observed the scene at the bar with a kind of detached interest. Kitty's tears had stopped but Sam went on holding her and neither of them even looked around. No one said a word. Abbot backed into the corner, the muzzle of the shotgun swinging towards him as he moved. "You'll all be just as guilty as he is if you let this crazy man shoot me!"
"You got anythin' else you want to say?" asked Chester.
"What do you want me to say?"
Chester shrugged. "I don't care. I figure a man has a right to his last words, so if you got any you better say 'em now."
"You can't just kill me in cold blood! What's the matter with you?"
Chester's finger tightened on the trigger. "Festus Haggen was my friend. Did you know that when you set out to kill him like you killed Dan Emerson?" Over by the door, Lee started and made to speak, then took another look at Chester's face and held his tongue.
"I killed..."Abbot moaned in fear. "I never killed no one! I swear I never..."
"Not only that," Chester went on inexorably. "You left that poison in the coffee where anybody might have drunk it. Doc, Miss Kitty...I might have drunk it myself. And what's gonna happen to Mr Dillon now Festus ain't around to testify for him?"
"All right! ALL RIGHT!" Abbot held out his hands pleadingly. "I'll confess! I'll tell you everything!"
Chester shook his head. "That won't bring Festus back."
"But it might save your marshal!" Abbot choked, struggling to control his trembling lips. "I'll tell you everything! Here...look..." He took a little bottle out of his coat pocket and set it on the bar. "There's the foxglove!"
Everybody in the room tensed as Chester took a step closer to Abbot. "Why did you do it?"
"I wanted to get Dillon." Abbot's voice quivered. "He cost me five years of my life...I lost everything I had..."
"Why Dan Emerson?"
Abbot shook his head. "I wasn't after him in particular. I just thought if a prisoner died like that in the jail...any prisoner, I didn't care who it was...I thought Dillon would have some trouble over it."
"And Festus?"
"I had to get rid of him! He was going to ruin everything, testifying for Dillon!" Abbot gnashed his teeth. "It was all going even better than I hoped with Emerson's brother coming out so strong against Dillon. I couldn't let that scruffy hillbilly ruin it!" He realized what he had said and flinched as Chester's face whitened, then relaxed as the young man took his finger off the trigger.
"That's all I wanted to know." Chester looked around the room. "You all heard him."
Lee Emerson came forward now, his eyes hard. "I heard him, all right. What are you going to do with him?"
"Lock him up and send to Hays." Chester handed the shotgun to Lee. "Watch him for a minute?"
Lee held the gun awkwardly. "You trust me?"
"I trust you." Chester smiled kindly. "You didn't go gunnin' for Mr Dillon when you thought he killed your brother. You ain't the type to kill a man in cold blood."
Lee took a firmer hold on the gun and considered Abbot. "I wish I was."
Chester clapped him on the shoulder, then went over to Kitty and bent down, speaking very gently. "Miss Kitty, I sure am sorry to have put you through this." He took her hand and patted it as he looked over at Doc. "Doc, don't you think you'd better go see how Festus is doin'?"
Kitty and Sam stared at Chester, dumbfounded, and it was a long moment before the bartender managed to ask, "Festus isn't dead?"
Doc shook his head. "It was touch and go but he made it. He's going to be all right."
The old man got up to go and Kitty caught his hand. "Can we see him?"
"Not right now. He's very weak and he needs a lot of rest. Maybe tomorrow, Kitty."
Her hand tightened painfully on his. "Why did you tell us he died?"
Doc freed himself and started for the door. "You'll have to ask Chester. This whole thing was his idea."
He went out and Sam and Kitty looked expectantly at the young man. "I'll tell you all about it, but first I got to lock up Abbot and send a telegram off to Hays." Chester smiled proudly. "I have a feelin' Mr Dillon is gonna be mighty relieved to hear about this."
