Chapter 10 – Back to Normal
AN: To the guest who quibbled over the over protectiveness of Kitty by Matt & Doc, I didn't mean for it to seem they were treating her like a child. However, like Matt IMO, she has a hard time remaining idle & to her keeping the Long Branch profitable is just as important as Matt's duty toward the badge or to help when those close to him are in trouble. Again thank you to all those I can't thank personally.
Wiley Sherman had known the Shoemaker twins since the War. They'd fought together for the noble cause. However, Sherman's losses were slight compared to those of his clients. The Yankees destroyed the Shoemaker house and farm. Their sleazy lawyer merely had to renounce his activities on behalf of the South and swear loyalty to the United States. It was only a small lie. He'd never stopped defending his interpretation of the Constitution even while fully engaged in the rebellion. Once reinstated, he returned to his old ways, using the law to finagle concessions for his clients. If they got back at least some of what they'd lost to the North, it was a bonus. He set up practice in relatively cheap rooms on a Kansas City, Kansas side street. Vince and Vern Shoemaker were his main clients.
Sherman put a legal sheen on the brothers' schemes. By the time they traveled to Dodge City he'd gotten them out of scrapes with their hides intact and a small interest in several businesses unless they returned to the communities in which those enterprises were located. Of course he took a percentage. Vince and Vern gladly conceded the pittances involved since their net worth grew. The lawyer even arranged for them to retain ownership in a business that could also serve as home for all three. It was a boardinghouse not far from his law office ostensibly run by the widow Henrietta Lansdowne. Only the Shoemakers, Sherman and Mrs. Lansdowne knew why nearly all the permanent residents were pretty young women.
The lawyer didn't see Kitty Russell as any different than Henrietta Lansdowne. Nobody could possibly believe the redhead was actually the sole owner of the Long Branch. He knew deep down the saloon and gambling house, like others of its ilk, was also a cathouse. Men were always the real owners of such establishments in his experience. Therefore, Sherman confidently called his only defense witness Vernon Shoemaker to the stand. Despite the prosecution's strong evidence the lawyer was sure the more articulate of the twins' version of events would sway the jury. He just had to avoid openly exposing himself and his clients to perjury charges.
"Mr. Shoemaker, Marshal Dillon has testified the bill of sale entered into evidence is a forgery. If he is to be believed, Miss Russell would not have given you the combination to the safe. Is there some other explanation as to how you obtained it?"
"Yeah, he's sorta right. That bill of sale is a fake. She never owned even part of the Long Branch. Her favorite customer Matt Dillon's probably the one who got Bill Pence to agree to pretend she was a full partner. Vince and I bought the saloon over a month ago from Pence before he left for Pueblo. I'm sorry to say he accidently took all three copies. Our and the bank's copies arrived in yesterday's mail. He gave us the combination to the safe when we signed. Eventually we'll get around to changin' it to one only we know."
"What about the attack on Miss Russell? There's no denying she nearly died."
"My guess is she, knowing the charade was over, had a couple outlaw friends she'd entertained take her out of town and leave her. Maybe she wouldn't pay them what they wanted after they done it. I don't know. Anyway, things got out of hand. They left her for dead and covered their tracks by framing Vince and me. They sure didn't want Dillon after them."
"That's an interesting scenario, Mr. Shoemaker," Luke Henley said, beginning his cross-examination. "Can you name these outlaws? Failing that, can you describe their features or hazard a guess as to where they might be hiding? Also, don't you think the people of Dodge City would have objected to Miss Russell's name being on the sign above the Long Branch if she weren't half owner? Do you really believe it's because they fear retaliation from Matt Dillon?"
"It's ain't what I or anyone else believes. It's the simple truth. Sometimes all it takes is being confronted with the truth for men, like those on the jury, to find their courage and do what's right."
"Thank you, Mr. Shoemaker. I'm sure the document you mentioned can be produced, but since Bill Pence isn't here to testify to its authenticity, I won't hold up proceedings while your lawyer fetches it. No further questions."
The two attorneys summed up their cases. When they finished Judge Brooker, the man Matt Dillon had called the best lawyer in Kansas, instructed the jury on what they were to consider while determining guilt or innocence. Despite Vernon Shoemaker's in his opinion obvious perjury that could lead to Wiley Sherman's disbarment, he didn't draw the jurors' attention to it. He didn't want to complicate matters. The panel of 12 men must have heeded Brooker's comments because they'd barely gone upstairs to deliberate before returning a verdict of guilty on all counts.
The trial was over. Sherman wasted no time slinking out of the makeshift courtroom to his upstairs room to pack to leave on the next train. Matt and Chester escorted their prisoners back to their cell to await transport to state prison, which would be the Shoemaker brothers' home for the next 20 years. Judge Brooker saw no point in pursuing perjury charges against the brothers. He'd already considered them in determining the length of their sentence. As to their lawyer, he was certain the Kansas Bar would in due time strip Sherman of his license to practice law.
Several hours later Matt and Chester waited while the brothers ate an early supper, one final task before the two lawmen could join their friends. Finally, Chester carried the trays into the office. Matt followed, securing the heavy door between the office and cells behind him after one last appraising look. He was satisfied his prisoners were secure until Chester returned for the night. After locking the office door, the two men strolled down Front Street to the Long Branch.
Sam smiled as he carried the tray with a bottle of the saloon's finest sipping whiskey, three shot glasses and a mug of beer to the table where Kitty Russell, Matt Dillon, Doctor Adams and Chester Goode sat. He'd barely set it down when Judge Brooker and Ford County Prosecutor Luke Henley joined them. Sam started back toward the bar for two more glasses when his boss spoke.
"Sam, join us," Kitty urged. "You deserve some time off your feet."
The lively conversation was well lubricated by the drinks consumed. Chester and Sam stuck to beer, but the others emptied the initial bottle and one more. As early evening approached, Henley excused himself. His wife expected him home for supper. Brooker, claiming fatigue, left to partake of a room service supper and to write a note to let his wife know via telegram he'd be leaving for home on the morning stage. Chester, glancing around the table that now held only his closest friends, declared he too was ready to eat. Sam and Doc left with him, leaving Matt and Kitty alone.
Kitty surveyed the room. It was the quiet time between the afternoon and evening crowds. There were a few stragglers caught up in a poker game and a regular or two finishing up their beers before heading home to their wives' cooking. Goldie, she noted, was handling them easily.
"Kitty, maybe we should have supper too," Matt stated, his stomach grumbling audibly in the quiet of their corner table.
"Sounds like you're hungry, Cowboy. Don't worry, more than that stomach of yours will soon be satisfied. I arranged for a quiet supper upstairs."
"Goldie, will you handle things until Sam gets back? He shouldn't be long."
Goldie nodded and smiled as she watched the lawman and saloonkeeper climb the stairs to eat the supper that Sam had arranged to be delivered on Miss Kitty's behalf. She'd watched how attentive the marshal was to her boss during her recuperation. Goldie was pleased she was now considered trustworthy enough to keep what she suspected to herself – Miss Kitty didn't always sleep alone. Actually, it was something every citizen of Dodge City sensed about the couple, but few were trusted with concrete evidence.
"Kit," Matt said as soon as he swallowed the piece of steak in his mouth. "I've been worried about somethin'. Sam had been storing the day's take in my safe until he took it to the bank. Once I brought you home that stopped. You stand a good chance of bein' robbed and maybe hurt again. The Shoemakers and Sherman could have given your safe combination out to anyone."
"Cowboy, relax. I took care of the combination problem already. Sam showed me how. It's quite simple once you open the lock with a screwdriver. You turn a bar inside 180 degrees counterclockwise and hold it down while setting the dials inside to the new combination. When you're done you release the bar and returned it to its original position. Do you want the new combination?"
"Later," he mumbled now that one cause of worry about her safety was removed. "I've wanted to ask you something since I started home from Hays but the time didn't seem right. Will you go on a picnic with me as soon as the prison wagon comes for the Shoemaker brothers? We might even get in a bit of fishin'. Let's say a week from today if the weather's good?"
As it turned out, his duties as marshal, the ups and downs of her business and the caprice of the Kansas weather delayed the planned outing. It was late October before they laid their blanket beside the Arkansas in their private spot. Both were glad the weather was clear and unseasonably warm. Everything was perfect unless something occurred to shorten their private time.