George Harwood entered the jail house and looked over to Festus, who was pouring a coffee. The hill man never spoke a word, but he knew why Matt had brought him along. He watched the marshal open the wooden door that lead back to the holding cells, "So?" Matt asked as he looked at both of the men.
Harwood stepped closer to the bars and studied each face, "Nope. I can't say I saw them in the saloon last night at all. Like I said it was really busy," the saloon owner stated.
Farley was now on his feet and clinging to the bars, "We were there, playing cards with a couple of other guys," he said firmly. "Surely you remember the man that left angrily!" he spoke of Jeff.
Harwood shook his head no, "Sorry, I just can't picture either of you in my saloon," he said turning back to the office area of the building. Matt glanced at Farley who was still holding the bars, so much so his knuckles had turned white. The marshal drew a deep breath remembering what Doc had said earlier, "This isn't over yet," he said before following Harwood.
"But marshal, we're innocent," Charlie Hayton spoke from his cell. Matt paused and then moved on, closing the wooden door behind him. His mind was racing trying to separate his hate of Farley Sutton and finding the truth, which he was still unsure of. "Thanks for trying," Matt said to the saloon owner as he walked him to the door.
Harwood paused, "I heard that Jonas was back-shot, is that true?" he asked.
Matt shook his head, "I can't say right now," he said opening the door for the saloon owner who made a face. A slight fear gripped him that the town might try to be come anti vigilante about this whole situation and turn on him to get at Farley Sutton and his friend.
Festus watched from the window as the saloon owner walked up the street, "There's going to be trouble," he stated.
Matt looked at the hill man and knew that he was right, "We will have to defuse every rumour out there and make sure that those two are protected," he added.
"Do you think Farley did it?" the hill man asked.
Matt sighed, "No. But I have no other leads and I can't let them go now. The town is angry about the fact Jonas was shot in the back," the marshal stated as he watched out the door. "We need to find this mystery man and soon," he sighed.
Festus wandered over to the little table and sat down with his coffee, "I trailed what tracks I could from the alley, and they brought me out to the alley near the Lady Gay," the deputy stated. "So whoever beat up Jonas was headed that way," he said calmly sipping from his cup.
Matt looked back at the hill man, "That could be more evidence against them," he said.
"Matthew, maybe there's more things back up in that hotel room they had," Festus suggested.
"I'm sure there is, Festus, but the growing evidence still isn't making sense and Doc's right. As much as I dislike Sutton, he'd be pretty damn stupid to try and sell a watch that he'd stolen in the same town," the marshal pondered and it wasn't soon after that Matt decided to have a look around Sutton and Hayton's room at the hotel to see if there was anymore evidence, and hopefully close the case one way or another. On his way across the street, he couldn't help but wonder what it was like to be in Farley's shoes – what id the drover was telling the truth and they couldn't find the mystery man. "I'll be back later," he said before he left the office.
The marshal entered the hotel and said not a word as he climbed the stairs – he could feel all eyes on him, as the towns folk were anxious to have the back-shooter dealt with in a court of law, and as a matter of fact, so was he.
Matt pulled the key from his vest pocket and unlocked the door, and entered the room. He first walked over to the carpet bags that were left at the foot of each of the beds. His search through them yielded nothing, so he turned his interest on other parts of the room, when the glint of sunlight off the gun on the little table caught is attention.
The marshal walked over and picked up the Colt and examined it; five of the six shots were fired. Matt then recalled what Festus had told him about the hoopla in the alley before he found the keys in Jonas' store door. His eyes narrowed and again he thought of Sutton – things were once again looking grim for him. Matt tucked the gun into his waistband then picked up the two neatly stacked bundles of money, "It there was a card game last night, it certainly was a big pot," he said shaking his head as he tucked the money into his shirt pocket as further evidence.
There seemed to be nothing else in the room of interest, so the marshal left, locking the door behind him. He strolled along the hallway and decided that he should pay another visit to Wilbur Jonas, to get verification on the gun.
Again, all eye were on the marshal as he walked down the stairs, which he found quite annoying – Matt paused on the stairs and looked down at the small crowd, "How about getting on with your own business," he growled, causing a murmur to wave through the room. One man near the door, "We don't like back-shooters!" he yelled.
"Neither do I, so let me get on with my job to find out who it is," Matt replied sternly.
"I thought you already arrested that other guy," another man said.
"I have him on suspicion, so leave it at that," Matt stated as he continued down the stairs.
"When will we know?" another man asked. Matt stopped and glared at him, "As soon as I'm ready to announce it. Not before," he said hoping to make himself clear and to try and quash the growing mob mentality. Again another wave of mumbling went through the room. Matt drew a deep breath and left; his mood quickly shifting to anger.
The marshal's was more like a march as he crossed Front Street o get to the doctor's office. He took the stairs two at a time and gently opened the door. Doc stood at the examination table, having just changed the sheets – he looked up at Matt and knew there was something more than a visit on his mind.
"Where's Jonas?" the marshal asked.
Doc motioned to the back room, "I just got him settled into bed," the doctor stated. "Why?"
Matt didn't answer, instead he stepped passed the physician and into the back room. "Jonas?' he asked in a hushed voice.
The store owner slowly looked up at the marshal, "What is it Matt," he too could see the seriousness in the marshal's eyes.
"Is this the gun you sold yesterday?" Matt said as he pulled the gun from his waist and handed it the Jonas.
Jonas inspected the weapon, "I certainly looks like it," he said looking up to matt, handing the gun back to him. "Where did you find it?" he asked.
"From the same men that had your watch," Matt stated. Jonas looked down and sighed. "I'll get to the bottom of it," he said trying to reassure the store owner.
Jonas looked up at Matt, "It isn't about the money or the robbery," he said in a soft voice that trailed off.
Matt nodded, "I'll catch who shot you. You have my word on it," he smiled then left the room. Doc stood with his hands thrust deeply into his pockets and watched Matt as he walked to the door, "Why don't you bring Farley up here for Jonas to look at?" he suggested.
"He should know Sutton," Matt huffed.
Doc shook his head, "No. What happened at the Long Branch was well into the night. Jonas was not at his store and by the time the dust settled, Sutton was long gone and only his name was heard," Doc stated. Matt hadn't realized that, or had forgotten. "Alright, I'll bring him by later, once Jonas has had some rest," he said, then left. Doc felt somewhat satisfied and felt that maybe he just saved a very awful situation for the nuisance, Farley Sutton.
