Chapter 14 – Sometimes Joint Efforts Are Best

The cab raced through the city streets from Rafe Hoyt's now defunct criminal headquarters to Julie Blane's House of Cards. Five minutes later Matt tossed the fare plus a generous tip at the cabby and raced to the door of the gambling house and saloon. To his surprise his entry was blocked by a muscular man with a Deputy US Marshal's badge pinned to his chest demanding he provide identification and his reason for being there.

Using his size, Matt shoved the locally based marshal out of his path, his eyes fixed on the stairs leading up to the private living quarters. Again his progress was stopped as the lawman he'd shouldered past grabbed Matt's left arm and stuck his now drawn sidearm into the small of Matt's back.

"Move one inch and I'll kill you. I don't care who you are or claim to be, you're under arrest."

Despite fuming because this man was attempting to prevent him from getting to Kitty, Matt stopped. Getting killed wasn't going to get him any closer to the woman he loved. If he was dead he couldn't help her if she needed him to remove her from harm's way and if she were safe his death would devastate her. Besides, this man was a lawman. Therefore he did the only thing he could and allowed the man to take his gun. Once his assailant stepped back and ordered him to turn around Matt really looked at him for the first time. This Deputy Marshal was half a head shorter, but just as muscular. In addition, he held out handcuffs in his left hand while keeping his pistol leveled at Matt's gut with his right. His intention was obvious.

"Hold it, McNulty. I know my captain called in you federals to help out, but the man you're about to cuff is one of your own. You could say everything revolves around him and the rest of the visiting folks from Dodge City," Sergeant Parker continued. "Deputy US Marshal Ian McNulty of the San Francisco office, US Marshal for Kansas, Matt Dillon."

McNulty couldn't have been more surprised. He returned his revolver to its holster and dropped the cuffs into his jacket pocket. Matt didn't stick around. He barely nodded his thanks to Tim Parker as he continued toward the stairs and, he hoped, Kitty. Again his progress was stopped. This time by a most welcome sight. Kitty was running toward him as fast as her skirts would allow. He encased her in his arms and together they strode up the steps, not to be seen by anyone until the morning.

Now that Matt was back, Parker decided to help McNulty screen people seeking entry to the temporarily closed gambling house. Doc Adams and Trainor were do to report back shortly as was Constable Weston. It wouldn't look too good to allow this overly enthusiastic federal official to give the impression that the federals were now in charge by allowing him to waylay anymore of the returning key investigators his captain had put in place. The sergeant didn't bother to explain Matt's eagerness to get through the door; the deputy had seen that for himself.

The next morning, Saturday, the lawmen directly involved with the capture of the key members of the criminal organization headed by Rafe Hoyt met at 9 AM sharp with Assistant City District Attorney Gregory Holliman. Holliman was a career prosecutor whom Gilroy had come to trust since meeting him not long after he'd moved his family to the big city and begun his rapid rise in the Tenderloin Police Precinct. He wanted the no nonsense lawyer, who had recommended him for his current position upon the retirement of the former captain, to be in charge, not a man constrained by politics like the District Attorney. As luck would have it, Holliman's boss didn't want to deal with the hot potato the arrest and trial of a prominent citizen like Hoyt entailed and so was happy to allow his underling to absorb the expected political backlash that was sure to come.

After hearing what Gilroy, Parker, Weston and Dillon had to say, Holliman decided scheduling a trial immediately would be in the best interests of all concerned, except maybe the defendants. They probably would have liked to have the time for the press, like the prominent dailies, the Chronicle and Examiner, to bend public opinion for them as much as possible. Another factor favoring a speedy scheduling of the trial was that two of the key witnesses would prefer to return to their home in Kansas at the close of the conferences they'd come to San Francisco to attend. According to the docket, Judge George Harper, who had just returned from a trip to Los Angeles with his wife to attend the birth of their first grandchild, was the next available jurist. He was eager to begin the trial Monday in hopes a verdict could be rendered on Wednesday. Harper was not a man who believed in dragging things out.

The tight schedule didn't leave much time to prepare a case for either side. However, at least for the prosecution, the possibility of such a trial had been anticipated. This was probably true for the defense as well. Holliman and Gilroy had suspected corruption, at least in the Tenderloin and Barbary Coast districts, was under the control of at least one organized crime syndicate. The two men had no doubt that Hoyt and his people had made contingency plans for a time when their crimes were exposed. Thanks to Matt Dillon and the analysis of the evidence by young Trainor and Doctor Adams, the scope of corruption that was uncovered was on a grander scale than they'd imagined. It meant a more thorough destruction of the illegal activities plaguing the city.

Several of the disgraced policemen and medical personnel at St. Mary's and even Matt's poisoner, Jack Foster, the man who led the attack on the Dodge City marshal in the alley, were willing to tell all that they knew in exchange for lighter sentences. Therefore, the prosecution team, except for those who felt they couldn't miss church attendance, worked late into the night on Sunday to make sure all the potential witnesses had told their stories, everyone implicated by them was arrested and arraigned and all the exhibits were listed as evidence and the strategy was planned in time for the start of the trial.

That trial began Monday morning at 9:30 before any of the city's papers had a chance to learn the full scope of the scandal and print it. Hoyt, Fallstone and their cohorts would not be tried in the press. Determination of their guilt would be solely a matter for the sequestered jury to decide. As far as the 12 men and four alternate jurors were concerned, there would be no access to outside influences. Judge Harper, a scrupulous and thorough man, had selected three Officers of the Court whose records and honesty were beyond question to insure against leaks reaching their ears.