Gratified yet somewhat embarrassed by the reception he'd received when he got off the stage, Matt was happy to retreat to his office and sit behind his familiar desk. Festus set a cup of dark, steaming brew in front of him. "Thanks Festus." Matt took a long sip. His eyebrow shot up. "Festus, there is nothing quite like your coffee."

"Thank ya, Matthew." Festus beamed. Matt smiled crookedly, he hadn't necessarily meant it as a compliment. He quickly went through the mail, and picked up a wanted poster to unroll. "Festus, you say you haven't looked at these at all?"

"No point to it, Matthew. Things were pretty darn quiet here, an' anyways, I can't read what they done or where they'd likely be at." Matt nodded absently as unrolled the first poster, and looked it over. He slowly scratched his chin. "Festus this is a very unusual …."

"Matt, Matt." Newly burst through the door. "I know you just got back Matt, but you've got to come – and you're not going to believe it."

Matt grabbed his hat and followed Newly, with Festus close behind. A thick circle of people had already formed in the middle of Front Street. Matt broke through between Kitty and Sam to get to the action. Inside the circle stood Harry Chesterton surrounded by four women. One of them was holding a gun. Matt recognized her as Sally, the tall dark haired woman from the stage. She was calming pointing a derringer at Harry. He was ashen and had terror in his eyes. Her voice was cool and even, "I may be a fool Harry, but you're an evil man. I was a fool to fall for your grieving widower story, and your nice man act. I was flattered when you showered me with gifts, and said you couldn't wait to marry me. It was such a nice wedding, and my father used his whole life savings for our gift – a house and property. Of course your name was on the deed, and as soon as you got tired of me, you left and sold that land and house right out from under me. I was left with nothing, homeless and ashamed." She nodded towards the other three women – Ella, Laura and Gloria. "Each of them have similar story or worse." She lifted the gun and steadied her aim. "Harry you look nervous."

"Stop right there. Best for you, if you hand that gun over to me." Matt approached with his hand extended towards Sally.

"Marshal, I'm glad you're here. We talked it over, the four of us, and figured we'd turn Harry over to you, after we scared him a bit. BUT we want you to assure us that he can be charged with a crime, a real crime. You see men get away with a lot in this world, and we want to make sure he doesn't."

"Ha." Harry laughed and rolled his eyes. "Women." His voice dripped with condescension. "There is nothing to charge me with. You're lucky if I don't press charges against you for assaulting me and threatening my life."

Matt pulled handcuffs from his back pocket and held them in the air. "Chesterton, you're under arrest."

Harry stamped his foot. "Don't you understand, I've done nothing wrong. Every one of these women broke the vows they made to me – love, honor and obey. Not one of them obeyed me the way she should have."

"Vows? What about your vows?" Laura stepped closed and looked Harry in the eye. Small and freckle faced, she seemed almost child-like, but her voice was loud and clear. "You ordered me around like I was a dog. You told me what to wear, how much to eat and who to talk to. Harry, I took those vows because I loved you – or – I loved the man you pretended to be until you showed your true self, but you made vows too. You promised to honor and cherish. Well I for one wasn't honored, and I surely wasn't cherished. I was treated like dirt, and thrown a way like trash. You won't get away with it any more. Isn't that right, Marshal Dillon?" Matt was standing by quietly, letting Laura have her say. He nodded firmly and turned to Chesterton, I saw your picture on a wanted poster just a little while ago. Bigamy is a federal crime. Seems you got married lots of times, but never got divorced. You're under arrest." Matt pulled Harry's hands behind his back and clicked the handcuffs on. "Oh Marshal, one more thing." Gloria stepped towards him. "Marshal, will we be able to testify in court?" Matt nodded, "Judge Brooker will be here in a couple of days. He'll give you all your day in court, I promise."

From an upstairs window, a craggy faced man named Jiggs, was taking in the scene. What passed for a smile crossed his face. The goings on were as entertaining as the traveling magician he once saw as a kid. That fool Chesterton got himself surrounded by four angry looking women, and then he got arrested by Dillon. The city dude was as stupid as he seemed. Jiggs patted the bulging back pocket of his pants. Good thing Chesterton paid him half the money in advance, a nice $2000. From the looks of things he might never get the rest. No matter, 2 grand was a nice amount for the pleasurable job of giving Dillon what was due him. 12 years of hard labor in prison, and a tiny cell with no window, that was Dillon's doing. His only baby brother lying in the street with dead eyes staring at the sky. That was Dillon's doing too. Jiggs opened the window, pulled out his gun and set it on the sill. It was time to get revenge.

Downstairs, the crowd was starting to thin. Folks whispered about the strange event they'd witnessed, and shook their head saying they always knew there was something strange about Harry Chesterton. Kitty stood by herself deep in thought about the time she'd spent with Harry. Something drew her to the spot where Matt stood with the handcuffed man, waiting for the streets to clear before walking him to jail. Harry saw her and his eyes lit up. "Kitty, I have gifts for you, lots. I want to marry you. You're not like the others. You wouldn't break a promise, you w…"

MEOW – a tomcat darted in front of Harry. It seemed to come from nowhere. Harry staggered back. Matt tightened his grip to keep him from falling. Chesterton regained his footing and looked up. Kitty had already turned her back to him, and was walking away. Matt lightly shoved his prisoner's shoulder. "Let's go."

Watching carefully, from a window above, Jiggs' hand was steady and his eyes were sharp. A man couldn't ask for a clearer shot. Chesterton had never explained why he hated Dillon, and wanted him dead. No matter, the dude hadn't thought things through. He didn't realize that killing Dillon wasn't the best way to make him suffer. A man like Dillon didn't care if he lived or died, but if that red haired saloon owner got killed, Dillon would suffer day and night, for the rest of his life. Jiggs gave thanks that 12 years of hard labor hadn't affected his vision. A smiled crossed his thin lips, he took careful aim at Kitty's head and slowly squeezed the trigger.

TBC