Chapter 7

They didn't really talk much on the way to Rimfire, partly because they hadn't thought of anything they were going to do if this trip to Nevada was no help, and partly because they were not really looking forward to seeing Rimfire again. It was a long day's ride and the sun was getting low when they rode in, but they still recognized it for what it was – a place that held nothing but bad memories and threatened to make more.

"I really hate this town," Nick grumbled as the rode in, heading down the street toward the sheriff's office, the spot in the street they found their older brother murdering Cass Hyatt – and now here they were confronting an unbelievable charge that he had succeeded in murdering ten other people.

Heath was feeling sick too, but, "I might hate this town too, but if it holds an answer to our problem now, I'll come to love it."

They pulled up and hitched up in front of the town jail, trying not to look at the watering trough in front of just the next building down. Heath noticed that some people in the street were looking at them, suspiciously. He wondered if these people remembered seeing them here a year ago, equated them with trouble, and didn't like the notion that trouble was back. Heath didn't call Nick's attention to it, though, but just followed him into the sheriff's office.

Sheriff Zach Fain looked exactly the same as he had looked a year ago, but now he was doing desk work and wore a pair of glasses. He looked up when Nick and Heath came in. He took his glasses off, stood up, and offered his hand.

"I got your telegram," he said. "I asked around a bit, but nobody seems to be missing anybody they knew a year ago."

That answered their question fast, and not to their liking.

But Sheriff Fain went on. "You should remember, though. This is a town where a lot of rough men come and go. If one of them went onto Carson City and killed somebody there, I'd have no way of knowing."

Both Nick and Heath nodded unhappily. Heath asked, "Is there anybody you ever had here who really gave you a bad feeling – somebody you thought might actually kill – " He stopped, realizing that was not a good question.

Sheriff Fain said, "Other than your brother?"

Nick said, "I guess we best show our hand, Sheriff. Our brother Jarrod has been accused of murdering ten people in different cities, all since he was here a year ago. I think my brother here is trying to find out if you ever saw anybody go through here or lived here but left here who might murder ten people?"

Sheriff Fain took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to say what he had to say. "That marshal – a man named Hogan – he was here and was asking a lot of questions, including that one. No one I know of has disappeared from here – but we all know, that when your brother was here, he was an angry and violent man. That's all I ever knew of your brother. Now maybe I understood why he was angry and violent, and maybe when you left here he had calmed down, but he was still one troubled man when he left. Could he have murdered ten people since then? I couldn't say he could have, but I couldn't say he couldn't have either. That's what I told Hogan."

"And you don't know anybody else who might have been here at the time who might be using Jarrod for cover?" Heath asked. "Somebody who just liked killing people?"

Sheriff Fain shook his head. "No, and Dr. Saxton told me and Hogan the same thing, but before you leave here with just that answer, you might want to talk to him yourselves."

Nick said, "Let's go see Dr. Saxton."

The sheriff led the way out the door and down the street to the little office Dr. Saxton kept. Nick and Heath had never seen it. When they were here, Jarrod had collapsed in the street and they took him to a hotel room. Dr. Saxton saw him there. The doctor's office was tiny, just one waiting room and one treatment room.

The good doctor knew the Barkley men right away. "Well, gentlemen, I suppose I can guess what brings you back to Rimfire." He was pleasant enough, but right to the point.

The sheriff, Nick and Heath all helped to explain the situation to Dr. Saxton. His weathered old face screwed up into a thinking frown, and he thought.

"Doc, this is urgent," Heath finally prodded him. "If there's anybody at all we should be looking at, you gotta point us to him. Even if you didn't point Hogan to him, please point us."

"You could get a subpoena to get it out of me, but the truth is I can't point you to anyone," Dr. Saxton said. "We're like any other town. We have our worrisome residents here and I keep an eye on them, but not one of them has left here at all over the past year. And the only transient I can remember who was murderous trouble – was your brother."

Nick and Heath looked at each other.

It was Sheriff Fain who asked, "What do you think, Doc? From seeing Jarrod Barkley, from treating him last year – do you think it's in him to murder ten people?"

Dr. Saxton looked almost sorry as he shook his head and said, "I can't say for sure. When he first fell off his horse in the middle of town and I treated him, he was one murderous man, but he only had one person in mind he wanted to kill. When he left here with you two, he was pretty much a broken man but not violent. What happened to him after he left here, what effect it all had on him, I just can't say. I'm sorry."

That was all the doctor and the sheriff could say to the Barkleys. They didn't know if Jarrod was capable of mass murder or not.

"Maybe they're just playing it safe," Heath said as he and Nick left the livery after putting their horses up for the night and headed for the hotel. "They're not saying yes or no just in case it turns out Jarrod has gone off the deep end and killed those people."

"He hasn't," Nick said immediately.

"I know that," Heath said, "but we know him. The man they knew wasn't the brother we know."

"Yeah," Nick said with a grumble.

They checked into the hotel for the night – purposely asking for a room other than the one they had watched over their older brother in a year earlier. They got some food into them and settled in, but neither one of them really slept all that well. They were up and heading out of town just after they ate breakfast.

It was an all-day ride back up to Carson City, but they were there in time to go to Mark Coleman's office, explain who they were and why they were there. But they didn't stay long. Coleman's law partner and their secretary were the only ones there, and they were still pretty raw about Coleman's murder. They weren't inclined to do any talking at all, and they even pointed the Barkley brothers to Marshal Hogan if they wanted answers.

"We know him," Nick said, and then he and Heath left. A stop by the local sheriff's office got only the same recommendation. The trip was a waste.

There was an overnight stage to Reno and room on it, so they left town after turning their horses in and getting a bite to eat. Another rocky trip in the dark stole more of their sleep, but they got it back when they were able to catch the early train out of Reno. By the end of this day – their fourth day out – they would be home.

When they finally got there, they were exhausted. They wanted nothing more than to get home and to their beds. They had wired that they'd be in tonight but didn't know if anyone would be there to pick them up. They had no idea what was going on here and decided they'd see if Jarrod was still in his office when they got there. They wanted a word in private with their brother before they talked to anyone else.

But darned if Nat Springer wasn't there at the train station. He looked as surprised to see them as they were to see him. The first thing Springer did, once he realized they were there, was pull them aside and say, "Your brother has hired me to represent him."

That didn't surprise them.

"Did you find out anything?" Springer asked.

Nick shook his head. Heath looked at the floor. "Not a thing that will help," Nick said. "The law in Rimfire didn't know of anybody missing out of that town or if anybody passing through might be somebody to be concerned about. The people in Coleman's office in Carson City wouldn't talk to us at all and just told us to talk to Marshal Hogan. I take it Marshal Hogan is still here."

Springer nodded. "Yes, he's here, but he won't be for long. He's agreed to stay until the day after tomorrow, and then he's going back to San Francisco. And he's taking Jarrod with him."

Nick and Heath both felt their legs about to give out.

Springer said, "He's given us two days to come up with something to turn his sites away from Jarrod."

"Is Jarrod in jail?" Heath asked.

"No, but he's agreed to stay at home and that's where he's been since I got here the day after you left," Springer said.

"So, what do we do now?" Nick asked. "You are never gonna convince me that my big brother murdered ten people."

"Eleven," Springer said.

Nick and Heath both nearly jumped out of their skin. "What?" Nick blurted.

"A woman who was once a client of Jarrod's turned up dead here just this morning, strangled," Springer said, and then quickly said, "BUT Jarrod hasn't been to town in days. He couldn't have murdered her."

"Well, that gives us something!" Nick said.

"Maybe, maybe not," Springer said. "It gives us something if this murder gets solved fast and we can prove the murderer also killed the other ten. But if this is just an unconnected killing – well, we're not any better off than we were."

"So basically we've got a new murder to solve in addition to getting Jarrod off the hook for the other ten," Heath said. "You're saying we've got even more work to do."

Springer nodded. "Unless the killing here is connected to the other ten. If that's the case, we have help. If it isn't – Jarrod's still in a lot of trouble, and he'll be going off to jail in San Francisco in 48 hours."