Hoss rose early - even earlier than usual. Funny, he was exhausted, but he just couldn't seem to sleep. Something - something just weren't right. Ain't nothin' right, you fool, he reminded himself. Adam's dead, remember? But that wasn't it. Or, not all of it, anyway. Somethin' ABOUT Adam's death weren't right. Pa felt it. Joe felt it. And he sure as hell felt it too. Weren't none of 'em gonna have any peace until they figgered out what in blazes it was.

"Hoss?"

He was so deep in his own thoughts that the voice actually made him jump. He looked up, a little sheepish. "Charlie. Dave." He bobbed his head at them. "Somethin' I kin help ya with?"

Charlie nudged the dirt uncomfortably with his boot toe. "Sorry to disturb ya, Hoss, we just figgered…" he seemed to have trouble going on. Hoss scrunched up his nose curiously.

Dave cleared his throat and picked up the gauntlet. "Hoss - you remember how we fixed Adam's body for buryin'?"

"Oh." Hoss had forgotten. He patted at his pockets. "Guess I owe you fellows. Sorry, I fergot. How much apiece do you think…?"

Charlie took a step backward and Dave looked repelled. "We don't want nothin' fer that, Hoss," he said quietly. "Was a way to pay our respects. He was a good man to work fer."

Hoss's vision blurred unexpectedly. "Yeah," he agreed huskily when he could find his voice. "Yeah. He was."

"We just wanted to give you this. Found it on the body. It's kind of singed and melted and all, but we thought it might still have - you know - sentimental value - " He dropped a blackened piece of metal into Hoss's broad palm.

Hoss stared at it. "What's this?"

"Ring. Found it on Adam's finger. Thought you'd want it."

Hoss squinted at the disfigured scrap in his palm. "On Adam's finger? Adam don't - didn't - wear no rings."

Charlie looked at Dave and shrugged. "That's where we found it."

Hoss poked at it with one blunt finger. "Well, ain't that…I wonder…" He licked his thumb and scrubbed it over the widest part of the band, then peered closely at it. "Looks like some kind of a insignia. Military, mebbe. Adam weren't a soldier."

"Maybe it was a gift or a souvenir. Anyway, it's yours now."

Hoss slipped his forefinger into the ring so that it just rested on the tip. "Yeah. Yeah, thanks, fellas - thanks a lot." He was barely aware of Dave and Charlie making their apologies and moving away as he spun the ring on his fingertip, studying it closely. Didn't look like nothin' he had ever seen afore.

"Whatcha got?"

For the second time that morning Hoss jumped, just grabbing the blistered ring before it could bounce from his fingertip onto the ground. "What is it with everybody sneakin' up on me this mornin'?"

"Sorry," but Joe actually smiled a little as he said it. "What were you lookin' at?"

Hoss lifted the small object between two fingers. "This here. Dave and Charlie were tellin' as how they took it off'n Adam. You reckernize it?"

Joe's brows pushed together and he took the ring from Hoss, studying it. "Never seen it before. Can't quite picture Adam wearing it anyway - he wasn't really much of one for jewelry." Hoss grunted in agreement. Joe picked with a fingernail at one of the melted spots. "He had it on in the fire, though - say - " He looked quickly at Hoss and took a step backward. "Now, don't blow your top at what I'm about to say, Hoss, but - Amelia had Adam's watch and suddenly Adam had this ring. You don't suppose they exchanged tokens or something - I said DON'T blow up at me! I'm just trying to think of every possibility!"

Hoss took a deep breath and pressed his lips against each other to stop his bellow of protest, his face an alarming red. "Okay," he managed after a minute. "Okay - I know you are, Joe. Not that I think that's likely and - didn't you say Miz Amelia told Sam that Adam had forgot his watch?"

"Yeah. But she could have just been sayin' that."

"Mebbe. But kin you really imagine Miz Amelia bein' discreet about it if'n Adam had actually gived her somethin' like that? Shoot, she'd be takin' out an advertisement in the Territorial Enterprise."

Joe grimaced. "Got a point." He sighed, rubbing at his chin. "So where did it come from? It's too big to be a woman's ring…could it have been from Amelia for some other reason? Any of her family military?"

"Naw. Don't think so."

"Just one more puzzle to unravel, then." Joe sighed moodily.

"Pa up yet?"

"Naw. Hop Sing said he got up in the middle of the night so he was gonna let him sleep as long as he could. Breakfast should be ready soon, though."

Hoss nodded, looking uncharacteristically disinterested, taking the ring back and studying it once more. "That's fine. I'm thinkin' that after breakfast I got a couple of important errands to run in Virginia City. I got a lot o' questions fer somebody."

Joe slapped him lightly on the back. "Now, there's a funny coincidence - I was just thinkin' the same thing myself. Guess I'll ride along."

*

"Now, to what do we owe the pleasure of a visit from you gentlemen so early in the day?"

"Howdy, Miz Polly." Hoss flushed a little, quickly averting his eyes from the low cut neckline displayed so winsomely before him. It wasn't really that early by his standards - not as early as he had hoped to be here certainly, but a few things had needed attention before they could leave the ranch. Must be early fer her, though, what with workin' nights an' all. "Er - we was lookin' fer Miz 'Melia?"

"Amelia Fairchild?" The petite redhead curled her lip in disgust, gesturing them further into the saloon and fetching three tin mugs from behind the bar. "She's been off for a couple of days - in again tomorrow, I think - or maybe tonight. Zeke'd know for sure, but he's not up yet." She grabbed a battered coffeepot from its place on the potbellied stove and filled the cups with the turgid liquid while Hoss tried to swallow his disappointment. "Surprised to see you boys here - considerin'."

Joe flushed and Hoss ducked his head. She gestured to a table and watched as they obediently pulled down three chairs.

"That's actual - that's kind why we're here, Miz Polly. We jest - we got a lotta questions about that last night Adam was here - seems Miz 'Melia was the last one to see him alive - she had his watch and it seems as though Adam had this - reckernize it?" He dropped the battered ring on the table in front of them and Polly picked it up and studied it, then shrugged.

"Sorry, boys - never seen it before. Looks old, though."

Joe blinked. "How can you tell? It's burned!"

Polly shrugged again. "Well, I can't for sure - but they change the design of those things every bunch of years, and that one's not the most up to date. I know cause I see a lot of military boys through here."

Joe dropped his head in his hands. "What would Adam be doing wearing somebody's old military ring? This just gets more and more confusing!"

Polly sniffed. "Not half so confusing as Adam Cartwright being with the likes of Amelia Fairchild! I would have thought him a much more discriminatin' type of fellow!"

Hoss snorted. "Ma'am, I feel the same."

"Figure it was that cryin' all over him she was doin' that got him up there - I know not everybody suspected it about him, but your brother was a mighty soft touch."

Hoss stared at her. "Yes'm," he agreed. "Yes'm, he was. Yer sayin' - Miz 'Melia was cryin' all over Adam?"

Polly rolled her eyes. "Land, yes! That girl would do anything to get her way - pitiful, I call it. Don't know what cock and bull sob story she told him to get him to her room, but you can bet your life it was a dilly. Otherwise, if he was in the mood, I'm sure he woulda been lookin' for somethin' a little higher quality." She preened self-consciously.

"Yes'm," Hoss agreed automatically. "Um - you seen all that, then mebbe you saw Adam leave, too?"

Polly sipped daintily at her coffee, then shook her head. "No. No, I didn't. Must have left after I - er - went upstairs."

Hoss leaned forward. "And when was that, ma'am?"

Polly shrugged her creamy shoulders. "Sometime after midnight, I guess."

Hoss sagged. "Oh. No, ma'am - you musta missed him. Henry tells us he left about nine er so. Henry said as how he was in a real hurry, too."

Polly pulled herself up to her full, scant height. "Now, you listen to me, Hoss Cartwright - I did NOT miss him - I was keepin' an eye peeled, as a matter of fact, in case he needed to escape from that Fairchild hussy! And I am tellin' you that I did NOT see your brother leave! I'd bet my life on it!" She glared at him over her coffee as she took another sip. "I was workin' the faro table and dealin' for a bunch of drunken cowboys who couldn't've played even if they was sober and I had a real good view of the stairs the whole time. He did NOT come down them."

Joe looked up and blinked at Hoss perplexedly. Hoss rubbed distractedly at his nose. "Now, no offense, ma'am, but folks swear they saw a fella dressed jest like Adam - "

"Oh! DRESSED like Adam." Polly refreshed her coffee and judiciously added a little drop of something stronger. "Now, that's another story. Sure, there was somebody DRESSED like Adam who came down and went out. Might've been about that time."

Hoss looked doubtfully at the bottle in her hand and shook his head politely "no" as she tipped it over his coffee. "Well, ma'am, if he was dressed like him - I mean, it would be dark in here, and smoky and crowded - how can you be so sure it weren't him? Was he smaller, er - ?"

Polly chewed her lip, looking thoughtful. "No, reckon he was about the same size, give or take…but mercy, boys, your brother ain't the only man in the world to dress in black. I'm tellin' you it wasn't him."

Hoss seemed at a loss, so Joe jumped in. "Ma'am," he began gently. "Both some patrons and Henry thought - "

"Oh. Men." Polly sniffed again, waving a graceful, dismissive hand. "What do they notice? A man's clothes - his gun, maybe. Probably his horse. Outside of that, they all look the same to them." Hoss and Joe just stared at her. She sighed, evidently disappointed by their dimness. "Boys, let me tell you something. I have watched your brother walk in and out of this place more times than I can count. I have watched him sashay his way down the street on any number of occasions, and it has been my pleasure to see him strut his way around a barn dance or two. And I can tell you this for sure and for certain - I would know that walk anywhere, any time, as long as there was the smallest particle of light to see by and maybe even if there wasn't - I would know that walk in my sleep, even. And that walk did NOT make its way down those stairs that night - certainly not carryin' that fellow dressed in black across the floor. Now, if he'd been standin' still I can see where he might've been taken for Adam in a smoky room, though I'm not sure, even then…your brother does have this special way of leanin'…" she lingered pleasantly on the image for a moment. "…but THIS fellow slumped along, jouncing like a jack rabbit - not all slow and smooth and easy, like Adam."

Joe looked at Hoss. Hoss frowned. "But, ma'am - if'n he was in a hurry, mebbe…?"

Polly shook her head sorrowfully, then patted him consolingly on the arm. "Men," she scoffed again. "No, Hoss, I'm tellin' you and you can trust me on this - I kept an eye on those steps all evenin', just waitin' for the pleasure of watchin' that exit, and believe you me, it never came. I don't care what anybody else tells you - or ask some of the other girls if you don't believe me - bet they'd noticed. A man dressed somethin' like Adam Cartwright may have left here about nine, but Adam Cartwright surely did not."