Chapter 5

It didn't take long for Nick and Heath to figure out that Springer was never going to be a herder of cows. He looked distinctly uncomfortable when Jarrod gave him the news after dinner, and he looked even more uncomfortable the next day when Nick and Heath took him out onto the range, not to mention he looked silly in Nick's old clothes. Oh, he could sit a horse all right but as for maneuvering one the way a wrangler needed to, forget it. Nick and Heath let him try it for a couple hours, making sure he did not actually get close enough to the cattle that he might get hurt or get anyone else hurt. It all gave Nick and Heath and the other men a few laughs, but around mid morning they took Springer off the line and handed him to Old Jube at the chuck wagon.

That was pretty entertaining to watch too, see that fancy San Francisco lawyer who hands were more lily white than Jarrod's ever were trying to clean pots and make stew. "He ain't so good at that either, is he?" Heath noted.

"No, but he needs to spend some time doing it," Nick said.

"I hope the food is edible," Heath said. "We're gonna be hearing about it if it isn't."

He needed have worried. Old Jube supervised and lunch came out fine. The only problem was that Springer was already looking tired and sore.

"Think you can hang in there for the rest of the day, Springer?" Nick asked.

Springer was a bit surly when he said it, but also a bit determined. "Try me."

XXXXXXX

When they brought Springer home from the field, the man was so sore he could hardly move faster than a tortoise. Climbing the stairs brought smirks from the family below, but no one laughed out loud, even though they wanted to. The most that happened was that Heath said it was a very gratifying day. They let Springer have first crack at the wc and a bath.

Jarrod came in from town about 45 minutes later. He looked around and worried when he didn't see Springer. "Relax," Nick said. "He's upstairs cleaning up."

"How did he do?" Jarrod asked.

Snickers went around. "He's a tenderfoot," Heath said. "It was fun."

Jarrod chuckled but lost it when Victoria asked how his day went. "Not as well as I would have liked. Do you think my client is out of the bathroom?"

"We heard him moving around up there a few minutes ago," Nick said.

Jarrod headed upstairs, saying, "I better talk to him about my day before I talk to you."

In a few moments, Jarrod knocked on Springer's door and entered when he was invited. Springer was sitting on the bed, pulling boots on. He was back in a business suit now, looking like his true self and not the urban cowboy who had left in the morning.

"How are you feeling?" Jarrod asked.

"Sore," Springer said. "I worked myself to the bone and was the butt of a lot of jokes, but I'll still take it over jail. What did you learn today?"

Jarrod sighed. "Nothing all that helpful I'm afraid. Annie and her girls still insist you were the last one with Mandy before she was discovered dead. Nobody else went up there."

"How many men were already up there?" Springer asked.

"Four," Jarrod said, "and I have their names but they wouldn't mean much to you. I talked with two of them. I'm still trying to track down the other two. There's also an unlocked back door that could be pertinent. None of the girls were anywhere they could have seen someone coming and going between the time you left and the time they found Mandy. Anybody could have gotten in there."

"That can work for us," Springer said hopefully.

Jarrod nodded. "It could. I still have a few people to talk to. Are you up for a few more days as a wrangler?"

"I'm a cook now, not a wrangler. But I'd do it for the rest of my life if it would save me from a rope."

"Are you still adamant that we don't sent for your wife? It might help if the jury saw her here."

Springer hesitated. "How do I tell her I was with a prostitute who was murdered?"

"You just straight out confess and beg her to forgive you. She is gonna find out sooner or later."

"I know. Let me think about it."

"All right," Jarrod said and headed for the door. "Come down for some scotch when you're ready."

"Jarrod – "

Jarrod stopped at the door.

"What do you make of Phil Archer being on this case?" Springer asked. "Is that good or bad, to your thinking?"

"I don't know," Jarrod said. "He doesn't do me any favors but I don't think he'd obstruct justice in any way just to get at me. How is he with you? I know he left law school mad at the world and you and me in particular."

"I haven't had anything to do with him," Springer said. "I haven't even been to Stockton except for that case involving your brother, and Archer wasn't involved with that. You really stuck it to me on that one, you know. I'm glad the bad feeling isn't tiding over."

"I never had any bad feeling toward you, Nat. I just knew you weren't handling my brother the way he wanted to be handled, and for a while there I let you get to me with those visions of Heath at the end of a rope. But that's all passed now. And Phil just drew the short straw on this. He was around, so he got the case. If he has any bad feeling toward you, I don't think it will make him do anything illegal or unethical. He hasn't been that way toward me and he hates my guts."

Springer chuckled. "Well, I'll keep hoping you get to the bottom of this before we ever get to a trial, but if we do go to trial, I'm glad you'll be defending me."

Jarrod smiled a little. "Come on down for some scotch and some dinner. You need to get yourself fortified for another day on the range."

Springer groaned.

XXXXXXX

Come Monday morning Jarrod headed into town and went to see the District Attorney, Sam Davison, before he did anything else. Davison hadn't been around for Jarrod to talk to him, and he had some questions he needed answers to. First, he wondered why no one had gone to Davison's home the night of the murder to fetch him, grabbing Archer off the street first. "Were you away from home?" Jarrod asked. "I thought they always went for you first when there's been something like this."

"No, I was at home," Davison said. "Archer was just closer to the scene than I was. I didn't ask Archer how he happened to be closer to things. It happens sometimes – somebody looking for me runs into him first, so he takes the case. People are supposed to come to me but Fred can take whoever he finds first."

"You don't have any problem with him handling this case, what with him knowing my client personally and the likelihood this case will get a lot of press?"

"No, he's more than capable, and we're short-handed. There's only him and me in the office."

Something about all this still bothered Jarrod, although he didn't know what or why. He thought he'd better find out why someone might have found Archer first, on a Friday night in town. Archer lived outside of town, and he was not a night owl. What was he doing in town on a Friday night?

Davison saw the wheels turning in Jarrod's head. "Why does that bother you? It's not unusual for our office."

"Was Phil working late, do you know?"

"No, not that I know of."

"Then why was he here? He doesn't live in town, and you know Phil. He doesn't hit the saloons, doesn't go to Big Annie's – " Jarrod stopped himself. From what he knew about Archer, he wouldn't go to Big Annie's and no one had placed him there before Mandy was found – but why did the fact that they found him before they found Davison bother him so?

Davison started to laugh. "Phil Archer at Big Annie's? That's ludicrous, Jarrod."

"Why?" Jarrod asked, very seriously. "Pardon my putting it this way, but just because he's a worm doesn't mean he's not a man."

"Jarrod, he's – well, you know."

"Yes, I do know," Jarrod said, "but what do I know? I know what he wants me to know. Who says he's told me everything there is to know?"

Davison leaned back in his chair. "Do you realize what you're saying?"

"I do," Jarrod said, "and I don't even like thinking it, much less saying it, but I've got to check into it. I need to talk to Fred Madden and find out exactly where he or his deputy or whoever he sent looking for you ran into Phil first."

"Well, now you've got me wondering," Davison said. "If you turn anything up that puts Phil in a bad situation – criminal or not – I think I better know about it."

"Do you want to go with me to see Fred?" Jarrod asked.

Davison got up. "Maybe I better."