Ezra waited for four days before he was left under Josiah's guard. He evaded prodding questions from Buck and JD easily. Either of the two just needed to be led to talk about themselves and he could fall asleep easily. Vin's tactic was to talk to himself just audible enough to be heard. He entertained different theories he thought led Ezra to the situation he was in, hoping for the gambler to correct him or agree with him if he stumbled upon the truth. Chris was the hardest because he didn't speak at all, but he bore his eyes into the con man every once in a while to show how profoundly annoyed he was.
In the moments when it benefited him the least Ezra found the urge to exhibit the qualities people so often accused him of lacking. So with his life on the line he was determined to honour a promise he had given some time ago. He was not to reveal where the money came from under any circumstances.
Well, that was only part of the truth. Ezra became aware of it when it the situation proved to be more serious than he wanted to believe. The truth was that Ezra didn't see the point in sharing the story he promised to keep secret if he only had his own flimsy word to support it. He trusted the fellow six men indefinitely, but he was still worried about the feeling being vice versa. He couldn't find the courage to expose his truth only to be disbelieved regardless. There was only one man he could talk himself to confide in. If the secret was to remain secret, who better than a preacher to keep it?
Even after he'd decided on a plan, and Josiah's watch was the winning hand he was waiting for, the cautious gambler beat about the bush.
"A sinful game of chance, Mr Sanchez?" he called out to the man at the sheriff's desk.
"Not tonight, Ezra," the preacher was aloof. Perhaps that was why he volunteered for jail duty Ezra reasoned. It nearly threw him off but time was precious. He put away his cards and leaned on the prison bars.
"In that case..." he hesitated. "I'll have to ask you for a favour forthright. Hopefully you'll accept to have me indebted to you."
Josiah sat up instantly and cursed himself for not accepting the game of cards. It hadn't occurred to him that it was difficult for Ezra to broach the subject. He didn't speak hoping that giving the man some space would leave room for him to express himself. He tried to lure the gambler to talk.
"I might be open to that," he said.
"It is related to my false charges."
Josiah sighed with relief. Finally!
"How can I help you, brother?"
"There might be a receipt."
The preacher turned to him with flaming eyes. Buck was right. The little weasel has been sitting on a receipt for four days while the rest of the men were killing themselves trying to find an alibi to acquit him. Ezra looked up at him like a guilty child. But there was something else in his eyes.
"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Josiah asked tentatively. His anger was connected to the inability to help him. Now that he could, he found some sympathy for him, too. Besides, Ezra had instincts of a hunted animal. The smallest prod in the wrong place and he would roll up like a porcupine.
"Various reasons. I promised to keep the origins of that particular sum private."
He looked at Josiah pointedly. Ezra knew that he didn't have to ask Josiah to keep a secret in so many words, so he made sure his look was unmistaken. Josiah nodded.
"But mainly it is because I am quite sure that the documentation isn't with me. Even so..." he continued with so many embellishments that Josiah was having a hard time not wanting to slap the point out of the unsuspecting law man.
"Would you mind searching my private quarters for the documents after you are relieved in the morning?"
"It's just been sitting in your room this whole time?" the preacher's patience was running on empty.
"I can't be sure that it's there. I was placed into custody before I could search myself and the documents are... Of a sensitive quality."
Josiah wasn't about to pry so he cut to the chase:
"What am I looking for?"
"A bounty receipt."
"Bounty?" it was the very last thing he expected to come out of Ezra's mouth. That man really did always have a wild card up his sleeve.
"It will all become apparent once you find the receipt," the gambler wasn't going to elaborate further.
Josiah moved back towards the sheriff's desk.
"Mr Sanchez?"
"Yes, Ezra?" he was about to sit down.
"If you can't find the receipt among my possessions or in my desk," Ezra pulled out a tiny silver object from his vest pocket. "You have my permission to open the safe that I keep in my wardrobe."
Josiah moved back towards the cell a little touched. Was this man letting him through the last lines of defence? Ezra hesitated before turning over the key.
"I would appreciate if you kept the contents of the safe to yourself," the gambler pleaded.
"Of course."
"I hope you won't mind, but I need your word as a man of God."
So that's why he waited so long, Josiah thought. He needed to make sure that his secret was triply guarded by his friend, a fellow lawman and a man of God. He made a mental note to teach Ezra about trust in the future.
The gambler threw himself on the cot limply.
"If the money's legal, there's nothing to worry about, son."
Ezra gave the man a half-smile and didn't speak for the rest of the evening.
Josiah kept his promise and went straight to Ezra's room above the saloon when JD arrived for morning duty. He came back half an hour later and shook his head at Ezra. He couldn't find the receipt. The gambler's eyes were alive with recalculation but his body language resigned itself to defeat.
Josiah had no intention of breaking the promise he had given to the young man, but he did decide to act on the last straw of hope. In the wardrobe safe that Ezra was so reluctant to have opened, alongside some money, were personal items and letters of someone Josiah knew how to contact. He decided on a gamble of his own. Could this person offer any answers? Maybe even an alibi?
He decided it was worth the risk and he walked to Mary Travis's office playing with the silver key. As the bell announced him on the entrance, he was in no doubt whether to send a telegram anymore.
EZRA IN GRAVE TROUBLE STOP BOUNTY RECEIPT NEEDED STOP TESTIMONY ESSENTIAL STOP JOSIAH
It cost him more than two weeks' wages and he vowed to make the sulky gambler repay him once he got off free. He had to pay extra to receive confirmation of receipt. If the addressee wasn't reached the peacekeepers would still have time to act instead of just waiting idly.
But luck had smiled on them for the first time in days and he received a ray of hope within three hours.
ARRIVING AT ONCE STOP G