I don't know how it could have gotten colder since I went back to the hotel, but it did. Good thing it hadn't been this bad last night when I was lying in the alley or I would have frozen to death. I was real happy to step into the relative warmth of the bank.
"Yes, sir, can I help you?" the little lady behind the teller's window asked.
"Yes, ma'am, I'm here to see Mr. Bender. Tell him Bart Maverick." She scurried off to a big oak door and came back in just a minute.
"Please go on in, Mr. Maverick."
Typical bank president's office. Not that anything about this town had been typical so far, but Saul's office definitely fell into that category. We shook hands and he offered me a seat. "You didn't come looking for a loan, did you, Bart? I wouldn't think you'd need one after last night."
"No, Saul, I came lookin' for information. Do you have a few minutes?"
"For anybody else? No, no, no busy man. For you, sure. What can I do for you?"
"You can tell me everything you know about Rally Simmons, for starters."
"Ooooh, I'm not sure that I know anything that isn't public knowledge. Rally is an investment buyer, broker and facilitator. He negotiated a deal for Johnny Farrel out at the Bar J Ranch that darn near made Johnny a millionaire. I almost invested with him the last time he asked, and I wish I had. The man makes people a lot of money. And himself, of course. Why, are you thinking about investing with him?"
"No, Saul, I've got another reason. I'm lookin' into somethin' that may or may not involve his investin'. What do you know about him personally? Married, engaged, family, anything? Where did he come from? How old is he? Where does he live? Anybody holdin' a grudge?"
Bender rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I really don't know a lot. He's been here in Sioux Falls four or five years. Came from St. Louis if I remember right. Don't know if he was born there. Got a brother somewhere out west, San Francisco, I think. Don't know anything about any other family. As for the married, engaged business. Neither that I know of. Why? You worried about Maggie Sawyer?"
Saul had given me a piece of information, at least. St. Louis. And a brother in San Francisco. That was someplace to start. That scoundrel Dandy Jim Buckley might prove useful yet. He knew people in St. Louis. "To answer your question, Saul – no, I'm not worried about Maggie Sawyer. This has to do with June Morgan."
That got a reaction from him. "Oh. Junie and Connie. Pete Morgan loved those girls, even if Junie was just a bit odd. She hasn't gone and gotten herself into some kind of trouble, has she?"
"I hope not. Do you know anything about her tryin' to sell or mortgage Pete's recently?"
"How did you find out about that? Only two people knew that – "
"Constance told me. I'm tryin' to find out why."
Saul got up and walked around the room. "You know this is all confidential information, Bart. If anybody finds out I told you – "
"They won't find out from me, Saul," I tried to assure him.
"Alright, just remember, you didn't hear this here. June came in here looking for money. She said that Rally wanted to marry her and she needed a dowry."
I chewed on that one before I said anything. "How long ago was that, Saul?"
He thought it over for a minute while he walked around the room in circles. Bret does that, too. Paces in circles, I mean. "A month, maybe two at the most."
I got ready to leave. "Thanks for your help, Saul, and your candor. No one will know where the information came from."
We shook hands again and I got up to go.
"Bart." I looked back at Saul.
"Don't let Junie get hurt."
I nodded my head. "I'll do my best, Saul."
XXXXXXXX
I went hurrying down to Minnie's Café. I was late but when I got there, Maggie didn't seem to mind. "I'm off now," she told me, and I offered my arm.
"May I seat you, ma'am?" I asked her.
She giggled. "Yes, sir, something near the back, please."
I escorted her to a table in the back and pulled out her chair for her. I staggered just a little right before I sat down and she got a look of concern on her face. "Are you alright? Did something happen since last night?"
"So much that I don't know where to begin." We ordered lunch and I told her what I could, leaving out the sensitive parts about June shooting Bret and my discussion with Saul Bender.
"Good heavens, you should be in bed!" she exclaimed, and reached over to take my hand.
"I would like nothin' better," I pronounced, "but I don't think that's in the cards. Least not the deck I'm playin' with."
"Why don't you come over to my house for a late supper tonight, say about eight o'clock? You can at least have a home cooked meal and relax before you go to poker."
I was about to tell her I couldn't, I had too much to do yet today; then I made the mistake of looking in those blue eyes. The next thing I heard myself saying was, "Alright. But you don't need to feed me. I don't usually eat before I play poker. But coffee would be great."
She smiled and seemed to be pleased; I was, too. I liked Maggie Sawyer and looked forward to seeing her again this evening. When we were finished with lunch, I walked her back to her house and then crossed back to Simmons office. Rally still wasn't there, and I headed up to Pete's for my promised 'de-briefing'.
Bret and Constance were in the saloon, looking over some kind of paperwork. "Am I interrupting?"
Constance looked up and smiled at me; Bret just mumbled, "Of course you are." Nice to know that you're appreciated, isn't it?
"Bart! Coffee?"
"No thanks, Constance, I just came from lunch. Shall we talk here or your office?"
"Inside, gentlemen. I hope you have good news." She looked at me expectantly and I was concerned that she would be disappointed. We went to her office and I sat down, Bret paced. Something had him walking in circles around the room.
I told her what I'd learned, not attributing the information to anyone in particular. Constance was a smart lady; she could probably figure out where I'd gotten my knowledge. She frowned when I told her about the marriage and dowry part, but waited to say anything until I was through.
"I haven't been able to track down Rally today; wherever he went must have taken longer than expected. I'll see what happens at poker tonight."
The saloon owner looked like she was about to cry. "What in the world has he promised her?"
"Who knows, at this point?" I still wasn't sure if it was Rally leading June on, or June's own imagination that was responsible. "But I want to find out what Rally has to say for himself before I jump to any conclusions." Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. "Brother Bret, what are you wearin' a hole in that carpet for?"
He stopped pacing and finally came over to sit down. "There's gotta be somethin' we're missin', Bart. If Rally has made so much money for everybody, includin' himself, why is he after June's? He surely doesn't want to marry the girl, does he? Doesn't much sound like he loves her. Is he just after her money?"
Bret made a good point and had reasonable questions. Only problem was, I didn't have any answers. I'd been trying to get some, but I hadn't been able to track Rally down.
"Can't give ya any answers until I can nail Rally down for my questions. Let's hope he shows up tonight at poker."
My brother nodded but I was still watching Constance, whose expression had changed to one of despair. "Do you think he . . . . . I mean would he . . . . . could they have . . . . . . do you think they did anything more than just hug and kiss?"
That thought had obviously crossed my mind. "Does June understand - ?"
"About babies and things? I don't know, Bart. I tried to explain all that to her, but I don't know if she understands it or not. My God, he wouldn't – would he?"
Bret and I exchanged glances. I was the one that knew Rally. Would he? Was he that much of a cad, to take advantage of June's . . . . . slowness with things? I didn't like the answer my instincts gave me, so I told Connie what I hoped the answer would be. After all, I had no proof. "No, I'm sure he wouldn't. I'll get answers out of him, Connie, don't worry. In the meantime, have you seen June today?"
She shook her head; there was a measure of relief on her face, but the despair hadn't entirely disappeared. "I think she may have been here in the office when Bret and I were out front, but I'm not completely sure. The last time she was here she wanted to see the proof of ownership papers that I have for Pete's. I still don't know what that was about. I hid them, just to be safe." She was quiet for a minute, and then she looked across the desk at us. "I'm so sorry that I've drug both of you into this. It's gotten to be way bigger than I ever thought it would."
Bret reached across the desk and patted her hand. I just grinned and offered brightly, "Don't worry, Constance. If you hadn't, we'd have found plenty of trouble for ourselves."