Murdoch deposited his black stead in the stable and then went into the main ranch house without knocking. Unlike the previous night, no dishes had been laid out and there was no heavenly meat to consume.

"Miss Ogden?" he called.

At his insistence they had reverted back to more acceptable terms of address. After his unasked for fantasy though, he was seriously contemplating another reversal.

No one responded after a second prompt so he exited the house and approached the young teenage boy keeping watch of the roaming horses in one of the paddocks. The freckled boy wearing a large cowboy hat (similar to the one he himself had rejected) was sitting on the fence looking bored. Murdoch couldn't blame him. The horses weren't doing anything particularly interesting.

"Help you mister?"

"Good day. My name is William. And you are?"

"Simon. Simon Whitfield. You're that city feller, right? The one tracking them killers?"

"Indeed," he said with a small forced smile, somewhat annoyed that Julia had informed the boy of this. "And I was wondering if you could tell me where Miss Ogden is?"

"Which one?" he astutely returned.

"The eldest sister."

"Well, it's Wednesday," Simon said as if that explained everything. Seeing that Murdoch didn't get it, "Miss Julia always goes down to the saloon on Wednesdays."

"Oh, I see," said Murdoch, not seeing at all. It really wasn't his place to pry further but he couldn't help himself. "And may I ask why she does that?"

Simon shrugged. "She just tells me to keep an eye on the place." For the first time he became a bit animated and he puffed out his chest in a reminiscent manner to the Colonel. Murdoch stifled a smile. "Miss Julia says I'm the only one she can trust to do the job proper. Says I'll make a fine rancher one day." He grinned, "And tomorrow I get to uncork my first Bronc."

You are going to break in a wild horse?

Murdoch was familiar with this terminology only because he too had worked on a ranch as a teenager. And he wasn't sure this scrawny thirteen or fourteen year old boy was really up to such a demanding task, but as he very well knew by now, appearances could be deceiving.

"I wish you the best of luck in your endeavour," he said with a genuine smile. "However, I must caution you against overzealous manipulation of the reins"...that way leads to disaster. "Your instinct will be to do just that. But you must attempt to utilize your thighs more than anything else to keep your balance. The...Bronc will be less tempted to buck if you do not pull on its head too often."

The boy scrunched up his face. "You talk funny mister, like that Jasper feller. Kinda look like him too now that I think about it. He your cousin?"

The idea was laughable. No member of the Murdoch clan had ever come out this far...and certainly not his abusive alcoholic father who had drunk himself into an early grave...to the joy of all.

"Not that I am aware of," he said politely enough.

Though he was curious as to what Julia could possibly be up to at the Saloon midday, he nevertheless headed back to town (after helping himself to some dried goods from the Ogden pantry) to continue his investigation for the fugitives. Before leaving the ranch he had also grabbed a tan cowboy hat because a few hours in the unrelenting sun here had been quite enough for him.

For the next little while Murdoch went round the town with the wanted poster in the hopes that someone might recognize Perry and Gillies. Whether or not anyone could tell him where they had been heading was only of secondary concern. Primarily, he desired to confirm the fugitives actual physical presence in the town. If they had never even been here then it was time to telegraph Mr. Ogden and inform him of his failure. And the more people he spoke to, the more it was looking like he'd have to do just that.

Then inspiration struck. It was a long shot but it was better than nothing.

Murdoch pushed open the door to the printing shack to find Ruby busy writing up her account of the medicine man fiasco. At least, that's what he assumed she was working on.

"Wil- Mr. Murdoch," she greeted with a smile, putting her pen down. "You are looking very dashing. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I noticed earlier that you have a camera, Miss Ogden. Did you by any chance happen to take any photographs the day you arrived in Calgary?"

"Why, yes as a matter of fact I did. Quite a few. Why do you ask?"

"Have you managed to develop them yet?"

This printing shack didn't have a dark room, so unless she had set up shop somewhere else, he didn't think it very likely.

"Actually, yes, I have. George fancies himself a bit of a photographer and he has been allowing me to make use of the dark room in his home."

For once some good news. He wouldn't have to waste hours developing all of them.

Ruby smirked. "Just between you and me, he still has a lot to learn."

Somehow he suspected she was not just referring to photography but chose not to comment.

"May I see these photographs?"

"Of course, Mr. Murdoch," she replied, opening a drawer and pulling out a bottom folder. "I must warn you that most of these are exceedingly dull."

"That's fine," he said, spreading them out on the writing table.

"What are you looking for exactly? Perhaps I can help speed up your search?"

"If Gillies and Perry arrived at the same time as you, then perhaps you managed to catch them on camera."

She gave him an apologetic look. "Not to be the bearer of bad news, Mr. Murdoch, but I have already looked through these photographs for just such a purpose. I don't recall seeing them."

"Nevertheless, I would like to take a look."

Ruby shrugged and went back to writing. He retrieved his magnifying glass and hunched over each picture. As he was doing this, he became aware of Ruby's flowery perfume and how nice she smelled. The contrast to her sister was quite stark and yet...he still only found himself attracted to Julia.

Twenty minutes or so later he exclaimed, "Aha!" prompting Ruby to mess up her current sentence.

Amused, "I take it you have discovered something that I have missed?"

"I believe so," he said, trying to contain his excitement. As far as he was concerned, this was the first tangible clue in weeks. Murdoch held out the magnifying glass for Ruby and pointed to the backdrop of one of the shots. "There, in front of the livery."

Ruby looked and said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't see the resemblance." *Glaring plot hole alert*

"You wouldn't," he said a bit smugly, arms crossed. "All along I have suspected them to be wearing disguises. And now I have the proof of it!"

"So, you're telling me that one of those ruthless killers willingly dressed up like a woman...corset and all?" she said in a sceptical manner typical of a reporter. "Doesn't that seem a tad far fetched, Mr. Murdoch?"

"Not at all, Miss Ogden. In my line of work one comes across all sorts of strange behaviour. Allow me to explain my reasoning."

"By all means," she said, turning in her seat, hands in lap. "I am all ears."

"When your father first hired me I took the liberty of looking into Gillies background."

"Sounds logical," she said with a nod.

"Before dropping out, he was taking a course in dramatics at the University of Toronto. The idea to play 'dress up' as a woman would not have been foreign to him." He gestured to the photograph. "Likely he had Perry act as his brother and escort, and therefore no one would have questioned their presence on the train. This is why the constabulary had been unsuccessful in their search. Not because they were never there but because they were hiding in plain sight!"

Despite his emphatic way, Ruby did not seem to be convinced, which irritated him a bit. "Please, allow me to prove my theory once and for all." He held out his hand. "I am certain the livery hand will validate my seemingly far fetched notions."

The livery was typical fare; dark, dirty and smelly. They needed decent light for photograph perusal. As such, he requested to speak with the hired hand outside of the stable and away from his duties, much to the man's annoyance. Though being Indian, he did his best to conceal this, probably thinking it wasn't his place to speak out of turn to a white man, even though he was no slave and they were the trespassers on his birth right.

"How can I be of further assistance to you, sir?" He tipped his bowler* in Ruby's direction. "Miss Ogden."

"Hello Jimmy," she said holding out her hand. He hesitated before taking it. In 'civilized' society, such a thing would have been unheard of. Murdoch was pleased that Ruby wasn't prone to all the misplaced hatred of their ancestors.

"Jimmy, I would like you to take another look at the wanted poster."

"All right, sir." After a moment, "Still don't recognize them I'm afraid."

"What if I told you that I have proof that you had in fact dealt with the fugitives?"

Jimmy's body posture stiffened. "I assure you, sir, I did not attend to them."

"Have no fear, Jimmy," said Ruby, placing a calming hand to his forearm. "Mr. Murdoch is not accusing you of withholding the truth." She glanced sideways at him, "Isn't that right?"

Murdoch smiled and held out his magnifying glass and the photograph from two weeks ago. "Their disguises were very misleading. Please, take your time comparing the two."

Jimmy took it and studied it for a time. "I suppose that fellow loading the carriage must be me. As to the other two..." He took another long look at the depictions on the wanted poster. "You know what, Mr. Murdoch," comprehension began to dawn on his face, "I think you're on to something here. I couldn't see it at first, but yes, there is a sort of resemblance between them."

Murdoch caught Ruby's eye and saw that she was finally coming around to his line of thinking. "But," Jimmy pointed to the partial and somewhat blurry picture of Perry, "he had styled and dyed his hair a different colour than the one in the description here. As well, he was wearing a full beard and brown tinted spectacles. And he," Jimmy pointed to Gillies, "well, I think you can understand why I did not see the resemblance earlier."

The livery hand looked towards the insistent neighing of one of his charges.

"I just have a few more questions, Jimmy, and then you can get back to work."

Jimmy nodded. "What else do you want to know?"

"What names were they going by?"

"Johnson, I believe. Mary and Clarke."

"Did they mention where they were headed?"

He thought about that for a moment. "Yes, as a matter of fact, they did. While I was loading up their things, I think they said something about Lethbridge, about Mr. Johnson, or rather, Perry working at the...North Western Coal and Navigation Company." Jimmy paused overly long. "About starting a family there."

Murdoch and Ruby shared a bewildered look. "A family? I was under the impression they were posing as brother and sister."

Jimmy shook his head adamantly. "No, sir, they definitely were pretending to be married. Rings and all." He made a face. "I did wonder at the fellow's choice of bride. She wasn't the prettiest creature I had ever seen. Far too much rouge for my liking. And now I know why." He shivered. "Strange to be in the presence of killers and not even know it."

Indeed, he thought, and you still are.

*Apparently the bowler hat was actually the hat of choice in the American West. So Bat Masterson wearing it was completely accurate.