Chapter 15

In the morning, Nick and Dr. Merar came down and found Jarrod up and dressed. Jarrod was asking Heath to fetch the sheriff, but Sheriff Madden came in just as Jarrod was explaining he did not intend to shave or put on a tie, and he was happy with his wrinkled shirt and dirt stained coat looking a little worse today than they did yesterday. He wanted to look rough around the edges.

"Intentional," Jarrod explained. "I intend to keep the ruse up today. I'll look a little more whacked out if I don't shave or dress too well."

"You intend to nose around town again?" the sheriff asked.

"It depends," Jarrod said. "I finally thought about that key last night, the one we found in the livery. Did you find out who it belongs to?"

"No, not yet."

"Did you check with Slim the barber about that room over his place?"

The sheriff looked curious. "Yes, it's not to his shop or his room upstairs. Why do you ask?"

"My secretary Esther was here last night. She saw Jed Bishop go up there, even though she didn't see when he came out. Do you know who lives there?"

"Patrice King is her name," Sheriff Madden said. "She's – a friend of Bishop's, so I hear."

"So he goes there a lot."

The sheriff nodded.

"That might explain why I ran into him down there in the alley last night," Heath said, "which if that does explain it, makes Joe Tyler look more like the man who came in here after Jarrod."

"Except, if Bishop was upstairs, Joe Tyler being around in the alley might be explainable," the sheriff said.

Everyone looked at him.

"A trusted lookout," the sheriff said. "Heath, you said you never did see who was in here."

Heath had to shake his head. "No, I didn't."

"And you didn't either, Nick."

Nick shook his head too.

"Esther didn't see Bishop come down from Miss King's room either, so we don't know when he did, and she hasn't mentioned seeing Tyler," Jarrod said.

Nick sighed. "We don't really have anything, except suspicions."

"I'd like to talk to Esther," Sheriff Madden said.

"She'll be here at nine," Jarrod said. "Fred, do you have that key on you?"

"In my pocket," the sheriff said. "Why?"

"Where all did you check yesterday?"

"Lots of places."

"But not with Jed Bishop or Joe Tyler, did you?"

The sheriff shook his head. "No, I didn't."

"Do it today."

Sheriff Madden sighed. "Jarrod, you know what a fussy old man Judge Lawson is. He's not likely to give me a search warrant given what little I have on Bishop and Tyler, and it's going to take a search warrant because Bishop isn't gonna let me check the locks at his place."

Jarrod's eyes, wearing though they were, twinkled and showed he had an idea. "Doctor, will you back up the notion that I should still stay in town today just in case I keel over?"

"That won't be hard to back up," Dr. Merar said. "I still am concerned you might keel over."

"Harry told me it's not unusual for some of Bishop's men to turn up at the Empire," Jarrod said.

"No, there seems somebody from Bishop's in town every day around noon, buying something or doing something, and they stop at the Empire for a round or two," the sheriff said.

Nick asked, "What do you have in mind?"

Jarrod lifted his key out of his pocket. "Let me play the deaf man with the scattered brain again today, only we make sure to be at the Empire and make sure somebody from Bishop's sees me fiddling with this key."

"What makes you think that's going to shake anything up?" the sheriff asked.

"I can't be sure it will," Jarrod said. "But it looks like the key you have, and if I fiddle with it enough, somebody might mention back at the Bishop place that the deaf and dumb Barkley lawyer just kept playing with a key like he was a two-year-old at the Empire. If it was Bishop or Tyler who lost that key in the livery, me with a key might make them nervous enough to try something to get it, or I might get enough information for you to get a search warrant."

"Well, you can give it a try, but it's one big reach," the sheriff said. "You're counting on the right man seeing you and saying something back at the Bishop place. That's a pretty thin thread."

"I know," Jarrod said, "but if I hear something from somebody who sees me playing with it, something valuable, the thread gets stronger."

Nick and Heath looked at each other, not so sure this was going to work.

"I think one thing we can be sure of is that nobody is going to try for you here again tonight if you stay here," Dr. Merar said.

Jarrod nodded. "No, the decoy won't work now, but If flashing a key around doesn't work, I'll head home late today and 'get well' by tomorrow, and think of something else before somebody really kills me."

That last phrase made everyone in the room nervous, but Heath said, "We still don't know why anybody would want to kill you – except maybe Bishop because of the orchard lawsuit."

"And he might be using Tyler to do it," Nick added.

"And that would make grabbing the both of them in alley last night more logical," Jarrod agreed. "That's why I want some of his men to see me with this key. It's more likely the key belongs to Bishop or Tyler than to anyone else."

"All right, try being deaf and addle-brained for one more day," the sheriff said. "But you think hard about another approach in the meantime."

Someone came into the doctor's office just then. Dr. Merar went into the waiting room to see Esther had arrived. "Good morning," Esther said. "How is Mr. Barkley today?"

Jarrod came out of the sick room, looking like as big a mess as Esther had ever seen him. She looked shocked. When Sheriff Madden, Nick and Heath followed him out, and when Jarrod smiled, Esther relaxed a little.

"I'm fine, Esther," Jarrod said, "but I'm still playing deaf and addle-brained, as the sheriff puts it."

"What do you want me to do today?" Esther asked. "What do you need me to know?"

"Go on over to the office and take care of things there," Jarrod said. "Keep an eye out to see if anyone looks funny, and if anyone asks, I'm still in the doctor's care and still having trouble hearing and thinking. And when you're up there, put yourself in my chair at the window so you can see the street, but keep away and to the side so no one sees you. Take note of anything you think looks unusual and go straight to the sheriff with it if you don't know where I am."

Esther nodded. "Am I looking for anything in particular?"

"Jed Bishop or Joe Tyler," Jarrod said, "but I don't think you'll be seeing either one of them. You don't know any of Bishop's other men, do you?"

"No, I'm sorry," Esther said. "Where will you be?"

"Around, with my brothers," Jarrod said. "At midday or so, we'll go into the Empire and I'll eavesdrop some more. I plan to go home tonight, but I'll come by the office before I do."

Esther nodded and sighed a little. "I'll do my best, Mr. Barkley. I'll go on over to the office now and – well, I'll watch."

When Jarrod smiled and nodded to her, Esther turned and went back out to the street.

"You didn't mention the key to her," Sheriff Madden said.

"No," Jarrod said. "I want to keep that strictly between us. I really want to keep Esther more or less out of the way. I don't want her getting hurt in this."

The sheriff nodded. "All right then. You boys go about your day, and I'll go about mine, and I hope what you're up to is the only thing that might shake my day up."

The sheriff went out then, and Jarrod said, "I could stand to go eat something. No offense, Doctor, but Iva is the cook around here, not you."

Dr. Merar chuckled a little. "I'll go fetch her home and then just go about my day too, and hope Esther isn't the only person who doesn't get hurt today."