Chapter 10 – Missing a Maverick

By the time Ginny got back to Diamond Lil's everyone was up; it was just as chaotic as it had been at the jail. She went straight to Red's office. The door was open, and Beatrice was sitting with Mitchell. "Sammi Jo, come on in."

The liquor bottle on the desk had been replaced by a coffee pot and cups. "Can I have one of those?" Ginny asked, and pointed at the cups.

Red poured one full and handed it to her. "Did you see Mae? How is she? Does she know anything?'

The Pinkerton agent took two big swallows of coffee as she sat down. "I saw her and she's a mess. She swears she didn't kill Milton."

"Do you believe her?" came from Beatrice.

"Yeah, I do," Ginny responded. "But she has no idea what happened. She was asleep in Grant's office when she heard the shots and by the time she could understand what was goin' on it was too late."

"Marshal said she had the gun in her hand when he found her."

A small laugh issued from Beatrice. "Sounds like somethin' Mae would do."

"Mae said she doesn't know why she picked it up. I told her not to say another word and that you were gonna get her a lawyer, Red." Ginny finished her coffee with three more big swallows and set the cup back on the desk. "I'm gonna put some things together for her and take them back down to the jail. Anything else you wanna know?"

Red shook his head, and Ginny got up from her seat. "Be careful, Sammi Jo," the saloon owner warned.

Beatrice followed her out. "You want some help?"

"Sure, why not?"

The two women walked silently up the steps and down the hall to Mae's room. "I feel like I'm trespassing," Ginny remarked. As she opened the door, she was struck by how unadorned the contents of the room were. Unlike the palace that Beatrice had, Mae's looked more like Ginny's bare abode. A bed and a chair, with a small dresser and a single lamp. No fancy drapes, no brilliantly colored dresses, no overstuffed boudoir chairs. Just plain curtains and a worn-looking coverlet on the bed, all neat and tidy.

Ginny rummaged through Mae's small closet and found something more suitable to wear than a dressing gown, then grabbed shoes and everything else that the incarcerated woman would need. "Nothin' much fancy in here, is it?" Bea asked.

"No, it's not. Can you take these down to the jail? Mae wanted me to get some things at Wallace's General Store for her, and I'll meet you down there when I'm done."

"Sure, no problem. I'll see you in a bit."

Beatrice left, and Ginny hurried back to her own room to change into something more suitable for riding. Then she went to the general store as promised and picked up the two or three items Mae had asked for. By the time she got down to the jail it was after nine o'clock; Bea was in the cell with Mae holding up a blanket so the blonde could change clothes.

"I got what you wanted from the store," Ginny told Mae as the prisoner emerged from behind the blanket fully dressed. Malone handed the items to Mae and saw something in her eyes that she hadn't seen before – gratefulness and genuine warmth. "Red is goin' to see Martin Dyson, and they should be down later."

"Sammi Jo," Mae started, "Thanks. For believing me, and for helping. You didn't have to."

"Sure I did, Mae. Everybody needs help once in a while." Ginny turned to Bea, still inside the cell. "Got somethin' I promised to do. I'll be back at Lil's later."

She left the jail and headed for the livery, arranging for a horse and gear. Right at ten o'clock, Tom Springer appeared around back, and he and Ginny rode out south through the back alleys and outskirts of Kansas City. They didn't talk until they'd gone quite a distance, and then the marshal headed them towards a small, secluded cabin.

"My hideaway," Springer explained. "My chief deputy is the only one that knows where this is, and he's back tendin' the jail. Why didn't you tell me you were Pinkerton?"

"Why do you suppose? Not to be rude, marshal, but it's called 'undercover' for a reason. No one knows, and I mean to keep it that way."

"Is there somethin' I should call you besides Sammi Jo?"

Ginny shook her head. "That'll do just fine. Now, tell me what happened this morning."

"I was just makin' a pot of coffee when Jerry North came runnin' in. He was babblin' incoherently, somethin' about gunshots and Grant and Mae and I wasn't gonna get nothin' straight from him, so I just followed him back to Stockman's. Milton was face down on the floor of his office and Mae Templeton was standin' over him holdin' that two-shot derringer, cryin' like a baby. She looked like she didn't know what happened, and when I tried askin' her questions she just cried harder."

"Did you ask her why she shot him?"

"I did. That was the only straight answer I got. She just kept sayin' 'no, no, no, no, no, no.' Like she was tryin' to tell me she hadn't done it."

"Do you believe her?"

"How can I? Grant's dead and she's holdin' the gun that killed him. And there ain't no trace of anybody else in the room."

"Can I see the office, marshal?" was the next question out of Ginny's mouth. "I assume there's a back door."

"There is. You're welcome to, but I don't think you'll find anything. I searched the place already."

"What are you gonna do with Mae?"

Springer shook his head. "Danged if I know what to do with her. We ain't set up to keep women, but I can't just let her go. Not until I find somebody else to blame. And that ain't lookin' likely right now." He fiddled with his hat before looking in Ginny's direction. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"You here to investigate the missin' saloon girls?"

"That's right."

"You gettin' anywhere?"

Ginny tried to answer as honestly as she could without giving anything away. "Let's put it this way . . . I'm making progress."

"You'll be sure and let me know when you've got somethin' solid?"

"I will." Ginny headed for the door. "Take me to Grant's office?"

"Yes'm."

Springer seemed to be right, there was nothing much to see in Grant Milton's office. Once she'd actually been in the room, Ginny had a better idea of how easy it would be for somebody to enter through the back door, shoot and drop the gun, then leave the same way they'd come in. Without being seen by Mae or anyone else positioned on the settee.

Still, the questions remained – who? And why? And was pinning the murder on Mae Templeton intentional or merely an act of good fortune? She found herself wishing that she could talk to Bart Maverick; he'd been a big help on every case they'd worked and had a keen and devious mind, often able to see things that Ginny hadn't yet spotted.

She returned her horse to the livery and hurried back to Lil's. It was time to push things forward if she was ever going to solve this multi-layered case.