A/N: I apologize greatly for the delay in updating. Heavy work schedule again plus this episode just didn't really inspire me for some reason. Of course, coming right on the heels of To Die in Darkness kind of dooms the next episode in the way of expectations.
As always, I don't own Bonanza. Tonight: The Bottlefighter.
Added line breaks 2-19-21
"They should have been back by now, the drive is scheduled to start next week." Annie paced the main room, her nerves running on high alert. "Whose bright idea was it to let them go alone?"
"Anne, it's Hoss."
"And Candy," she hissed. "Put two of us together and you get trouble." Ben sighed and left his chair.
"I'm not going to tell you not to worry, I know that's impossible, especially now. Just remember one thing: it's not Joe." Her lips twitched. "Hoss is better at avoiding trouble than any of you."
"I seem to recall the barn being overrun with rabbits. And the flapjack contest. And what about those leprechauns he swore he'd discovered?" She stepped out of his hold and resumed pacing. A small thing, but it reminded her she was alive. After the mine, she couldn't keep still.
"Joe was mixed up in those, too. Annie, they'll be fine. All they're doing is collecting payment for 1,000 head of steers." His face changed. "And we've found ourselves in trouble over a lot less than that."
"PA!" The door flew open and Joe raced into the house, waving a piece of paper. "Candy – Hoss, we have to go, now!" He thrust the paper at them and darted back outside. Ben grabbed it and his eyes widened. Annie read over his shoulder and choked on a shocked gasp.
HOSS ON TRIAL FOR MURDER. HURRY. CANDY.
"Go help your brother saddle the horses." She took off without a word. Five minutes later, they pounded out of the yard three wide, driving hard for a town called Salt Springs.
What had happened? How had it happened? Hoss, murder? There had to be a mistake. Annie drove her heels against Reno's flanks, begging for more speed.
There were some times she wondered if their whole family was cursed.
They galloped into Salt Springs on borrowed horses and halted in front of the hotel. Candy shoved off the post at his back and ran down the steps to the street.
"I've never been so glad to see anybody in my whole life."
"How's Hoss?" Joe scrambled down off his gray. Candy's face darkened.
"He's not hurt, but things are as bad as they can get."
"Where's the jail?" Ben yanked off his gloves, that familiar take no prisoners look coloring his face. Candy pointed down the street and Annie jumped down from her big bay. Ben led them off. "Have you seen him?"
"The sheriff won't let me in. He won't let anybody in except his family and that lawyer."
"What lawyer?" Annie darted up beside him, exchanging a look with Joe.
"Court appointed, he quit." They all froze in the middle of the street.
"What?" Ben's voice was lethal. Candy drew himself up.
"It's good riddance, he didn't spend more than three minutes in the jail with Hoss. At the hearing, he didn't open his mouth." Annie bit her lip. "I tried to get him another one, but there's not a lawyer in this town that wants anything to do with the case." They all looked at each other.
"Come on." Ben started walking again and Joe followed him. Candy caught her by the arm and held her back.
"I tried, sweetheart, but that sheriff can't be reasoned with. The prosecutor around here calls the shots. And he's convinced Hoss did it." He shook his head. "I should have sent a wire as soon as it happened, but I thought …" She squeezed his arm. "I thought I could handle it."
"It's not your fault. Come on, we should get to the jail." They walked inside just as Joe and Ben handed over their gun belts. "What's going on?" Her hand dropped to her holster and she glanced sideways, only now realizing Candy didn't have his. The sheriff held out his hand.
"Hand it over. You can have it back after the trial. On your way out of town."
"Why just us? There's other people in town wearing guns."
"Because I say so." A stranger stepped into the room from the rear of the jail and closed the door behind him. "Nathan Ogleby, County Prosecutor." He ambled across the room and stopped in front of their pa. "Salt Springs is a quiet town, Mr. Cartwright, and we want to keep it that way. You Ponderosa people come equipped with explosive tempers and short fuses. We already have one murder to prove that." Joe's mouth opened, but their pa beat him to it.
"Are you the prosecutor, or the judge?" The man had the grace to look away.
"As a father, Mr. Cartwright, I sympathize with you. As a prosecutor, I must tell you that your son stands accused of a most heinous crime. And I'm sworn to see that he pays the full price the law exacts for that crime."
"I want to see my son."
"Of course. After she's taken off that gun." She met his cold eyes and hers narrowed. She could hear her pa whispering in her head that now was most definitely not the time to take a page from her brother's book. Never breaking eye contact, she unbuckled the belt and held it out, dropping it a split second after the sheriff's hand came into view.
He missed, as she'd known he would, and fumbled getting it off the floor. She didn't spare him a glance as she swept after her pa and Joe, Candy bringing up the rear. She caught Candy's eye when he came up on her left and they shared the tiniest of smiles. Then the cell was in front of them and Hoss waiting like a caged animal.
"Got here as soon as we could."
"Changed horses three times," Joe added. "The way Pa rode, you'd think he worked for the Pony Express instead of us." Their big brother cracked a grin that faded as soon as their pa spoke again.
"Hoss, tell us what happened."
"I wish I knew. I mean, I don't really know. You see, it all started, Pa, when I sold this fella Edwards a thousand head of steers, all on a handshake deal. Well, I got to worrying about it, see, so, Candy and me, we rode out here to check on it and sure enough, he'd backed out on the deal. He'd decided to buy from Mort Becker, at a dollar a head cheaper." Mort Becker? But he didn't – A boot thumped softly against hers and she snapped her mouth shut. She shouldn't be surprised he'd known she was about to say something. She flicked a dark glare Candy's way, but all he did was shake his head, a tiny smirk tugging at his mouth.
"So, I went to him, and tried to get the two thousand dollars earnest money that he'd guaranteed on a handshake to start the drive. But he wouldn't do it. Tried to throw me out of his room and we got into a scuffle. Sometime during the scuffle, he or somebody hit me over the head and I don't remember what happened after that. Dadblameit, I just don't know." They all looked at each other and a thread of panic coiled itself into a ball in the pit of her stomach.
How were they going to prove him innocent?
She shuffled down the steps, throwing a dirty look over her shoulder at the office of Harold van Buren. Candy hopped off the stair railing, resignation already lurking in his gaze. She nodded once and stopped beside Ben, Joe on his other side.
"Well, Mr. Van Buren regrets that it is impossible to take on another case at this time." Ben's tone was cutting. Joe sighed.
"We're doing about as well as you did. Three tries, and three turn downs."
"I didn't get the pretty speech," Candy remarked. "Just plain no."
"Candy." Ben looked up. "Did you say there were four lawyers in Salt Springs?"
"More like three and a drunk, Barney Sturgess." Annie's heart sank even more. But Ben had that look on his face, like he knew something they didn't.
"Sturgess?" He mused. "There used to be a great trial lawyer in Sacramento some years ago by that name." She perked up. They couldn't get that lucky … could they? "I wonder if it's the same one. Where's his office?"
"Around the corner, up the stairs."
"Let's go." They hurried off, quickly reaching the rundown office. Ben knocked on the door. And again when no one answered. Annie bit her lip. And again.
"Come on in, door's open." They traded glances and went inside. The door crashed against a chair and her heart sank again. Papers and discarded clothes covered every horizontal surface in sight. The biting smell of alcohol permeated the room. A short, round, disheveled man sat behind the messy desk, watching them with blood-shot eyes.
This was their only hope? She wanted to cry, scream, rage at the prosecutor, but it wouldn't help. Ben stepped forward. "Mr. Sturgess?"
"Yes."
"My name is Ben Cartwright."
"How do you do?" The lawyer stood and offered his hand.
"My son, Joseph, my daughter, Anne, and Candy."
"How do you do?" He reached to shake Joe's hand and almost fell over the desk. Her brother shot her a worried look. Then it was her turn and his clammy hand took hers before he moved on to Candy. "I've seen you on the street. Sorry this place is so cluttered." He moved past them and snatched a stack of junk off a chair. "I'm not much of a housekeeper." He moved the pile and waved at the chair. "There you go. Ah!" He ducked down and scooped up an empty bottle. "A good friend of mine, a good soldier. I was with him when he died." He cradled the bottle in his arms and she gave Joe a wide-eyed stare.
Barney Sturgess wasn't only drunk, he was crazy.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Joe turned to leave. Their pa grabbed his arm.
"Sit down."
"But –"
"Sit down." He threw them all a look that brokered no argument. "Sit down." Annie sat, noting Candy was almost as fast as she was. He was learning, no doubt about that.
"Your son Hoss is in big trouble."
"Mr. Sturgess, my son is charged with murder. Now there's no doubt –"
"Wait, wait a minute." Sturgess leaned in. "I'll show these two I'm not as far gone as they think." He shifted in his chair. "I value my privacy, and I sit in saloons, alone. But I hear what's going on. You're trying to hire a lawyer, but they're all too busy." He half chuckled and took a drink from the glass sitting on his desk. "Truth is, they won't buck Nate Ogleby, it ain't smart.. Not if you want to make a living at the law business in this town."
"Is that how you feel about it?"
"Doesn't matter how I feel. I'm not fool enough to think I could defend a murder charge. And I'm sure you're not fool enough to hire me. Even a good lawyer wouldn't help much." He raised his glass again. "What you need is a miracle."
"Miracle or not Hoss didn't do it," she spit out.
"Your opinion," Sturgess commented as he stood and came around the desk. "Unfortunately, the good people of Salt Springs have already tried and convicted him." He leaned down, blowing the stench of whiskey over her face.
"Mr. Sturgess." Ben jumped up. "We need legal help. And you're the only man available. At least you could get a postponement."
"Won't do any good."
"Even a clerk could get one."
"Then go find a clerk and leave me alone!"
"You used to have a reputation as a fighter." The lawyer looked up. "I remember you when a murder case, any case, would be a challenge."
"Before this." Sturgess slumped in his chair and raised the whiskey glass. "Now, nobody would trust me to witness a signature, much less go into court. And I like it that way."
"Mr. Sturgess, my son needs your help. And you're going to have to help him."
"I could never make it. No, go away."
"You'll make it." Oh, boy, he had that tone to his voice again. "We'll see that you make it. We'll walk you around until you're stone sober and you'll walk into that courtroom, and you'll get that postponement."
"You don't know what you're asking." He raised the glass again, but it never made it to his lips.
"Yes, I do." Ben forced his arm down. "There's got to be a shred of guts left in you." Sturgess didn't say a word. Annie looked to the right and the left, at her brother and her best friend, finding the same fear written on their faces that she knew was on hers. "We need your help." Sturgess shuffled past Ben and turned in the middle of the room.
"Alright. I'll try."
"What was the fight about?" Sturgess paced the cell, wiping his face with a smelly rag.
"I've told you three times already, Mr. Sturgess," Hoss said on a weary sigh.
"I didn't hear you, wait, you – you did tell me something about money, but I want to hear it again." He abandoned his pacing and sat on the other bunk up against the wall. "Now, you and Candy rode in. Then, Candy took the horses to the livery stable. And you went into the hotel."
"That's right. I went into the hotel, straight to the clerk, was about to register, when he told me that Mr. Edwards was up in room fourteen, so I went right up there."
"Were you mad at him? Were you hunting for trouble?" The little man hopped off his bunk and scurried over to sit beside Hoss, who buried his face in his hands and shook his head.
"I done told you Mr. Sturgess. He owed me two thousand dollars earnest money that he was supposed to have paid when we went on trail with the cattle, but he didn't show."
"You went on up to fourteen." Sturgess retreated back to his bunk.
"That's right. I get on up there and the door was open. He was in there having a drink with Mort Becker. I went in and told Mr. Edwards I wanted the two thousand dollars and a contract for the rest of the money to be paid when we delivered the cattle. And he told me the deal was off."
"Is that why you killed Becker?"
"I didn't kill anyone, confound it!" Annie buried her head in her hands with a groan. Joe turned away from the cells.
"How long are we gonna let this drunk keep it up?"
"He's doing better than he was," their pa replied. "What else are we going to do, Joe? He's the only lawyer we can get."
"Some lawyer," Candy noted. "He has trouble remembering what he just heard." Ben sighed and Annie leaned back, dropping her head onto Candy's shoulder.
"You're not helping," she muttered. Joe folded his arms and flicked a glance their way before he turned to glare at the lawyer.
"I don't know how he finds his way to the courthouse."
"There are times when he can't." the sheriff commented dryly, and they all turned to look at him. "Most times, I feel sorry for people who hire old 'Bottle Barney' but this time it don't make no difference. In over twenty years of law work, I never seen a more open and shut case."
"Well, what made Becker mad?" She turned back to the cell with a muffled groan. And he still couldn't keep anything straight.
"I told Edwards that Becker didn't have a thousand head of cattle." Hoss turned around. At some point he'd left the bunk. "Didn't even have five hundred unless they were stolen."
"How'd you know that?"
"Everybody in Virginia City last week knew that," Annie hollered through the open door. Sturgess narrowed his eyes.
"What's she mean?"
"He was bumming meal money."
"It's a good thing Ogleby didn't hear you say that. How could Edwards give you two thousand dollars if he was broke?"
"Dadburnit, it wasn't Edwards that was broke, it was Becker!"
"I-I didn't hear it right!" Sturgess settled in on the opposite bunk again. "Becker, it was Becker who left room fourteen."
"That's right." Ben jumped up and crossed over to the sheriff's desk.
"How much money did Edwards have in his pockets?"
"Be glad to, Mr. Cartwright. He had a hundred and four dollars and a gold watch. So if you're thinking of robbery, it won't work." The man turned back to his rifle.
"He came at me with a chair, but missed and hit a table. I took it away from him – or what was left of it. About that time, I remembered a shadow coming over my shoulder, and somebody hit me over the head. And the next thing I knew I was looking at Candy and the sheriff."
"Hit you in the head, hm? Let me see." Sturgess hopped off the bunk.
"It was the day before yesterday, it's already gone." The lawyer shook his head and sat back down.
"And it was your knife they found in there."
"Yeah," Hoss said softly and her heart twisted. How could anyone believe he'd done it? All they had to do was look at him for Heaven's sake. Hoss didn't need to use a knife if he suddenly decided he wanted someone dead.
"And you haven't any idea how it got into Edward's back?"
"I told you I didn't know!" Hoss' voice rose. Ben shot through the doorway.
"Alright, Barney, that'll be enough." The sheriff unlocked the cell and the lawyer wobbled out.
"No, Pa, he was a little muddled before but he's doing better now, besides, someone's going to have to ask these questions anyhow." Sturgess nodded.
"I'll see you in court." He headed for the door. The cell clanged and she winced. Ben turned away slowly and motioned them out the door. Outside, the lawyer stared coughing.
"You alright?"
"I'll be able to get to my office before I fall down." He started down the street. "Tomorrow, if I'm lucky, I'll be able to go into that courthouse and get your postponement. I'd sure hate to have to take it all the way through." Sturgess wheeled around. "I'm not saying he's guilty. I don't believe he did it, why that moose could have slapped Edwards right through the wall. He's not one to use a knife."
A sigh of relief gusted from her lungs. Maybe he wasn't as drunk as she'd thought; if he could see it, why couldn't that conceited prosecutor?
"Of course he's not."
"Well, that makes five of us. But that jury will find him guilty without leaving the box." The weight of his statement hung in the air. "Well, I've got to get to my office. To get that postponement, I've got some reading to do."
"I'll walk with you." Joe flicked her a careful glance over the lawyer's shoulder and she slipped backwards, tugging Candy with her. He didn't say a word, merely followed her lead as they slipped around the nearest corner. Once out of sight, she broke into a jog. Joe would drag it out as long as he could, but it all depended on how much Sturgess was willing to argue before he realized he wasn't going to win this one.
They reached the stairs to the lawyer's office and took them two at a time. "Find it," she hissed. "He gets that liquor in his gut and there goes Hoss' only chance." They split up and scoured the office. Footsteps rang on the staircase and she moved faster.
"Got it." Candy scooped up the bottle from the pile of blankets on the man's filthy cot. The door flew open and slammed shut just as fast. They pressed up against the wall, hidden for now. Empty bottles crashed to the floor; the lamp toppled off the desk and shattered. Books – she guessed – hit the floor. Another crash and then footsteps were racing towards them.
Candy shoved her behind him and pressed them both up against the far wall as Sturgess flew into the tiny room, eyes wild. He froze, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead.
"Looking for this?" Candy dropped the bottle and it shattered, amber liquid pooling in the floor. Sturgess took one step and the door flew open again.
"Don't even think about it." Joe's voice drifted across the room. The door slammed and angry footsteps rang out on the wooden boards. Sturgess seemed to shrink under her brother's ice cold gaze.
"Just one drink to nail me back together."
"Oh, you're gonna drink alright, black coffee. I'm gonna fill you up with it while you do that book work. And then after that, we're gonna walk again."
"I've done all the walking I'm gonna –"
"You're going to walk," she said softly, a thread of steel running through the words as she slipped past Candy. "And we're taking you to the hotel so we can keep an eye on you. When you walk into that courtroom tomorrow, you're going to be the soberest man in Salt Springs."
"Go away and leave me alone, I don't want this job!" Candy lunged and threw the man against the wall, his eyes as cold as Annie had ever seen them.
"We don't either but we're stuck with you. After you get that postponement, you can do anything you want, friend. But until then, you're going to do what we say." Sturgess shrank in on himself and nodded, sweat dripping from his face. Candy released him and they all straightened.
How could this drunk be Hoss' only chance?
"I don't like delays, Mr. Sturgess. We've never had to cal in outside help to solve our legal problems before. And since the defendant has a lawyer, I see no reason to start now." The judge reached for his gavel. "Motion to postpone denied."
"If the court please, we haven't had time to prepare an adequate defense." The judge lowered his gavel and checked his watch.
"I'll give you time. It's ten o`clock now. This court is in recess until one PM." He banged the gavel down and Annie's stomach fell with it. Three hours? Bile rose in her throat. If someone, somewhere, couldn't think of something soon, Hoss was doomed.
"When the judge denied that postponement, he about fell over." Her big bear of a brother paced the cell.
"There isn't anyone else."
"There's got to be somebody, somewhere."
"We've telegraphed Charlie Haskell in Virginia City and Pa's over talking to van Buren now," she supplied, though van Buren at least would be a waste of time. Ben rushed into the jail and came over, looking angry and disbelieving, though thank God not defeated.
"I offered van Buren triple his fee to help Barney until Haskell gets here, but he … he's just too … too busy."
"That leaves Charlie, don't it?" Hoss turned away.
"He'll get here as quick as he can." Hoss shook his head.
"It's a three day ride and he ain't the best horseman."
"Better hope he don't pick many daises, if it's a three day ride, your trial may be over." Annie spun on the sheriff. Candy snatched at her arm and raised an eyebrow. She snapped her mouth shut. Joe's eyebrows rose slightly, but Hoss ignored it.
"What worries me is that shaking this morning."
"Barney'll make it. I'll see that he makes it, hour by hour, if necessary, but I promise you, he'll make it." Ben clutched at the bars.
"Just till Charlie gets here," Joe added.
"Yeah." Hoss walked away from them. "If Charlie gets here." Annie bit her lip, dread pooling in her stomach. Could "Bottle Barney" drag things out long enough?
"I need a drink!" Sturgess railed at Candy when presented with a mug of coffee. "Bad." Candy shook his head.
"Coffee only. Keep trying, you're doing fine." Annie straddled the chair backwards, watching. Sturgess downed a few mouthfuls and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
"The sheriff went into the murder room first? Then you, then Becker?"
"That's right."
"What was Hoss doing when the sheriff broke through the door?" The door opened and Ben entered, eyebrows raising. She shook her head.
"He was hanging on the end of the bed." Candy mimicked his description. "And he asked me what was going on."
"Did he say anything about being slugged over the head from behind?"
"No, but he looked dazed, like a man just waking up."
"He must have been on his feet out cold for three or four minutes, or lying on the floor, that's why he couldn't remember." Ben protested.
"We can't prove it, bruises gone, eyes clear as a summer day."
"Look, I don't know about you, but there's four of us who know that there was another man in that room, the one that slugged Hoss and killed Edwards."
"I'm trying to believe that," Sturgess protested. "But I keep asking myself who and why, and mostly how. It takes a key to work that lock and the key was inside, with Hoss and the corpse. Ogleby's sitting there waiting for us, any mention of a blow on the head or another man, we'd get laughed out of court."
A bell rang out on the street and Sturgess looked up. "The courthouse bell. Court will convene in five minutes." He stood and took another long drink, finishing the mug. "Haven't been able to do that in years. Now if I can get my head to working, maybe we'll give Mr. Nathan Ogleby a fight that'll be worth the trouble."
"Barney." Sturgess wasn't the only one who looked to Ben; they all did. "You have to win this one. It's my son's life." Her throat closed. It was her brother's life. The lawyer nodded and led the way out of the hotel room.
"Sheriff, will you describe to the court what you saw when you stepped into room fourteen?" The sheriff replied, but she tuned him out.
How? That was the question. How could they place someone else inside the room with the key locked inside and the master downstairs in a locked drawer? How?
Through the window, maybe? She'd noticed the window locks weren't near as strong as the doors. But how would they have gotten back to their own room? There was no balcony across the front of the hotel and someone might have seen them coming or going anyway.
"Where were his hands?"
"On the ends of his arms where they are now." The courtroom dissolved into mocking laughter. Annie looked up. The sheriff was making him look like a fool and she got the feeling he wasn't even half trying. If it weren't her brother that would lose everything she might feel a little sorry for old Sturgess.
"Was the defendant standing unsupported or was he hanging onto the foot of the bed?"
"He was holding onto the foot of the bed," the sheriff said with a sigh.
"Were there any marks or bruises on him?"
"Not that I seen."
"The defendant was in a terrible fight we hear about, yet there are no cuts or bruises, not a mark on him, isn't that remarkable, Sheriff?"
"So maybe his knuckles were swollen up a little bit, he's a big man. Big hands like that, it's hard to tell."
"Did you examine the defendant for cuts or bruises?"
"I sure did, in jail, in the same cell I put you when you're too drunk to get home." The crowd laughed again and she buried her head in her hands. An arm slipped around her shoulders; she glanced sideways and found Candy watching her with concerned eyes. She straightened and forced her stomach to stop churning. The judge pounded his gavel on the desk.
"That's enough, Mr. Purcell. You will testify properly, or you will be occupying that cell for sixty days yourself for contempt. This is not a saloon, a theater, it's a court of law. Any more levity and I will clear the room. Proceed, Mr. Sturgess."
"If the court please, I have no objection to the sheriff telling the truth. I know the cell in question well, and I am sure the voters are impressed with the zeal with which the sheriff does his job."
Was he finally drying out? She glanced sideways and found their pa with a half smile on his face. "He's beginning to sound like the old Barney Sturgess from Sacremento."
"When you examined the defendant, what did you find?"
"Not a mark, not a scratch." Sturgess had no more questions and Annie fought another groan. Flashes of his old self, that's all it was. He still couldn't seem to hang onto any specific train of thought for more than a few minutes. Ogleby called the desk clerk up next.
"Will any key other than these two unlock the door of room fourteen?" Ogleby showed the clerk the keys.
"No sir."
"Is a key necessary to lock the door from the inside?"
"Yes, it is. From any side."
"This one was found inside the room." Ogleby held up the master key. "Where was this one?"
"That one was locked in the drawer of the desk in the lobby." The clerk leaned back in his chair. "Nobody was near that desk but me, I was downstairs the whole time the fight was going on." The crowd whispered furiously and Ogleby looked smug.
"Your witness." Sturgess stood and ambled over, swaying a little.
"We've heard a lot about the fine locks in your hotel. What happens when a guest wanders off with a key?"
"We send the handyman after them."
"Suppose they were to elude that handyman?"
"That hasn't happened except once in ten years and then we just replaced the lock. We have a dozen or so left in the basement." The crowd whispered again and Annie's heart sank. Was there nothing in Hoss' favor? She wanted to leave, but that would be tantamount to admitting defeat. She wrung her hands in her lap. There had to be something they were missing, there just had to be …
"And you heard Edwards yell, Cartwright, no?" Now Ogleby had Becker on the stand. "How would you describe that shout?"
"Scared," the man said slowly. "It made chills run up my spine. That's why I got up and dressed."
"Thank you." Ogleby turned around. "Sturgess, your witness." Hoss leaned in and whispered something to the lawyer and the man nodded as he stood up.
"You were doing business with Mr. Edwards?"
"I sold him a thousand head of cattle."
"So when he was killed, you lost not only a friend, but the sale of a herd." Friend? Becker didn't have friends, at least not when he was bumming money for food last week.
"That's right."
"How many head of cattle do you own?" Becker shifted in his seat.
"Well, I sold a thousand head –"
"I didn't ask you how many you sold, I asked how many cattle do you own." Barney sidled around the witness stand. "How many steers wear your brand?"
"I don't have a ranch, I'm a dealer. I buy and sell."
"Where do you buy?" Becker shifted again.
"Small ranches where I can make a profitable deal."
"Could you name a few?"
"Um … a spread up Cold Creek … the brand slips my mind. Another one over …"
"You don't remember? Is that because you deal in stolen cattle?" Sturgess roared. "Or because you were here to pick up some cash for a fast trip to another state?" The crowd buzzed and Ogleby leaped from his chair.
"Your Honor, I object! The witness is not on trial here, the defendant is!" The crowd continued to talk and the judge slammed his gavel on the desk.
"Silence in the courtroom!" She and her family traded glances. He'd been stopped too soon, a few more questions and they might have gotten better results. Annie sighed. At least he'd gotten that much out in the open. Not long after that, the judge dismissed court for the day.
The sheriff reached Hoss' side and Annie jumped to her feet, rushing over before he could take her brother away. "Hoss." He smiled and took her hand, squeezing gently.
"It'll be alright, little sis, you'll see." But it didn't reach his eyes. She swallowed hard. He couldn't give up. She bit her lip, her heart sinking again as the sheriff lead him away.
They weren't licked yet. If need be, they could wire the governor and get a stay of – her stomach flipped. She couldn't even think it. They'd win, they had to.
There was no other option.
"You alright?" Candy said softly from his bedroll spread on the floor. Of course the hotel was full up, forcing them all to pile up in two rooms, the ones Candy had rented the night of the murder. By the time they arrived, the impending trial had claimed the rest. And of course "Bottle Barney" got a room all to himself.
"Honestly?" She lowered her hairbrush. "I don't know. I just … I can't …"
"Yeah, me neither."
"You don't even know what I was going to say."
"Do you?"
"No." She laid the brush on the nightstand. "It doesn't make sense, no matter which way I turn it. We're missing something, I know we are, but I just can't figure out what it is."
"Is there anything that stands out?" Joe turned a chair around and straddled it backwards. "Anything at all?"
"How did they lock the door and leave the key inside?"
"Could they have slid it under the door after they left the room?"
"Only if they had a broom or something to shove it. It was on the floor near the overturned table, maybe, I don't know, five or six feet into the room." Candy scraped a hand over his hair. "And there wasn't time for that. We were all running upstairs within seconds of Edwards yelling." Annie sighed.
"I want to say it was Becker, but you said he didn't open his door until after Edwards yelled and you were all upstairs."
"That's right."
"He's the only one who stood to gain anything, though what I'm not sure unless it was taking whatever Edwards paid him and skipped town before he figured out there was no herd."
"But how'd he do it? He couldn't be in two places at once."
"It just doesn't make sense." The door opened and Ben came inside.
"Barney's all settled in. Try and get some sleep, all of you."
"Good night, Mr. Cartwright."
"Night, Pa," she and Joe replied. She'd been given the bed while the rest of them had to make do with bedrolls in the floor like Candy. Annie pulled the blankets up to her chin and stared into the darkness long after the lamp had been extinguished.
There was a trick to it, she just knew it. But how? He couldn't be inside and outside the room. She drifted off to sleep at last, only to be woken with a start by the door slamming shut. The lamp glowed faintly, just bright enough to reveal her pa had left. Joe was still asleep, burrowed like a mouse in his bedroll. She looked around, but nothing seemed out of place. She sat up. Why had he left?
"Something wrong?" Candy whispered from the floor, sounding more alert than anyone had a right to be at this hour.
"Pa's gone."
"Yeah, he walked right past me."
"Why?"
"I think our lawyer friend called." He nodded at the wall. "At least, that's what it sounded like."
"What could he want now?" Muffled thumps drifted through the connecting wall. A few seconds later, a door closed and footsteps padded down the hall. Muffled yelling reached them and they looked at each other in confusion.
"What's he doing?"
Candy sat up and hurried over to the wall, pressing his ear against it. "He's yelling, 'Cartwright, no.'" He threw her a glance over his shoulder. "What are they doing?" The footsteps came back down the hall and the door opened, then closed again. "I can barely hear 'em."
"Wait a minute." Annie pushed back the blankets and hopped out of bed. "How come the whole hotel isn't busting down the door?" Candy shrugged.
"Must not have heard –" He stopped and they looked at each other in growing excitement.
"Then how did they hear Edwards?"
"You thinking what I'm thinking, sweetheart?"
"Exactly." The missing piece clicked into place. How could they have been so blind?
She looked over her shoulder for the tenth time in three minutes. Joe caught her and shook his head. "He can't bring an answer that hasn't arrived yet."
"I hope it comes soon." Ben worked his hands. "We're running out of time." The door opened and Candy rushed down the aisle, handed the wire to Ben without a word. They gathered around and read over his shoulder. Annie bit her tongue to keep from grinning. So that was his game.
Ben handed the wire to Hoss, nodding at Sturgess. The lawyer had just begun to read when the judge entered the room. "All rise." He sat, and the crowd followed suit.
"Court's in session. Ogleby." The prosecutor stood.
"Your Honor, I have other witnesses I could call, however, I believe the evidence already heard proves beyond a doubt that the defendant, Hoss Cartwright, did knife and kill Warren Edwards." She clenched her hands in her lap. It did not. "The prosecution rests."
"Mr. Sturgess. You may proceed with the defense." The lawyer got to his feet and looked around the courtroom.
"You know me, 'Bottle Barney'. The man the sheriff puts in the jail when he's too drunk to walk home. And, knowing me, you kind of had to feel sorry for anybody that had me for a lawyer, if the case is anything much. Mr Ogleby has been waiting for me to make an idiot out of myself. But I don't think I'm going to oblige him." He paused. "Not today. He's been having a fine time, building a scaffold for my client. Enough to scare a man silly, if he didn't know it was built of cobwebs." The crowd murmured among themselves and Candy leaned over to whisper in her ear.
"He means a gallows, doesn't he?"
"If he doesn't, he's beyond help," she whispered back. He couldn't blow it now.
"Now, what happened was, a man walked into room fourteen in the middle of a fight, hit Hoss Cartwright over the head, and killed, then robbed, Warren Edwards. Then went. Now Mr. Ogleby has a hundred facts to prove that it couldn't happen. But I know better." She darted a glance at the prosecutor and found a smug smile on his face. "Any man who's been a bottle fighter for all the years that I have can't be very smart." He whipped arund to face the jury, a gleam in his eyes. "But I was able to figure it out. So the rest of you must have been able to figure it out, too." Sturgess pointed right at her. "His sister did, and so did Candy, there. But in case any of you have any doubts, I'm going to ask His Honor to allow us to return to room fourteen and show you how it was done."
"Objection!" Ogleby popped to his feet. "Your Honor, how long is this court going to let this old charlatan pitch any of this nonsense?"
"What's the matter with you?" Barney leveled him with an even look. "Counselor, are you afraid I'm right?"
"I know you're wrong!"
"Then, why the objection?"
"A fair question, Mr. Ogleby. Fair enough that I'm going to indulge Mr. Sturgess in his request." He pounded his gavel on the desk while Barney smirked at Ogleby. "Court will reconvene in room fourteen of the Salt Springs Hotel." They all stood and this time it was Annie's turn to whisper.
"Did he just insult us?" Candy frowned.
"I'm not sure."
"At least it wasn't me," Joe snickered under his breath. Ben swatted whoever he could reach, which turned out to somehow be all three of them. He raised one eyebrow and they meekly followed him from the courtroom.
"Judge Simpson, if you'll come right here." Sturgess guided the judge over near the window. "And Mr. Ogleby, here." The prosecutor across from the judge. "Uh, Mr. Becker you were the first one in so you come in here please. We need a corpse and you're just about the right size. And you know how the body was, so lie down on the floor there, where the body was, it would be very helpful." Becker sighed and trudged over, flung his hat on the bed, and got down in the floor. "That's fine. Sheriff, if you will bring in the defendant and put him where you found him." Hoss took his place at the foot of the bed. "Now, if you will give me the key, please. Thank you. Oh, the table was turned over." Sturgess and another man flipped it over. "I don't think we need to bother with the broken chairs. Is everything the way it was when you found it, Mr. Ogleby?"
"Yes, Counselor," he snapped. "Now can we get this game over and go back to court?"
"Very quickly, Mr. Ogleby. If you'll come with me, Sheriff, out in the hall." They left the room and rejoined the rest of the crowd in the hallway. "Now, simulate breaking in the door."
"The key's out here."
"I know, go on. Break in." The sheriff sighed and shook his head, then pretended to shove open the door. "Come on." They went back inside, Candy now following them. "Since Mr. Becker is the corpse, I'll go through the movements he made. You gentlemen do now as you did then." Annie's heart beat faster. Would it work?
"Well, I went to look at the body." The sheriff headed for the bed and Candy shrugged before making his way to Hoss. Sturgess paused near the overturned table.
"Becker straightened the table." Annie fought to keep from laughing as the silver key slipped from Barney's hand to the floor. She glanced at Becker and he looked worried. The sheriff didn't seem to have noticed the sleight of hand.
"Then I ordered Becker and Candy out of the room."
"Exactly as it happened then." The sheriff stood up with an exasperated look on his face. He reached Sturgess and the lawyer grinned. "How did Becker say it?" He glanced at Becker then back to the sheriff. "There's the room key, Sheriff, on the floor." Her heart leaped and the sheriff's gaze dropped to the rug. The judge and Ogleby stared. Candy grinned, glancing sideways at Hoss. Joe squeezed her arm and Ben heaved a sigh of relief.
Becker scrambled to his feet and the sheriff lunged, grabbing his arm. "You made a monkey out of me."
"No, sir. I found that key on the floor. That walking whiskey vat's tricking you, Sheriff. He's trying to get me into trouble so he can get that Hoss Cartwright out!" Sturgess chuckled.
"Your Honor. I have a telegraph here, addressed to Ben Cartwright, from Edwards' partner. It was delivered before court opened this morning. As you see, it states Mr. Edwards was carrying $10,000 in cash." Heads turned. "Since Mr. Edwards never paid Mr. Becker for that hypothetical thousand head of cattle, that money should still have been in his possession. Along with that hundred and four dollars and the gold watch, but it was not. So, if that money is not on Mr. Becker, I recommend you search his room and baggage."
She'd lay money on it being right here. He wouldn't let all that money out of his sight, even if it was stashed securely in his room. The sheriff dug into his pockets and Becker began to struggle. Until Candy grabbed his arms, letting the sheriff pull a slim wallet from an inside pocket of his jacket. He opened the flap, revealing a stack of money.
Furious whispers buzzed around the room. Annie couldn't stop the smile tugging at her mouth. The judge rifled the money. "Thank you, Mr. Sturgess. Sheriff, I want this man jailed immediately. Court will reconvene in the courtroom in five minutes." Judge Simpson left the hotel room with the money. Hoss grinned. Sturgess and Ogleby traded looks, the latter decidedly miffed.
"All charges against Hoss Cartwright are hereby dismissed. And the court tenders an apology for the people and the prosecution."
"Thank you, Your Honor."
"Mr. Sturgess, it appears I misjudged you. If you can learn some courtroom manners, you just might turn out to be a fine trial lawyer." He rapped his gavel on the desk. "Court's adjourned." Annie surged to her feet and raced to Hoss, leaping into her big brother's arms, slinging hers around his neck.
"Annie, I'm fine and I plan to stay that way, so if you could stop choking me, I'd be much obliged." Joe cackled and she threw him a dirty look as she settled herself back on the ground. Ben shook the lawyer's hand.
"You did it, Barney."
"Not without your help. I'm afraid Haskell is going to have a long ride for nothing."
"He won't mind a bit, Barney." Hoss clapped him on the back.
"Don't you worry about Haskell, now. He's gonna be awfully happy to hear how you made out."
"Mr. Sturgess." Joe held out his hand. "I'd like to buy you the biggest drink in town."
"That'll be fine. But you better make it black coffee. I've, uh, developed a taste for it." Candy and Hoss laughed first, then the rest of them joined in. Annie hugged Hoss again and he hugged her back. She let go and turned around.
"Mr. Sturgess. I owe you an apology." She held out her hand. The lawyer took it with a smile.
"Let's go find some of that coffee, shall we?" His eyes twinkled. Candy slipped his arm around her back and they wandered outside. She drew in a deep, cleansing breath, relief flooding her veins now that it was over.
"You going to have some coffee, too?" She threw Candy a bemused look and snorted.
"Only if Joe doesn't make it."