“Is that pretty much the way you’d tell the story?” the deputy asked Matt.
“Yes.”
“Folks are sayin’ you are Matt Jensen. Is that right? Are you really Matt Jensen?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve heard of you, Mr. Jensen. Fac’ is, I seem to recall seein’ a book that was writ about you. Would you be that Matt Jensen?”
“I wouldn’t put much store in any of those dime novels,” Matt replied.
“But you are the one them books is about, ain’t you?”
“I suppose.”
“Didn’t I just also read somethin’ about you bein’ involved in a shootout over in Green River City, Wyoming last month?”
“You may have.”
“You bein’ the real Matt Jensen and all, it makes me wonder what you are doin’ in American Falls,” the deputy said. “Is there a reason for you bein’ here?”
“There’s no reason for me not to be here,” Matt answered in a matter of fact tone.
“I reckon not,” the deputy agreed. “But the thing is, Mr. Jensen, we don’t get that many famous folks in our little town. And we most especial don’t get folks that’s famous ’cause they are so all fired good with a gun. Accordin’ to them dime novels, you are always on the right side of the law. Is that true?”
“I try to be a law abiding citizen,” Matt replied.
“Yes. Only, you come here to American Falls and the first thing you do after you get here is, you get yourself involved in a gunfight. Ain’t that about the size of it?”
“I didn’t start the gunfight.”
The deputy waved his hand in dismissal. “I know, I know, ever’ one says you didn’t start it. But that still don’t tell me what you’re a’ doin’ here.”
“Deputy, since I am not breaking any law, nor am I wanted by the law, the truth is, I can be just about anywhere I want to be,” Matt replied.
“I’m just curious, that’s all,” the deputy said. “I reckon you are right, I reckon you do have the right to be anywhere you want. And, from what all the folks are saying, I don’t see any need for an inquiry. It was self-defense, pure and simple.”
“You’re doin’ the right thing, Pete,” the bartender said.
“Anybody know these two men?” the deputy asked, looking toward the bodies.
“This one here said his name was Madison. Al Madison,” the bartender said. “I seen him and the other fella together earlier. And if I recall, there was a third one with them too.”
“Is that a fact? Is he still here?”
The bartender looked around the saloon, then he shook his head. “I don’t see him.”
“I seen him a while ago,” one of the other saloon patrons said.
“Where did you see him?”
“He was standin’ just outside the door there,” the man said. “He was watchin’ what was goin’ on. And like Ben said, he come in with them two fellers. For a moment, I was afraid he might start in a’ shootin’ seein’ as how he was with them before. But all he done was watch. He come in for a few seconds, just long enough to look at his two dead pards, then he left.”
“You ever heard of a fella named Al Madison, Deputy?” the bartender asked.
“Yeah, to tell the truth, I think I have heard of him,” the deputy replied. “I think I might have seen some paper on him once. Only I believe he’s from over in Owyhee county. What do you reckon he’s doin’ here?”
“Well sir, from the way he was talkin’, I’d say he come here especially to kill Mr. Jensen,” the bartender answered.
“Did you know him?” the deputy asked Matt.
Matt shook his head. “No.”
“I ain’t never heard that you ran bad, Mr. Jensen, but I have heard that you’ve come out on the standin’ up side of an awful lot of gunfights, just like you done with this one. Could this maybe be some feud you brought in from somewhere else?”
“Like I said, I’ve never laid eyes on either one of them before today.”
“Uh huh,” the deputy said. He stroked his chin as he studied Matt. “Well, I reckon when you come right down to it, somethin’ like this is bound to happen, pretty much anywhere you go, ain’t it? I mean people like you just seem to breed trouble.”
“What do you mean ‘people like me’?”
“You know what I mean. I mean people who have a reputation like you have. There’s always someone all full of himself, someone who thinks that killin’ you will make him famous.”
Matt had encountered many such people before, so he couldn’t argue with the deputy’s logic.
“You’ve got me there, Deputy,” he said. “It’s not something I want—it’s just something that happens.”
