Anyway, the next day, Marshal Sparks went down to the feeder lot to talk to Lopez, but Lopez was gone, and his boss said he hasn’t been seen since it happened.”
“They weren’t trying to rob me,” Matt said.
“Of course they were trying to rob you. What other reason would they have for attacking you like that?”
“They were trying to kill me,” Matt said. “They came out of the dark with their knives and they attacked me without a word. If they had been trying to rob me, they would have asked me for money.”
“Why would they be trying to kill you? Do you know them?”
“They tried to kill me because someone paid them.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Why was I attacked in American Falls? Why were Gilmore and I attacked on the way out here that first day? When you add that all together, it can only mean that someone wants me dead.”
“As I understood it from the report Gilmore gave, you weren’t actually attacked while you were on the way out here. Gilmore said that you saw someone on the lip of the canyon wall, then you stopped, then you went up to confront them. That’s when you killed Sam Logan.”
“Who shot at me first,” Matt said.
“There’s only your word for that, isn’t there?”
“Kincaid, if you’ve got something stuck in your craw, spit it out,” Matt said.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m not disputing your claim. I’m just repeating what Mr. Gilmore said in the report he filed. And it does point out how difficult the marshal’s job is in enforcing the law when there are no eyewitnesses.”
“There were two eyewitnesses.”
“Yes, Mole and Cooter. Perhaps I should have said, eyewitnesses who were would be willing to give testimony.”
“Have they told the marshal a different story?”
“They told the marshal that it all happened so fast they didn’t know what happened.”
“Don’t you think if they could convince the marshal that I was at fault, they would do so?”
“I suppose. I do wonder, though, why someone might be trying to kill you. Do you have any idea who that someone might be?”
“Yeah I got a very good idea who wants me dead. It’s Poke Terrell.”
“Ah, you’ve been listening to Prewitt, haven’t you? Prewitt thinks he saw Poke Terrell the night the rustlers stole Kitty’s horses. But there are eyewitnesses in the Mud Hole who will claim that they were playing cards with Poke the night the robbery happened.”
“That’s funny,” Matt said. “According to what I hear about Terrell, he never plays cards with anyone but himself. Who were the three who were playing cards with him on the night Prew was shot, and his two friends were killed?”
“Sam Logan, Al Madison, and Ken Jernigan.”
Matt laughed out loud.
“What’s so funny?”
“All three of those men tried to kill me.”
“And all three of them are dead, which means their testimony can no longer be challenged,” Marcus said.
“So, as you can see, your assertion that Poke Terrell is trying to kill you would never be sustained in a court.”
“Are you actually saying that I can’t prove in court that Terrell is trying to kill me?”
“Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying,” Kincaid replied. “You can bring charges if you want to, but it will go nowhere. You have no collaborative testimony.”
Matt laughed out loud.
“What is it?” Marcus asked. “What do you find so funny?”
“Kincaid, you don’t understand, do you?” Matt asked.
“What is it I don’t understand?”
“I don’t need any collaborative testimony. I don’t have to prove it in court.”
“Then you are right, I don’t understand. Why don’t you have to prove it in court?”
“Because I only have to prove to me. In this case I am the court, I am the judge, I am the jury, and when the time comes, I will be the executioner.”
“Oh, my,” Marcus replied, obviously unnerved by Matt’s declaration. “If you don’t mind, I would like to give you a word of advice, Mr. Jensen.”
“By all means, feel free to do so,” Matt invited.
“I, uh, would be careful about making threats toward Poke if I were you. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who would take such threats easily.”
“I’m not making threats, Kincaid,” Matt said. “I’m simply stating fact.”
