“It says in the paper that Poke is buried in Potter’s Corner? Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“You are a wealthy and influential man in Owyhee County, are you not, Mr. Kincaid?”
“You might say that.”
“You are a wealthy and influential man, and Poke Terrell was working for you, yet you couldn’t give him a proper burial?”
“How could I?” Kincaid asked. “Nobody knew that Poke Terrell was working for me.”
“I see,” Sherman said. “Now tell me, Mr. Kincaid, why have you come to see me?”
“Because the problem I had, the one that Terrell was working on, still exists. And evidently it is a much bigger problem than I anticipated. It’s a much bigger problem than Poke Terrell anticipated.”
“You are talking about Matt Jensen,” Sherman said. It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes.”
“I can understand how he would be a problem. From what I know of Matt Jensen, he can be quite formidable.”
“Do you know him?”
Sherman took several puffs of his cigar, wreathing his head in the smoke, then he pulled it out and examined the glowing tip, before he answered.
“I’ve never met the man, so I don’t know him personally,” Sherman said. “But a man in my position must make it a policy to know as much as one can about people like Matt Jensen.”
“You say he is formidable. How formidable?”
“Quite formidable.”
“But, not too much for you to handle,” Kincaid said. “I mean, you have a reputation of dealing with people like Jensen, right?”
“I will concede that I have run across people like Jensen a few times, yes,” Sherman said.
Kincaid smiled. “And it is my understanding that, when you do encounter such people, you generally leave them dead.”
“I’ve left my share of them dead,” Sherman said.
“Good. Because I want you to kill Jensen.”
Sherman glared at Kincaid through the tobacco smoke.
“Mr. Kincaid, I am commanding officer of the Idaho Auxiliary Peace Officers’ Posse, duly deputized and authorized by the territory of Idaho to enforce the peace and uphold the law. Now, I admit that the law is often as I interpret it to be, and I also admit that in the performance of this duty, people are sometimes killed,” Sherman said, “but I want it well understood that I don’t kill on command, and I am not a professional executioner.”
“I’m sorry,” Kincaid said. “I guess I just didn’t realize you were so particular about killing.”
“I’m not particular about killing. In my business, it is sometimes necessary to kill. But I will choose the time, the place, and most importantly, I will choose who I am to kill. If you want someone killed, hire an assassin.”
“I thought I had hired one when I hired Poke Terrell.”
“Really? It was my understanding that what you really wanted was for Poke to help you take possession of Coventry Ranch. Am I wrong?”
“No, you are right. That is what I wanted. It is what I still want.”
“Do you have a plan in mind?”
“Not a plan, exactly. But I do have the means of bringing it about. I hold the mortgage on the ranch,” Kincaid said. “Kitty Wellington doesn’t know this. She thinks the bank still has the mortgage. She believes that, even if she defaults on the loan, she will still have the opportunity to save the ranch by negotiating an extension. But her loan is due on July fourth, and if she defaults on repayment, even by so much as one day, the ranch comes to me. There will be no auction. I will simply take possession of it.”
“Then the objective is to make her default on the loan.”
“Yes.”
“What does Matt Jensen have to do with that?”
“Kitty has a contract to supply horses to the U.S. Army. This contract will give her enough money to pay off the loan, but in order to fulfill the contract, she must deliver the horses to the army depot in Chicago. She has hired Matt Jensen to see to it that she gets her horses through to Chicago in time to pay off the loan.”
“So as I understand it, Mr. Kincaid, you want us to see to it that her horses don’t get to Chicago in time to pay off the loan,” Sherman said.
“Yes,” Sherman replied. “That’s it exactly.”
“I see,” Sherman said. “But tell me this. What is the legal basis for using the posse?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“There are those who consider the posse a ‘court of last resort’ if you will. But if we are a court of last resort, that means you must have a case that could be argued in court. Now, if you were to take your case to court, what would be your argument.”
