“All right, I will,” Bo said. “What’s your name?”
“Ashton. Mike Ashton.”
“You own this place?”
“That’s right.”
“Might be a good idea for you to start being a little more observant about what goes on in your business, Ashton.”
The man shook his head. “That just shows how much you know, mister.”
Bo turned away from the bar, stepped around the elderly swamper, and went over to the table where the game of showdown continued. The two gamblers deliberately ignored him and Scratch until Bo said, “We’d like to talk to you gents.”
Without looking up, one of them said, “Go ahead and talk.”
The other snickered. “That don’t mean we’ll listen, though.”
Bo leaned forward and used his left hand to sweep the cards off the table, onto the floor. His right palmed out the Colt, and as he eased back the hammer, he said, “This means you’ll listen…and that you’ll talk, too.”
Both men had reacted to Bo’s sudden, unexpected action. They stiffened in their chairs and started reaching under their coats. The sound of Scratch’s gun being cocked was loud in the smoky silence. Caught between the two weapons, the men froze, then slowly moved their hands back into plain sight.
“On the table,” Bo ordered.
They placed their hands on the ratty green felt and glared up at the Texans with murderous hatred.
“What do they call you?” Bo asked.
“I’m Stansbridge,” said the one who had spoken first.
“Keegan,” the other man added.
“All right,” Bo said. “Were either of you in the game Duke Mayo was playing in last night?”
“We both were,” Stansbridge said.
“How did he do?”
“He cleaned up,” Keegan replied with a sneer.
“Took your dinero, did he?” Scratch drawled.
Stansbridge’s narrow shoulders rose and fell. “You win, you lose. That’s the nature of the game.”
“Did you take it unkindly when you lost?” Bo asked.
“Didn’t bother us a bit,” Keegan said.
“If you’re accusing us of something, Deputy, why don’t you just come right out with it?” Stansbridge said.
“All right, I will. Did you follow Mayo when he left here, cut his throat, and steal back the money he won?”
“Of course not,” Stansbridge said in a cool, unruffled voice. “We’ve been right here. We haven’t set foot out of the place in more than twelve hours.” He raised his voice a little. “Isn’t that right, Mike?”
Ashton ran a filthy rag over the scarred wood of the bar. “That’s right,” he said. “They been sittin’ right there, Deputy.”
Bo glanced over at the Fan-Tan’s proprietor. “I thought you didn’t pay any attention to what was going on in here.”
“Some things I see, some things I don’t,” Ashton said. “But I know those two haven’t left, just like they told you.”
Bo didn’t believe what the three men had said, but he couldn’t disprove it, and he sensed that they wouldn’t budge from their stories. He had a strong hunch that he was looking at the murderers of Duke Mayo. There was a matter of proof, though.
“All right,” he said heavily as he lowered the hammer of his gun and then pouched the iron. “I’m putting you on notice, though, Ashton. If we hear about any trouble in this place, we’ll shut it down. You understand?”
Ashton looked like he wanted to come over the bar and tear into the Texans, but he controlled his anger. “I heard about you two. Comin’ into town and actin’ like you’re runnin’ things now. The Deverys’ll settle your hash. You just hide and watch.”
Bo ignored that. “Don’t forget what I said.”
As he and Scratch turned toward the door, the swamper’s foot suddenly bumped against the bucket and upset it. Dirty, soapy water spilled out on the floor. The old man jumped back, crying out in alarm.
“You damned old fool!” Ashton bellowed at him. “Clean that mess up! Right now, you hear me?” He leaned forward over the bar and spat in disgust at the swamper’s feet. “I don’t know why I keep you around here in the first place.”
“I’m sorry, Mike, I’m sorry! I’ll go get another bucket of water and clean it up right now!”
The swamper grabbed the bucket and headed for the back door. Ashton swatted at him with the bar rag but missed.
Bo could tell that Scratch wanted to go to the old-timer’s defense. He caught his friend’s eye and shook his head. They had more important things to deal with at the moment.
Back out in the street, they paused in front of the Fan-Tan. Scratch said, “Bo, you know damned well those two
