“Thank you,” Louise said.
“I—uh, wonder if I could ask you a few questions?”
“What about?”
“About the train wreck,” Kyle said.
“I don’t know anything about it,” Louise answered. “One minute, we were riding along normally, and the next moment, the car was bumping all over the place. Then it went off the track and turned over. I don’t remember much after that.”
“Yes, ma’am, well, that’s not exactly what I want to talk about.”
“What is it, then?”
“I’m trying to find the man who caused all this. He killed the deputy from Purgatory. Then I’m sure that, somehow, he caused the wreck so he could steal the money and get away in all the panic and confusion. I think that man’s name is Matt Jensen, and he got on the train in Purgatory, the same time you did. I’m hoping you might have seen him.”
“He didn’t cause the train wreck,” Louise said. “And I don’t believe he killed the deputy or stole the money.”
Louise’s answer surprised Kyle. He had thought, at best, that she might claim to have seen him, but be able to offer little information. But her answer not only indicated that she had seen him, it also meant that she had interacted with him in some way.
“Mrs. Dobbs, excuse me, but what do you mean? I am confused as to why you would say such a thing. Do you know this man?”
“No.”
“Then, how can you be so sure that he didn’t cause the wreck, kill the deputy, and steal the money?”
“Because he saved my life,” Louise replied. “And he also saved the lives of several others on the train. If he had done all those things you said he did, I do not believe he would have stayed around to help the others. Do you believe that he would?”
“I don’t know,” Kyle said. “There’s no telling how some people are going to react to certain things. He may have just done that to throw people off.”
“No, that wouldn’t be necessary. In fact, Jerry and I are the only ones who could have recognized him, so he had no reason to throw people off. I knew who he was the moment he showed up in the car where I was pinned under the seat. He had been in chains when he got on the train, but somehow he got out of them. And I’ll you the truth, Marshal, I was very glad to see him because, as I say, he saved my life.”
“Let’s say that you are right, let us say that he did save your life—”
“There is no ‘let us say’ to it,” Louise said, interrupting Kyle. “He
“All right, he did save your life. If that is the case, then don’t you think that might cause you to have a loyalty to him? A loyalty that is misplaced? Especially if he was the cause of the accident in the first place?”
“How could he have caused the accident?” Louise asked. “You said yourself that he was in chains.”
“But, by your own admission, he wasn’t in chains when you saw him, was he?”
“No.”
“Could you describe him for me?”
“I don’t think I can,” Louise said.
“You don’t think you can, or you don’t think you will?”
Louise didn’t answer.
“Mrs. Dobbs, please,” Kyle said.
“You can say anything you want, Marshal. You are not going to make me believe that this man, Matt Jensen, did all the terrible things you said he did. Like I told you, he worked harder than anyone to pull people out of the wreckage. Then he helped Dr. Presnell tend to the injured. As a matter of fact, I doubt that he was even guilty of whatever crime put him in chains in the first place.”
“First-degree murder,” Kyle said. “He was tried and convicted, and was on his way to Yuma to be hanged, until he got away.”
“Well, all I can say is, I’m glad he got away.”
“I see,” Kyle said. He sighed. “Again, Mrs. Dobbs, my condolences for your loss.” He turned and walked away.
Unwittingly, Louise Dobbs had given him more information than she realized. She had told him that the man he had looked for had worked with Dr. Presnell. All he had to do now was talk to the doc.
Chapter Thirteen
When Odom and Bates left Quigotoa, Paco and Schuler stayed behind. Schuler stayed because he had gotten drunk the night before and was still passed out drunk the next morning. Paco stayed to, in his words, “look after Schuler.”
“Senor,” Paco said, shaking Schuler awake. “Senor, wake up.”
“What?” Schuler mumbled. “What is it? What do you want?”
“Wake up, Senor,” Paco said.
Sitting up, Schuler rubbed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked around.
