“You got it,” Fred said. “I’ll throw in the beer chaser myself.”
“How are things going, Doc?” Sally asked. “Do you really think the worst is over?”
“I think so, yes. I’m almost positive we won’t lose any more. Actually, I think nearly all of them can go home within another couple of days. We had the last critically injured man die last night. His name was Walter Casey, and he was from Chicago. Can you imagine, coming all the way down here from Chicago, just to get killed in a train wreck?”
“Yes, and not even an ordinary train wreck,” Boomer said. “It’s a train wreck that somebody caused, just so they could rob the train.”
“You have to wonder what kind of man would cause a train wreck and kill all those people just for a few dollars,” Doc said, shaking his head in disgust.
“Hanging is too good for whoever did it,” Boomer said.
“Oh, there’s Ben,” Sally said, her face brightening at the sight of Marshal Kyle coming into the saloon.
“Ben,” Doc said. “Join us for a beer.”
“I don’t mind if I do, Doc,” Kyle said.
“Did you talk to Miz Dobbs?” Boomer asked.
“Louise Dobbs?” Doc asked.
“Yes,” Kyle said as he joined the others at the table.
“How is Mrs. Dobbs doing? I know she broke her arm. Is it giving her much trouble?”
“She seems to be handling that all right,” Kyle said. “She’s having a hard time over the death of her daughter, though. I didn’t plan it, but I got there just as they were having her funeral.”
“That must have been awkward,” Sally said.
“It was at first, but they seemed to think I had come out there just for that purpose, and they made me feel very welcome,” Kyle said.
“Jeremiah and Louise Dobbs are good people,” Doc said.
“Poor thing, my heart goes out to her.” Sally said.
“So, how did your talk with her go?” Boomer asked.
“I didn’t get too much out of her,” Kyle said. “Evidently she believes that Jensen saved not only her life, but the lives of several others who were on the train, so she’s not all that disposed toward giving any information that might help find him.”
“How does she know that it was Jensen who saved her life?”
“Turns out that she and her son Jerry are the only two who could identify him because they saw him back in Purgatory. Then, when he came into the car to get her out, Mrs. Dobbs recognized him,” Kyle said. Kyle looked over at Doc. “She said he helped you, Doc.”
“Helped me?”
“Yes. She said he rode in the car with you on the relief train, helping you tend to the injured.”
“Oh, well, then she was mistaken. That wasn’t Jensen,” Doc said.
“That wasn’t Jensen who rode with you?”
“No, sir. At least, Jensen isn’t the name he gave me. He told me his name was Cavanaugh. Martin Cavanaugh.”
“Cavanaugh?”
“Yes.”
Kyle pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and studied it for a moment, then he smiled and hit his fist into his hand. “That’s him,” he said, nodding. “Cavanaugh is Matt Jensen.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I have the name of every passenger that was on the train,” Kyle said. “And there is no Cavanaugh listed. So, since Jensen is the only one we can’t account for, and since Cavanaugh is not even listed, it stands to reason that Cavanaugh and Jensen are one and the same.”
“That sounds reasonable to me,” Boomer said. “And if you think about it, knowin’ he had just escaped, there ain’t no way a fella like Jensen would give you his real name anyhow.”
“It would sound reasonable to me as well,” Doc said. “Except for one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Isn’t this man Jensen supposed to be a convicted murderer?”
“That’s right. He shot and killed a deputy over in Purgatory,” Kyle said.
“Yes, well you see, that’s the problem. I worked nearly a full day with this man Cavanaugh. I don’t know what he is, but I know what he is not. He is not a murderer. I’m a pretty good judge of character, Ben, and there’s no way Cavanaugh would kill somebody in cold blood. Self-defense maybe, yes, I could see that. But I could not see him killing anyone in cold blood.”
“What is it with this Jensen fella?” Kyle said. “He seems to charm everyone he meets. He’s got you charmed, he’s got Mrs. Dobbs convinced that he saved her life, even though, by wrecking the train, he’s the one who put her life in danger in the first place.”
