sure can’t put men in every town within striking distance.”
“All right, I’ll do the best I can. Now let’s see how I’m going to get back there and do some more prodding.”
Gower made another cigarette and lighted it before he answered. Then he said, “Well, Castell’s no great loss to anybody. He came to me when he first got here, asking for a deputy’s badge. I sent a wire back to the Pinkertons, where he’d been working, and found out they’d thrown him out for taking payoffs. I can see to it that the railroad doesn’t raise too much fuss. Too bad, though. If you hadn’t been so quick on the trigger, he might have told us something.”
“He was all ready to finish me off, to get the money I told him I was carrying,” Longarm reminded the chief marshal. He reached into his breast pocket and took out the cash Dolly had found in Taylor’s saddlebags. “Here. There’s not anywhere near the whole bundle, of course. Not quite a thousand. But it oughta go back to that bank in Midland.”
“I’ll see that it’s returned, and get the reward offer on Taylor pulled down. Now, you go find a place to stay tonight. I’ll have a talk with the chief constable and see if I can’t get you out of town without any more gunplay.”
“I stayed at the Fenolio Hotel last night,” Longarm told Gower. “I didn’t check out, because I had more than half a hunch that I wouldn’t want to start back to Younger’s Bend until tomorrow, seeing as how the train left as late as it did. I suppose it’d be smart of me to go right on over to the hotel now, and keep out of sight till you get things fixed up.”
“If you hadn’t offered to, that’s what I was getting ready to tell you to do,” Gower said. “Just don’t let the Fort Smith constable get hold of you until I’ve had a talk with their chief. Murphy’s a pretty good man. He’s as worried about these payoffs as I am. Go on over to the Fenolio and stay out of trouble. I’ll stop in after I’ve talked to Murphy.”
Longarm slept until Gower knocked at his door; it was a bit after ten. Gower saw the bottle of Maryland rye on the bureau and looked at it yearningly.
“Help yourself,” Longarm invited.
“Thanks.” The chief marshal poured himself a sizeable slug, took a sip, and sat down. He rolled and lighted a cigarette before picking up the glass again. “Well, I’ve got your problem solved, Long.”
“Sort of figured you would.”
“But it was damn dry work, arguing with Murphy. First Irish cop I ever knew who won’t take a drink.” Gower sipped appreciatively. “Now. After I explained to him what happened, he agreed to keep Milford quiet.”
“Who’s Milford?”
“He’s the constable you kidnapped.”
“Hell, if he’s smart, he wouldn’t want anybody to know about that, anyway.”
“That’s how Murphy looked at it. He didn’t want one of his men to be laughed off the force.”
Longarm looked at Gower speculatively. “You might as well trot it out. What’s Murphy want me to do?”
“Help him get one of his men in at Younger’s Bend. He’s had the same suspicion I have about payoffs to some of his fellows by Belle Starr. There’s been a rash of house burglaries here in Fort Smith lately, and you know as well as Murphy and I that sneak thieves can’t operate unless they’ve got a place to get rid of the stuff they pick up. Jewelry, watches, things of that kind. And a fence can’t operate without protection from somebody inside the law.”
“Damn it, Gower, I’m not in solid enough with Belle Starr to bring in somebody else in with me.”
“That’s what I told Murphy you’d say. He gave me another choice, but I told him that’d be up to you.”
“What’s the other choice?” Longarm asked suspiciously. He had a pretty good idea what Gower was leading up to.
“Get the information he wants yourself.”
“Now hold up, damn it! I got enough on my plate, just finding out what you’re after. Let your friend Murphy do his own job.”
“No. I can’t do that, Long. I’ve already made a trade with him.”
“What’d you trade him?”
“A way to set you in solid with the bunch at Younger’s Bend.”
Longarm looked narrowly at Gower. He needed a minute to think this one over, so he got up and poured himself a fresh drink and topped off the glass the chief marshal was holding.
“Go on,” he said, after he’d returned to his chair. “I’d like to know just how he figures to do that.”
“You mentioned that Sharpless and Steed were still suspicious of YOU.”
“Not what you’d call suspicious. Floyd’s still mad at me because I had to gun down one of his old sidekicks. And Steed just plain don’t like anybody.”
“Murphy’s scheme might ease things for you,” Gower suggested. Murphy’s in very solid with the newspaper here in Fort Smith. And, if he makes a big fuss, the editor will write a story that’ll make Castell’s killing compare with the assassination of Abe Lincoln. And he’ll see that the story says the man who shot Castell got away. That’ll clean your skirts completely with the bunch of Younger’s Bend.”
Longarm took a swallow of rye while he considered Gower’s suggestion. He could see that it might ease the strain that existed between him and Floyd. Finally he nodded.
“I won’t guarantee to get your friend Murphy what he’s after,” he said carefully. “But I’ll make a stab at it. That’s about the best I can do.”
