'Of course I was!' Lucy cried. 'The first thing I knew, three of my husband's worthless relatives came rushing into the house, and when they saw me, they began to yell. I was pulled to my feet and my gun was used as evidence against me.'
Longarm stopped chewing. 'Did you say your gun?'
'Yes,' she admitted with obvious hesitation. 'I had kept it hidden in our bedroom, underneath my nightgown. I hadn't seen or even thought of it for weeks. And then, there it was, the murder weapon.'
Longarm resumed his chewing. From this little bit of information he could see that Lucy was certainly in a bad fix. He didn't know if she was telling the truth or not, but he did know that the evidence against her was substantial.
'So,' he said, 'you ran and made it look even more certain that you were guilty.'
'What else could I do!' she exclaimed. 'Mr. Buckingham's generosity had allowed me an education, but I had not studied law. I had no friends, and three lying relatives of Don Luis were pointing fingers at me. The wonder is that they didn't say they saw me pull the trigger.'
'There were probably other people outside and they couldn't get away with that,' Longarm told her. 'At least, that's my best guess.'
He frowned. 'Was there anyone else in the house who might have shot him?'
'Only the maid and the house servants, and they were in the rear quarters, too far away to have done it. Besides, they all loved Don Luis.'
'Or at least,' Longarm said, 'they pretended they loved him.'
'What is that supposed to mean?' she demanded.
He tossed the drumstick into the fire. 'It just means that someone killed your husband. If it wasn't you, and it wasn't the three relatives claiming to be witnesses, then it must have been someone already in the house, close enough to have thrown your gun on the couch or wherever it was found.'
'Someone could have come in through the kitchen,' Lucy said thoughtfully. 'Perhaps someone employed in the stable or on the grounds. Someone who could sneak into our bedroom and find my gun, then use it and disappear.'
'Of course,' Longarm said.
'But how in the world can I find him!'
'I don't know,' Longarm said, realizing that he had raised expectations where there probably should not be any.
'Would you help me?' she asked, her face suddenly lighting up with hope.
'I can't. My job is to escort you to Yuma.'
'But you must have something to do in Prescott or we wouldn't be stopping there first! What is it that you are to do there?'
'I... I forgot to ask,' Longarm sheepishly admitted. 'I just plain forgot to ask.'
'You're supposed to help me,' Lucy said, nodding her head up and down. 'I'll just bet that your Billy Vail or someone even above him ordered that stop in Prescott because the case against me looks fishy.'
'Aw,' Longarm said, 'I doubt that.'
'Will you at least keep an open mind about my innocence?' she pleaded. 'Just take me to my husband's rancho and ask a few simple questions? If you do, you'll quickly see that I've been framed. That I couldn't possibly have shot my husband like they say I did.'
'You're asking for a lot.'
'I'm not asking,' she cried, 'I'm begging! I'm begging for my life.'
Longarm reached for a cheroot and jammed it between his greasy lips, and then he began to chew rapidly.
CHAPTER 4
They had a hard climb over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and by the time they reached Albuquerque on the banks of the Rio Grande River, their horses were played out.
Longarm dismounted at a livery where he'd boarded his horse many times. 'Get down,' he ordered. 'We'll put up here for the night and push on tomorrow.'
'Our horses are exhausted,' Lucy said. 'I think you're either going to have to replace them, or rest them for a couple of days.'
Longarm hated to admit it, but Lucy was right. They'd set a pretty hard pace coming down from Denver, and not only were their horses exhausted, they were in need of being reshod.
'Hello there!' the liveryman called, limping out to greet them. 'Good to see you again, Longarm!'
Lucy glanced sideways at him. 'Is that what you're called in the field, Marshal?'
'Some people might call me that,' Longarm said. 'But my name is Custis. Or Deputy Long.'
'I'd prefer to call you Longarm just like everyone else,' Lucy said. 'After all, by the time we reach Yuma, we're going to know each other very, very well.'
'Maybe not so well,' Longarm said, avoiding her eyes.
Lucy had been showing off a little these last few days, and she was starting to make him nervous. She wasn't doing anything real serious to unsettle Longarm's mind, but she'd begun sleeping closer to him at night and asking him to scratch her back and help her change her blouse. Things like that made it tough for a good lawman to keep
