would he claim that our cook did it? Maria, I don't understand any of this!'
Now that she had told the truth, Maria was composed. She looked to the judge, sensing that he was the one who most needed convincing. 'I saw Senor Brodie kill Don Luis and then he saw me. I was so afraid. I was not even sure that my eyes had not betrayed me. Like the senora, I could not understand why.'
'Because,' Longarm said, 'he loves Lucy and he wanted her and her husband's land. His intentions were to comfort Lucy, be her friend, and then win her heart and hand in marriage, thus gaining everything. But he needed a scapegoat.'
'Si,' Maria said.
'And why,' Longarm asked, 'did he settle upon poor Miguel Rivera? Why not one of the relatives? Like the brother, the cousin, or the uncle?'
'They were all together outside,' Maria said. 'Only Miguel was alone.'
'Is that all of it?' Longarm asked.
Maria shook her head.
'Then tell us the rest of it,' Longarm ordered.
Maria sighed. 'Senor Brodie knew that I hated Miguel Rivera. He had married my older sister and then left her with a child. So the senor used my hatred. And later, he came to me and said that if I swore that Miguel was the real murderer, I would not be hurt.'
'Of course that would work to get Lucy freed,' Longarm stated. 'Because Juan, Manuel, and Renaldo all said that they only heard a shot. Remember, they did not actually say that they saw Lucy kill her husband.'
'Yes,' Lucy exclaimed, 'that's right!'
Longarm came to his feet. 'It all figured to work out perfect for Hal Brodie. He wanted Lucy, and in Miguel he found his scapegoat. Later, he helped Lucy escape without her even knowing it, and then he even coerced poor Maria into coming here and testifying that she actually saw the cook, Miguel Rivera, kill Don Luis.'
Judge Benton leaned back in his chair and smiled. 'Maria, has the deputy explained everything correctly?'
'Si,' Maria said. 'I did not want to lie! But Senor Brodie said that I would be killed if I did not and that it was only justice that Miguel would be sent to prison.'
'And you would be paid in addition to the hundred dollars you asked from me?' Longarm said.
'Si' Maria said, nodding her head up and down. 'Senor Brodie promised to pay me five hundred dollars, but I was never to return to Prescott.'
'And that's it?' the judge asked.
'As God is my witness, I have told you everything,' Maria said, eyes brimming with tears. 'And now, Judge, will you send me to prison?'
'Of course not.' Benton beamed. 'My dear girl, none of this was your doing! What else could you do but agree to lie saying that Miguel killed Don Luis? To have refused would have been your own death sentence.'
Maria managed a smile. 'I cannot go back to Prescott. I must go away.'
'Don't worry about Hal Brodie,' Longarm said. 'I'll see that he is arrested and brought to justice for the murder of Don Luis.'
Judge Benton came to his feet. 'This has been a most interesting session. Maria, Miss Ortega, I must insist that you remain in Yuma until this matter is cleared up. It should not take more time than is necessary for Deputy Long to arrest and escort Mr. Brodie to the Yuma Territorial Prison for trial.'
They nodded.
The judge looked to Longarm and said, 'How soon can you return to Prescott and arrest Brodie?'
'I can leave on the first stage.'
'Good! Then do so.'
There wasn't much left to say after that. Longarm excused himself and the others, then went to find Lucy and Maria suitable lodging while he returned to Prescott and made his arrest.
'I can't believe that I'm free of this,' Lucy said the next afternoon as Longarm prepared to board the stage back to Prescott. 'It seems unreal that Hal Brodie is my husband's killer. He was so nice.'
'Too damn nice,' Longarm said. 'There was just something wrong about that man from the first moment we met. At first, I attributed it to petty jealousy.'
'You were jealous of Hal?' Lucy asked.
'Yes,' Longarm admitted. 'But I also sensed he was lying about something. I never suspected that he was actually Don Luis's killer.'
'Be careful,' Lucy said, kissing Longarm good-bye.
'Don't worry,' Longarm promised as he climbed on board the stage, 'I will.'
Longarm was off then, riding across the stream that was now the Colorado River and returning to Prescott.
CHAPTER 13
In another week, he hoped, this case would all be over and he could telegraph Billy Vail and tell him the entire remarkable story. Longarm was jarred to jelly by the time he finally got back to Wickenburg. He'd spent most of a week sitting in a miserable stagecoach that traveled across the most boring and inhospitable land in all of North America. He was exhausted, out of sorts, and in serious need of sleep and rest. Even his legs felt rubbery when he finally came to rest on solid ground.
