'Don't seem like bad luck to me,' said Longarm with a shake of his head. 'I'm still breathing, and the other gent ain't.'
Kinsman chuckled. 'You could sure as hell look at it that way, all right.' His expression became more serious. 'Say, I wonder if it was that Mcentire woman or one of her men who hired that fella to bushwhack you?'
Longarm frowned. Kinsman was bound and determined to blame everything that went wrong on the loggers. 'Don't recall saying that I thought anybody hired the fella,' he pointed out. 'Seemed to me like a simple holdup.'
'Could've been,' said Kinsman, nodding slowly. 'Or maybe not.'
Unfortunately, the rancher was right. Though Longarm didn't agree with Kinsman's eagerness to cast blame on the Mcentire timber outfit, that didn't mean Kinsman was incorrect in his assumptions. While Aurora had given no indication that she was the type to strike back at an enemy by hiring a gunman, Longarm didn't know her well enough to completely rule out the possibility. Of course, if she was responsible for this attack, that meant she was trying to play him for a fool by asking for his help, then continuing to make the conflict between cattlemen and loggers worse.
Wouldn't be the first time he had run across a woman who figured her pretty face would allow her to pull everybody's strings, he reminded himself. Under the circumstances, it was even more important that he find a chance to talk to Aurora Mcentire again, and soon.
The chance came sooner than he expected. As dinner was being completed that night, the rider Joe Traywick had sent to Timber City to inform the local deputy of what had happened reappeared, and with him came the star packer himself. The deputy sheriff was a red-faced, big-bellied man in a town suit and derby hat. He revealed a sun-freckled, mostly bald pate when he took off the derby to nod respectfully to Molly. After a longing glance at the spread of food Wing had prepared, the man turned to Kinsman and said in a high-pitched voice, 'I'm sorry, Mr. Kinsman, but I got to ask you to let that cowboy called Custis come back to town with me.'
Longarm sat up straighter in surprise. Kinsman nodded toward him and said to the deputy, 'There he is, Bullfinch. Ask him yourself.'
Deputy Bullfinch--as the target of more than one humorous comment about his own name, Longarm didn't envy the local lawman--turned to him and said, 'How about it, mister?'
'What do you need me for?' asked Longarm coolly.
'The sheriff says I got to start doin' things more legal-like. That means havin' a inquest ever' time somebody gets theirselves killed by violent means.'
Longarm didn't point out that it might be difficult to kill somebody by non-violent means. Bullfinch's request tied right in with Longarm's own plans, so he nodded and said, 'Sure, I'll be glad to come with you, Deputy.'
'I'm much obliged. The hearin' will be tomorrow mornin' at nine o'clock. You can stay the night in the Ponderosa House, or if you like, there's nobody in the cell at the jail house right now, so you could sleep there.'
Kinsman spoke up again. 'No rider of mine is spendin' the night in jail unless he deserves it. I'll pay for your room at the hotel, Custis.'
'Thanks, Boss,' said Longarm with a grin. 'I got to admit, the idea of sleeping behind bars don't appeal much to me, even if the door isn't locked.'
Seth Thomas put in, 'Bet you've spent more than one night in jail.'
'If I have, it's none of your business, junior,' Longarm replied crisply.
'That's enough, you two,' said Kinsman. He waved a hand at the table, which had plenty of leftovers scattered on it. Un less you're in a big hurry, Bullfinch, sit down and have some supper before you start back to Timber City.'
The deputy practically licked his lips as he reached for an empty chair. 'Thanks, Mr. Kinsman,' he said eagerly. 'I reckon the trip back can wait a spell. That'll give Custis a chance to get together any gear he might want to take.'
'That's right,' said Longarm dryly. There wasn't much he planned to take along, however. He would be traveling light on this trip to Timber City.
And on the way back, he would pay a visit to the lumber camp and try to find out if maybe, just maybe, Aurora Mcentire knew anything about bushwhackers.
The inquest was pretty cut and dried. The local undertaker also served as the coroner, and he swore in a jury of six townies who heard Longarm testify that he had killed the deceased only after the fella had done his best to kill both Longarm and Matt Kinsman's cook, Wing. Deputy Bullfinch had explained to Longarm that Wing wouldn't need to testify, being a Chinaman and all. Longarm's word was good enough for the jury. The verdict was a foregone conclusion: The deceased had met his end in the course of committing a crime, so good riddance. Longarm stood up as the coroner banged a gavel on the table in the front room of the undertaking parlor, where the hearing had taken place. 'This hearing is adjourned,' said the undertaker in a reedy voice.
Longarm turned to Deputy Bullfinch. 'You through with me?'
'I reckon so. Appreciate you comin' in with me, Custis. We're tryin' to bring law an' order to this part o' the country, and the only way to do that is to see that ever'thing's done legal-like.'
Longarm refrained from commenting that if Bullfinch really wanted to do something for law and order around Timber City, he would have gotten to the bottom of this feud between the cattlemen and the loggers before now. The Justice Department, in the form of Longarm himself, had been called in only when it became obvious that local authorities weren't going to put a stop to the trouble.
Longarm settled his hat on his head and stuck a cheroot in his mouth as he stepped out of the undertaking parlor. His saddlebags and the Winchester were at the hotel, his saddle and the roan at the livery stable. It took only a few minutes to gather everything he needed and ride out of Timber City.
He followed the main trail to the cutoff that led to the lumber camp, and veered west on the smaller path. A few minutes later, one of the lumberjacks stepped out of the underbrush and challenged him. It was similar to his experience the first time he'd come up there. 'I'm Deputy Marshal Long,' he told the sentry. 'I was up here to see Mrs. Mcentire a few days ago.'
