“And admit in public that he paid out a bribe? They won’t generally do that. Besides, we make it a point to get out of a town just as quick as we can once a game is over. Among other things it cuts down on fights between our boys and the disgruntled locals.” McWhortle chuckled. “It’s amazing how testy some of them get after we trounce them on the field. They seem to think a show of manhood is in order. So we’ve learned to schedule our games so a coach or a train is pulling out within half an hour or so of our game being ended.”
“An’ you thought I was one o’ these-“
“No offense intended, I assure you. I just didn’t expect … I mean, I was expecting a ball player, you know. And forgive me if I say this, deputy, but you don’t have the look. You aren’t—how can I put this?—loose enough.. I mean, you look like you might actually take an interest in things other than whiskey and women and baseball.”
It was Longarm’s turn to grin. “I can hold my own with a clear majority o’ those things, Mr. McWhortle. If that makes you feel any better. But as for me bein’ a ball player, well, there’s been a little misunderstanding about that.”
“Hold on a minute, deputy. I have to go chew Caleb’s ass off. You can tell me what’s going on, and what all you need, soon as I get back.”
Longarm nodded and the youngster—he still looked awfully short in the years department but acted like he was damn sure in charge in spite of that—trotted off to first growl at one of his players and then, much more calmly, teach the man just exactly how McWhortle wanted some small point of play handled.
Longarm stood in the entirely welcome protection of the shade and enjoyed a cheroot while he waited for McWhortle to return.
Chapter 5
“All I really know is that my father-in-law asked me to cooperate with Sergeant Vail. Excuse me, I believe you said that should be Marshal Vail now.”
“That’s right. But who’s your father-in-law?”
“His name is Ed Barnes. My wife is his second daughter Leonore. Mr. Barnes’s older brother Maynard used to be in the same Ranger company as the ser—as your marshal.”
“An’ he asked your daddy-in-law t’ ask you t’ go along with whatever Billy wanted,” Longarm said.
“Something like that, yes. Which I was perfectly happy to do when I was informed that the marshal would supply me with an accomplished pitcher to join the team.”
“Yeah, well, I think I explained that,” Longarm said sheepishly.
McWhortle laughed. “So you did, deputy. So you did.”
“Look, d’you know anything at all about the robberies that’ve been following along with your team?”
“To tell you the truth, I didn’t even know they were happening. As I explained to you before, it’s our habit to take our share of the gate and be on the first transportation out of town, preferably as soon as the game ends and certainly before the sun goes down. I had no idea any such robberies took place, although I looked up some old newspapers once I was told about the crimes. Your marshal is absolutely right. There have been at least four such thefts and possibly more. All of them taking place while our games were in progress. Which makes very good sense when you think about it. Our tour is taking us to communities that lack the entertainments available in major cities. People from miles around come to watch us play. Frankly, we count on that. We make our money by taking sixty percent of the gate receipts. The home team pays expenses, if any, and keeps whatever is left. We’ve found our games so popular in these small towns that virtually everyone who can come does. Stores and businesses close down and usually one or more churches set up food stalls to sell sandwiches and candy and lemonade and the like. We don’t ask for any percentage of the charity take, of course.” McWhortle sighed. “I hate to think we are being used to the detriment of others.”
“Any ideas on who could be doin’ this? Or why?”
“‘Why’ seems easy enough. For the money, of course.”
“I meant, why you an’ your boys in particular,” Longarm said.
“I’m afraid I have no opinion about that.”
“Was the tour laid out beforehand?”
“Oh my yes. We had to plan everything ahead of time so we could make arrangements for the transportation, rooms, meals. We even had to plan our laundry layovers and like that.”
“An’ was all this announced? To the public, I mean?”
McWhortle frowned in thought for a moment before he answered. “There was … I think there was an article about our tour. In one of the Austin newspapers. And I suppose that story could have been picked up and reprinted in other papers as well. That’s common enough practice, isn’t it?”
Longarm grunted. And wondered if there was any way the Austin paper would even know if its story was reprinted elsewhere. That was something he should ask. Get a wire off to Billy Vail’s secretary Henry, perhaps. Henry was a whiz at finding out nit-picking details like that. “So pretty much anybody could know where you’ll be on a given day?”
“More or less,” McWhortle said. “We’ve had to make some minor adjustments along the way, of course.”
“Any o’ those changes take place before these robberies occurred?” Longarm asked.
“I can’t say right off the top of my head,” McWhortle told him. “I suppose I could compare our current itinerary with the original and check them both against the dates of the robberies if you can give those to me,” he suggested.
In point of fact, Longarm did not happen to have the specifics of the robberies. The information he’d received back in Denver had been incomplete. And Longarm hadn’t thought to write down what little he was told. Billy expected McWhortle to have more firsthand knowledge than was the fact. At least that was certainly the impression Longarm got at the time. It looked like the telegraphic inquiry to Henry would have to grow somewhat longer.
