got a witness after all, ' the placater, waving his hands in front of
the crowd, concluded.
'Maybe one of them sneaked back inside to hide under the desk, '
someone else suggested.
'These people aren't real bright, are they? ' Cole whispered to
Ryan.
'Sloan has gotten them all worked up, ' Ryan said.
'All right, ' Cole shouted to the group. 'Here's what's gonna
happen.
All of you are going to go home. I want you to think about what you
were doing on the day of the robbery. If any of you saw or heard
anything unusual, then come back to the jail tomorrow morning and tell
us about it.'
'You don't have the right to tell us what to do, ' a man near the edge
of the crowd shouted. Cole recognized him. He was the reporter from
the Rockford Falls Gazette who didn't want the bodies covered with
sheets.
Cole had taken an instant dislike to the man.
The reporter took a step forward. His eyes darted back and forth from
the crowd to the marshals. 'This is a local matter, Marshal. Sheriff
Sloan ought to handle it.'
'Federal money was stolen, ' Ryan shouted.
'And that makes it our business. Do as Marshal Clayborne ordered. Go
home and let us do our job.'
'I'm not going anywhere until I talk to those women, ' the reporter
shouted.
Cole wasn't in the mood to argue any longer. Quicker than the man
could blink, he drew his gun and shot the hat off the reporter's
head.
'You had no right to do that, ' the reporter screamed.
'Sure I did, ' he answered. 'Marshal Ryan explained I can't be tried
for murder now that I'm a U. S. marshal, so the way I figure it, I can
shoot every one of you and get away with it. This is the last time I'm
going to tell you. Go home.'
