?It?s only a possibility. I don?t want you putting that on the wire, though. It all depends.?
The telegrapher looked disappointed.
?While I?m here,? Longarm said, ?I?d like my answer from Marshal Vail.?
?What answer??
?To that message I sent him
when was it
yesterday??
?Oh.? The telegrapher shrugged. ?Hasn?t been no answer for you yet, Marshal. When it comes in, you want me to have it sent to the hotel or have somebody look for you personal??
Longarm frowned, then relaxed. ?Just have it sent to the hotel. That will be fine.?
?Soon as it comes in,? the operator said.
Longarm turned as if to leave, then stopped and said, ?There?s something I?d like you to do for me. It?s impor tant.?
The telegrapher?s lips twitched, hovering between a frown and an uncertain smile. ?What?s that??
?I want you to find Deputy Charlie Frye and bring him here.?
?Me, Marshal??
Longarm?s expression hardened. In a voice of stern command he snapped, ?Yes, you, damnit.?
?I?m supposed to be on duty, Marshal, right by my key, and??
?Now!? Longarm ordered.
The telegrapher took a half step backward, then nodded and turned to hurry off toward the town.
?Kind of hard on him, weren?t you?? the trainmaster observed. He rolled his cud from one cheek to the other and spat, expertly splattering a small spider that was climbing from the roadbed onto the platform.
?Maybe,? Longarm conceded. ?Easily ordered around, is he??
?Who, Carter? I suppose so. Never thought about it before, but I guess you could say that.?
?Yeah, well
? Longarm left the trainmaster and crossed the platform to the empty office. The telegrapher?s key sat idle and quiet on the counter beside his desk.
Longarm glanced out the window to make sure the operator was not yet returning, then sat before the man?s key.
U.S. Marshal Billy Vail had never taken this long to respond to one of his deputies?s requests for assistance be fore. And Longarm did not believe Billy had gotten suddenly lazy now.
Longarm flexed his fingers for a moment, then bent to the telegraph key, tapping out a quick dot-and-dash series of letters.
A minute or so later he tried it again.
There was no response from the other end of the wire.
Longarm smiled grimly to himself, left the desk and began to poke around the railroad office.
When the telegrapher returned with Charlie Frye in tow, Longarm was relaxing in a swivel chair with cheroot cocked at a jaunty angle in his jaw.
?I have a job for you that I think the local law should handle, Charlie,? he said.
?Yes, sir??
Longarm removed the cheroot from between his teeth and aimed it at the telegraph operator?s chest. ?What I want you to do, Charlie,? Longarm said pleasantly, ?is to place that scummy son of a bitch under arrest on eight counts of murder and??he grinned??we?ll add more to it shortly.?
The telegrapher went pale. Charlie Frye blinked in confusion.
?Go ahead and try to run for it if you want,? Longarm told the operator calmly. ?I won?t shoot you in the back. In the knees, but not the back. And it won?t bother me a lick.?
The telegrapher began to shiver. A dark, damp stain spread over the front of his trousers as he wet himself.
Chapter Forty-One
The telegrapher?s name was Jamison Carter, and he did not give the impression of being a particularly brave individual. Longarm had Frye cuff him and take him up to the jail where Donald Potter?s body still lay untended. Frye got quite a start out of seeing it.
?You can take care of that later,? Longarm told him. ?Right now I want you to go downstairs to the next landing. I want you to stay on those steps and not let anybody up here. Nobody, you understand me??
Frye nodded, though he was still staring at the dead man in the cell.
?No matter what you hear from up here, I don?t want you or anybody else coming up those stairs, Deputy. I don?t want any witnesses, you understand, and I?m making you responsible for that.?
