?Uh
yessir.? Frye said dubiously. ?I won?t let nobody up until you tell me.?
?Not even the county supervisors.? Longarm said. ?Nobody.?
?No, sir. Nobody.?
?That?s good. Now, do you have any spare handcuffs??
?We got some in the bottom of that cabinet over there.?
?Good. Take your set and one of those extras and cuff Mr. Carter here to the bars with both hands so that he?s kind of spread-eagled on his feet.?
Frye looked like he could not believe what he was being told to do, but he did it. He got out a set of spare handcuffs and a key for them. ?Do you, uh, want him facing out or in, Marshal??
?I want him facing into the cell so he can look at Potter while
uh
while I?m talking to him.?
Carter looked like he might faint. For that matter, Charlie Frye did not look very far from it himself.
?And while you?re switching that first set of cuffs from his wrist to the bars, Charlie, have the prisoner take off his shirt, would you, please??
?Yes, sir.?
Carter was shaking so bad the trembling could be seen from all the way across the room.
Longarm reached for another cheroot and took his time about lighting it.
?Downstairs now, Charlie. And remember, I don?t want anybody coming up here to bother me, no matter what you hear. Anybody wants to complain about the noise, I?ll take it up with them after. All right??
Charlie Frye looked damned glad to be able to leave the room and rush down the stairs.
Jamison Carter was facing away, pinioned to the steel bars by the handcuffs on his wrists. He could not see Longarm. But he could imagine much. That, in fact, was what Longarm was counting on.
Longarm took a comfortable seat in the chair that had belonged to the now-dead?there seemed to be a lot of that going around Thunderbird Canyon lately?Paul Markham and took a pull on his smoke.
?Want to tell me all about it, Carter?? he asked in a low, mild voice.
?I
I don?t know anything to tell you, Marshal.?
?Uh-huh,? Longarm said. ?For instance, you don?t know why the battery for your telegraph wire has been disabled or how it could be that no one in Meade Park has received any traffic from here in several days??
?I
? Carter shook his head, but with a gesture that was more nervous than stubborn.
?It might interest you to know that I reconnected the battery. We have communication with Meade Park again.?
?I don?t know anything about that.?
?You don?t know anything either, I suppose, about why the operator in Meade Park never received any of the messages I told you to send. You remember. The ones you told me you did send.?
Carter?s knees sagged.
?Before we get down to the good parts of this interrogation, Carter, it?s probably only fair to tell you that I?ve got most of this figured out by now. Including whose orders you?ve been taking. What did he promise you, Carter? Five thousand? Ten??
?I never killed anybody, Marshal. I swear to God I never,? Carter blubbered.
?He might believe you, Carter, but I damn sure don?t. Your boss in this couldn?t have killed Donald Potter. You?re the one who did that. And you were a part of the bank murders too. It really doesn?t matter who actually lit the fuse, you know. But you don?t have to take my word for that. The judge will tell you the same thing. Before he hangs you.?
?Oh, God, Marshal, I can?t hang. I
I couldn?t stand that.?
?You?ll manage,? Longarm assured him. ?Unless some judge is damn fool enough to let you off with just a prison sentence. Like if you were to cooperate and help me find your boss and the money.? Longarm chuckled. ?Except that I don?t need your help, Carter. The money is in the bank basement. I can find it all by myself.?
Carter began trying to wrench his hands free of the steel handcuffs, jerking from side to side so that the steer bracelets bit into his flesh. He began to moan and soiled himself again.
Longarm stood and slipped up behind Carter so he was immediately behind the man?s ear. ?Where is he?? he roared.
Carter jumped so hard he fell and for a moment was hanging by his wrists. Longarm took a fistful of hair and hauled him back onto his feet.
?Where?? Longarm demanded.
