“I’ll be right back,” he told the man at the bar. They were all regulars, came staggering in as soon as Zeke opened the doors at nine A.M. It was like that in Hell’s Half Acre. Nobody cared if a saloon opened early, or if a bunch of men drank in the morning.
Zeke walked to the back, looked around, then pushed aside the curtain and entered. He started for the desk, saw his boss seated there, and stammered, “Hey, uh, boss, I was just—” but then he noticed something.
Ed Cramer’s head was splattered all over the wall.
CHAPTER 26
When Sheriff Jim Courtwright arrived at the White Elephant that afternoon he came with two deputies. They stopped at the bar and he said to Jerry, “Get your boss out here.”
“Mr. Ward?”
“You know who I’m talkin’ about,” Courtwright said. “Luke Short.”
“Mr. Short’s not here,” Jerry said. “If you want to talk to a boss, it’s gotta be Mr. Ward.”
“All right,” Courtwright said. “Bring out Mr. Ward.”
“I’ll get ’im.”
It wasn’t three yet, the White Elephant was far from busy. Courtwright was able to watch Jerry the whole way as he walked to the back of the huge room. The bartender knocked on a door, stuck his head in, then out, turned and waved at Courtwright to come ahead. The sheriff crossed the floor with his deputies in tow. When he reached Jerry the barman said, “You can go in.”
“Wait out here, boys,” he told his deputies, and went inside.
Bill Ward stood up, came around the desk, and asked, “What can I do for you, Sheriff?”
Courtwright ignored Ward’s outstretched hand.
“You can tell me where your partner is.”
“Luke?”
“You got another partner”
“No, just Luke.”
“Of course I’m lookin’ for Short,” Courtwright said, impatiently. “Where the hell is he?”
“I don’t know where Luke is at the moment,” Ward said. “Is there something I can do for you?”
“Not if you can’t tell me where he is.”
“I can tell him you’re looking for him.”
“Warn him, you mean?”
“About what?” Ward asked. “What’s this all about, anyway?”
“You don’t know?”
“No, I don’t know.” Now Ward was starting to get impatient.
“One of your competitors,” Courtwright said, “one of your…oh hell, Ed Cramer, had the back of his head blown all over his office last night.”
“Cramer’s dead?”
“That’s what usually happens when you put a gun in a man’s mouth and pull the trigger.”
“What makes you think it was Luke?” Ward asked.
“Well, let’s see, I already have witnesses who saw him jam a gun in Ed Cramer’s mouth and threaten to use it if he sent anyone here to the White Elephant with…let’s say, bad intentions?”
“I still don’t see—”
“The last I heard somebody shot out one of your windows yesterday,” Courtwright added. “Oh, and killed one of your men.”
“So, you think Luke went to Cramer to get revenge?” Ward asked.
“Sounds pretty good to me.”
“And you’re here to arrest Luke?”
“No,” Courtwright said, “right now I just wanna talk to him. The arrest will come later—and believe me, it’ll be a pleasure.”
“Sheriff…I don’t know what to say…”
“If I was you I’d tell me where Short is.”
“I honestly don’t know, Sheriff.”
“Okay, let’s try this. Where’s your man Butler?” the lawman asked.
“I don’t know that, either.”
“You don’t know where your partner or any of your employees are?”
“I know where Jerry is,” Ward said. “He’s one of my bartenders. He showed you the way back—”
“I know who Jerry is,” Sheriff Courtwright said. “You know, I could toss your ass in jail for not cooperating, Ward.”
“I’m cooperating as much as I can, Sheriff,” Ward said. “Honest.”
“All right,” Courtwright said. “You tell Short and Butler to stop by my office as soon as they can. They don’t want me to come looking for them again, because next time I’ll come to arrest ’em.”
“For what?”
“Same thing I’ll arrest you for,” Courtwright said. “Obstruction. If I have to come back, you’re all goin’ to jail. You got that?”
“I got it.”
“Good,” Courtwright said. “You gamblers think you can get away with anything. Well, let me tell you, friend, not in my town.”
As Courtwright went out the door Ward fell into his chair and wiped his sweaty face with a handkerchief.
CHAPTER 27
The back door to the office opened and both Luke Short and Butler entered the room.
“How did you know?” Bill Ward asked, still wiping his face.
“The word is all over Hell’s Half Acre that Cramer is dead,” Short said. “When I heard about it I knew Courtwright would be out to get me.”
“So what are you going to do now?” Ward asked. “Run for it?”
“Hell, no,” Short said. “I’ve got too much invested here to go on the run.”
“We’ll have to find out who did it,” Butler said.
“How are you going to do that?” Ward asked. “You’re not detectives.”
“I’ve worn a badge, you know, Bill,” Short said. “I think I can pretty much figure out what I have to do to find Cramer’s killer.”
“Then you better do it quick,” Ward said, “because he says he’s going to throw all of us in jail.”
“He’s got no reason to lock up you or Butler,” Short said. “He was just trying to scare you.”
“Well, he did a damned good job,” Ward said. “I’ve never been in jail.”
“You held up really well,” Short said. “Thank you.”
“Never mind thanking me,” Ward said. “Just go out there and find yourself a killer.”
“Bill, for a while I’m not going to tell you where I am so when you tell Courtwright, you’ll be tellin’ him the truth.”
“Fine,” Ward said. “It was all I could do not to tell him you were right out back.”
“Again,” Short said, “you did great.” He looked at Butler. “We better get out of here.”
As they headed for the door that led to the saloon Bill Ward said, “Luke?”
