to see that none of you got that chest. I was to work on the inside and Anders was to shadow us and pick some of you off whenever he could.”
“You miserable clod,” Tom said.
“Who hired you?” Samantha echoed Fargo. “Was it Roland or Charlotte? They are the only two not here.”
Brun grinned. “It will shock you, the one it is. You’d never have figured it in a million years.”
“It was Roland then?”
“I’ll tell you,” Brun said. “I’ll tell you and then I’m goin’ for the doc.” He paused, and opened his mouth.
A shot boomed and a hole appeared in the center of Brun’s forehead. His head snapped back and his huge frame shuddered. He collapsed without an outcry and lay twitching.
Fargo dropped down. He expected more shots but there were none. Pushing up, he ran toward the spot where he thought the shot came from. He saw no one. He heard no one. The undergrowth was so thick that the shooter could be hiding ten feet away and be invisible. Thwarted, Fargo went back.
“Anything?” Tom asked.
Fargo shook his head.
“Wonderful. Whoever it was might kill one of us next.”
Samantha was by Charles, her head bowed in sorrow. “Whoever it is, they won’t stop until they have what they’re after. I’m afraid the worst is yet to come.”
So did Fargo.
16
Fargo was wiping the toothpick clean on Brun’s shirt when the underbrush rustled. He spun, thinking the killer was going to try and finish the job but it was Theodore Pickleman, sweaty from running and clutching his valise as if afraid he would drop it.
“I thought I heard a shot,” the lawyer began, and saw the two bodies. “Oh, my word. What on Earth has happened?”
Samantha told him, and gestured at her fallen brother. “We have to call off the hunt. We can conduct it again after Charles’s funeral.”
“No, my dear, we can’t,” Pickleman said, shaking his head. “Your father was explicit. Once begun, the hunt can’t be stopped, not for any reason. I’m afraid that you must see it through to the end or forfeit your chance at the inheritance.”
“But Charles is
“Haven’t you listened to a word I’ve said? I can’t do that. It’s not permitted.”
“To hell with the inheritance.”
“Speak for yourself, sister,” Tom told her. “I, for one, am not giving up until the chest is mine. I refuse to forfeit.”
“I’m afraid you already have,” Pickleman said.
Tom whirled on him. “What the hell are you talking about? I’ve done no such thing.”
Pickleman sighed and put his hands to his temples and rubbed them. “I swear. This ordeal is giving me a headache. How many times must I repeat myself? Or didn’t you hear me when I read the clause about no weapons?”
“I don’t have any,” Tom said.
The lawyer pointed at the knife that lay near Cletus Brun. “He had one. He broke the rules, and if he were alive I would disqualify him from taking part.”
“I didn’t know he had it.”
“Maybe you didn’t, maybe you did. The point is that Mr. Brun was your partner, and if one is disqualified, so is the other.”
“The hell you say.”
“I’m afraid you are out of the running for the inheritance,” Pickleman informed him. “You and Samantha might as well wait at the hunting lodge until this is over.”
“Me?” Sam said.
Pickleman pointed at Fargo. “Is that or is that not a knife I see in your partner’s hand? What applies to your brother equally applies to you. Both of you are out of the hunt.”
Tom walked up to the attorney. “Think again.”
“Be reasonable. I’m only doing what your father required of me.” Pickleman smiled and placed his hand on Tom’s shoulder. “Put yourself in my shoes and I’m sure you’ll understand.”
Tom swatted the hand off. “No, you put yourself in ours. You never said anything about both partners being removed if one broke the rules. I won’t stand for it. Either Sam and I continue or we’ll hire another attorney and sue you, you bastard.”
“Now, now. No name calling.” Pickleman appealed to Samantha. “Talk to him. Make him understand.”
“I agree with Tom on this,” Sam said. “You never explained any of this at supper last night. I refuse to be blamed for Fargo having a knife. I didn’t even know he had one on him.”
“That’s true,” Fargo spoke up.
“Be that as it may . . .” Pickleman began, and got no further.
Lunging, Tom grabbed him by the shirt and shook him, hard. “You listen, and you listen good, you little weasel. Murders have been committed. If I have to, I’ll send for the sheriff and I can damn well guarantee that
“That would complicate things.”
“You don’t know the half of it. It wouldn’t surprise me if he raised a posse and scoured these woods for the killers and then made each of us go to his office for questioning. It could be a week or more before you can hold another hunt, if he even lets you.”
“It’s in the will. The sheriff can’t stop it.”
“He can go to a judge and have the judge stop it,” Tom predicted. “Then where will you be? No hunt, no way to settle the inheritance except in court. The case could be tied up for years.”
Pickleman looked worried. “I wouldn’t want that. The cost to the estate would be enormous.”
“There’s even a chance the judge might declare the will invalid. And you couldn’t do a thing about it.”
Prying at Tom’s hand, Pickleman said, “Please. Let go of me. You’ve made your point.”
“I’m not disqualified?”
“No. Neither is Sam. I’ll permit both of you to continue under two conditions.”
Sam asked suspiciously, “What are they?”
“First, that neither of you tell anyone I broke the rules for your benefit. It could cause all sorts of trouble for me, legally.”
Tom shrugged. “All I care about is staying in the hunt. What’s the second condition?”
“While I am willing to reinstate the two of you, I can’t reinstate Mr. Fargo. He’s out, and that’s final.”
“No,” Sam said.
“Come on, Samantha.” Pickleman was growing flustered. “I’m trying to meet you halfway. You could at least do the same.”
“I need him.”
“He has a
“That’s easily remedied.” Sam walked over to Fargo and held out her hand. “You’ll get it back, after.”
Fargo was loath to part with the toothpick. It left him unarmed, with two killers out there somewhere.
“Please, Skye. It’s the only way.”
With great reluctance Fargo placed it in her hand. “Hell.”
Sam turned and held the toothpick out to Pickleman. “Take this. Problem solved. He doesn’t have a weapon and can continue as my partner.”
