“I’m stumped,” he said in a glum tone. “How can you get the job done when you’ve got no idea where to start? No leads, no rumors … nothing.”
She sensed his bitter frustration. “What about Heck Thomas and Chris Madsen? Do they have any ideas?”
“We’re all in the same fix. We’ve got to feeling like dunces. Doolin’s fooled us at every turn.”
“You shouldn’t blame yourself. You’ve done everything humanly possible.”
“Easy to say,” Tilghman muttered. “Not so easy to admit you’re downright baffled. It’s like I hit a dead end.”
“Look on the bright side,” she said, catching his eye. “You’ve all but put the Wild Bunch out of business. Doesn’t that count for something?”
“Doolin can always recruit more men. So long as he’s on the loose, the Wild Bunch isn’t finished.”
“You’ve been a lawman for what, ten years? Have you ever failed to catch the man you were after?”
“Not until now.”
“So there!” she said with a mischievous smile. “If you were betting on it, who would you bet on? Yourself or Doolin?”
Tilghman was forced to laugh. “Led me right into it, didn’t you?”
“Let’s just say my bet is on you.”
A flash of lightning lit the distant sky. Tilghman put his arm around her and set the swing in motion. He told himself he was a lucky man.
She was so full of ginger it was catchy.
* * *
Late that night Tilghman rode into the ranch. A strange horse was hitched to the corral, and his every sense alerted. As he stepped out of the saddle, he saw the figure of a man on the porch. Bee Dunn moved into the yard.
“Howdy,” he said, walking forward. “Wondered if you was ever comin’ home.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Couple of hours.”
Tilghman nodded. “You met my partner, Neal Brown?”
“Crotchety, ain’t he?” Dunn said. “Told me to park it on the porch and wait till you showed.”
“Well, I’m here now. What’s up?”
“Thought you oughta know,” Dunn said stolidly. “You remember John Ellsworth? The father of Doolin’s wife.”
“I remember him.”
“Ellsworth pulled out of town today. Way I hear it, he bought himself a new store over in Lawson. That’s maybe fifteen miles northeast of Ingalls.”
Tilghman sensed there was more. “And the girl?”
“Her and the baby went with him.”
“She’s already had the baby?”
“Just last week,” Dunn said. “Doolin’s got himself a boy.”
Tilghman suddenly put it together. Doolin’s offer to surrender was prompted by the birth of his child. A light prison sentence, rather than a hangman’s rope, ultimately would have given him a normal family life. He wanted to live to see his son grow to manhood.
“Sort of sudden,” Tilghman said now. “Ellsworth moving just after the baby was born.”
“For a fact,” Dunn affirmed. “Figured you’d wanna know right away.”
“How’d you get wind of this?”
“Mary Pierce told my old woman in town today. She’s the wife of Bob Pierce, runs the hotel. Come to think of it…”
Dunn hesitated, and Tilghman gave him a sharp look. “What is it?”
“Just occurred to me,” Dunn said. “The Pierce woman and Edith Doolin got to be good friends. Lots of folks looked down on the girl for marryin’ a wanted man. Mary Pierce sorta took her under wing.”
“You think the Pierce woman ever met Doolin?”
“Hard to say.” Dunn hawked up a wad of phlegm and spat it on the ground. “One thing’s for sure, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Doolin won’t be visitin’ Ingalls any more. Not with his wife and kid over in Lawson.”
Tilghman gave him a long level gaze. “Stranger things have happened, Bee. Doolin might figure your place is a safe hideout, now that his wife’s moved on.” He hesitated, stressing the point. “Leastways Doolin might figure the law figures that way.”
Dunn grimaced. “So I’m not off the hook yet. That what your tellin’ me?”
“You’re off the hook when Doolin’s caught. Or killed, whichever happens first.”
“Like I told you one time, you must piss ice water.”
“I appreciate you ridin’ all this way, Bee. Keep up the good work.”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Not one you’d like.”
When Dunn rode out, Tilghman stood staring after him for a moment. The information had improved his mood like a shot of elixir tonic. A new father, looking for a new lease on life, might yet make a mistake.
He thought he’d pay a quiet visit to Lawson.
CHAPTER 30
Tilghman rode into Lawson two days later. Located in Pawnee County, the town was situated some five miles south of the Arkansas River. The business district, which was fairly large, serviced the area’s farmers. Shops and stores, as well as a bank and a newspaper, lined the main street.
Merchants were opening for business as Tilghman reined up before a cafe. He wore rough range clothes, and he was once again posing as Jack Curry, the horse trader. His principal concern was that he would be spotted by John Ellsworth, who knew him on sight. The storekeeper would almost certainly alert his daughter.
The cafe was all but empty. Like most small towns, people got an early start and were off to work before eight o’clock. Tilghman took a table by the window, where he had an unobstructed view of the street. A waitress, who greeted him pleasantly, bustled over with a coffeepot. He ordered a breakfast of ham and eggs.
Two nights before, following Dunn’s visit, he had composed a letter to Evett Nix. He’d outlined that Doolin and the girl were now parents, and that the girl had accompanied her father to Lawson. His plan was to place the girl under surveillance, in the hope of uncovering a lead on Doolin’s whereabouts. The next morning, before riding out, he had given the letter to Neal Brown. He instructed that the letter be placed in the express pouch on the noon stage.
The waitress returned with his breakfast. As Tilghman ate, he pondered the thing that concerned him most. He was convinced that Doolin’s offer to surrender was directly tied to the recent birth of the baby. Yet there had been no robberies, no sign of the Wild Bunch, for six weeks. He considered the possibility
