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Lincoln returned to town at a brisk trot. He took a route that avoided passing the law office and headed into the Lucky Horseshoe saloon. It was now mid-afternoon and few customers were inside.
He asked for a coffee and took his mug to a corner table where for the next half-hour he sat quietly while people came and went. Murphy’s comments had given him the feeling that this place would be a center for trouble in town, but the place was quiet.
Most of the people who were whiling away the afternoon were planning to go prospecting in the Scorched Land to the north. So those on their first expedition were animated while the more seasoned veterans eyed the enthusiastic ones with stoic amusement.
He reckoned his presence would ultimately gather interest and sure enough, he was on his second coffee when the owner, Meredith Zale, made his way over to him. Meredith sported a wide smile that puffed up his glowing red cheeks and he rubbed his hands with delight when Lincoln signified that he should sit with him.
“I hear that you’ve sorted out our little problem with Buster McCloud,” he declared, speaking loudly, seemingly for the benefit of the few customers. “For that the town of Russell Creek is eternally grateful.”
“I’m pleased I could be of service, and it’s warming to be thanked by a man who speaks on behalf of the whole town.”
Meredith’s smile faltered as he presumably tried to work out if Lincoln was being sarcastic. He dismissed the matter with a shrug and then dragged his chair closer.
“Do you reckon Buster will get the justice he deserves?”
“Everyone deserves justice, whether that be Buster, Aaron Knight, or Salvadora Somoza.”
Meredith had been nodding approvingly, but the last name made him frown.
“She was a popular saloon-girl when she worked for me. Buster should hang for killing Aaron, but he should rot in hell for killing a woman like her.”
“Assuming she’s dead. After all, I gather her body hasn’t been found.”
Meredith shrugged. “Buster sure had a temper. He’d have killed her, too.”
Lincoln nodded. “I’d already heard he was arguing in here on the night of the shooting.”
Meredith opened his mouth to reply and then closed it. He leaned back in his chair.
“You’re asking an awful lot of questions for a man who’s just passing through.”
“I never said that I’m just passing through.” Lincoln smiled when Meredith registered his mistake with a gulp. “You seem awfully nervous for a man I’m just having a pleasant conversation with.”
Meredith stood up quickly. “Buster was a nasty piece of work and he killed Aaron. What he did to Salvadora I don’t like to think about. That’s all I have to say on the matter.”
Lincoln waited until Meredith started backing away and then raised a hand, halting him.
“What do you know about a woman called Chastity? Did she work here, too?”
“What’s she got to do with Buster?”
“That’s what I want to know. So start at the beginning and answer my first question: did Buster argue in here with Aaron on the night of the shooting?”
“Don’t answer that!” a strident voice demanded from the doorway.
Lincoln turned his head to find that Sheriff Caldwell had arrived. He hadn’t noticed anyone pass on a message to him that he was here, and Meredith’s relieved smile suggested that it hadn’t been him.
“I’m just having a friendly chat with Meredith,” Lincoln said.
Caldwell smiled at Meredith and Meredith hurried to the bar. Then he faced Lincoln.
“Walk with me,” he said before heading outside.
Lincoln followed him and by the time he slipped outside, Caldwell was already walking slowly down the boardwalk and away from the law office.
“What’s the problem?” Lincoln asked when he joined him.
“Like I said earlier, I’m grateful for what you’ve done, but now that Buster is behind bars I have no further need of your help.”
“Normally I’d agree, but it’s looking likely that Buster only killed Aaron and not Salvadora. I’m also wondering if Salvadora is not actually dead.”
“There’s no body, so that’s possible, but one young woman taking her chance to run away is hardly a matter that should concern you.”
“Again, normally I’d agree, but she might not be the only missing woman.”
Caldwell stopped walking and turned to him with his eyes narrowed.
“Who told you about that? It surely wasn’t that idiot deputy of mine?”
“That idiot deputy of yours answered my questions with more openness than anyone else has, but it wasn’t him. A man called Joshua Vincent sought me out.”
Caldwell winced while shaking his head. “That’s the moment when I stop taking any more of your nonsense. This is my town and your investigation ends here.”
“This is your town, but I reckon something bigger than just Buster shooting up a man is going on here.”
“You do, do you?” Caldwell sneered. “You ride into town, hear about a man on the run and then hurry off and find him within hours. That makes you think I need your help to dispense justice, but you’re wrong.”
“I’m sure you don’t need my help, and if everyone had just answered my questions I’d now be riding away from your town without a care, but everyone I’ve talked to has been evasive and I want to know why.”
Caldwell shook his head slowly and then edged a half pace closer.
“All right. I’ll start with Aaron, as despicable a man as I’ve ever met. I don’t know what deal he did with Meredith to get Salvadora into his house, but I hope she got away safely and I’m sure wherever she ran to, she’ll be better off there than with him.”
“I hope so, too.”
“Then there’s Joshua, a man with big convictions and an even bigger interest in the women Meredith employs. Every night he comes into town to berate everyone about their wickedness, except when everyone has gone home he administers to Meredith’s saloon-girls in his own special way.”
Lincoln shrugged. “He might just be praying with them.”
“He might, but they charge him the same rate as everyone else.”
“They might do that, but Joshua sounded concerned about this woman Chastity.”
“Joshua played you along and you reacted just the way he wanted you to.” Caldwell stepped back while shaking his head. “I assume he didn’t tell you Chastity’s surname?”
“No.”
“It’s Vincent.” Caldwell snorted a laugh when Lincoln raised a surprised eyebrow. “Chastity is his daughter and like Salvadora, if she’s run away I’m sure she’ll be better off wherever she ends up rather than having to cope with a man like him.”
Lincoln conceded, with an aggrieved sigh, that Caldwell had a right to be angry.
“He didn’t tell me that.”
“You don’t know the people here. If you did, you’d know that there’s no bigger problem. It’s just a matter of a man shooting up another man and two women running away seeking something better.”
“I guess I can see that.” Lincoln spread his hands. “I’ll be moving on.”
“Make sure that you do.”
Caldwell stood tall, but Lincoln decided to let him have the last word and he turned away. Five minutes later he was riding out of town. He hadn’t completely decided that he would let the matter end there, so he rode past Aaron’s house.
There was nothing of interest that he hadn’t noticed before, but one aspect of the situation still made him uneasy so he headed upriver, seeking out Joshua’s house by following the direction Joshua had taken. He had moved on for two miles when he noticed that someone was following him. He stopped and when the galloping rider came closer he smiled on recognizing Deputy Murphy Stone.
“Have you got some news for me?” Lincoln hollered when Murphy reached him.
Murphy scowled. “No. Sheriff Caldwell reckoned that as I answered your questions so well, I should ride along with you and answer any other questions you might have.”
“I don’t have any. I’m leaving.”
“That’ll please him.” Murphy frowned. “I’m sorry. It was me who told the sheriff you’d be heading back into town.”
“That’s no problem.”
“I’m relieved.”
They stood in silence for a while.
“You can ride along with me if you like.” Lincoln winked. “That way you can make sure I leave and I don’t ask anyone else any awkward questions.”
“Caldwell did say something like that.” Murphy smiled thinly. “You don’t mind?”
“I don’t see why I should and you can help me. Before I leave, I want to talk to Joshua Vincent again.”
Murphy winced. “Joshua was someone the sheriff didn’t want you speaking to again.”
“Noted. Now, where does he live?”
“Caldwell wouldn’t want me to tell you, so it’d be best if you just kept riding along upriver.”
Lincoln considered Murphy’s firm-jawed expression and then nodded and swung his horse around. Murphy slipped in beside him and they rode on quietly beside the creek for another two miles. When Lincoln espied Joshua’s house ahead, he turned to Murphy.
“Is there anyone else Caldwell doesn’t want me to speak to before I leave?”
“Aside from Meredith Zale, I don’t think so. He just wants you to leave quietly and quickly.”
Lincoln noted the long length of White Ridge to the south of the creek and the craggy heights of the Scorched Land to the north.
“I figure riding along beside the creek is the most direct route away from Russell Creek.”
“It is. That way it’ll take you a day to move off Caldwell’s territory.”
“So is there any route he’d prefer me not to take?”
“He didn’t say, but I reckon he wouldn’t want you heading north to the Scorched Land. It’ll take two days that way.”
“The prospectors who head into Russell Creek all go there, so I presume he doesn’t want me to annoy them.”
“I presume.”
They rode along until they reached Joshua’s house, by which time Lincoln had considered all the subtle angles he could use to probe Murphy for more information, so he settled for the direct approach.
“Are there any other questions Caldwell would prefer me not to ask you?”
Murphy shrugged. “I’m only his deputy and he doesn’t confide in me.”
“I gathered that, but I’ve also seen that you’re more able than he gives you credit for. You see and hear more than he knows about, and I reckon you have a good idea what’s worrying him.”
Murphy took a deep breath. “He might not want you to ask me about the other missing women.”
“There are more?” Lincoln spluttered, aghast.
“I reckon there might be. The saloon-girls in the Lucky Horseshoe saloon don’t last there for long, but nobody ever seems to worry about it.”
“Do you know any names?”
Murphy lowered his head. “I was friendly with this one woman, Mary. She said she had a hankering to head north and go prospecting. She tried to persuade me to go with her, but I didn’t want to leave town and then one day she’d gone.”
“Do you think she found a prospector who was prepared to take her with him?”
“It’s possible, and maybe others have done that, too, but it’s hard to believe every one of them decided to go prospecting.” Murphy pointed, signifying that Joshua was coming out of his house. “Chastity could well have gone north, though. She often chatted with the men who were heading to the Scorched Land and her father didn’t approve of that.”
Lincoln didn’t reply as Joshua approached. As he’d done at Aaron’s house, Joshua stopped by the fence and stood with his legs spread wide apart and his Bible clutched before him. Lincoln dismounted and stood on the other side of the fence.
“You didn’t tell me that the missing woman was your daughter,” he said.
“The moment she left she stopped being a daughter of mine,” Joshua declared.
“Except you cared enough to seek me out and tell me about it.”
“I thought a lawman might find out where she’d gone.” Joshua inclined his head slightly, which Lincoln took to mean that he wanted to know what he’d found out.
“It seems other women have gone missing besides your daughter and Salvadora. The most likely place they went is to the Scorched Land so I’m heading that way.” He gestured at Murphy. “Sheriff Caldwell’s deputy is accompanying me and I hope we’ll find some answers.”
Joshua bunched his jaw as he turned to the distant Scorched Land. Then he nodded, as if he’d made a decision.
“I’ll join you.”
“I’m pleased. With your help, we might be able to find your daughter and bring her back.”
Joshua shook his head. “I don’t intend to bring her back. If I find her, I’ll kill her.”