Jacob Payne walked with Marshal Owen Santos away from the Towers home, each quiet and contemplative in his own thoughts. From Jacob’s point of view, this seemed to be yet another point in his favor—how could anyone believe Benjamin had stolen that money, especially as said money was nowhere to be found in his belongings.
But this was not a definitive enough piece of evidence to let the kid out of his jail cell, especially in light of everything else.
“Marshal,” he began.
“Don’t start with me, Payne. You know full well that not finding the money is no proof of anything.”
“No, you’re right. You’re right. I wasn’t going to argue that. It’s circumstantial, but I know it’s not enough. No, I was going to ask you who the eyewitness was that claims to have seen him leaving the telegraph office.”
They had reached the main street of Tucson then, passed by noisy coaches and laughing children chasing each other in a game of tag. All around Jacob was evidence of joy and freedom. All while Benjamin Wilbourne sat in prison for a crime that the bounty hunter could not believe he had done.
Marshal Santos turned to face Jacob, his hands on his hips. He was one of the few men that was taller than Jacob Payne, and was currently using that to his advantage.
“I’ll tell you, Payne, but I need you to promise me something.”
“Anything.”
Santos frowned. “I don’t like this. I don’t like that you’re questioning my authority, but even more than that, I don’t like that we might have an innocent man locked up. I’m going to tell you about the eyewitness, but I need your word that if—or when—you discover information that could exonerate Wilbourne that you come straight to me. I want to make this right if there’s any right to be had.”
“Of course, Marshal. I wouldn’t think of doing anything else.”
“And you know that if we are able to prove he didn’t do this, that might not be enough if we’re not able to discover who did do it.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
“Do your best. I trust you. I can’t do anything more than I am doing, but whatever you find I’ll consider.”
“I understand, Marshal.”
Five minutes later, Jacob was on his way to the musical instrument store that sat next to the telegraph office that Benjamin was alleged to have robbed. Though the marshal got an eyewitness statement from the store proprietor there just the day before, Jacob needed to double check. He had some questions.
Entering the store from the cold outside, Jacob was surprised to find that it wasn’t nearly as crowded as the general store or the cafe had been. Evidently Tucson citizens didn’t need huge expensive pianos at the end of December. Jacob was grateful for this turn of events—it meant that he would have more time to interrogate the witness, and potentially also meant that she would have had more time and space to accurately see what happened next door.
“Yes?”
An older, stern voice greeted Jacob as he stood near the doorway to the store. He hurried to remove his hat, while turning to see a tall, ramrod-straight woman with stark white hair entering the room. She was dressed in the drabbest, plainest black gown he had ever seen, even more so than some of the mourning the women in his family had worn.
The owner of this store was very clearly a no-nonsense kind of woman; Jacob knew he would have to stick to facts to stay on her good side.
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am. I’m here on behalf of Marshal Santos and I have some questions for you about what you saw yesterday. It’s Mrs. Hyke, isn’t it?”
She frowned, and clasped her hands in front of her, standing even more straight, though Jacob didn’t see how that could be possible.
“I told the marshal everything I have to say,” she said dismissively. “And if you’re not here to buy a piano or stringed instrument or anything at all, you’re just wasting my time.”
Jacob looked around at the small, cramped room. He couldn’t even imagine the cost she must have incurred to ship all of these instruments out from the east coast. It seemed absurd to simply pay for a piano to be sitting here waiting for a buyer, instead of ordering one from a shop when it was called for. But—he looked back at Mrs. Hyke—he also couldn’t rightly suspect she was a woman who didn’t know what she was doing.
In a quick moment, Jacob decided there was a reason he would never be a businessman. He elected to not question a single thing that she did for her store.
Immediately after that thought, he resolved to purchase something from her. Maybe it would warm her to him, and make her more inclined to answer his questions.
“I understand, ma’am,” he said. “We just had some follow-up questions for you. The circuit judge will be here very soon, you see, and we wanted to make sure the case against the accused is solid. I had been planning to purchase a … um …”
Jacob looked around at the shop for inspiration. He had nowhere to keep a piano, and no idea how to play any of the other instruments he could see. He turned back toward Mrs. Hyke and his eyes lit on a small pyramid of yellow boxes on the counter next to her.
“Harmonica,” he concluded. “I was planning on buying myself a harmonica to take with me when I go out on the road after outlaws and I told the marshal I’d be happy to ask you some questions since I was going to be coming here anyway.”
Mrs. Hyke softened slightly at his pronouncement, but Jacob still knew to be cautious. She was like an injured cat; the slightest wrong move and she would turn tail or hiss.
“A harmonica?” she asked, dubiously.
“That’s right. I’ve been missing having music in my life since I came out west—my late wife used to play the piano, you see. A harmonica is a small thing I can take with me.”
“Very well. I only have one model, but I suppose that will be sufficient for you?”
“I’m sure it will be,” he averred, stepping up to the counter and the display of instruments. “And, like I mentioned, I wonder if I could ask you some questions about what you saw the other day?”
Jacob pulled out his billfold as he said that; he was careful to hold it at such an angle that Mrs. Hyke could see that he had plenty of cash on hand to back-up his claim of buying a harmonica. He couldn’t risk having this backfire now.
She met his eye, then nodded brusquely. “Very well. As I told the marshal, I was here in my shop on the afternoon in question, and I saw the suspected thief walking quickly away from the scene of the crime. His hands were in his coat pockets, and there seemed to be some kind of bulge, as though he was carrying something. I assumed that was the money he had stolen, though I didn’t see anything myself.”
“I see.” Jacob looked through the front window of the shop. There was only one, though it was large. “And were you standing right about here?”
“At first, but there was no one else in the store at that time, so I hurried over to the window.”
From this angle, there was very little of the street that Mrs. Hyke could have seen. Although, if she happened to be looking at precisely the right moment, there was a clear view to the street outside.
“And, Mrs. Hyke, can you describe the person you saw?”
“Of course,” she bristled. “He was tall and thin, though perhaps not so tall as you. Dark hair, dark clothes, though not so dark that I couldn’t see he was about covered in dust. Evidently hygiene was not one of his priorities.”
“Can you tell me anything else about him? Age? Was he smoking? His skin?”
Mrs. Hyke frowned. “Well, there was only a moment, but I would say he is younger than you though not a child. I’m sorry, at my age it seems impossible to guess anyone’s age anymore.”
“I understand. Any other detail you can remember?”
“Well … no, I’m sorry. You mentioned his skin, but all I can recall is that he seemed dirty all over, his clothes and his hair. But … You understand it was so fast.”
“I understand. And … I’m sorry, Mrs. Hyke, but did you tell the marshal this yesterday? That he was maybe a bit younger than me and the most defining characteristic of his skin was that he seemed dirty? No scars or … other things?”
Jacob was trying very hard not to lead Mrs. Hyke to say anything in particular, but it seemed utterly impossible to believe that she could have seen one of the only Black citizens of town and not comment on it.
“I thought I had. He didn’t ask specifically the same questions, though, so perhaps I told him other details. The man’s gun or something similar.”
“A gun,” he repeated. “You’re positive about that. You saw his gun. Could you describe it?”
“Oh, heaven’s no.” She waved at him dismissively. “I haven’t any use for a gun. I just know that I could see his holster on his hip, with the butt of some kind of weapon poking up out of it.”
Jacob nodded. “Thank you, Mrs. Hyke. This has been very helpful. We’re very grateful to you.”
“Will you need me to testify?”
“I’m not sure. We’ll do our best to make this as smooth as possible for you. But the marshal or myself might come back to discuss that further.”
“Very well.” She was nothing if not matter-of-fact. “I aim to be an upstanding citizen of this territory I’ve chosen as my home. If I am needed, I accept that.”
“Thank you.”
“But, please, Mr. Payne, don’t be interrupting my work and my customers any more than necessary.”
He stifled a grin, handing over the necessary cash to purchase the musical instrument he had promised.
“I won’t, ma’am.”