Ralph was taken back to his cell and deputies who were off duty were called in for an emergency. Ten deputies were sent out to pick up the five men that were named. Four deputies had been loaned from the next county.
It was a little after nine by then and the sheriff felt the men would not be on guard and could be taken easily.
“Don’t let any of these men, including Ralph, have a chance to talk to each other and prepare a story.” When the men were brought in they were made to sit in the front under guard and were taken back to the conference room one at a time. They were told that Ralph had made a statement and they nearly tripped over their own tongues to tell their story and place the blame on others. Sydney was the only hold out.
“I’m a working man just like you are and I have a spotless record. If that bum told you a story, it’s just that; a story. He’s probably making things up to make it easier on himself.” Sydney laughed. “Me calling a boss. I’m my own boss and have men working for me.”
When he was told that the other men, who had been brought in, had told practically the same as Ralph, Sydney knew his goose was cooked. He knew that all of them had been under guard and not allowed to concoct a story that would refute Ralph’s. Besides, when they came in, none of them knew what Ralph had told.
The jail was full by the time they were all given their statement to sign and booked in. It was midnight before Sheriff Mercer was able to go home. He reminded himself to write a commendation for all the deputies who worked overtime and those that were on loan.
The next morning Sheriff Mercer called Alan Barker and told him what had transpired the night before. “Then none of the Rittenhouse were harmed?” Alan inquired.
“Everyone’s fine. I need to ask Jacob Rittenhouse and his boys to come in and give a statement. He can notify any of the others who were bothered and they can all come in and report what has happened to them.”
Alan was jubilant. “Is it all right if I pass the word around among the ranchers? Some have had great losses and all have been harassed.”
“Sure, go ahead and tell them. I’m calling James Deerhunter and Ginger Proudfoot though. I’m sure they’ll want to come in and hear for themselves what has gone on.”
James and Ginger were ecstatic to hear the news. James called Ginger and offered to drive her in the county seat to meet with ranchers and the Amish neighbors. Everyone came together feeling relieved thinking the end was surely in sight. They were let down when they found these men were not the big wiggs in whatever organization this was.
The Amish couldn’t ask their horses to pull a buggy that far so nearby ranchers volunteered to take them in their cars and trucks. Amish could not own a vehicle but, under certain circumstances, could ride with someone else.
Two weeks went by before Sydney finally broke. He realized that he was being charged with murder, theft, arson and rustling. His wife was so scared she begged him to tell what he knew. She and the other wives had not been informed about what was planned.
Sydney gave Sheriff Mercer two phone numbers where he had been calling. He claimed he didn’t know names but the sheriff didn’t believe him. After several days Sydney finally confessed that he was afraid to give names. “I’ll be killed or something bad will happen to my family and they’re innocent. My family has not known what I’m involved in. I have been paid well but I’m afraid now.”
When the men stood before a judge they began to fall apart. Sydney was shaking and sweating. He was afraid to talk and afraid not to talk.
Sheriff Mercer had called in the Montana State Police, the Reservation Police and the Park Police. He wanted to play it safe and make sure all corners were covered. He didn’t want these people to slip through the system because he had been careless in handling their arrest.
The State officers had tracked down the two phone numbers and found an empty building and not a soul willing to admit knowing anything about the phones found on the empty floor. These people were clever and staying one step ahead of law enforcement.
The officers contacted the phone company and didn’t quit until they found a name that had applied for the phones in the empty building. Was the name real or a phony? They were still searching trying to find other numbers that the person might have called. Their investigation finally turned up three more numbers.
It was almost the last of February when they hit pay dirt. One of the phone numbers belonged to an attorney, Drury Scott, in Billings. He was brought in screaming that he was being framed. “Me thinkith he protesteth too much,” Sheriff Mercer chuckled.
Being allowed to hold a prisoner for seventy-two hours would have helped except Attorney Drury Scott called an attorney who was known for defending guilty people and getting them set free. The sheriff and the other officers realized they had a problem on their hands. They were having trouble proving beyond a reasonable doubt. Instinct told them these people were not telling the truth but how could they prove it?
Ginger came to them with a plan and they thought it was doable. She suggested that the prisoners be sent out of the area to a more heavily guarded jail. Then a couple of the law officers could pretend to be one of the law breakers and infiltrate the organization. It was risky and the men doing this would have to be made aware of the danger involved.
Four officers volunteered and three were chosen. The fourth one was to pretend to be drinking heavily and sit in a bar talking about his good buddy, Ralph Blazer and how he was being railroaded. He was to pretend that Ralph had told him about some business he didn’t want to talk about. He was wired and also had a GPS on him.
The third day two men slid on stools on either side of the lawman, Jessee Bolling. He hoped someone was listening to his wire because he could see the expressions on their faces and knew he would be killed if they were the least bit suspicious.
Jessee pretended to be too drunk to hold his head up much. He had spilt alcohol on his shirt and had it on his hands. The men leaned close to him almost whispering. “Hey, pal. You know our friend, Ralph?”
“Ralph’s my good buddy,” he slurred his words.
“Really? What does your good buddy do?”
“Do? He don’t do nothing until he’s told to.” He pretended to laugh drunkenly.
The second man whispered, “Why don’t you come with us and we’ll talk about how to help your good buddy, Ralph.”
“Really? Whurwegoin?”
“Never mind. We’ll take good care of you.” They drove many miles and Jessee was praying the GPS was working. Since he was pretending to be drunk, he couldn’t look around as much as he would like to and see where they were.
Jessee had an idea to delay them and give his back-up time to catch up. “Stop car. I’m going to throw up.” They hurriedly pulled over and stopped. Jessee fell out of the car and crawled over to the side of the road trying hard to gag. He kept thinking of putting filthy items in his mouth until he finally did gag.
He grinned and staggered up. “Gotta go to the bathroom. Do you see a bathroom?”
“There’s none here. Why don’t you just go here since we’re all men. There’s no one else on the road.”
Jessee staggered around lowering his head pretending to try to focus his eyes. “Never could go in the open.” He felt a wave of relief when he saw three cars coming fast toward them. The cars went by but he recognized some of the men. He smiled to himself knowing they would wait out of sight and follow.
Jessee fell back in the car and fell over on the back seat. He wanted to be low in case there might be gun fire. They drove on to West Riverside to a palatial home set back from the road. Armed guards were at the gate to let them in and other guards were on the property. Jessee felt better knowing the GPS was keeping his fellow officers in touch but knew he would be searched when they entered the house. He was wrong. He was searched outside the house.
“Hey! Who is this man? He’s wired.” the guard searching him called out. Thankfully the GPS wasn’t discovered right then.
“Idiots. Why didn’t you search him before you first picked him up? “The two lawbreakers were scolded and knew they could easily be killed for being so careless. They began to beg for another chance. Before more could be said, a line of cars drove through the front gate. Apparently the two guards at the gate had been taken. The three cars that had been following them led four State Police cars in with flashing lights.
The guards tried to get inside the house but they were all pushing each other and trying to get in which created a bottle-neck and were easily taken.
The law enforcement officers entered the house and ask a very English sounding butler to inform the owner that they were there.
They looked up to see a voluptuous woman dressed like an Arabian princess come floating down a winding stairway. When they first stepped in the door they stepped on light blue marble with blue swirls which looked as if they were walking on water. The woman floated to the bottom and came toward them.
“Come in, gentlemen. I wasn’t expecting company. What can I do for you?”
Jessee stood with his mouth open. “Do you know who this woman is? She’s Irene Hough Stanley, sister of Senator Hough.”
Patrolman Charles Leonard nodded. “Yes, I knew who she was as soon as she started down the stairs. It’s clear now how the scums knew what was going on and what was planned. She’s been getting information from Senator Hough and passing it on.”
“What information? What are you talking about? Am I supposed to be in trouble for something?” She acted concerned and slightly frightened. After questioning her for almost an hour, the officers decided she was telling the truth.
“That leaves only two other people. It’s either her husband or her brother. I’m sending word for Senator Hough to be picked up immediately.” He turned toward Irene. “Where is your husband?”
“I don’t know. He looked out the bedroom window and saw the police cars coming in and ran down the back stairs. I imagine he’s out the back door and gone somewhere by now. What do you think he has done?”
“We can’t talk about that now. You’ll have to come with us. Would you like to change clothes?” She was plainly confused and hardly knew what to do.
“If I have to go somewhere I’ll certainly need to change.” Two of the officers went upstairs with her to wait in her room while she changed clothes in a huge walk-in closet.
The officers talked low among themselves. “I don’t think she’s guilty of anything except ignorance, but if we take her in, and the perp cares about her at all, he might come forward. She might have overheard something and thought nothing about it at the time. If we jog her memory she might have more information than she thinks she knows.”