CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

“We’ll go talk with Pip Ogden and ask him if we’ve any legal way of stopping Stella Morgan from taking the train,” Red Ryan said. “If Roper is right, it seems she’s willing to leave without the carpetbag and settle for what she can get in Washington.”

“That just don’t seem logical, Red,” Buttons Muldoon said. “Stella was willing to kill to get her hands on the bag. She wouldn’t leave without it.”

“Maybe she feels the law closing in on her and decided now was the time to light a shuck,” Red said. “Well, let’s go hear what Ogden has to say.”

He and Buttons stepped off the boardwalk in front of Ma’s Kitchen and headed in the direction of Ogden’s hotel. As far as Red was concerned, the little detective was probably a forlorn hope. Ogden had no more evidence to arrest Stella Morgan than he did himself, but it was only an hour before the train pulled out of El Paso and anything was worth a try. There was one consolation though . . . Ogden had the carpetbag.

* * *

“Well, fancy meeting you here,” T. C. Lyons said, eyeing Red Ryan with considerable disfavor. He stood on the porch of the Parker Hotel.

“We came to talk with Ogden,” Red said.

“Everybody wants to talk with Ogden, only he isn’t here,” Lyons said. “He checked out late last night.”

“Did he say where he was going?” Red said.

“Nope, he didn’t. Paid his bill, turned in his key, and left.” Lyons’s eyes glowed. “Ain’t that strange, though?”

“Maybe Ogden thought Stella Morgan was getting too close to the carpetbag and went into hiding,” Red said.

“And maybe pigs will fly,” Lyons said.

“I’m not catching your drift, Lyons,” Red said.

“All right, let’s start with this—Lucian Carter is dead.”

Button Muldoon spoke up. “We know. I killed him.” Lyons let his surprise show. “It was you that gut-shot him with a scattergun?”

“I shot him,” Buttons said. “As I recollect, I wasn’t aiming for his belly.”

“Why did you plug him, Muldoon?” Lyons said.

“He was trying to sneak into the hotel to kill Red and recover the carpetbag.”

“He didn’t know that Ogden had it?”

“I’d say that’s pretty obvious,” Buttons said.

“Well, you shot him, but you didn’t kill him,” Lyons said.

Red said, “Then who did?”

“Stella Morgan for one. And she had an accomplice.”

“For God’s sake lay it out for me, Lyons,” Red said. “I’ve lost blood, and I’m not thinking real clear.”

“As far as I can figure it, after Muldoon shot him, Carter made it to Stella’s hotel looking for help.” Lyons bladed his hand and made a downward motion. “The only help he got was to be thrown out of a linen-closet window. He landed on a pile of bricks, and that’s what killed him. The corner of a brick bashed his brains out.” The sheriff sighed. “Ah well, may he rest in peace.”

“Stella didn’t do all that by herself,” Red said. “Carter wasn’t a big man, but he was heavy enough.”

“Roper?”

“We spoke to Roper this morning at Ma’s Kitchen,” Red said. “The impression I got was that he hadn’t spoken with Stella in a while.”

“So, if Roper wasn’t involved, who was the other party?”

Red thought about that and a light went on behind his eyes. “You don’t think it was Ogden?”

“Do you?”

“Hell, I don’t know.”

“It could be that Stella now has the carpetbag and Ogden has Stella, or at least he thinks he does,” Lyons said. “I’m sure she’s made promises and maybe given him a taste to whet his appetite.”

“Can you pin the death of Lucian Carter on Stella and make it stick?” Red said.

“I came here to ask Ogden that very question,” Lyons said. “But he wasn’t here to answer it.”

“What time is it?” Red said.

“Almost six-thirty and the sun is coming up,” Lyons said.

“Then we don’t have much time,” Red said.

Lyons’s smile was thin. “Ryan, if Seth Roper takes a hand in this game, time could be running out for all of us.”