James checked into a hotel, then went across the street to the saloon for a beer. According to Sheriff Dewey, these were places Thomas went while he was in town.
“What else did he do?” James had asked.
“He talked to a girl named Belle at the saloon across from the hotel,” Dewey said. “And also a man named Adam Grey, a gambler in town.”
“What else is Grey besides a gambler?” James asked.
“I’m sure he sent word across the border to the Flemings that your brother was comin’.”
“Why are you tellin’ me this?”
“Because I want you to stay away from these two people,” Dewey said.
But James wanted to at least have a look at this Belle, and maybe even Grey.
The saloon was busy, so he walked to the bar without attracting attention. His badge was in his pocket, as Dewey had suggested.
He ordered a beer, then looked around while he drank it. There was some gambling going on—poker and faro—but nobody who matched the description Dewey had given him for Adam Grey. However, he immediately spotted Belle. Dewey had described her perfectly. For one thing, she was older than the other girls.
He watched as she moved around the saloon, talking to customers, serving drinks. He wanted to ask her about Thomas, but he decided Sheriff Dewey was right about not calling attention to himself.
He finished his beer, left the saloon and went to the restaurant Dewey had suggested. When he walked in, he saw Dewey sitting there at a table, eating alone. The lawman waved him over.
“Have a seat,” he invited.
“Is that what you call keepin’ my head down?” James asked. “Eating with the local law?”
Dewey smiled. “I eat with a lot of people. Siddown. You’re attractin’ more attention just standin’ there.”
James sat.
“Bring my guest a steak,” Dewey told the waiter when he came over. “Rare okay?” he asked James.
“Fine.”
“See that table in the center of the room?”
“The one with two men?”
“Yeah,” Dewey said, “the older one is Adam Grey, the gambler.”
“And the younger one?”
“Just a business associate of his. Not important.”
“Oh. Why are you pointin’ him out? So I can stay away from him?”
“No,” Dewey said, “because from what I’ve learned, he’ll be the only person who can tell you if your brother is really dead.”
James looked over at Grey. “I see.”
“If you wanna ask him,” Dewey said. “I mean, if you don’t wanna wait to go across the border tomorrow and find out for yourself.”
“So I walk over there and ask just ask him, out of the blue?”
“You could do that,” Dewey said. “Or we could eat first. He hasn’t even ordered yet.”
Hunger pangs gnawed at James’s stomach, so he said, “I think maybe we can eat first.”
“Good choice,” Dewey said.
James and Dewey finished their steaks well before Adam Grey and his companion finished theirs.
“Are you going to come over with me?” James asked.
“No, I can’t do that,” Dewey said. “I still have to live in this town.”
“Gotcha.” James pushed his seat back. “So all that stuff about not callin’ attention to myself?”
“I also heard that the Flemings rode out of Nogales today,” Dewey said. “So Grey won’t be able to send word that you’re comin’.”
“Understood.” He started to stand up.
“By the way,” Dewey said.
“Yeah?”
“You can put your badge back on if you like, just to make your point.”