Will motioned with his head. “He’s in the little house over there. You don’t have to look at him if you don’t want to, but it might help to have an identification.” He looked across at Calvert. “Is the sheriff coming?”
“A little later. He and a deputy went out to check on Bill Parnell first. Where are the others?”
Will turned his head and blew away smoke as he gave a backhand wave at the cookshack. “Ingram and Aden are in there, in the same condition as Al Vetch.”
Calvert’s eyes widened. “Both of ’em?”
“Nobody wanted to give me a choice today.”
“How about the old man?”
Will pointed with his cigarette toward the ranch house. “He’s in the cellar.”
“I thought things were kinda quiet.”
“They are now.”
“Brad Way?”
“He’s still out on his ride. I expect he’ll come back in for dinner, wonderin’ where his ridin’ partner slipped off to.”
“And Blanche?”
Will pointed backward with his thumb. “She and Pearl are in there.”
Calvert nodded. “Less company.”
“That’s for sure.” Will turned to the lady again. “Mrs. Welles, if we can, I’d like to clarify a couple of things before the sheriff gets here.”
She put the back of her hand to her brow. “Out here?”
He noticed that her face had a flush to it, and he thought some of it might be from the sun. “We can go to the shade of the barn if you’d like.”
“Let’s do that.”
Calvert pulled the team around as Will followed on foot. At the doorway he handed Mrs. Welles down, and the three of them went in to stand in the shade.
“Go ahead,” she offered.
Will stepped on his cigarette to put it out of the way, and then he began. “I think when the sheriff leaves today, he’ll take Blanche with him. I want to be able to give him everything I know, but I need to have things sorted out for myself first.”
She closed her eyes and nodded.
“Mrs. Welles, did you know Bill Parnell?”
She hesitated with a small wringing of her hands. Then she met his eyes and said, “Yes. He came to see me. He was an associate of someone else I contacted, who declined the work. This man Bill Parnell came to me and said he might be able to find my, um, Al Vetch. He didn’t tell me how he came about it, though I would surmise that he had been given the name and was on the lookout.”
“Probably something like that. I believe he came out here on another case and got onto Al Vetch sooner than I did. Thought he could work the two at once. I don’t know if it would have helped me to know that, though I did ask.”
Her strained expression made her seem tired, but her bluish gray eyes were sincere as she said, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. He didn’t report back, and I needed someone. I didn’t want to discourage you.”
“It’s all right. I don’t suppose he mentioned the other case to you, about a missing girl named Marie something. She used to work in the kitchen here.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“Well, that was the other case he was working on, and I think he got it for that, although he could also have gotten it for asking about Al Vetch. I don’t know. Blanche says Al didn’t kill him, but that’s not my main concern. It does look as if he did in a young fellow named Ben Forrester, though, who was also interested in finding out what happened to Marie, thanks to Bill Parnell.” Will glanced at Calvert and then back at the lady. “As I told Jim earlier, I think Al was brought in here, through Blanche as you suggested, to work on some land deals. Then once he was here, Donovan got him to take care of a couple of people, maybe three if you count Parnell.”
She gave a small shrug. “And as I also told you, I wouldn’t put anything past him.”
“With good reason.” He brought his eyes to meet hers again. “I need to ask about another person. Did you know a man named Orry Dunn, who ran a way station?”
“Not directly. This man Bill Parnell was going to use him as a drop, as he called it.”
“You mean, to leave messages.”
“That, or mail to be sent on to me.”
“Do you think Parnell ever mentioned Al Vetch to Dunn?”
She frowned for a second. “I don’t think so. I believe he arranged this drop after he already thought he had Al located. I was waiting for a report, and when I didn’t get one, I sent an inquiry to Mr. Dunn. He wrote back and said he thought Bill Parnell had left for the season.”
Will flicked a glance at Calvert. “Just like Stegman did.” Back to Mrs. Welles, he said, “A fellow who knew Dunn. And by the way, as you may know, Mr. Dunn was killed, also.”
“I heard that, but I didn’t hear why.”
“Could be a couple of things. Someone thought he knew what Parnell was working on, or someone wanted to get his hands on a piece of land that Dunn owned. Either way, or both, it’s a good bet that Al Vetch did that piece of work, and there’s a witness out there who can probably confirm it.”
Mrs. Welles let out a sigh. “I’m sorry to say that none of this shocks me. I’m sorry for these men who have died, but I’m not shocked at who might have done it.”
“I’m not, either.” Will took a breath and exhaled, preparing for the next part. “As for my work for you, I think we’re square. I found Al Vetch, and you’ve already paid me.”
“It seems as if I’ve put you through a great deal more trouble than that.”
“The trouble came with it. Once I was in this mess, I had to get to the bottom of it.” He smiled. “And besides, it wasn’t all misery. I had the pleasure of knowing you, and I got the opportunity to make a friend here wit h Jim Calvert.”
Their eyes met in understanding. She did not offer him more money, and he felt that she knew, as he did, that any additional payment could seem to be for the wrong thing, even though it saved her the great trouble of a divorce. He felt also that she understood he had no future with a woman whose money he had taken and whose husband he had killed.
“Thank you for your good work,” she said, offering her hand and then smiling.
The familiar touch of her hand was reassuring, and he found it easy to smile in return. “As Jim would say, all work is good work. But there’s some I hope I don’t have to do again. Now if I can, I think before the sheriff comes I’ll take care of one thing more.” Touching his hat, he left Mrs. Welles with Jim Calvert and walked across the yard in the sunlight.
Pearl and Blanche were sitting in the same places as before, though Blanche looked more weary as she sat with her elbow on the table and her chin on her hand. Will stopped at the doorway.
“Pearl,” he said, “I was wondering if we could talk about something while we have a few minutes.”
She gave him a questioning look but got up and walked out of the bunk house. He noticed she had taken off her apron and held it folded between her arm and her ribs. She looked at once trimmer and less in bondage than before.
“What is it?” she said as she turned to keep the sun out of her eyes.
“If you come and wait at the other door, I’ll go in and get your pistol for you.”
She nodded and walked with him to the cookshack.
He made short work of fetching the black-handled .32 and giving it to her. She put it inside the folded apron.
“Is that it?” she asked, showing her clean, even teeth.
“Not quite. I wanted to get away from the others.” He raised his eyes and found hers. “You can answer this any way you want,” he began. “But you said you’d like to get out of here, and if you like, you can go with me. No obligations. If you want to go somewhere else, I can help you get there. Anyway, as soon as I talk to the sheriff, I’m done here.”
She shrugged. “It looks like I’m done, too. But I don’t have much money, and I’m on foot.”
“Money doesn’t matter very much. I’ve got enough to get by for a while, and you can ride Ben Forrester’s buck
skin. I don’t think there should be a problem with that.”
Her dark eyes held steady as she said, “It sounds like something I could do.”
“Good. I’ll make sure Jim thinks it’s all right.”
He walked her back to the door of the bunk house and then crossed to the barn. Catching Jim Calvert’s eye, he said, “I need to fix the shoe on this horse I rode this morning. Can you give me a hand?”
“Sure.” Calvert followed him around to the other side of the sorrel.
Will spoke in a low voice. “Say, you don’t think there’s anything wrong with Pearl taking Ben’s horse when we’re done here, do you?”
Calvert arched an eyebrow. “No, I’d say there isn’t.”
“Well, it’s an idea. It looks as if she and I are both done here.”
“So am I. I’m hittin’ the trail as soon as I can.”
Will tipped his hat back. “Thorns on the rose?” Calvert pursed his lips and shook his head. “Not me. Not right now. But I’m not done thinkin’ about it.” “You know what thinkin’ does.” “I know. But I’m too old a fool to change.”
Trouble at the Redstone (Leisure Western) Page 19