Spur Giant: Soiled Dove

by Dirk Fletcher

  "Good, I'll see you later either in court or in jail."

  Spur turned and left the station. He went directly to Judge Amos Parker's court. The judge was in his chambers during a recess.

  "Judge Parker, I need a search warrant for Clancy Steffens' house. He's the Railway Express agent on board that robbed train. Some of the cash is missing and I think he was the inside member of the gang."

  Judge Parker asked Spur two questions, then filled in the blanks on a document from his desk and handed it to Spur.

  "Good for 48 hours, no more. I hope you find what you want. That case seems to be winding down."

  "Yes sir. Only one man in custody but three of the perpetrators are dead. Now I need this one last man."

  Spur took the warrant and showed it to the sheriff who accompanied him to the express clerk's home. When the sheriff showed it to Mrs. Steffens, she began to cry. "Told Clancy he could never get away with it. Told him so, I told him so. He said it was fool proof. Said he'd pulled it off and nobody would ever know."

  "Mrs. Steffens, do you know where he hid the money?"

  "No, he wouldn't tell me. But he didn't get the five-thousand he was promised. He only got fifteenhundred. He hid it somewhere in the house, I know. I asked him what happened if the house burned down and he said it would still be safe."

  Spur frowned a minute. "Do you have any kind of a steel safe in your home?"

  "No, not that I know of."

  Spur shrugged. "This order from the court authorizes us to search your house, Mrs. Steffens. We'll be careful not to make a mess of things."

  The sheriff, one deputy and Spur went to work on the house. The place had no basement. Spur checked the first floor. He started on the floor boards with a small hammer, but found none that were loose. There was no throw rug over a removable panel to a cave below. The sheriff took the second floor and the deputy checked outside the house.

  After two hours they met and shook their heads.

  "Safe. Clancy told his wife the money would be safe even if the house burned down."

  Spur looked around, then grinned. There was a small shed in back that protected a horse in bad weather and from the sun. It fronted a small corral. Spur went inside the door and looked around. Room for two horses. There was one saddle, some tack, a big feed bin that he found contained oats and a small stack of hay at one end. He used a pitchfork and stabbed it through the hay, but found nothing. He opened the grain bin. It was three-feet square and almost that high. The slanting top covering it leaned upward against the rear wall to allow easy scooping up of the oats for the horse.

  Spur plunged his hands into the oats. He found nothing. He brought the pitchfork over and began systematically to dig into the loose oats that were 30 inches deep. On his thrust into the far corner, he hit something. It took him several tries to bring up the item. When he had it surfaced, he grinned.

  "I'd say you've found something there," the sheriff said from the doorway.

  Inside a small leather satchel, they found three stacks of money, all one and five dollar bills. Spur bet that it would count up to nearly $1500.

  "How many lawyers in town?" Spur asked the sheriff.

  In the next half hour they checked at five different lawyer offices. In the last one they found Clancy talking seriously with a young lawyer. Clancy didn't resist when the sheriff arrested him for possession of stolen money and participation in the train robbery.

  "Looks like you have a client after all," Spur told the surprised lawyer. He took one look at the satchel filled with money and then at Clancy.

  Spur stood outside the Sheriffs office and hooked his thumbs in his belt. He had given a deposition for the trial on both Sully and Clancy. He was free and clear. Next stop should be the telegraph office to report in to the general.

  He changed his mind and hurried to the livery.

  It took him nearly two hours to ride to the Teasdale's Triangle T ranch. Nate saw him coming and met him, handed the horse off to a ranch hand and led Spur into the house.

  "Father Teasdale is coming along remarkably well," Nate said. "He heard about Doug's death and took it well. He half expected it, and so did Doug's wife, Emily. Father Teasdale can talk almost naturally now.

  "The doctor says he should be up and walking in a week or so, but he'll have to take it easy around the house."

  In the kitchen, the two sisters sat over coffee. Spur nodded to both of them. The plain one, who he knew was the widow, did not look at all in mourning or grieving. Maybe that was over already.

  They went through to the front screened-in porch and found Dylan Teasdale in a rocking chair moving back and forth.

  The old man stopped when he saw Spur.

  "The detective." Teasdale held out his hand. "Owe you a lot, Mr. McCoy." He paused and took several deep breaths. "Please sit."

  Spur dropped into a chair near the rocker and smiled. Teasdale had his color back, he had a sparkle in his eyes, and his hands moved in nervous little gestures that told more about impatience and boredom than about sickness.

  "Glad you're feeling better," Spur said. "Sorry about your son-in-law, but I had no choice."

  "Don't worry about him. I've got me the best of the two. Nate is coming along just fine. Don't tell him I said that."

  Teasdale looked up at Nate and smiled. "Don't want to sell the ranch now that I got somebody to leave it to. Nate is gonna be a damn fine rancher one day."

  They talked for half an hour, then Spur saw that Teasdale was getting tired. He said goodbye to the rancher, wished him well and he and Nate went back to the kitchen.

  The two women sat at the big table close together and had been whispering. When Spur came in they both stopped and watched him. He nodded and Nate got him a cup of coffee and some crab apple jam and biscuits. They sat down.

  Louisa Mae nudged her sister, who took a deep breath. "Mr. McCoy, you ever thought of being a rancher?

  "Mrs. Chandler, I've never given it much thought."

  "If you have, I can make you a good offer. The triangle T here is the best in the state. Last year we was offered a little more than eight hundred thousand dollars for it, land, cattle and buildings. I own half of it, or will when Pa passes on. All you need to do to be a rich man is marry me and wait a few years."

  Spur looked from one woman to the other. Both were deadly serious. Spur sipped his coffee and glanced at Nate.

  "No help here. When these two decide to do something, it usually gets done. I'd say you better be cautious about what you say next." He was grinning.

  Spur smiled. "Emily, that's a tempting offer, but I have a contract with the United States Government that I can't break. I'm bound in their employment for another ten years. Now if you're still free at the end of my contract...."

  Emily shrugged. "Afraid not. This has to be done soon. I figured you'd be a good man to practice on. Who knew, I might have been struck by lightning."

  They all smiled then and Spur finished his coffee and got on his way back to town. Nate saw him off. Said indeed they did want to find a husband for Emily, but they'd try to do it a little more diplomatically and more romantically.

  By the time Spur got to town and put the horse in the livery, it was starting to get dark.

  He headed for the telegraph station and Lillian met him halfway there with a big smile.

  "See, good things come to those who wait. I been waiting for you for three hours."

  "Glad you found me. Want to help me send a telegram?

  "Not if it says you've finished this job and are ready to take another one and race out of town."

  "Then you best not come."

  She grabbed his arm and pulled it in tightly against the side of her breast. "Well, maybe I could walk part way. I was hoping for supper at that fancy eating place again."

  Spur looked down at her. He took a deep breath. He was finished here. He could take a day or two to relax, and then wire the general. He didn't have any definite time schedule. When was the last time he'd
taken a vacation?

  He turned away from the railway station and headed for the cafe.

  "I think some pheasant would be nice for dinner tonight. Have you ever had pheasant cooked in a good wine sauce?"

  Lillian said no, reached up and kissed his cheek.

  "After supper we can test out that feather bed again?"

  "Sounds interesting."

  As they walked to the cafe, Spur looked forward to the meal and the evening. But he was starting to get that itch again. The itch that gave him a wonderment and a curiosity and a yearning to know just what his next assignment would be as a United States Secret Service Agent, and where it would take him.

  "Hey," Lillian said. "Quit thinking about work. This is fun time, now and for the next three or four days."

  Spur grinned and opened the door to the restaurant, eager to stare down the snooty head waiter one more time.