Slaughter of Eagles

by William W. Johnstone

  “MacCallister, yes of course!” Nellie said, interrupting him excitedly. “Oh, Janelle spoke of them often. She was very fond of them both. They are famous actors.”

  “Yes, and they are the ones who asked me to come to New York to meet with Miss Wellington’s parents. I did so, and I agreed to come here to search for their daughter.”

  “Oh, I do hope you find her. I am so worried about her. You obviously know about the trouble she is in. She has been accused of killing poor Mr. Montgomery.”

  “Yes,” Falcon said. “I have heard.”

  “Of course, I don’t believe for one minute that she actually did it. And neither does anyone else who knows her.”

  Falcon considered telling the Buckners what Housewright told him—what Joe Henry said about the marshal being the actual murderer. He decided it would only complicate matters, so he said nothing about it.

  “Could you tell me about some of Janelle’s friends?”

  “Friends? Well, I considered her a very close friend of course. I still do. And so does Ken.”

  “Anyone else?”

  “There’s Mrs. Poindexter over at the boardinghouse,” Ken said.

  “What about Joe Henry?”

  Both Ken and Nellie looked confused.

  “Joe Henry,” Falcon repeated. “Miss Wellington’s boyfriend.”

  Both Ken and Nellie laughed.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Heavens, I don’t see how she could have had a boyfriend. She did nothing but work all the time, often volunteering to stay late. Of course, as beautiful as she is, I can certainly see how some young man would wish to be referred to as her boyfriend.”

  “Joe Henry never came here, to the store, to visit her?”

  “No. She never had any young men visitors.”

  “Was she in the bank on the day Montgomery was killed?”

  “Yes, she was.”

  “Why was she there?”

  “Mr. Montgomery had offered her employment in his bank, and she had gone over there to take him up on the offer of a job. Oh, she was so excited that morning,” Nellie said.

  “And you say that, as far as you know, she was not friends with Joe Henry?”

  “I’m almost certain that if she were friends with this—Mr. Henry, that I would have met him. To tell you the truth, Mr. MacCallister, I have never even heard of him.”

  “He told Mr. Housewright that Janelle had gone to the bank to speak with Montgomery about a job. How do you think he knew that, if he didn’t know her?”

  Ken shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t know, Mr. MacCallister, but I am telling you neither one of us have ever even heard of this fellow, Joe Henry.”

  “Won’t you have a piece of pie with your coffee?” Mrs. Poindexter offered.

  “No, I shouldn’t, really. I’m sure you made the pie for your guests and—”

  All the while Falcon was saying no to Mrs. Poindexter, she was carving out a generous piece of apple pie, onto which she put a slice of cheese. Then she put the piece of pie, with cheese, in the oven.

  “I’ll leave it in there just for a minute or so, just long enough for the cheese to melt,” she said.

  “Well, I have to confess, that looks very good,” Falcon said.

  A moment later the pie came out of the oven and Falcon took a bite, then closed his eyes and shook his head slowly in appreciation.

  “So, Janelle’s mother and father sent you out here to look for her, did they?” Mrs. Poindexter said as she watched Falcon enjoy the repast.

  “Yes, ma’am, they did.”

  “It’s too bad they didn’t send you out here sooner. She would have never gotten into trouble.”

  “Tell me, Mrs. Poindexter, do you believe Janelle is guilty?”

  “Oh, heaven’s no,” she replied. “I have no idea what would make the marshal lie like that.”

  Falcon looked up at her, but had to chew quickly to get rid of the bite he had just taken. “Interesting, that you would call it a lie, rather than a mistake,” he said.

  “Well, a lie is what it was,” Mrs. Poindexter said. “The marshal claims to have actually seen Janelle kill poor Mr. Montgomery, and I know for a fact that Janelle did not do it.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I just know she wouldn’t do such a thing,” Mrs. Poindexter insisted.

  “Do you know a man named Joe Henry?”

  “Joe Henry? No, I can’t say that I do. Why do you ask?”

  “He claims to be Janelle’s boyfriend.”

  Mrs. Poindexter laughed out loud. “I would say that is just a case of wishful thinking. Janelle didn’t have a boyfriend, though heaven knows she could have. She is an absolutely beautiful girl, inside and out.”

  Falcon finished his pie then slid the plate aside.

  “Would you like another piece of pie?”

  “No, thank you. It was delicious, but I need to be going. Thank you for the pie, and for the information.”

  “Please find her, Mr. MacCallister,” Mrs. Poindexter said. “Find her and get her out of here. I don’t know why the marshal claims he saw her shoot Mr. Montgomery, but I know as sure as I am sitting here that she didn’t do it.

  “I will do what I can,” Falcon promised.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Falcon’s next stop was the Boar’s Head Saloon. He wanted a beer, but he had also learned a long time ago that casual conversation in a saloon was often the best way to find out information.

  Buying a beer, he walked over to an empty table and when one of the bar girls approached him with an inviting smile, he smiled back at her. “Join me for a drink,” he invited.

  “Thank you, I will,” the girl answered. She called over to the bar. “Wally, my special when you get a chance.”

  “Your special?” Falcon asked. “Don’t you mean tea?”

  “Whoa now, you want to ruin a girl’s reputation? What would all my customers think if they knew I drank only tea? How did you know, by the way?”

  “If you drank whiskey every time a man offered to buy you a drink, you’d be so drunk by the end of the day you couldn’t stand.”

  The girl laughed. “You’re pretty smart, mister. My name is Maxine.”

  “I’m Falcon,” he replied.

  “Falcon? That’s a strange name. How did you come by a name like that?”

  “My pa gave it to me,” Falcon said.

  “Was your pa into strange names?”

  “No. All my other brothers and sisters have ordinary names, like Jamie, Morgan, Andrew, Rosanna, Joleen…”

  “Whoa,” Maxine said, laughing and holding our her hand. How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

  “There are nine of us,” Falcon said.

  Wally brought the drink over and put it in front of Maxine. “You want another beer, mister?”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” Falcon replied.

  “You’re not from here, are you, Falcon?” Maxine asked.

  “No, I’m not.”

  When Wally brought the beer back, Falcon gave him a dollar and said, “Why don’t the two of you divide the change?”

  “Really? Well, that’s very generous of you, Falcon,” Maxine said.

  “I like to consider myself a generous man,” Falcon said.

  “Wait a minute,” Maxine said. “You are the man who killed Corey Minner, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” Falcon said easily. “If he was a friend of yours, I’m sorry. I had no choice.”

  “Ha,” Maxine said the word, but didn’t actually laugh. “That son of a bitch was a long way from being a friend of mine. You did the whole city a favor when you killed him. It’s just too bad it wasn’t the marshal or his deputy instead.”

  “Maxine,” Wally cautioned. “I’ve warned you about talking like that. You never know who your friends really are.”

  Maxine smiled at Falcon. “Well, you are my friend, aren’t you, Falcon?”

  “I’m trying to be,” Falcon said, returning t
he smile.

  “What are you doing in Phoenix?”

  Falcon paused for a moment before he answered. He had to give it just the right inflection to keep the conversation open, and not make it appear as if he were looking for information.

  “I came here to find a woman,” he said.

  Maxine smiled broadly. “Really? Well, cowboy, I’m available,” she said, then she laughed out loud.

  “I wish you were the one I was looking for,” Falcon said. “Then my job would be over.”

  “Oh. You mean you are looking for a very specific woman?”

  “Yes. She’s a young woman who came here a few months ago. But I haven’t had much luck.”

  “What’s her name?”

  Falcon held up his hand as if asking for a moment, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

  “Her name is…Janelle Wellington,” he said.

  “Janelle Wellington?” Maxine said. “Are you serious? You are looking for Janelle Wellington?”

  “Yes,” Falcon said. “Oh, maybe my luck is about to improve. It sounds like you know her. Does she work here?”

  “Ha, a beautiful classy woman like that would never work in a place like this,” Maxine said.

  “Why not? You are beautiful and classy,” Falcon said.

  “Woo hoo! Did you hear that, Wally?” Maxine whooped loudly.

  “I heard it. Evidently this cowboy hasn’t gotten used to our heat yet. It’s cooked his brains,” Wally teased, then he ducked a swing from Maxine.

  “Are you a bounty hunter, Falcon?” Maxine asked. “Because if you are, and you are looking for Janelle Wellington, I say shame on you.”

  “Well, I am looking for Miss Wellington,” Falcon said. “But I’m not a bounty hunter, and I’m not looking for her for the law. Her parents sent me out here to look for her.”

  “Her parents, you say?”

  “Yes.”

  “In that case, I wish you good luck, and hope you can find her before the marshal does.”

  “From your comment a few moments ago, I take it you don’t like the marshal,” Falcon said.

  “What is there that anyone can like about him? I think he is a liar and a thief,” she replied.

  “Maxine,” Wally cautioned again. “I’d be careful if I were you. It wouldn’t be too smart for the marshal to know how you feel.”

  “I don’t care,” Maxine said. “There’s no doubt in my mind but that he stole the gold from poor old Ben. And probably his map, too.”

  “Map?” Falcon asked, picking up on the reference.

  “We don’t even know that there was a map,” Wally said.

  “Oh, there was a map all right,” Maxine said. “I believe Ben found the Lost Dutchman. Where else would he have gotten all that gold?”

  “Who are you talking about?”

  “Ben Hanlon,” Maxine said. “He was a delightful old man who—”

  Wally interrupted her with a laugh. “Delightful? Come on, Maxine, if he hadn’t had all that gold and money, you wouldn’t have had anything to do with him.”

  “I suppose that is true,” Maxine said. “But that’s only because if he hadn’t had all that gold and money he would have never come in here in the first place.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “He left to—uh—use the privy, and he never came back in,” Maxine said.

  “We thought he had gone out somewhere and passed out. But we learned the next day that Deputies Forbis and Appleby found him out back. They took him to jail.”

  “Why?”

  “I think they just thought he was some old bum, passed out drunk in the alley. Most of the time when they find someone like that, they just take him into the jail to let him sleep it off.”

  “He didn’t sleep it off?”

  “Deputy Forbis found him dead the next morning,” Wally said.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if Cairns didn’t kill him for his map.”

  “Careful, Maxine,” Wally said.

  “Why do I need to be careful? There’s nobody here who is going to say anything to Cairns.”

  “What map?” Falcon asked. The conversation was beginning to get productive for him, but he didn’t want to push it too far, too fast.

  “It is supposed to be a map to the location of the Lost Dutchman mine. Only Ben didn’t have the map, because he told us he left it with Mr. Montgomery and—oh my!” she suddenly said. “Wally, I just figured this out! Miss Wellington didn’t kill Mr. Montgomery. Marshal Cairns did! He killed Montgomery to get old Ben’s map.”

  “You don’t know that, Maxine. You are just speculating, and it is dangerous speculation,” Wally said sharply. “I don’t want you saying any such thing in here about it. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I would like having Cairns mad at me. Especially if what you are saying is true. He would not be the kind of man you want against you.”

  “It may not be any of my business, especially seeing as I am such a recent arrival,” Falcon said, “but if nobody likes this marshal—and nobody I have spoken to so far does like him—why don’t you take the next logical step and get rid of him?”

  “How? He wasn’t voted into office, he was appointed by the city council. They are the only ones who can hire a city marshal, and they are the only ones who can fire him.”

  “Then why don’t you go to the city council?” Falcon asked.

  “Ha!” Wally said. “Cairns has the city council so afraid they ain’t goin’ to do a damn thing.”

  Drumm was leaning back in his chair with his feet up on his desk when Luke Mueller came in.

  “Is it true?” Mueller asked.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Drumm asked. “I thought you were gone.”

  “Is it true that the old coot had a map to a gold mine?” Mueller asked. “I mean a real map.”

  “I don’t know. Why are you asking?”

  “Because if the map is real, I know where it is.”

  Drumm took his feet down from the desk, then sat up straight. “Where is it?”

  Mueller grinned. “I’ll be damned. It is real, isn’t it?”

  “Where is it?” Drumm repeated.

  “A man named Joe Henry has it.”

  “Joe Henry?”

  “Yeah, do you know him?”

  “No, I don’t know him,” Drumm said.

  “Terry Cooper told me that this feller, Joe Henry, has the map.

  “Terry Cooper? Are you talking about the Cooper who works for Housewright?”

  “Yeah, that Cooper. Me’n him become pards when I was workin’ down at the livery. Before you run me out of town.”

  “I did that for your own good,” Drumm said. “Remember, you killed the old prospector.”

  Mueller shook his head. “No, I hit him over the head and I robbed him, all right. But I didn’t kill him. I think you killed him after you learned about the map.”

  “Are you going to tell me where the map is, or not?”

  “That depends on whether or not I decide to let you in on my deal,” Mueller said.

  “What do you mean, let me in on your deal?” Drumm replied sharply. “This is my deal, not yours.”

  “All right, you find the map yourself,” Mueller said. Turning, he started to walk out of the office.

  “Wait,” Drumm called. “Okay, what is the deal?”

  “First, let me ask you something. Did you kill Montgomery for the gold map?”

  “Why do you need to know that?”

  “Because if you did, it will prove that the person who claims to have the map, really does. Cooper said Joe Henry is a friend of the woman you are looking for. According to him, the woman watched you shoot Montgomery. Only you and the woman know the real truth. If you really did shoot him, that means Joe Henry knows what he’s talkin’ about, which means he really does have the map.

  “Yes, I shot the son of a bitch for the map, but he didn’t have it.”

  “Ha! I thought so. He did have i
t, you just didn’t know where it was. Cooper told me Joe Henry said Montgomery had taped it behind a picture, and he told the woman where to find it, just before he died.”

  “I knew it was in back of that picture,” Drumm said, hitting the palm of his hand with his fist. “I checked and saw a little piece of paper still sticking there. Damn it, I knew it. Now the woman really does have it.”

  “No, she don’t,” Mueller replied.

  “What do you mean, she don’t?”

  “Like I told you, she give it to this feller, Joe Henry.”

  “Where is Joe Henry now?”

  “According to Cooper, he’s out looking for the gold.”

  “Then we have to get the map from him, don’t we?”

  “We?”

  “You and me. Partners again.”

  “No. We are going to need Cooper to lead us to Joe Henry.”

  “If we take Cooper, we’re going to take Bert Appleby.”

  “Appleby? Why do we need him? I never did like that son of a bitch and you know it.”

  “Yeah, I know it. That’s why I want him with me. You’ve got Cooper with you, I want Appleby with me, to keep it even,” Drumm replied.

  “All right, get your deputy and let’s go,” Mueller said.

  “Now?”

  “If you want to be a part of it, yes, we leave now. Cooper is waiting for us, just outside of town.”

  “You go on. I’ll have to find Appleby.”

  “Don’t wait too long, or we’ll leave without you,” Mueller said.

  Deputy Forbis walked into the Boar’s Head Saloon.

  “Watch what you’re sayin’,” Wally said to Maxine. “Deputy Forbis is here.”

  “Heck, I’m not worried about Deputy Forbis,” Maxine said. “He’s the only decent one of the bunch. I don’t think he cares any more for Marshal Cairns than we do.” Maxine waved at Forbis and motioned for him to come over.

  “Mr. MacCallister,” Forbis said as he joined them at the table. “We meet again.”

  “You two know each other?” Maxine asked, surprised by Forbis’s words.

  “No, we met for the first time this morning, when Mr. MacCallister killed Corey Minner,” Forbis said.