by Jake Logan
Seth gave a shrug. “All I’m doing is just showing you what he brought me,” he said.
“Has Myrtle seen this yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Do you feel up to a ride?”
“I sure do.”
“Let’s go out there,” said Slocum.
In another minute both men were up and on their way out the door. They made the ride out to the Tipton spread without much talk. When they arrived at the ranch, they found the hands all working and the two women in the house. Myrtle invited them in and poured them coffee. They sat at the big dining table, and Seth brought out the document and showed it to Myrtle. She gasped when she read it.
“Where did you get this?” she asked.
“Arnie brought it by the office,” Seth said.
“I can’t believe it.”
“Does it look like Carl’s writing to you?” Slocum asked.
“It does,” said Myrtle, “but I still can’t believe it.”
“Study it real careful, Myrtle, if you will,” said Seth. “The handwriting, I mean.”
Myrtle poured over the document some more. At last she dropped the paper onto the table and leaned back in her chair shaking her head.
“It looks like Carl’s writing,” she said. “How could he do this to me?”
Seth told Myrtle what Arnie had said that Carl had told him about his reasons for writing a new will.
“That’s nonsense,” Myrtle said. “Carl would never have said that. I’m a better businessman than Carl ever was, and he knew it. He admitted it. He always consulted me on business matters, and what’s more, he would never have trusted Arnie with anything important. Why, Arnie’s a dodo when it comes to anything about money, and Carl knew that, too.”
“That’s about what I thought,” said Slocum.
“Well,” said Seth, “me, too, but I got to consider this thing here. I told Arnie to give me a couple of days to study on this. I told him if we determined that the will was genuine, we’d have to get a judge in here as soon as possible to make a determination. He’s supposed to come back in to my office day after tomorrow to see what I’ve got to say about it.”
“Day after tomorrow?” said Slocum.
“That’s right.”
“Let’s just sit on this thing till then, Seth,” Slocum said. “When Arnie comes back in to see you, put him off somehow. Give me a little time to do some nosing around.”
“You can’t do your nosing before then?”
“Just trust me on this,” Slocum said.
“What are you going to do? What are you looking for?”
“I don’t think you want to know.”
Slocum passed the rest of that day and all of the next like a man with no worries. He did not bother riding out again. He ate his meals at Harmony’s place, drank in the Hogneck, and slept in his rented room there. He passed a little time with Harmony and a little with Seth Willis. He even visited some with Bonita in the saloon. On the morning of the day Arnie was scheduled to show up back at the sheriff’s office, Slocum was up and out early. He rode out toward Arnie Tipton’s wretched ranch, and he hid beside the road and waited. He waited until he saw Arnie come riding out, move onto the road and head for town. It was a good two hours ride into town. Slocum knew that he had plenty of time. He waited for Arnie to get some distance away, and then he rode on in to Arnie’s house. He dismounted in front and walked up to the door. He was not really surprised to find it unlocked. He walked in and looked around.
The place was a mess. It stank from unwashed dishes, unwashed clothes, and leftover food. There were empty bottles all over the place. It took a couple of minutes, but Slocum spotted the Sharps rifle propped up in a corner of the room. He walked over and picked it up. It was enough for him, but it would not be enough for the sheriff or for a jury. He knew that. He walked around looking under things, looking in corners, looking on the messy floor. Then he saw a stack of papers on a corner of the table. The table was a mess of dishes and other things. He walked over to thumb through the pages, and he found several sheets covered with the signature, “Carl Tipton.” He studied the pages carefully. The signature gradually changed. Then he found some sheets that were copies of the same will Arnie had taken to Seth’s office. The writing changed on those as well from one copy to the next. He did not have any samples of Carl Tipton’s writing to compare to these, but he surmised that Arnie had been practicing the handwriting before writing the final copy of the forged will.
Slocum stuffed the papers into his shirt and picked up the Sharps rifle. He went outside, mounted his Appaloosa and rode fast to the Carl Tipton ranch. Jamie was on the porch when he rode up to the big house.
“Jamie,” he called out, “get your mother. Get a couple of the boys to drive you two into town to the sheriff’s office. I ain’t got time to explain it right now. I got to get there before Arnie leaves.”
“But—”
Slocum did not wait for an answer. He turned his horse and rode off toward town. He could not afford to ride the Appaloosa hard all the way, so he moved along at a fast pace for a little while and then slowed down for a space before speeding up again. When at last he arrived at Seth Willis’s office, he was pleased to see that Arnie’s horse was still tied up out front. He dismounted, tied his Appaloosa, took the Sharps rifle, and went inside. Arnie was seated across the desk from Seth.
“I don’t see what the problem is here,” Arnie was saying as Slocum walked in. He turned his head to look at Slocum, and then he shut up.
“There’s no problem, Arnie,” said Willis. “These things just take time. That’s all. Whenever you’re contesting a will, there’s lots of legal issues to consider.”
Arnie looked over at Slocum.
“Don’t mind me,” Slocum said.
“I think we was having a private conversation,” said Arnie.
“Slocum knows all about this,” Seth said. “No need to try to keep the conversation from him.”
“It ain’t none of his damn business. He was just a hired hand of Carl’s, and Carl’s dead now. I ain’t going to talk anymore if he’s here.”
“Suit yourself,” Seth said.
Arnie stood up. “I’ll come back when you ain’t got unwanted company,” he said.
“You just sit back down, Arnie,” said Slocum.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“I don’t have to do what you say.”
Slocum raised up the Sharps and tossed it at Arnie, who caught it just in time to keep it from smashing into his chest.
“What’s this?” he said.
“Don’t you recognize it?” Slocum said.
“Well, no, I, well, yes. It looks like my gun.”
“I reckon it is,” Slocum said. “I got it out of your house.”
“You been in my house? Sheriff, I want this son of a bitch arrested for trespassing, and for stealing my gun.”
“It don’t look stole to me,” said Seth. “You’re holding it, ain’t you?”
“But you heard what he said.”
“That’s a forty caliber, ain’t it?” Slocum said. “You see many of those old Sharps rifles around here, Seth?”
“Hardly ever see one.”
Slocum reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out the forty caliber shell that had been found at the scene of Carl Tipton’s murder. He tossed it to Seth.
“You recall that the boys that was riding with Carl found this shell at the scene,” he said. “When they picked it up, it was still hot.”
“I remember,” Seth said.
“It looks to be forty caliber,” said Slocum.
“That don’t mean nothing,” said Arnie. “There’s lots of forty caliber guns around.”
Seth stood up and held a hand out toward Arnie. “Let me see yours,” he said.
“What for?”
“Let me see it.”
Arnie handed the rifle to Seth, and Seth opened it up and place the spent shell in the chamber. “It
sure enough fits,” he said.
“So would any forty caliber shell.”
“You’re right,” Seth said. “But it is a bit suspicious.”
“A bit suspicious don’t mean a damn thing,” Arnie said. “Give me back my gun. I’m getting out of here.”
Slocum heard the sound of a wagon in the street, and he stepped over to look out the window. Randy Self had just driven Myrtle and Jamie up.
“Not so fast,” he said to Arnie. “There’s someone coming in who might want to hear some of this.”
“I don’t care about that,” Arnie said.
“Sit down, Arnie,” said Seth.
The door opened and the two Tipton ladies stepped in. They looked from Arnie to Slocum and then to Seth.
“Come on in, ladies,” Seth said.
They walked in closer. Myrtle looked at Slocum. “What’s this all about?” she said.
Slocum reached into his shirt and withdrew the stack of papers he had taken from Arnie’s house. He stepped over close to the desk and laid them on it. Arnie’s eyes opened wide.
“Give those to me,” he said.
“How come?” Slocum said.
“You had no right to go into my house and get that stuff.”
“Then you admit it’s yours?” Slocum said.
“Wait. No. I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
Myrtle moved to the desk and picked up the stack of papers. She went through several of the sheets, more astonished the more she looked. She dropped them back on the desk and looked at Slocum.
“You found these at Arnie’s house?” she said.
“Yes, ma’am,” said Slocum. “Along with his forty caliber rifle there.”
Jamie moved toward Arnie as if she would scratch out his eyes, but Slocum grabbed her and restrained her. “You,” she said, staring hard at Arnie. “You killed my father. You son of a bitch. Your own brother. Just to get his ranch.”
“No. I didn’t. You got to believe me. I didn’t.”
Seth picked up the stack of papers and studied it over. “It’s pretty clear that we have evidence here of you practicing on Carl’s writing in order to forge a new will. That along with the rifle ought to get you convicted of murder.”
“No,” said Arnie. “I didn’t—”
Slocum was still holding Jamie. He could feel when the Colt was lifted from the holster at his side, but he did not have time to react. He could only look to his right as Myrtle lifted the revolver, as she aimed it at Arnie’s chest, as she cocked the hammer and pulled the trigger. He looked toward Arnie just as the bullet smashed into his chest, watched as Arnie crumpled up on the floor in front of the sheriff’s desk and then lay there, still and dead. Jamie looked at her mother, as Slocum turned her loose.
“Mother,” she said.
Myrtle handed the Colt to Slocum. He put it away. Then Myrtle walked toward Seth.
“You can go on ahead and arrest me,” she said. “I won’t give you no trouble.”
“No, ma’am,” Seth said. “I ain’t going to arrest you. I’ll fill out a report that will make everything look legitimate. You and Jamie can just go on back home now. I’ll take care of it all.”
Watch for
SLOCUM AND THE ORPHAN EXPRESS
303rd novel in the exciting SLOCUM series
from Jove
Coming in May!