Julie Garwood - Come the Spring

MacCorkle's desk that an army paymaster made a deposit that morning.

The amount was seventeen thousand eight hundred and some change. "

Cole whistled. "That's a lot of money. I'll bet the bastards knew

before MacCorkle did that the money was coming."

"I'm sure they did.

All they had to do was follow him."

"Why bother robbing the banks? " Cole asked. "Why not rob the

paymaster on his way to the fort with the cash? " "It's too dangerous

and unpredictable, that's why. The paymaster doesn't ride alone, and

the guards assigned to him are all crack shots.

Banks are easier if you know what you're doing, and the men we're up

against obviously do." The discussion ended when they reached the

hotel. The only rooms available were in the attic and were about the

size of clothes closets.

Cole's room faced the street. Ryan's room was directly across the

hall.

The beds were soft though, and with a little persuasion, the night

manager agreed to send up supper.

Neither Ryan nor Cole got much sleep that night. Cole kept thinking

about the grisly scene he'd walked into, and Ryan spent his time

thinking about the possible witness.

Sorning came all too quickly. As agreed, the marshals met at the bank,

where Sheriff Sloan was waiting to report that the posse hadn't had any

luck finding a trail. Ryan handed him the list of people he wanted to

report to the jail to be interviewed. The three women's names were at

the top.

The sheriff looked over the names and shook his head. "Some of these

folks are sick as dogs with influenza. It hits hard and fast, " he

warned. "And some of the others are getting ready to head out of

town.

I ran into Doc Lawrence at the restaurant, and he was up all night

tending to the Walsh family, and you've got John Walsh's name on the

list. Doc told me Frederick O'Malley is heading out of town with his

brood as soon as the general store opens and he can get some more

supplies."

"No one leaves Rockford Falls until Marshal Clayborne and I have talked

to them. That includes Frederick O'Malley."

"I can't make him stay."

"I can, " Ryan replied.

Sloan wanted to argue. "This seems like a waste of time to me. If

anyone saw anything, he would have spoken up by now."

"Marshal Ryan wants to follow procedure, " Cole explained.

Sloan was staring at the blue bag on the desk. "Where did that come

from? " Ryan answered. "It was on the floor under the desk."

"You think someone left it? " "That much is pretty obvious, " Cole

said.

"We're curious to know who it belongs to." A gleam came into Sloan's

eyes. "It had to have been left here on the day of the robbery because

the Stewarts, who clean the place every night, would have found it if

someone had left it the day before. They would have put it in the

lost-and-found box. They're honest people, " he thought to add. "You

don't think one of the robbers left it behind, do you? " "No, we don't

think that, " Cole said dryly.

"Which desk was it found under? " "Lemont Morganstaff's, " Ryan

answered. "We're going to talk to him right away. Do you know where

he lives? " "Sure I do. I know just about everybody in town. I'll

take you over to Lemont's as soon as you're ready. Are you going to

ask him about the bag? " "Yes, " Ryan answered.

Sloan's mind was whirling with possibilities. "Where exactly was the

bag found? Was it right by the chair or was it way under the desk? "

"It was in the kneehole, " Ryan answered. "In the corner." Sloan's

eyes widened. "You don't think that maybe someone was hiding under the

desk, do you? " "We haven't drawn any conclusions yet, " Cole told

him.

"But it's possible, isn't it? " "Yes, " Ryan agreed. "It's

possible.

The matter of the bag is confidential, Sheriff. I don't want you

telling anyone about it." Sloan dropped down to his knees. "You can

see through here . . . " "I want to get started, " Cole said

impatiently. "Show us where Lemont lives, and then start rounding up

the people on the list.

We'll use the jail to talk to them."

"I'll wait out front to take you to Lemont's, " Sloan said, bolting for

the door.

As soon as Sloan had stepped outside, Cole said, "It was a bad idea to

tell him where the bag was found." Ryan shrugged. "He's a lawman, and

he'll only get in our way if we don't feed him a little information now

and then. What harm can he do? " As it turned out, Sloan could do a

great deal of harm. Before the day was over, Ryan actually considered

locking the sheriff in his own jail.

Unfortunately, the law frowned on incarcerating a man just because he

was stupid.

In a town the size of Rockford Falls, everyone knew everyone else's

business, and carefully guarded secrets had a way of leaking out like

water through a sieve. The employee who worked at the desk where the

purse was found, Lemont Morganstaff, a prissy old-maid of a man, was

shown the cloth bag and duly questioned. The interview took place in

the claustrophobic parlor of Lemont's home. Dressed in a bright lime

green velvet robe and slippers, Lemont resembled a parrot. He sat in a

faded yellow velvet chair, rested his arms on the lace-covered arms,

and puckered his lips in thought for several minutes before declaring

that the purse couldn't have been found by his desk. He made it a

rule, he explained, never to let any of the customers, man or woman,

past the gate. However, since he hadn't been working on the day of the

robbery, he couldn't be certain the other employees had enforced his

rule.

Sheriff Sloan, who had insisted on being part of the interview, blurted

out the fact that the purse had been found in the kneehole of Lemont's

desk. "It couldn't have been kicked there, " he said, "because your

desk faces the lobby and that front panel goes all the way to the

floor.

Someone had to go around, past the gate, and get behind your desk.

I've had a little time to ponder on it, and I think that maybe there

was a woman hiding there during the robbery. I'd wager the marshals

think the same thing. Now, there were three women in the bankţtheir

names are on the list Marshal Ryan gave meţ and I'm going to go round

them up as soon as I'm finished here. I'm hoping the woman who saw the

murders is just too timid to come forward, but if she's deliberately

keeping the information to herself because she's scared, I'm going to

have to arrest her." Lemont covered his mouth with his lace

handkerchief and looked horrified. "You think a woman saw the

murders?

Oh, that poor dear, " he whispered.

Ryan quickly tried to repair the damage Sloan had done, while Cole

shoved the sheriff toward the front door.

"We don't believe any such thing, " he said. "The purse could have

gotten under the desk a hundred different ways. There could have been

a lot of women inside the bank, and any one of them could have sat at

your desk and accidentally dropped it." Lemont wasn't paying very much

attention to the marshal's explanation.

"It had to have been left on the day of the robbery, " he said

excitedly.

"The bank's cleaned every night by the Stewarts, and they always do a

thorough job. Still, you're right. A woman could have left the bag

sometime during the morning hours. If you look in the tellers'

drawers, you'll find a record of every customer who did any business

that day." Sloan elbowed his way back over to Lemont. "I got a