Роберт Паркер - Robert B. Parker’s Blackjack

“What else did she tell you about him.”

Black shook his head.

“Nothing, really... other than she said he was not the type to do anything about it.”

“The following day, after her murder, you left Denver?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know she was murdered, then? It was not until many days later her body was discovered.”

“Well, I am just... I don’t know, assuming.”

“For your sake and mine, Mr. Black, let’s avoid assumptions altogether.”

Black nodded.

“When was the last time you saw Ruth Ann?”

“The night of the argument,” Black said. “At the Bloom’s Inn?”

“Bloom’s Inn?”

“Yes,” he said. “Where I was staying.”

“What happened, did she just walk out? When and where exactly did you last have eyes on Ruth Ann?”

“That night, we argued. I told her to leave. She was angry as hell and she stormed out.”

“What time?”

He shook his head.

“I say about eleven o’clock in the evening.”

“And you never saw her again?”

“No.”

“You are certain?”

“Yes.”

“Did she leave out the front door or the rear door of the inn?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “She left my upstairs room and that was the last I saw of her.”

Juniper glanced to us then looked back to Black.

“Then, the following day you departed Denver, for... where?”

“Here,” he said. “To get ready for the opening of the new hall here.”

Juniper looked at his notes.

“But you were in Las Vegas prior, were you not?”

“Well, yes, I had a few weeks in between, some time off, I had been working nonstop for a long time and I like Vegas, I have friends there, and yes, I was there.”

“And that is where you met with Truitt Shirley and Ricky Ravenfield?”

“Yes.”

“And you hired them?”

“I did.”

“Why?”

“I felt, I knew, my life was in danger.”

“Danger from whom?”

“There was a bounty on my head.”

“How did you know this?”

“I received a wire from Denver that Ruth Ann had been murdered and I was the prime suspect and that the chief of police had put a bounty on my head.”

Black looked to Virgil and me.

“I’ve been in this part of the country for a long time,” Black said. “I’ve spent a good amount of time elsewhere, Saint Louis, Frisco, Boston, and the like, but I know these parts... Santa Fe, Las Cruces, New Mexico. And I know about bounty hunters and I knew I was being set up.”

“Set up?”

“Yes, somebody was out to get me,” he said. “Ruth Ann’s husband, his father, I don’t know exactly, but somebody.”

“So you hired Truitt and Ricky?”

“I did.”

Juniper jotted down a few notes, then nodded, looking at his notepad for a moment. He looked back to Virgil and me, then looked back to Black.

“It would be a good idea if you spiffed up a bit for the proceedings,” Juniper said. “Not too much, but some. I will see to it you have your proper clothing and grooming supplies.”

Black nodded.

“Thank you...”

Juniper got to his feet and turned for the door, but then turned back to Black.

“One more thing...”

“Yes?” Black said.

“Who was it that told you you were the prime suspect in this murder and that there was a bounty on your head? How did you find that out?”

“One of Mr. Pritchard’s employees sent me a wire.”

“Who?”

“Ms. Angel,” he said. “Daphne Angel.”

The trial for Truitt Shirley was placed on the docket behind Boston Bill’s and the owners of the inn where Boston Bill had been staying in Denver at the time Ruth Ann was murdered were brought in to testify, as well as the young man that found Ruth Ann’s body near the river.

Also in from Denver was Roger Messenger’s father, the chief of police, Brady Messenger, and the two officers that previously had come to Appaloosa, Detectives Claude Banes and Sherman King, also arrived for the proceedings. Along with this group, there remained the police captain, G. W. McPherson, and the district attorney, Eldon Payne.

Payne introduced Virgil, Valentine, and me to Chief Messenger. He was not big like his son. The chief was a small, wiry man with an intensity that made him seem as if he were twice his size.

“Gentlemen,” he said.

His voice was quivering, his eyes were shifty, and his demeanor in general was unstable. He was also obviously very angry.

“I will be glad when this is over.”

He looked up to Valentine and squinted.

“Valentine?” he said. “You must be the hunter that apprehended this animal?”

“I am,” Valentine said.

The chief nodded.

“I’m most appreciative,” he said. “Money well spent.”

He looked to me, then Virgil, and shook his head.

“We will make damn certain this execution happens without fail,” he said. “I won’t leave here until that happens and this degenerate dreg is dead and gone.”

Then he moved on with the rest of the Denver lawmen.

“The Denver contingent,” Valentine said under his breath to Virgil. “Got more goddamn Denver police here in Appaloosa than Appaloosa police in Appaloosa.”

“Do,” Virgil said.

“What do you figure is the reason for that, brother Marshal?” Valentine said.

Virgil shook his head.

“Not very interested in the justice system,” I said. “That’s a fact.”

“Don’t seem so,” Virgil said.

“Something does not add up in all this,” Valentine said.

The three of us, Virgil, Valentine, and I, sat in the back row of the packed courthouse, where we waited on Judge Callison’s arrival. Callison was swift when he got to the job at hand, but he had no problem taking his time getting to the bench.

Boston Bill Black was next to Chastain and Book up front. He sat tall in his chair, looking far better than he had when we saw him previously in his cell. His mustache was now black without the gray roots and he was clean-shaven, with his salt-and-pepper hair oiled and combed back. He was wearing a dark suit with polished shoes.

Allie was sitting with the ladies of her social. She was fanning herself with the Chinese fan Valentine brought to her with all the other stuff when he came to dinner. She looked back to us then got up and came over to where we were sitting.

“It is already thirty-five minutes past the time this thing was supposed to start,” Allie said. “What in the world is that ol’ coot making everybody wait for.”

“It’s what he likes to do. Like always,” I said, “likes to make people wait.”

“Just his way of letting everybody know who’s in charge,” Virgil said.

“Well, I sure wish he’d get on with it,” she said. “I’m already getting hungry.”

With that, Allie sashayed away, fanning herself as she walked back to where she was previously sitting.

After another five minutes Judge Callison came out and wasted no time putting things in motion. He called the defense and prosecution to the bench and said a few things to each of them that were out of earshot, then quickly got into hearing testimony from both sides.

Because the Denver DA, Eldon Payne, was not allowed by law to practice outside of Colorado, they contracted Dickie Simmons, the other fine attorney besides Juniper practicing in Appaloosa, as the prosecuting attorney.

Simmons was a tall, narrow man with thick tangled eyebrows that had a hard time filling out his dark suit, but he was a scrappy contender when it came time to do his job, and he did it well.

The prosecution first called the young man to the stand that had found Ruth Ann Messenger’s body in the shallow waters of the South Platte.