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High Hander

<h2>XXI</h2> Tesno herded the riderless horses through town to the livery barn. He briefly questioned the attendant, then rode back down the street. He intended to go at once to Vickers' camp; but in front of the marshal's office, a thing happened that changed his mind. The freighters were unloading the canvas-shrouded bodies here, carrying them into the office. A little crowd was gathering on the walk, and Madrid stood at the front of it. Tesno maneuvered his horse between wagons and stopped directly before the marshal. Silence washed over the crowd. For a moment neither man spoke. Then Tesno said, "I found the bodies." "Why tell me?" Madrid said. "It didn't happen in my jurisdiction." "Not interested?" Madrid shrugged. "It's all plain enough. One of the prisoners had a gun. They shot it out. They—" Mr. Jay stepped out of the crowd. He touched Madrid's elbow without looking at him, and the marshal fell silent. "Is that what it looked like to you, Mr. Tesno?" Mr. Jay asked. "No." "Mr. Tesno I have been asked to run for mayor of this town." Mr. Jay raised his voice for the crowd. "Before I accept, I shall visit Ellensburg and assure myself of the support and the co-operation of the authorities there. I should like to be able to give them the facts about this tragedy. Will you step into the marshal's office and tell me everything you know?" "It was an ambush. That's all I'll say now." "Can you prove that, Mr. Tesno?" "When the time comes, Mr. Jay." "I was under the impression that you wanted to give the marshal details." "I wanted to see if he was interested," Tesno said. "He wasn't." Mr. Jay threw back his head so that his trim little beard seemed to be pointed up at Tesno. There were hollow circles about his eyes, and Tesno thought that the brilliance in them was not entirely the result of emotion. He realized suddenly that the man was under a strain that amounted to illness. Yet his brazen assurance was a formidable thing. "I don't understand your hostility, sir," Mr. Jay said. "Willie Silverknife is dead, Mr. Jay. The men who killed him will answer to me." Mr. Jay glared. "Did you kill him, Mr. Tesno?" You had to give the man credit. All he had left was a desperate bluff—and a steely confidence in himself. "You know better," Tesno said. "My information is that this man Palma tried to wreck Vickers' boiler a few days ago," Mr. Jay said loudly. "You killed his partner. You were trailing him. You and Pinky Bronklin were old enemies. Willie Silverknife wanted these men alive. Did you want them dead, Mr. Tesno?" "I'll have my proof when I need it," Tesno muttered. "I have no authority yet," Mr. Jay went on. "But let me warn you. Keep out of the town and its affairs. If I hear of any more of your blustering and bullying here, I'll insist that the marshal stop it." Tesno grinned and gave a little toss of his head. He understood that Mr. Jay was offering a challenge rather than a warning. "I'm going to close your town down tight, Mr. Jay," he said. He backed his horse from between the wagons and jogged down the street to the Silver Slipper. He tied the horse and went in, knowing that Madrid and Jay were watching. The proprietor, who was a member of the town council, was sitting in a poker game. Tesno stood behind him till a hand was finished. "You want something?" the saloonkeeper asked testily. He was a bald man with a vacant, puppy-dog face. "I'm closing the Silver Slipper," Tesno said mildly. "You have until tomorrow noon to move out." "You're what?" "I'm not going to argue about it. Get your stock out by then or it will be smashed." The man spread his hands and looked appealing at the others at the table. He turned his eyes up to Tesno again and said, "Look, I've got a territorial license. You can't—" "Tomorrow noon." Tesno pivoted and walked out. He rode up the street toward the Big Barrel, passing the marshal's office again. The freight wagons had moved on, but a little crowd was still there. Mr. Jay stood in the doorway of the office. Tesno delivered similar ultimatums to the proprietors of the Big Barrel and the Western Star. Then he rode to the townhouse. He dismounted at the back of the building and entered the kitchen. Stella was sitting at the table, staring vacantly at the raw materials for dinner. The news of Willie's death had already reached her. "I was too late," Tesno said. "He vas a decent man," Stella said, speaking very slowly. "Maybe a little crazy, like they say, but decent." "Stella, I want you to come with me." "Mrs. Parker says I am not to leave the house. I am scared by the vay she said it." "You're leaving right now," he said. "We'll send somebody for your things later." She took his hand dazedly, and he led her outside. He mounted his horse, swung her up behind the saddle, and took her straight to Vickers' camp. Keef O'Hara was with Ben Vickers in his cabin. They had just heard of Willie's murder and were full of angry questions. They nodded politely to Stella, not guessing the purpose of her presence and plainly considering it an intrusion. Tesno held a chair for her and explained. "Ben, I want you to put her up here at the camp. She isn't safe in town." "Here?" Ben said doubtfully. "There isn't a woman in camp. We have no suitable place." "Then make one, Ben. She heard Jay and Madrid planning to kill Willie." Ben whirled to confront her. "You heard them?" Frightened and ill-at-ease, Stella haltingly told what she had heard. When she had finished, Ben Vickers was grimly silent. He turned to his work table and stood toying with some papers there, his back to the others. "Good lass!" Keef O'Hara said. "Say that in court and we'll see Jay and Madrid hang as high as Mount Tacoma." "It won't be that easy," Tesno said. "There were other witnesses to that conversation. They would probably swear to a different version, make it seem that Stella misunderstood." "Jay didn't have to kill," Ben Vickers said darkly. "He was a good engineer. This is a rough business. We've all been ruthless at times, I guess. But outright murder...." O'Hara nodded sharply. "Sure, it makes a man wonder." "Jay got his start in Dakota," Ben said. "Worked for a man whose team ran away and took him over a cliff. Jay took over the contract. In Idaho he had a partner who was killed in a fall from a trestle. Nobody ever figured out what he was doing up there in the middle of a snow storm." Ben turned away from the table, and the three men exchanged startled glances. It seemed to Tesno that they were all thinking about the same thing. "About the only way you can get a man like Jay is in court," Ben said. "And then you're likely not to get him. I hate to think of what a smart lawyer might do to Stella on the stand." "I vould tell only the truth," Stella said. "Another thing," Ben said. "You never saw this boiler-wrecker up close, Jack. How could you swear it was Palma?" He shook his head dismally. "Fact is, we have precious little on Jerome J. Jay." "Come, lass." O'Hara held out a hand to Stella. "I'll see you to my cabin, which is yours for the night. I'll move into the bunkhouse." "I'll go along," Tesno said. "There's more that I want Stella to tell me. A whole lot more." He ate a late supper at the cookhouse and got back to town well after dark. He went to the hotel, bolted the door of his room, and went to bed. Toward midnight, he was awakened by a persistent rapping. It turned out to be Parris, the hotel owner and town councilman. He helped himself to a chair and seemed to settle himself for a long talk. "Just came from a council meeting." "I figured there'd be one," Tesno said. "I don't like what's happening," Parris said. He had a loud, harsh voice. "I don't like wide-open saloons. I don't like gambling. But most of all, I don't like your barging in like God Almighty and pushing people around. The town ought to handle its own problems." Tesno, tousled, sleep-eyed, in his underwear, was in no mood to listen to complaints. "Willie Silverknife is dead," he growled. "Yes, and you're likely to be if you try to enforce that noon deadline you laid down. That's a friendly warning, Tesno, not a threat. They'll be ready for you tomorrow. Madrid has organized every barkeep and every gambler in town into what he calls a vigilance committee, and the council is backing him up. Every man will be armed and waiting for you. The first violent move you make, they'll drop you. Try Willie's trick with the dynamite, and they'll kill you before you can light the fuse. I don't like it and I spoke against it. I don't want any more killing." "Was Persia at the meeting?" Tesno asked. "She was not, but I assume she knows what's going on." "Was Mr. Jay there?" "Jay? Hell, no. I understand he will run for mayor, which will be a fine thing. But he has nothing to do with the council now." "Parris, Jay has been in control of Tunneltown since the beginning. He's been running it wide open in an effort to put Vickers behind schedule." Parris wouldn't believe it, and Tesno was in no mood to argue. Finally, he opened the door and said, "Stop talking for a while and think. Think about what I've said. Good night and thanks for the warning." Parris snorted and walked out. Tesno had no more than blown the lamp and got into bed when he knocked on the door again. "I got some siwash here who's been pestering the night clerk," he called. "Claims he's got business with you. Won't go away." Tesno got the lamp going and opened the door. "Hello, Charlie," he said. "You come in, too, Parris." Charlie came in and looked around the room slowly and unblinking. Parris followed and closed the door. Charlie decided he would be comfortable on the bed, smoothed back the covers, and sat down. "Nika cooley hyas tsik-tsik," he said. "He says he went to the big wagon," Tesno said. "To the boiler." "I savvy Chinook," Parris said. "Mika ko," Charlie said to Tesno. "You here all a time." He seemed to consider this a joke. "You found those dead men," Tesno said. Charlie grunted. "Kely tum-tum. I cry in my heart. Silverknife my cousin." "Willie was your cousin?" Charlie grunted affirmatively. He explained that he had seen Willie leave town with the prisoners and that he had followed. Willie had seen him in the distance, hadn't recognized him, and had tried to lose him by leaving the road. Charlie had seen the tracks leading into the woods, however, and had followed. Willie had rejoined the road and Charlie had just reached it when he heard the shots. Not having a gun, he had hidden in the trees and waited. "Son of a gun chase horses up and down. Go into trees." "Who, Charlie?" Tesno demanded. "Hyas tyee," Charlie said. He tapped his chest. "Chikamin star. Big boss of town. Bright shirt." "Madrid!" Parris said. "Madrid murdered the three of them!" "Madrid," Tesno said. <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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