Longarm - Longarm. Part 21

"It does sound sort of wild. Are you suggesting she told me a lie? Why would any woman lie about such a thing?"

"Don't know. Why do men swap stories about Mexican spitfires and hotblooded landladies? Old Mabel's likely practicing up for when we carry her before the federal district judge, up ahead. Wait'll she gets to where you helped hold her down while Timberline and all them other riders behind us took turns with me at whatsoever."

"Oh! Do women play such tricks on you when you arrest them?"

"Not all. Only three out of four. Some ladies who shoot folks are sort of modest."

"She is a murderess and the wife of a gun-slick, isn't she? I hadn't considered that angle."

"I know. Most folks are more partial to dirty stories."

"I'm sorry if I've wronged you, but d.a.m.n it, she made it sound so real!"

"Do tell? Who'd she say was better at it, me or the midget?"

This time her laughter was less forced. She recovered and grinned, "I daren't repeat what she told me. As a woman who's been married, I'm not sure all the... details were possible."

Longarm didn't answer.

After a while, Kim said, "Yes, I see it all now. She's been trying to drive a wedge between us. I'd forgotten she was facing the rope. Tell me, do you think they'll really hang her?"

"If she's found guilty."

"Brrr. It seems so... so awful to think of a woman hanging."

"Ain't much fun for anybody. Mary Surratt was a woman, and they hung her for conspiring to kill Abe Lincoln. Some folks figured she was innocent, too."

"Oh, my what an awful thought! Doesn't it bother you to think of innocent people getting hung?"

"A mite. But since I've never hung n.o.body, it ain't MY worry."

"I can't believe you have no pity for her. Even after what he did."

"I feel pity for everybody, ma'am. Mostly, I feel pity for the victims more'n I do the killers. Deputy Kincaid and likely that other feller had families. They'd likely expect me to do the right thing."

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, eh? Isn't there something else about mercy in the good book?"

"Sure there is. I've read things written by philosophers. They say two wrongs don't make a right. They say the death penalty don't really stop the killings out our way. They say all sorts of things. But when it's their own son or daughter, husband or wife who's the victim you'd be surprised how fast they get back to that old 'an eye for an eye!'"

"Someday, we may be more civilized."

"Maybe. Meanwhile, we don't hang folks because they've killed someone. We hang 'em in order that someone else won't get killed. Ever read what Emerson and them have to say about reform? Maybe some killers can be reformed. I don't know what makes a man or woman a killer. But I do know one thing. Not one killer has ever done it again, after a good hanging!"

It was a long time before she broke the silence once more to say, "I think I understand you better, Longarm. I'm afraid I had some cruel thoughts about you. I thought maybe you were bringing Mabel Hanks in for those killings just to, you know, wipe the slate. I can see you're a proud man, and a man sent on a mission that fell apart when it turned out we'd captured the wrong man. I thought, just maybe, you were out to nail just anyone, in lieu of Cotton Younger."

"Not quite, ma'am. Don't think I could get anyone to buy Mabel Hanks as Cotton Younger. She ain't built right."

CHAPTER 26.

The Federal Building was near the Mormon Temple grounds on the tree-shaded Main Street of Salt Lake City. A crowd of curious onlookers gathered as the big party of strange riders stopped in front of the baroque outpost of far-off Washington.

Longarm dismounted and told some of the hands to keep the crowd back as he and Timberline helped the handcuffed woman down from her horse. A worried-looking bailiff came out to watch as they led Mabel Hanks, sputtering and cursing, up the stone steps.

Longarm noticed Kim Stover tagging along at his side and muttered, "You'd best wait out here, ma'am."

"I've ridden too long a way to miss the ending, Longarm. I promise not to say anything or get in the way."

He saw there was no sense in trying to stop her, so he dropped it. He nodded to the bailiff and said, "I'm Deputy Long. Denver office. You likely got the wire I sent from Ouray Reservation about this suspect. Where do you want her?"

"Judge Hawkins ain't arrived yet, Deputy. We'd best get her to his chambers and I'll send over to his house for him. Ought to be just finishing breakfast by now."

Longarm followed the uniformed man inside, along with Timberline, Kim, and Mabel Hanks, who kept swearing at them. They went up a flight of marble steps with iron railings to the second floor, where the bailiff ushered them into a deserted courtroom and then into the judge's smaller, private chambers beyond. When he had left them alone there, Kim asked, "What happens now?"

Longarm said, "We wait. Waiting is the worst part of this job."

Timberline asked, "Do we have to sit through a trial like?"

Longarm said, "No, just a preliminary hearing before the judge. He'll set her bail and a date for the trial. She'll likely spend a month or more waiting 'fore it gets serious."

Kim asked, "Won't you have to attend the trial, Longarm?"

"Sure. They'll send me back from Denver when it starts. But like I said, we're getting to the slow part. By the time it's all wrapped up you two will be up in Crooked Lance, fighting the buyers over the price of beef. Sometimes I wish I'd stayed a cowboy."

Mabel Hanks suddenly spat, "I'll never swing for it, G.o.d d.a.m.n your eyes! This is a raw, pure railroad job you're pulling on me, Longarm!"

"Oh, I don't know. I disremember if you said Cedric killed Kincaid."

"You know he didn't. The poor little mutt wouldn't hurt a fly, you big bully!"

"Let's save it for the judge. It's tedious to remind you over and over about them.44-40 slugs he was throwing my way in his innocence."

As if he'd been announced, Judge W.R. Hawkins came in wearing everyday duds and a frown. He was dabbing at some egg-stains on the front of his vest as he sat behind his imposing desk and asked, "What's all this about, Deputy Long?"

Longarm saw that the others had all found places to perch, so he lowered himself to a chair arm and asked, "Don't we rate a proper hearing with some bailiffs and all, Judge? Ought to have a matron for this lady, too. It's a long story and I'd like to get the cuffs off her."

"Just give me a grasp of what we've got and we'll work out the niceties as they come up. I'm holding regular court in less'n an hour."

Longarm shrugged, fished the key from his pants, and tossed it over to Timberline. "Unlock her and sort of stand over there by the door, will you? I reckon Mabel knows enough to be a good girl, but we gotta do things proper, court in an hour or no."

He waited 'til Timberline had carried out his instructions before he began to tell the whole story from the beginning. After a few minutes he started to describe the sniping in Bitter Creek.

"Hold on, now," Hawkins cut in. "Did you see this lady firing at you from across the street?"

"Not exactly, but we found high-heel prints and a.30-30 is a womanly rifle, Your Honor."

"Hmmph, I've seen many a cowboy in high heels, and as for a.30-30 being womanly, I hunt deer with one myself! Are you saying I'm a sissy or that I took a shot at you in Bitter Creek?"

"Neither, Your Honor. I'm saying it's circ.u.mstantial evidence."

"d.a.m.n slim, too! Keep talking."

Longarm told the rest of it, with a few more interruptions from the judge. When he got to the part about the Mountie stealing the corpse of Raymond Tinker the judge laughed aloud and said, "Hold on! Are you saying that fool Canadian, backed by them rascals in the State Department, is packing the wrong man all the way back to Winnepeg in high summer?"

"Yessir, he seems to take his job right serious."

"By jimmies, I can't wait to tell the boys at the club that part. But you lost me somewhere, Deputy Long. You say it looks like this lady killed at least two, maybe three men. What have you to say for yourself, ma'am?"

Mabel Hanks said, "He's full of s.h.i.t! This whole thing's nothing but a lovers' spat."

"A lover's what?"

"You heard me, Your Honor. He's just mad at me 'cause I wouldn't leave my husband for him. I'll admit he turned my head one night. He is good-looking and, well, I'm a poor, weak woman. But I saw the error of my ways in time and went back to my true love. He said he'd fix me for spurning his wicked advances, and as you see, he's trying fit to bust!"

Longarm found something very interesting about his fingernails to look at as the judge raised an eyebrow and observed, "Now, this is getting interesting! What have you to say for yourself, Deputy Long?"

"I'm a poor, weak man? The question before you ain't no morals charge, Your Honor. So I'll save a lot of useless talk by offering no defense to her wild allegations. I brought her in for killing folks, not for... never mind."

Hawkins stared at the woman thoughtfully for a long, hard moment. Then he nodded and said, "I've known Deputy Long long enough to suspect he wouldn't hang a lady for spurning his wicked advances, ma'am. However, since you aren't represented by an attorney, it's the duty of this court to cross-examine in your behalf."

He turned to Longarm and said, "leaving aside your improper reasons for arresting this lady, what in thunder do you have on her?"

"I'll admit it's mostly circ.u.mstantial Your Honor, but..."

"But me no buts. If she killed Kincaid and that other lawman, where are the d.a.m.ned bodies?"

"Your Honor, you can see we'll never find body one, 'less the killer tells us where they're hidden. We do have the body of Sailor Brown, and this woman and her late husband were in Crooked Lance when somebody gunned him."

"As was a whole valley filled with folks, d.a.m.n it. What on earth is wrong with you? Where did you leave Your brains this morning? Don't you remember Sailor Brown was a wanted man with papers on him? h.e.l.l, anyone who did kill him could come forward to claim the reward!"

Longarm looked surprised and asked the prisoner, "How about it, Mabel? As you see, there's no charge to the bushwhacking of the old man. Can't you 'fess up just a little and help us clear things up a mite?"

"Oh, go to h.e.l.l! You'll not trick me again. You told me you'd marry up with me in Bitter Creek, remember?"

"Now, that, Your Honor, is the biggest lie she's told so far, and since we first met, she's told some lulus!"

"Let's get back to the murders she's accused of. Frankly, I'm surprised at you, son. You've never brought a prisoner in with such flimsy evidence to back your charges."

"I'll allow the killer was tricky, Your Honor, but I'm doing the best I know how."

"This time your best isn't good enough. Holding her for killing folks we can't even say for sure are dead won't keep her overnight. You got anything, anything at alL you can prove?"

Longarm looked uncomfortable as he suggested, "Maybe if we sent her into another room to be searched for evidence... Miss Kim might be willing to help."

Timberline, leaning against the door, spoke up, "We patted her down for shooting irons, remember?"

"I know, but we never really stripped her down for a proPer search. Why don't we send the two of 'em in the next room... there's no other way out of here and who knows what we'll find stashed in her corset?"

The judge frowned and said, "Deputy Long, you are stepping on the tail of my robes! What are you UP to, son? You know I can't order a search unless I order this other lady to search for some thing."

Longarm said, "What I'm hoping Miss Kim will find on her will be, uh, doc.u.mentary evidence, Your Honor. She and her husband were bounty hunters. There were no reward papers or telegrams in their packs when I arrested 'em both."

"That's better. What am I to tell this other lady to look for in the way of papers?"

"Letters, telegrams, anything tying 'em in to someone in Missouri. Maybe someone named James or Younger."

The judge nodded and Kim got to her feet, saying, "Let's go, Mabel. It'll only take a minute."

"d.a.m.n it! I don't have nothing on me!"

"That may be so, dear. Why don't we get it over with?"

The judge got to his feet and opened the door to his dressing room. The two women went in, with some grumbling on Mabel's part, and Hawkins shut the door. His voice was ominous as he said, "Now that we are alone, let me tell you something, Deputy Long. I think you are wasting my time! You've been a lawman too long to bring a prisoner in on such flimsy evidence! Have you just gotten dumb, or was there anything at all to that fool women's story about you bedding down with her?"

Longarm grinned and said, "h.e.l.l, she's just a no-account adventuress, Your Honor. She did take that potshot at me in Bitter Creek, but you're right. It'd be a waste of time to prove it and her midget husband probably put her up to it. He was the dangerous one of the pair. Without him, she'll likely end her days in some parlor house. Not that she won't give right good service in bed."

judge Hawkins looked thunderstruck as he almost roared, "You knew you didn't have the evidence to hang her?"

"Sure." Longarm said, "She never gunned them lawmen. He did." He pointed to where Timberline stood, stiffened against the door, slack-jawed. Longarm added, conversationally, "Don't do anything foolish, Mister Younger. We both know I can beat you to the draw nine times out of ten!"

Timberline gasped, "What are you saying, d.a.m.n it! I thought I was your deputy!"

"Oh, I deputized you as the easiest way to bring you in without having to fight a score or so of your friends, Mister Younger. You might say the nonsense with Mabel Hanks was a ruse. It was you I wanted all the time. Your Honor, may I present the Right Honorable Cotton Younger from Clay County, Missouri, and other parts past mention?"

Just then the door flew open and the two women sailed out, fighting and fussing. Mabel had a firm grip on Kim Stover's red hair and Kim was holding firm to the corset around her otherwise naked body as they landed in a rolling, spitting heap between Longarm and the man against the door!

Longarm muttered, "d.a.m.n!" as Timberline opened the door and crashed backward out of the chambers.

Longarm drew as he leaped over the cat-fight on the rug and came down running. As he left the room, a bullet tore a sliver from the jamb near his head and he fired across the deserted courtroom at the smoke cloud in the far doorway.

He ran the length of the courtroom and dove into the hallway headfirst, landing on his belly and elbows as he slid across the marble floor beneath the first shot fired his way at waist level.

He rolled and fired back at the tall, dark figure outlined by the window at the end of the long hallway. The target jacknifed over its gunbelt and feinted sideways for the stair-well, falling with a.44-40 slug in the guts!

Longarm leaped to his feet and ran to the stairway, hearing a series of b.u.mps and the clatter of metal on the marble steps. The man called Timberline lay on the landing, sprawled like an oversized broken doll. His gun lay beyond, still smoking.

As Longarm went down two steps at a time, a bailiff appeared on the steps, coming up. Longarm snapped, "Go down and bar the doors. He's got a score of friends outside!"

Federal bailiffs were trained to obey first and think later, so this one did as he was told. Longarm knelt to feel for a pulse. Then he stood up again and began reloading his warm double-action, muttering, "d.a.m.n it to h.e.l.l! Now we'll never know where Jesse James is hiding!"