Julie Garwood - Come the Spring

lied.

"Even if we were tired, we cleaned every inch of the bank because

MacCorkle wouldn't pay us our full wage if we didn't."

"He was a hard man to work for, " Mildred whispered.

"You shouldn't be speaking ill of the dead, " Edward told his wife.

"I'm speaking the truth, " she argued.

"We'll let you get back to your job, " Ryan said. "Thanks for your

help." Edward moved forward to let them out the front door. "Do you

think you could get MacCorkle's wife to pay us for the two nights we

cleaned? " "I'll be happy to talk to her, but if she doesn't pay you,

I'll make sure the new manager does." s Edward shook his head. "If we

can be of any help catching those men who killed our friends, you let

us know, Marshal."

"I'll do that, " Ryan promised.

The marshals started down the boardwalk. "Now what do we do? " Cole

asked.

"Go back to the bank and box up all the papers from yesterday's

business. It won't take long."

"Do you think the restaurant's still open? " "No, it's too late. Your

apple's going to have to do for the moment. I wish we could go talk to

those three women now, but I don't know where they live."

"We can get the addresses from the sheriff as soon as he gets back with

his posse."

"Yes, " Ryan agreed.

They walked along in silence for several minutes, and then Cole said,

"At least we know the bag was left during the day of the robbery.

MacCorkle was a real sweetheart, wasn't he? " "You mean holding back

their wages if they didn't do a thorough job? " "Exactly, " Cole

said.

"Why would a woman leave her purse behind? " "She must have been in a

panic."

"If she was hiding in the kneehole, she saw the whole thing.

" "Maybe she saw the whole thing, " Ryan said. "We should talk to the

man who sits at the desk." He handed Cole the key to the front door of

the bank while he dug his notepad out again. After Cole had gone

inside and turned up the gas lamp, Ryan found what he was looking

for.

"His name's Lemont Morganstaff. We'll talk to him in the morning, " he

said. "He might know something about the bag."

"What's he gonna know? " Cole asked.

Ryan shrugged. "Probably nothing, but we have to ask him anyway. "

"And then what? " "If he doesn't know where the bag came from, we

still can't assume a woman was hiding in the kneehole. It could have

ended up there a hundred different ways. One of the three women could

have sat down at the desk to go through some papers. She might have

dropped it when she got up. Damn, I wish it wasn't so late."

"You're right. There could be a hundred different explanations. A

woman could have left it during the morning. She could have come

inside with a friend and been sitting at the desk while he did his

banking."

"Why would a woman carry around an empty purse? " "I don't know why

they carry them in the first place. Pockets are more efficient."

"We shouldn't get our hopes up. A woman might have dropped it, then

kicked it into the corner of the kneehole when she stood up. Does that

make sense to you? " Cole shook his head. "The women I know keep

track of their things."

"God, I hope she saw it."

"Now who's being ruthless?

If she did see the murders, she has to be scared out of her mind. The

last thing she's going to want to do is come forward."

"We'll protect her."

"She won't believe that, not if she heard what happened to Luke

MacFarland." Ryan began to pace around the lobby. In the shadows of

the gas lamps, the bloodstains resembled ghoulish outlines.

"We're going to try to follow procedure on this one. I don't want to

leave any stone unturned.

Exasperated, Cole said, "I've been a marshal one day. I don't know

what the procedures are."

"We interview the three women first, but we also question every man who

came in here yesterday."

"It seems like a waste of time to me, " Cole said.

"It's procedure." Cole leaned back against a desk and took another

bite of his apple.

"Fine, we'll do it your way. There were twenty-nine people inside the

bank. You talk to fifteen and I'll take the other fourteen."

"No, that isn't how it works. We interview them together, then compare

notes afterwards. I might miss something that you will pick up, " he

explained. "We'll talk to the women first, " he repeated. "Then the

others. And that's only the beginning. We need to talk to everyone

who happened to be on the street, near the street, or in one of the

buildings close to the bank. We alsoţ" Cole interrupted him. "In

other words, we talk to everyone."

"Just about, " Ryan replied. "As much as I hate to, we're going to

have to involve Sloan on this. I don't know these people. He does,

and people here might tell him things they won't tell us. I'll give

him the list of names as soon as he gets back. P} Ryan stopped pacing

and looked around the lobby. "I think we're finished here. I'll put

yesterday's papers in the safe just in case one of us wants to go

through them again. The bookkeepers from the bank in Gramby will be

here Sunday to examine MacCorkle's records, and when they're finished,

we'll know the exact amount stolen.

Let's meet back here at seven in the morning and have Sloan round up

the people we want to talk to."

"I don't think it's a good idea to question them here. We should use

the office at the jail." Ryan shook his head. "Jails make people

nervous."

"Seeing the bloodstains is going to make them more nervous."

"Yeah, you're right. We'll use the jail." After collecting the papers

and locking the safe, they left the bank.

"Have you checked into the hotel yet? " Ryan asked.

"No, I went directly to the bank. What about you? " "I didn't take

the time either. Are you still hungry? " "Yeah, I am, " Cole

answered. "Maybe the hotel will open the kitchen for us."

"They will, " Ryan assured him. "We're marshals. We'll make them."

Cole laughed. "I knew there had to be a couple of benefits to this

job." They walked in companionable silence down the middle of the

street, the only light supplied by a full moon.

"How much money do you think they got away with? " Cole asked.

"Like I said before, we won't know the exact amount until the examiners

go through the records. I do know from the receipt I found on

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