Longarm sat up straighter in surprise. Kinsman nodded toward him and said to the deputy, "There he is, Bullfinch. Ask him yourself."
Deputy Bullfinch--as the target of more than one humorous comment about his own name, Longarm didn't envy the local lawman--turned to him and said, "How about it, mister?"
"What do you need me for?" asked Longarm coolly.
"The sheriff says I got to start doin' things more legal-like. That means havin' a inquest ever' time somebody gets theirselves killed by violent means."
Longarm didn't point out that it might be difficult to kill somebody by non-violent means. Bullfinch's request tied right in with Longarm's own plans, so he nodded and said, "Sure, I'll be glad to come with you, Deputy."
"I'm much obliged. The hearin' will be tomorrow mornin' at nine o'clock. You can stay the night in the Ponderosa House, or if you like, there's nobody in the cell at the jail house right now, so you could sleep there."
Kinsman spoke up again. "No rider of mine is spendin' the night in jail unless he deserves it. I'll pay for your room at the hotel, Custis."
"Thanks, Boss," said Longarm with a grin. "I got to admit, the idea of sleeping behind bars don't appeal much to me, even if the door isn't locked."
Seth Thomas put in, "Bet you've spent more than one night in jail."
"If I have, it's none of your business, junior," Longarm replied crisply.
"That's enough, you two," said Kinsman. He waved a hand at the table, which had plenty of leftovers scattered on it. Un less you're in a big hurry, Bullfinch, sit down and have some supper before you start back to Timber City."
The deputy practically licked his lips as he reached for an empty chair. "Thanks, Mr. Kinsman," he said eagerly. "I reckon the trip back can wait a spell. That'll give Custis a chance to get together any gear he might want to take."
"That's right," said Longarm dryly. There wasn't much he planned to take along, however. He would be traveling light on this trip to Timber City.
And on the way back, he would pay a visit to the lumber camp and try to find out if maybe, just maybe, Aurora Mcentire knew anything about bushwhackers.
The inquest was pretty cut and dried. The local undertaker also served as the coroner, and he swore in a jury of six townies who heard Longarm testify that he had killed the deceased only after the fella had done his best to kill both Longarm and Matt Kinsman's cook, Wing. Deputy Bullfinch had explained to Longarm that Wing wouldn't need to testify, being a Chinaman and all. Longarm's word was good enough for the jury. The verdict was a foregone conclusion: The deceased had met his end in the course of committing a crime, so good riddance. Longarm stood up as the coroner banged a gavel on the table in the front room of the undertaking parlor, where the hearing had taken place. "This hearing is adjourned," said the undertaker in a reedy voice.
Longarm turned to Deputy Bullfinch. "You through with me?"
"I reckon so. Appreciate you comin' in with me, Custis. We're tryin' to bring law an' order to this part o' the country, and the only way to do that is to see that ever'thing's done legal-like."
Longarm refrained from commenting that if Bullfinch really wanted to do something for law and order around Timber City, he would have gotten to the bottom of this feud between the cattlemen and the loggers before now. The Justice Department, in the form of Longarm himself, had been called in only when it became obvious that local authorities weren't going to put a stop to the trouble.
Longarm settled his hat on his head and stuck a cheroot in his mouth as he stepped out of the undertaking parlor. His saddlebags and the Winchester were at the hotel, his saddle and the roan at the livery stable. It took only a few minutes to gather everything he needed and ride out of Timber City.
He followed the main trail to the cutoff that led to the lumber camp, and veered west on the smaller path. A few minutes later, one of the lumberjacks stepped out of the underbrush and challenged him. It was similar to his experience the first time he'd come up there. "I'm Deputy Marshal Long," he told the sentry. "I was up here to see Mrs. Mcentire a few days ago."
The lumberjack nodded. "Yeah, I remember you. You were in camp the day that boom got away and wrecked Miz Mcentire's cabin."
"That's right. I need to speak to her again."
"Go on ahead," the man said with a wave of his hand as he lowered his rifle. "I'll signal for the others to let you pass."
"Much obliged." Longarm prodded the roan into a walk.
As he rode on up the mountain, he spotted several other sentries. He wondered if there had been any more trouble since the runaway boom. Anybody who wanted to sneak up on these loggers was going to have to be pretty stealthy about it now.
When he reached the camp, he saw to his surprise that another log cabin had been thrown up near the sawmill. It was not as large as the one that had been destroyed by the boom, nor did it have a front porch, but it would serve just fine as the camp's headquarters and Aurora's residence. One thing they had plenty of around here, reflected Longarm, was logs.
He swung down from the roan and tied it to the hitching post in front of the newly constructed cabin. Before he could knock on the door, it opened and Aurora stepped out. "I saw you coming, Marshal," she said. "How are you?"
"Reckon I'm fine," replied Longarm. "Any more problems around here?"
"Not so far, thank goodness." Aurora wore a dark blue dress and had a ribbon of the same shade tied in her thick dark hair. "Come inside."
Something about her tone struck Longarm as being cooler than it had been a few days earlier on his previous visit. Could be she was angry he hadn't gotten back out to the camp before now, he told himself. If that was the case, she would likely change her mind once she found out what he had been doing.
However, he realized a moment later that she already knew what he'd been up to--or at least she thought she did.
As soon as he had shut the door behind him, she rounded on him and said frostily, "I hear you've gone to work for the enemy."
Longarm's eyes widened a little in surprise. "What--oh, you mean you've heard about how I'm riding for the Diamond K."
"I thought you worked for the government."
"I do," he told her solemnly. "You ever hear of working in secret, Mrs. Mcentire?"
She flushed, and he wasn't sure if it was from anger or embarrassment. "You mean you're trying to find proof that Kinsman is behind our trouble?"
"Kinsman--or somebody else on his ranch."
Aurora lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry, Marshal. I should have known it was something like that when I heard in town that you were working for Kinsman. He doesn't know you're a lawman?"
"Nope. I'm not sure how long I can keep it that way, though, so I want to sort out this mess as quick as I can."
"What's to sort out? Just get the proof that he's trying to ruin me and arrest him."
Longarm shook his head. "It ain't quite that easy. For one thing, I'm not completely convinced that Kinsman's to blame for your troubles."
"What?" She stared at him in disbelief. "Who else could it be?"
"I don't rightly know," admitted Longarm. "Could be some of the young punchers on his spread, acting on their own."
"No," insisted Aurora. "That unpleasant old man is behind things, I'm sure of it."
"Or... it might be somebody else entirely. Do you have any other enemies who might want to see you have trouble with that government contract?"
"Of course not. It has to be Kinsman," Aurora said stubbornly.
"Funny thing," said Longarm, though he didn't really consider it amusing at all. "He says the same thing about you. He blames you for rustling cattle and poisoning wells on the Diamond K."