Longarm had done his pondering, then gone through it all again and yet again. He had ideas, but no proof of anything. As darkness settled down on the train while it rolled through the Southwestern landscape, he decided that the time had come to do a little more snooping around …
First, though, he would have to wait until everyone was asleep. He straightened from his half-reclined position, frowning at the twinge in his lower back from stiff muscles, as Senator Padgett announced that he and Mercer were going to the club car for dinner. “I’ll come with you,” Longarm said, placing his hands on his knees and pushing himself to his feet.
“We could bring something back for you if you’d like, Marshal,” Padgett offered. “Don’t feel as if you have to tag along behind me everywhere I go. I think we’ve pretty well established by now that any threat to me is over.” Padgett snorted. “I don’t know why Chief Marshal Vail didn’t relieve you of this job when you wired him while we were in Tucson.”
“I reckon Billy’s got his reasons,” Longarm said.
The main one being that Longarm hadn’t asked to be relieved, didn’t want to be relieved. This assignment wasn’t over yet, not by a long shot, and Longarm and Billy both knew it. In fact, if everything worked out the way Longarm hoped, it was about to start heating up again.
Janice and Julie Cassidy were already in the club car, and they insisted that Longarm, Padgett, and Mercer join them, which the three men did without hesitation. Dinner passed pleasantly, and when it was over, Julie seized a moment alone with Longarm to say quietly, “I hope you’ll come to see us tonight after everyone else is asleep, Custis.”
It was a mighty tempting invitation, the kind that any man, including Longarm, would have been thrilled to receive. But there was something else he had in mind to do first. Maybe if that other business didn’t take too long, he could stop by the sisters’ compartment.
“I’ll see what I can do, Miss Julie,” he promised, hoping they wouldn’t be too disappointed if they had to wait a while. Hoping too that he would still feel like seeing them when he finished his other errand.
The prospect of bedding the Misses Cassidy again only added to the anticipation that kept Longarm on edge all evening. He concealed what he was feeling as best he could, but he was greatly relieved when Padgett and Mercer finally turned in. Sitting just outside the compartment, as was his habit, he waited until he hadn’t heard any noise coming from inside for nearly half an hour, except for Padgett’s usual snoring.
Longarm stood up then and began making his way back along the train toward the baggage car.
The car was dark and deserted when he got there, as he had hoped it would be. He had overheard enough conversation among the jockeys the past few days to know that their running poker game had moved to the caboose and expanded to include the train’s brakemen and conductor. That was a lucky break for him, and he was going to take advantage of it. He dug out a Lucifer from his coat pocket, flicked it into life with an iron-hard thumbnail, and lit one of the lanterns hanging on the wall of the car. That gave him enough light to begin his search.
He proceeded methodically. This was hardly the first search Longarm had conducted. He went through the trunks and the carpetbags and the valises, opening even those that were locked without much trouble. His keen, experienced eye scanned the contents of each item. He took care not to disturb things so much that it would be readily apparent a search had taken place.
His disappointment grew as he went through more than half the baggage without finding a thing suspicious or even very strange. There were plenty of clothes, both clean and dirty, and a handful of books, both clean and dirty. Racing silks, extra tack, bottles of liniment good for both man and horse. Toys, corsets, suspenders, baby bottles, bird-cages, sheet music, hats, cosmetics, tools, musical instruments, stuffed and mounted fish … this baggage car contained all the odds and ends to be expected that might belong to a whole trainload of passengers.
But so far, not what he was looking for.
He came to the bags belonging to Senator Padgett, recognizing them from all the times he had seen them carried in and out of various hotels. Having spent most of his time with Padgett, he knew the senator about as well as anyone on this train. Knew him well enough, in fact, that it was doubly important he go through the man’s baggage, Longarm thought. He opened a valise and began looking at the contents by the light of the lantern hanging behind him.
It took only a moment for Longarm to find one of the things he had been searching for.
The false bottom of the valise had never been meant to hide anything from a diligent professional. Longarm felt the hidden catch in the lining and quickly emptied the valise of its innocuous contents. Then he worked the catch and lifted the false bottom.
Six bundles of money were beneath it, arranged so that they were only one layer deep. The bills were tied together with twine. Longarm picked up one of the bundles and riffled the edges of the bills. Twenties, all of them.
Unless he missed his guess, they were all counterfeit too, just like the bills that somebody had given Rodriguez to kill him. Rodriguez had died not knowing that he had put his life on the line for counterfeit money. The stuff was good, no doubt about that.
But then, it should have been good, considering it had been printed from the plates made by the master counterfeiter Edward Nowlan.
And here was a plentiful supply of the stuff, Longarm thought grimly, hidden in the bag of a United States senator.
Chapter 11
Longarm put the counterfeit bills back in Padgett’s valise and replaced the false bottom. Anyone checking on the money would assume that it had not been disturbed, which was exactly what Longarm wanted. He continued searching the other bags. He still hadn’t found everything he was looking for.
Nor did he over the next half hour as he completed the search. The phony money was the only bit of evidence he had uncovered. It would be safe enough where it was, he reasoned. He came up on the toes of his flat-heeled boots and blew out the lantern, then made his way out of the darkened boxcar.
The moon had risen while he was conducting the search, he saw as he stepped back out onto the platform between cars. Silvery illumination washed down over the craggy landscape and glittered on the snowcaps of distant peaks. Longarm made his way through the cars, balancing himself against the slight swaying of the train with the ease of a veteran traveler. The lamps were turned low, and most people were asleep. He reached the private compartment where the Cassidy sisters were staying and rapped lightly on the door.
It opened immediately, and one of the lovely young women looked out at him with a worried frown on her face. From her outfit, which was a simple traveling gown devoid of lace and foolaraws, Longarm judged her to be Julie. Even after all this time, he occasionally had trouble telling them apart—when they were dressed, that is.
His guess as to the identity of the blonde facing him was confirmed when she said anxiously, “Oh, Custis, I’m glad you’re here. Have you seen Janice?”
Longarm frowned back at her. “I figured the two of you would be here together.”
Julie took hold of his sleeve and practically pulled him into the compartment. She was stronger than she looked. “Janice said she was going to step out for a breath of fresh air. That was over half an hour ago, and she hasn’t come back. To tell the truth, I thought she might have gone looking for you, intending to have you to herself for a while. That was why I asked if you’d seen her.”