“Yes, ma’am, well, that’s not exactly what I want to talk about.”
“What is it, then?”
“I’m trying to find the man who caused all this. He killed the deputy from Purgatory. Then I’m sure that, somehow, he caused the wreck so he could steal the money and get away in all the panic and confusion. I think that man’s name is Matt Jensen, and he got on the train in Purgatory, the same time you did. I’m hoping you might have seen him.”
“He didn’t cause the train wreck,” Louise said. “And I don’t believe he killed the deputy or stole the money.”
Louise’s answer surprised Kyle. He had thought, at best, that she might claim to have seen him, but be able to offer little information. But her answer not only indicated that she had seen him, it also meant that she had interacted with him in some way.
“Mrs. Dobbs, excuse me, but what do you mean? I am confused as to why you would say such a thing. Do you know this man?”
“No.”
“Then, how can you be so sure that he didn’t cause the wreck, kill the deputy, and steal the money?”
“Because he saved my life,” Louise replied. “And he also saved the lives of several others on the train. If he had done all those things you said he did, I do not believe he would have stayed around to help the others. Do you believe that he would?”
“I don’t know,” Kyle said. “There’s no telling how some people are going to react to certain things. He may have just done that to throw people off.”
“No, that wouldn’t be necessary. In fact, Jerry and I are the only ones who could have recognized him, so he had no reason to throw people off. I knew who he was the moment he showed up in the car where I was pinned under the seat. He had been in chains when he got on the train, but somehow he got out of them. And I’ll you the truth, Marshal, I was very glad to see him because, as I say, he saved my life.”
“Let’s say that you are right, let us say that he did save your life—”
“There is no ‘let us say’ to it,” Louise said, interrupting Kyle. “He did save my life.”
“All right, he did save your life. If that is the case, then don’t you think that might cause you to have a loyalty to him? A loyalty that is misplaced? Especially if he was the cause of the accident in the first place?”
“How could he have caused the accident?” Louise asked. “You said yourself that he was in chains.”
“But, by your own admission, he wasn’t in chains when you saw him, was he?”
“No.”
“Could you describe him for me?”
“I don’t think I can,” Louise said.
“You don’t think you can, or you don’t think you will?”
Louise didn’t answer.
“Mrs. Dobbs, please,” Kyle said.
“You can say anything you want, Marshal. You are not going to make me believe that this man, Matt Jensen, did all the terrible things you said he did. Like I told you, he worked harder than anyone to pull people out of the wreckage. Then he helped Dr. Presnell tend to the injured. As a matter of fact, I doubt that he was even guilty of whatever crime put him in chains in the first place.”
“First-degree murder,” Kyle said. “He was tried and convicted, and was on his way to Yuma to be hanged, until he got away.”
“Well, all I can say is, I’m glad he got away.”
“I see,” Kyle said. He sighed. “Again, Mrs. Dobbs, my condolences for your loss.” He turned and walked away.
Unwittingly, Louise Dobbs had given him more information than she realized. She had told him that the man he had looked for had worked with Dr. Presnell. All he had to do now was talk to the doc.
Chapter Thirteen
When Odom and Bates left Quigotoa, Paco and Schuler stayed behind. Schuler stayed because he had gotten drunk the night before and was still passed out drunk the next morning. Paco stayed to, in his words, “look after Schuler.”
“Señor,” Paco said, shaking Schuler awake. “Señor, wake up.”
“What?” Schuler mumbled. “What is it? What do you want?”
“Wake up, Señor,” Paco said.
Sitting up, Schuler rubbed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked around.
“Paco, what are you doing here?”
“I have come to wake you up, Señor Schuler.”
“Why?”
“Because you are in the room of my sister,” Paco said, only sister came out as seester. “My sister is a puta. She needs the room now.”
“What time is it?” Schuler’s eyes seemed to be floating in their sockets, and it was obvious he was having a hard time focusing.
“It is seven o’clock, I think.”
“Damn. I need a drink.”
Paco handed Schuler a bottle of tequila, and Schuler turned the bottle up to his lips, then took several swallows before lowering it. The drink had the effect of waking him up, and the eyes that couldn’t focus but a moment earlier now stared pointedly at Paco.
“Paco,” he said, as if just seeing him for the first time. “What are you doing here?”
“My sister needs this room now,” Paco said.
“Hey!” a voice shouted from the hallway outside the room. “If you ain’t got a whore in there with you, get the hell out!”
“All right, all right,” Schuler called back. “I’m coming.”
There was no need for Schuler to get dressed, because he was wearing the same clothes he’d had on when he went to bed the night before. For that matter, he was wearing the same clothes he’d worn last week, and the week before that.
Schuler got to his feet rather unsteadily, stabilized himself for a moment by holding on to the bedpost, then, summoning as much dignity as he could, took two steps across the little room and opened the door.
There was an Anglo cowboy standing in the hall, with his arm draped around Rosita’s neck. His hand was cupped around one of Rosita’s breasts.
“What the hell were you doing in there anyway, you goddamn drunk?” the cowboy asked Schuler. “You ain’t had a woman in so long, you wouldn’t even know what a naked woman looks like.”
“I’m sorry,” Schuler said.
“Yeah, well, sorry doesn’t get it,” the angry cowboy said. “Just get the hell out of the way and let a man get his business done.”
“Yes, I’m sorry,” Schuler repeated.
Schuler followed Paco to the head of the stairs, then stopped for a moment in order to steady himself before he tackled the task of going down the narrow, steep flight of stairs. By holding on to the banister, he managed to negotiate them; then, standing on the main floor, he looked around the saloon for the others.
“Do you want breakfast, Señor?” Paco asked.
“Breakfast? No,” Schuler answered, the expression on his face reflecting his nausea over the thought of breakfast. “Where are Odom and Bates?” he asked.
“Odom said we are to meet him and Bates in Puxico.”
“We are to meet them in Puxico? Why?”
“We will divide the money there.”
“I don’t understand. Didn’t we divide the money last night?”
“Sí, we divided the money last night. But then we gave the money back to Señor Odom.”
“We did?” Schuler replied.
“Sí.”
“Why did we do that?”
“Señor Odom said it would be better if we went to Puxico before we divided the money. Do you not remember this, amigo? We talked about it, and we all agreed.”
“No, I—I don’t remember,” Schuler said. His confusion was very evident now. “I don’t think I would agree to such a thing. I don’t want to go to Puxico.”
“That’s because you were drunk, Señor,” Paco said.
Schuler ran his hand through his thinning, white hair. “All right,” he said. “Are you coming?”