“Davis told us,” Thomas replied. “The Bank of Denver.”
“Do know how many banks are in Denver?” Cory asked. “Do you know how many of them are called the Bank of Denver?”
“There’s more than one?”
“Oh, yes, there’s more than one.”
“Then…how will we know which one Cardwell’s gonna hit?” Thomas asked, suddenly feeling very helpless.
“We’ll discuss it with the chief of police,” Cory said. “He can probably tell us which bank is the biggest. Or will have the most money on hand. If Cardwell’s been waiting his whole rotten career to hit this bank, it’ll probably be the biggest.”
“But before the chief will see us…”
“Right,” Cory said, “bath and shave. Come on, we’ll check into the closest hotel.”
“Will they have baths?”
“Thomas,” Cory said, “in this city all the hotels have baths—in your room!”
“Right in the room?” Thomas said. “No.”
Later, after they’d secured a room, had a bath and a shave, and paused to have a drink to wash the trail dust out of their throats, they went to police headquarters on Cherokee Street and asked to speak with the chief of police.
The uniformed policeman at the front desk asked, “What’s it about?”
“A bank robbery.”
“Where did this take place?”
“It hasn’t happened yet,” Thomas said. They’d agreed he would do the talking, since he was the one wearing a badge.
The officer, a big, florid-faced man in his fifties, stared at him and asked, “Then how do you know it’s gonna happen?”
“Look,” Thomas said, “my name is Thomas Shaye, I’m a deputy sheriff from Vengeance Creek, Arizona, and I’ve tracked a bank robber and killer to your city. I think he’s gonna hit another bank here.”
“Which one?’
“The Bank of Denver.”
“Son,” the man said, “we have a lot of Banks of Denver—’”
“I think if I could speak with the chief of police we could get this cleared up.”
The man thought this over while Thomas inspected the gold and silver badge on his uniformed chest that said DENVER POLICE. Finally, the man said, “Wait a minute,” and picked up the receiver of a telephone on his desk. Thomas had only seen a telephone once before, in Oklahoma City, and he’d never used one. Denver also offered him a second look at trolleys and electric lights, things he’d also only seen the year before during his brief and deadly stay in Oklahoma City.
“All right,” the officer said, “the chief says he’ll see you. Wait here and someone will come for you.”
With that, the officer proceeded to ignore them.
“This might not be easy,” Thomas said.
“What is?” Cory asked. “Just don’t back down, Thomas. Be confident.”
Thomas nodded just as a young officer came out and asked, “Deputy Shaye?”
“That’s right.”
“Come with me, please?”
“All right.” Thomas and Cory started forward.
“Uh, who’s this?”
“He’s with me,” Shaye said.
“And your name?”
“Ralph Cory.”
“Are you a deputy?”
“I’m a volunteer.”
The young policeman hesitated, then said, “All right. Follow me.”
They trailed him down a long hall to a closed door with gold lettering that proclaimed: OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE. The young man knocked, opened the door and announced, “Deputy Shaye and Mr. Ralph Cory.”
He stepped aside to allow Thomas and Cory to enter.
That same morning, sixty-seven miles away in Colorado Springs, Ben Cardwell sat in a café with four men.
“You four are hired, and you have to bring in eleven more men. This is a job that’ll take a dozen of us.”
The four men exchanged a glance, and then Scott Dolan said, “We can do that.”
“By tomorrow mornin’,” Cardwell said.
This time there was hesitation, but Dolan said, “All right.”
“Saddled up and ready to go at first light. I want to be in Denver by tomorrow night.”
“That’ll take some hard ridin’,” Dolan said.
“So get me eleven men who can ride hard,” Cardwell said.
“We’re gonna need some money to outfit.”
Cardwell had come prepared. He had a couple of packs of Vengeance Creek money folded into a newspaper on the table. Now he pushed the newspaper across to Dolan.
“There should be enough in there to do the job.”
Dolan put his hand on the newspaper.
“Don’t look at it now.”
Dolan pulled his hand away.
“I’ll meet you all in front of the livery stable at the end of Carlyle Street at first light,” Cardwell said. “Be outfitted and ready for a one day ride.”
“We’ll be there,” Dolan said. “When do we find out what bank we’re hittin’?”
Cardwell sat back in his chair and said, “Just before we hit it.”
“Why is it such a secret?” one of the other men asked.
“That’s the way I do business,” Cardwell said. “If you don’t like it, you can bow out. I’m sure I can find somebody to take your share.”
“No, no,” Dolan said. “This sounds like a good deal. We don’t want to give up any shares.”
“Good,” Cardwell said. “Then you better get started collectin’ those other men.”
The four men pushed back their chairs and stood up.
“And make sure they can ride, and shoot.”
“Don’t worry,” Dolan said. “They’ll be as good as us.”
Cardwell had known Dolan and one of the other men—Sam Barkin—for a few years, and didn’t take that as such a great recommendation. However, he needed bodies and guns, and since he planned on double-crossing every last one of them, the rest didn’t really matter.
67
“I’ve got fifteen permanent members of the force,” Police Chief Aaron Stattler said. “I can probably hire about ten more for temporary duty.”
Thomas had talked and talked while the chief listened, and then was surprised when the man took everything he said at face value.
“You don’t want to telegraph Vengeance Creek to confirm my story?”
“What would your motive be to warn me of an impending bank robbery?” Stattler asked.
“Maybe we’re plannin’ to rob one of the other banks,” Cory offered.
“I consider myself a very good judge of character,” the sixtyish police chief said, “and I don’t think that’s the case. So, let’s decide how we’re going to proceed.”
“I guess we have to figure out which bank he’s gonna hit,” Cory said.
“Well,” Chief Stattler said, “Bank of Denver has three branches in the city.”
“Is one bigger than the others?” Thomas asked.
“I don’t know if any of them is physically larger than the others,” the chief said, “but I do think that one has the most money. It’s in the business district, so a lot of businesses have their payrolls there.”
“That’s the one he’d go for, then,” Thomas said, “don’t you think, Ralph?”
“Seems to me if he’s been workin’ his way up to this bank for his whole career, he’d go for the biggest payoff. My guess is he’s looking to retire.”
“How many men will he have with him?” Stattler asked.
“We’re not sure,” Thomas said. “He used seven or eight in Vengeance Creek.”
“My guess is he’d use about a dozen,” Cory said.
“That would make for a big split,” the chief commented.
“Actually,” Thomas said, “he didn’t split with anyone in his gang when he hit our bank. He left them all behind to die or get arrested while he took off with the money, and one other man. Who knows, he may have double-crossed him by now too.”