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Episode Twelve
concluded with:
“You’re
getting a bit careless, Stacey,” Rance said.
“Please elaborate,” The gambler replied. “You know how highly I value the
insights of the west’s finest detective.”
“Travelling gamblers are a target in a small place like Hard Stone,” Rance
explained, as the saloon patrons returned to their fun. “If a well-dressed dude
cleans them out, one man provokes a fight while the other one plugs the
gambler. That way they get their money back and a good story to talk about the
next day.”
“And no one cares about the fate of the itinerant gambler.” Hooper shook his
head. “Plato was right. The masses well deserve the designation of ‘beast’.”
A broad smile swept across Stacey Hooper’s face. “But why dwell on life’s
little shortcomings? You just saved my life, good friend.” Stacey motioned to
the bartender, “Two beers, please!”
Rance immediately noticed that his friend had simply ordered the beers. He had
not mentioned paying for them. Dehner smiled inwardly. Stacey Hooper hadn’t
changed one bit.
Episode Thirteen
***
Rush Hunter lay on the roof of
Westlake’s General Store and shivered. In early September, the nights were
starting to get cool. Or did the coldness come from fear? He had never
committed murder before.
So far,
luck was on his side. No desk clerk had been around when he entered the hotel
and he was able to take a glance at the register. Stacey Hooper was signed in.
A quick check of the Lucky Miner revealed that the gambler was plying his
trade. No one thought it strange that the sheriff should inquire about a
newcomer in town who made a living by playing cards.
“He’ll
return here and I’ll rid the world of one useless sharper,” Hunter whispered to
himself.
His
location was good. The General Store stood at two stories. The roof was far
above the occasional lanterns that splattered dabs of murky light along Main
Street. A rope was now tied to the back of the building for a quick
escape.
Of course,
Rush Hunter would be among the first to arrive at the scene after Stacey Hooper
lay dead, the dutiful sheriff doing his duty. That last thought made him
twitch. He wanted to be able to laugh at deceiving the town folks, but couldn’t.
Hunter
tensed up as he heard a voice from down the street: a voice he had heard a few
hours ago in the Lucky Miner. “Of course I was cheating, Rance. So was everyone
else in the game, or they were trying to. Why, not to cheat at playing cards
amounts to gambling, which is a sin.”
The sheriff
saw two shadows advancing through the puddles of light. He couldn’t take a
chance on the gambler’s friend possibly running after Hooper’s killer. He would
have to shoot both of them.
Tomorrow: Episode
Fourteen of Last Job
