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Episode
Fourteen concluded with:
Penelope nodded her head. “Our sheriff, Rush Hunter, is a good
man. I’m afraid I’ve been too harsh on him. So has much of the town. Rush has
to uphold the law. A jury found Lon Westlake guilty of robbing the bank.
What could a lawman do?!”
“I’ll talk with the sheriff first thing in the
morning. I’ll let you know the moment I come up with anything significant, Miss
Castle. Meanwhile, allow me to walk you home.”
“That’s very kind of you. Thanks.”
“Propriety demands that I wish both of you good night, despite the fact that
you both are oblivious to my presence!” Stacey Hooper turned and marched into
the hotel.
“Oh, dear!” Penelope put a hand to her cheek.
“Don’t worry about my friend. He’s temperamental, but harmless.”
***
Rush Hunter watched the couple walk up the street and vanish into the night.
George Conklin would not be happy when he learned the gambler was still alive.
Hunter would have to come up with a new scheme. Fast.
Episode Fifteen
***
Rance Dehner
knocked on the door of Stacey Hooper’s room.
The “Come in” he received was laced with irritation.
The
gambler stood in front of a pine bureau where an open whiskey flask had been
placed beside the wash basin. Hooper rolled a cigarette as he looked up at his
friend.
“Breakfast,”
he said.
“I
thought you smoked cigars,” Dehner replied.
“Cigars
are for the evening. What time is it anyway?”
“About
ten in the morning.”
Stacey
ignited a match on his thumbnail and set the flame to his handiwork. “When the
game is good, I’m usually turning in about now. How did things go with dear
Penelope last night?”
“Okay.
I walked her home.”
“Is
that all?”
“Yes!”
Stacey
inhaled on his cigarette and let out a cloud of smoke. “I swear, Rance, you
must be descended from those wretched puritans that came over from England. The
old country was happy to be rid of them,--a bunch of pious sticks.”
“This
isn’t the time to discuss history.”
“Then
what do you want to discuss?”
“George
Conklin.” Dehner told the gambler Tully Brooks’ story about being paid by
Conklin to help fake a bank robbery.
Hooper
let out a harsh laugh. “Doesn’t surprise me.”
“Why
not?”
“Conklin
gambled a lot in Denver. But he didn’t gamble wisely.”
“He
got himself in serious debt?”
Stacey
Hooper grinned mischievously. “Serious
indeed. But Mr. Conklin did pay up. Late, but not too late.”
“Didn’t
it impress you as a bit suspicious that a man who had gotten himself so deep in
the hole could suddenly pay off all his debts?”
“Nothing
suspicious about it, Rance! Of course he scrounged up the money in some ill
gotten manner! But that’s his business. The only important thing is, he paid
off all his creditors.”
“Have
you seen Conklin since arriving in Hard Stone?”
“Briefly.
At the restaurant. We exchanged the usual pleasantries. Nothing more.”
Rance
Dehner fell silent for a few minutes. Stacey puffed on his cigarette nervously,
and growled at his companion. “I hate these silent spells of yours. They always
end with you concocting some wild scheme. A scheme that always involves me.”
“You’re
right, Stacey.”
“My
worst fears, confirmed.”
Tomorrow:
Episode Sixteen of Last Job