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Episode Eight concluded with:
“I apologize for the way Lem acted. He’s usually
welcoming to strangers,” Lila said.
“I understand how Lem feels, Miss Tantrall.”
“Oh?”
They passed through the living room and started
down a hallway. “I’m an outsider brought in to help. Whenever that happens,
there is usually somebody who takes offense. Somebody who thinks he could have
handled the job just fine.”
Lila looked thoughtful and paused a few moments
before speaking again.”Yes, Lem has been father’s right hand for several years
now. He’s the man father goes to when a special problem comes up. But Lem needs
to realize that this problem is different. A lot different.”
Episode Nine
They
stopped at the last room in the hallway. Lila knocked on the door and opened it
at the same time, moving her head inside. “Father, Mr. Rance Dehner of the
Lowrie Agency is here to see you.”
“Show
him in!”
The
moment Rance stepped inside, Lila closed the door. Her retreating footsteps
could be heard moving down the hall. The detective figured those steps were
suspiciously loud. There was a theatrical quality about them: the steps of
someone who planned on quietly returning and listening in at the door.
Elijah
Tantrall stood up from his large desk and extended a hand. “Thanks for gettin’
here so quick, Rance. Good to meet you.”
The
two men shook hands as Dehner spoke. “I had just finished up a case nearby when
I got the telegram from Dallas. The boss said you wired him about a problem.”
“Yeah.
I got a problem all right.” Tantrall motioned for Dehner to sit in a chair that
fronted the desk. As he did so, Rance gave the room a quick once over. The desk
was a mess of papers and, besides the chair, the only other piece of furniture
was a large sofa that sagged from plenty of use. Dehner surmised that the
rancher often slept on that sofa after a long night of battling paper work.
Tantrall
laughed scornfully at his desk as he once again settled in behind it. “Spent a
good part of my life stayin’ away from this kind of work. My wife, Connie, use
ta do this stuff for me. Nothin’ has been the same since she died.”
For
a moment, Elijah stared at a blank wall. He went to a different location but
quickly returned and looked directly at Dehner. “There have been several
attacks on homesteaders around here recently. Started off with barn burnings,
fences pulled down, that sort of thing. Then, three days ago, an entire family,
the Ashleys, were murdered in broad daylight.”
“What
has the local law done?”
“The
law around these parts is Max Thompson…or was. Max was killed two nights ago
while searching for the killers of the Ashley family. His body was dumped in
the barn of Glenn Kagan, the head of the Homesteaders Association.” Tantrall
paused and pressed his lips together. Dehner realized that Max Thompson had
been friends with the rancher.
Elijah
Tantrall only needed a moment to get his emotions back in check. “Kagan is
convinced that I did it as a warning to him and the rest of the homesteaders to
get out.”
“I
take it you’re not on good terms with the homesteaders.”
Tomorrow:
Episode Ten of Night Riders
