"Hello, Mr. Bobcat."
"Just plain old Bobcat will do, " he explained. "Don't need a mister'
in front of it."
"How did you ever get such a nickname? " she asked, her curiosity
piqued.
He grinned at her. "A while back, I ran into a bobcat and had to
wrestle with him. I got the scars all over my belly to prove it. If
you'd like to see . . . " "No, no, that's quite all right. I believe
you, " Grace rushed out.
The sheriff couldn't seem to take his eyes off Grace, and the rudeness
irritated Daniel. "Was there something I could help you with? " he
asked impatiently.
Bobcat vigorously nodded. "We've got some trouble here. I was telling
the porter about it, and he mentioned he'd seen you wearing a badge and
thought maybe you could help."
"What exactly is the problem? " Daniel asked, wishing the sheriff
would get to the point.
"Yesterday, Gladys Anderson's boy, Billy, pulled a man out of the
lake.
Billy was doing some fishing instead of going to work at the stables
like he was supposed to, but it was fortunate he's such a slacker. The
man would have drowned if Billy hadn't been there, and that's the
truth.
Billy saw it happen too."
"Saw what happen? " "Billy was sitting on his boat watching the train
go over the trestle when all of a sudden he sees a man come flying out
and plunging down into the water. The poor fella hit hard and went
right under, but Billy fished him out, and that's when he noticed the
man had been shot. I'm thinking he was thrown off that train." Grace
was horrified. "How awful, " she said.
"Is the gentleman going to recover? " Bobcat mournfully shook his
head. "Doc says he's in a real bad way, ma'am. Real bad. The bullet
went through, so Doc didn't have to dig it out, but infection already
set in. I figured you'd want to know, Marshal, being as the dying man
is one of yours." Daniel was already reaching for Grace to pull her
off the train.
"He was wearing a badge, " Bobcat explained. "And the porter told me
his name is Cooper. Do you know him? " "Where is he? " Daniel asked,
his voice sharp with fear and anger.
"Inside the way station. Doc wouldn't let us take him any further.
He's in one of the sleeping rooms upstairs. The marshal's fighting for
his life, but Doc doesn't think he's gonna make it." Shaken by what he
had just heard, Daniel grabbed Grace and quickened his pace toward the
building. The sheriff ran by his side.
"Did you question everyone on the train? " Daniel demanded.
"I did, " the sheriff answered. "One woman saw him going over the
trestle, but she didn't see anything else. No one heard the gunshot
either, " he added in a pant. "A window was shattered by one bullet,
and I figure two were fired. The second went through the marshal. "