"But it's possible, isn't it? " "Yes, " Ryan agreed. "It's
possible.
The matter of the bag is confidential, Sheriff. I don't want you
telling anyone about it." Sloan dropped down to his knees. "You can
see through here . . . " "I want to get started, " Cole said
impatiently. "Show us where Lemont lives, and then start rounding up
the people on the list.
We'll use the jail to talk to them."
"I'll wait out front to take you to Lemont's, " Sloan said, bolting for
the door.
As soon as Sloan had stepped outside, Cole said, "It was a bad idea to
tell him where the bag was found." Ryan shrugged. "He's a lawman, and
he'll only get in our way if we don't feed him a little information now
and then. What harm can he do? " As it turned out, Sloan could do a
great deal of harm. Before the day was over, Ryan actually considered
locking the sheriff in his own jail.
Unfortunately, the law frowned on incarcerating a man just because he
was stupid.
In a town the size of Rockford Falls, everyone knew everyone else's
business, and carefully guarded secrets had a way of leaking out like
water through a sieve. The employee who worked at the desk where the
purse was found, Lemont Morganstaff, a prissy old-maid of a man, was
shown the cloth bag and duly questioned. The interview took place in
the claustrophobic parlor of Lemont's home. Dressed in a bright lime
green velvet robe and slippers, Lemont resembled a parrot. He sat in a
faded yellow velvet chair, rested his arms on the lace-covered arms,
and puckered his lips in thought for several minutes before declaring
that the purse couldn't have been found by his desk. He made it a
rule, he explained, never to let any of the customers, man or woman,
past the gate. However, since he hadn't been working on the day of the
robbery, he couldn't be certain the other employees had enforced his
rule.
Sheriff Sloan, who had insisted on being part of the interview, blurted
out the fact that the purse had been found in the kneehole of Lemont's
desk. "It couldn't have been kicked there, " he said, "because your
desk faces the lobby and that front panel goes all the way to the
floor.
Someone had to go around, past the gate, and get behind your desk.
I've had a little time to ponder on it, and I think that maybe there
was a woman hiding there during the robbery. I'd wager the marshals
think the same thing. Now, there were three women in the bankţtheir
names are on the list Marshal Ryan gave meţ and I'm going to go round
them up as soon as I'm finished here. I'm hoping the woman who saw the
murders is just too timid to come forward, but if she's deliberately
keeping the information to herself because she's scared, I'm going to
have to arrest her." Lemont covered his mouth with his lace
handkerchief and looked horrified. "You think a woman saw the
murders?
Oh, that poor dear, " he whispered.