straw. He politely asked for coffee. She impolitely demanded to know
if he planned to linger while he drank it.
"Ma'am, neither Marshal Ryan nor I killed the seven men who were just
buried, and we'd both appreciate it if you'd stop treating us like we
did."
"Why haven't you caught any of the men who killed them? That's what
folks are wondering." 'We're trying, " Ryan said, his voice weary.
"I know you've been talking to the folks who were in the bank the day
of the murders." Cole nodded. "Word gets around fast, doesn't it? "
he remarked to Ryan.
He turned back to the woman. "None of your friends and neighbors saw
anything. They didn't see them ride into town or out. They didn't
hear any gunshots either, " he added.
She gave the marshals a sympathetic look. "Oh, some of them probably
heard the shots. They were maybe too scared to do anything about it.
You boys are tired, aren't you? My name's Loreen, " she added. "And
I'll go fetch your coffee now." She returned a minute later, poured
two cups, and put the coffeepot down on the table between the men.
"The way I see it, some folks would tell you if they'd seen or heard
anything, but most probably wouldn't. We all know what happens to
people who talk. The Blackwater gang comes back to get them. Every
one knows that's how they do things. In all my days I've never heard
of men who are so pure evil. I read a while back that they robbed a
bank in Texas and killed a woman and her little girl. The baby wasn't
even three years old."
"She was four, " Ryan said.
Loreen's head snapped up. "Then it's true." His voice was soft,
chilling. "Yes, it's true."
"Dear God, why would they want to hurt such an innocent little lamb?
She couldn't have told anything. She was too little. }^ Cole's
appetite vanished. They were dealing with monsters, and all he wanted
to think about was catching them.
Loreen put her bony hand on her hip and shook her head. "I know you're
trying to do your best. You boys take all the time you need. Business
is suffering anyway because of the influenza spreading through town.
Even the strangers who come to gawk at the falls are getting sickţat
least most of them are, according to the doc. He says the sickness
isn't contagious, but I say it is. Have you talked to that poor woman
who saw the murders? " Lost in their own thoughts, the marshals were
jarred by her question.
Cole asked her to repeat it.
"I asked you if you talked to the poor woman who saw the murders, " she
said. "I heard you suspect that one of the three women who were in the
bank during the afternoon saw everything while it was happening. If
she isn't too scared, she might tell you what she saw, and if she is
too scared, well then, maybe you could persuade her to talk. I'm not
trying to tell you how to run your investigation, " she hastily
added.
"But since you suspect . . . " "We don't suspect anyone, " Cole