He didn't waste any time telling Cole what he had learned. "One of the
Blackwater gang was captured."
"Where did they get him? " "He was hiding in one of the caverns just
inside the Texas border.
They've taken him over to Blackwater." Cole went to get a clean cup
from the shelf across the room. He poured himself some coffee, took a
drink, and then asked, "Is he alive? " "Barely, " Daniel answered.
"The sheriff in Maple Hills put a couple of bullets in him. It was a
piece of luck that the sheriff stumbled on him.
The man was sick as a dog with influenza, but he still put up a
fight.
I hope to God he lives long enough to stand trial. Damn, I wish I were
there now. I can't wait to talk to him."
You can't believe he'll tell you anything."
"Oh, yes, I do believe that. He's going to tell me everything I want
to know."
"Is talking all you plan to do, or did you have something else in
mind?
" he asked quietly.
"That depends on how the trial goes. He isn't going to walk away, "
Daniel said. He shook his head and added, "Judge Rafferty won't let
that happen. If the man's one of the Blackwater boys, he'll hang. "
"You sound like you know this judge personally."
"I do, " Daniel answered. "Every one in Texas knows him, or at least
has heard of him.
Rafferty has quite a reputation for being hard-nosed.
Folks think he makes Hangin' Judge Cyrus Burns look like a saint. You
don't cross Rafferty and keep on breathing. He's also got a real
personal stake in all of this, " he added. "Rafferty lost a good
friend in a robbery up in Kansas. The two of them went way back, and
he took the man's death hard. He wants revenge."
"Then he's personally involved. A fancy lawyer could argue for a new
judge."
"Maybe, but he'd lose, " Daniel said. "Rafferty's the law in west
Texas.
Fortunately, he's also an honest man. Hell, if he weren't, he would
have handed the man over to a lynching mob by now."
"You think they've had trouble? " "Yes, I do." Cole thought about
that for a moment, and then asked, "What's in the other telegrams? "
"They're all from Rafferty. He must have been standing inside the
telegraph office and was in a talkative mood. He wanted to know if we
had any leads, and I wired him back that there was a remote possibility
of a witness.
He jumped right on that. I told him there might have been a woman
hiding in the bank, that we think it's one of three, but none of them
will admit it . . . " "What did he say about that? " "He wants us to
bring all three of them to Blackwater. He says he can get the truth
out of them."
"Does he have the authority to make us bring them? " Daniel leaned