appears your friend killed our target. I just met with our client at the courthouse, and he informed me that our services are no longer required.”
“ Jonathon Winslow.” The meeting he was rushing to must have been short.
“ Our work is confidential.”
“ Where’s the captain?”
“ I don’t know.”
“ Bullshit. He wouldn’t let you use his daughter as part of your disguise if he wasn’t close. We need him. Where is he?”
“ I’d prefer that you not take that tone with me, especially in public.”
Carl and Mary Schmidt were a husband-and-wife team that worked covertly for the Pinkertons to investigate swindles and frauds. As he had explained to me last October, they were normally hired by marks who felt foolish and wanted to get even with the person who took their money. Revenge was far more important than money to these people, and since fraud victims were generally wealthy, business was lucrative. Sharp and I had met the Schmidts because McAllen had asked us to leave Maggie in their protective care while we thwarted a silver robbery.
I took a deep breath and spoke calmly. “Is Captain McAllen in the area?”
“ Yes. He’s our supervisor on this assignment. But he stays away from us because his Pinkerton status is known. Mary goes riding with Maggie every day, and the captain meets up with them. She reports on our progress as the captain and his daughter ride along together. He stays away from us the rest of the time.”
“ Then I’d better go riding with them today.”
Schmidt thought about that. “If the contract were really closed, I don’t think you joining the women would be a problem. You see, Jonathon Winslow fired us, but he’s not really the client.”
He paused dramatically, wanting me to fill in the rest. So I did. “I presume the Pinkerton agency was engaged by his family in Boston. The swindle isn’t public yet, but if it makes the papers, our future congressman would look like someone who lacks judgment or is still too young to hold a weighty position. A trial has a way of exposing a lot of things besides the crime. So you’re thinking that a well-worded telegram to the parents can keep this engagement open, only now the assignment would be to keep young Jonathon’s name out of any proceedings or newspaper articles. Have I got that about right?”
“ Not about … exactly right.”
“ Let me explain something. Sharp didn’t kill Campbell. If you proceed along the path I just described, you’ll interfere with our best defense, which is that Campbell was killed by someone he swindled. Your goals will clash with mine. Sharp’s lawyer wants to use the stock scam to expose the real killer or at least sow doubt in a jury’s mind. Winslow’s name will likely surface because the other victims know that he also bought shares in the bogus company. So … extending the engagement could wreck my friend’s chances of going free. One last point: Jeff Sharp is a longtime friend of Captain Joseph McAllen.”
“ I think it will be a pleasant afternoon for a ride.”
“ You’re coming along.”
“ Of course. I take orders from my supervisor, not you.”
With that settled, I asked, “Why’s Maggie here?”
“ It was the perfect excuse for her to see her father every day. She’s in no more danger than she would be walking the streets of Durango, and she gives us perfect cover.”
“ Joseph’s idea or hers?”
Schmidt smiled as he got up to leave. “What do you think?”
“ Maggie’s. She’s a headstrong McAllen.”
“ I’m going upstairs to change. Are you riding like that?”
“ I am.” I marveled at how westernized I had become. In the East, I would never ride in street clothes. Of course, in the East, I wouldn’t be walking the streets in denim and boots.
Chapter 18
Schmidt led our party of four out of town toward Thumb Butte. As we came around a bend, I spotted a man sitting ramrod straight on a horse to the side of the road. Despite
“ Jonathon Winslow.” The meeting he was rushing to must have been short.
“ Our work is confidential.”
“ Where’s the captain?”
“ I don’t know.”
“ Bullshit. He wouldn’t let you use his daughter as part of your disguise if he wasn’t close. We need him. Where is he?”
“ I’d prefer that you not take that tone with me, especially in public.”
Carl and Mary Schmidt were a husband-and-wife team that worked covertly for the Pinkertons to investigate swindles and frauds. As he had explained to me last October, they were normally hired by marks who felt foolish and wanted to get even with the person who took their money. Revenge was far more important than money to these people, and since fraud victims were generally wealthy, business was lucrative. Sharp and I had met the Schmidts because McAllen had asked us to leave Maggie in their protective care while we thwarted a silver robbery.
I took a deep breath and spoke calmly. “Is Captain McAllen in the area?”
“ Yes. He’s our supervisor on this assignment. But he stays away from us because his Pinkerton status is known. Mary goes riding with Maggie every day, and the captain meets up with them. She reports on our progress as the captain and his daughter ride along together. He stays away from us the rest of the time.”
“ Then I’d better go riding with them today.”
Schmidt thought about that. “If the contract were really closed, I don’t think you joining the women would be a problem. You see, Jonathon Winslow fired us, but he’s not really the client.”
He paused dramatically, wanting me to fill in the rest. So I did. “I presume the Pinkerton agency was engaged by his family in Boston. The swindle isn’t public yet, but if it makes the papers, our future congressman would look like someone who lacks judgment or is still too young to hold a weighty position. A trial has a way of exposing a lot of things besides the crime. So you’re thinking that a well-worded telegram to the parents can keep this engagement open, only now the assignment would be to keep young Jonathon’s name out of any proceedings or newspaper articles. Have I got that about right?”
“ Not about … exactly right.”
“ Let me explain something. Sharp didn’t kill Campbell. If you proceed along the path I just described, you’ll interfere with our best defense, which is that Campbell was killed by someone he swindled. Your goals will clash with mine. Sharp’s lawyer wants to use the stock scam to expose the real killer or at least sow doubt in a jury’s mind. Winslow’s name will likely surface because the other victims know that he also bought shares in the bogus company. So … extending the engagement could wreck my friend’s chances of going free. One last point: Jeff Sharp is a longtime friend of Captain Joseph McAllen.”
“ I think it will be a pleasant afternoon for a ride.”
“ You’re coming along.”
“ Of course. I take orders from my supervisor, not you.”
With that settled, I asked, “Why’s Maggie here?”
“ It was the perfect excuse for her to see her father every day. She’s in no more danger than she would be walking the streets of Durango, and she gives us perfect cover.”
“ Joseph’s idea or hers?”
Schmidt smiled as he got up to leave. “What do you think?”
“ Maggie’s. She’s a headstrong McAllen.”
“ I’m going upstairs to change. Are you riding like that?”
“ I am.” I marveled at how westernized I had become. In the East, I would never ride in street clothes. Of course, in the East, I wouldn’t be walking the streets in denim and boots.
Chapter 18
Schmidt led our party of four out of town toward Thumb Butte. As we came around a bend, I spotted a man sitting ramrod straight on a horse to the side of the road. Despite
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