Free Caliber Detective Agency - Box Set - Case Files 1-6 by Donald Wells Page B

apartment that night.” Chris said.
    “The cops think that was also Mira, although they haven’t found the phone. They think she called and taunted him with the fact that she was going on another date, and that Smith snapped, rushed to the apartment, hit you, and then attacked her.”
    “But there’s no way she could have made that call.” Chris said. “I was with her when you said he received it, and she never made a call.”
    “Tommy said his captain thinks you’re mistaken about that and that she must have called him without you noticing. As far as the cops are concerned, this case is closed.”
    Chris walked over to his grandfather.
    “I know that I’m new at this, but I was with her the whole time, and I swear that she never made a call.”
    “Everybody screws up sometime kid, let it go.”
    “You don’t believe me?”
    “It doesn’t matter, the case is closed.”
    “It’s not closed! Mira never made that call. That means she had a partner, and I’m going to prove it.”
    And with those words, Chris stalked out of the office.
    Velma looked over at the old man.
    “Mr. Caliber, I believe him. If he says he never took his eyes off her, then I believe him.”
    Jake and the old man broke out in laughter and Velma looked back and forth at them.
    “You believe him too? Then, why the pretense?”
    “We had to see if he’s got it.” Jake said.
    “Got what?”
    “What’s our company motto?”
    Velma smiled, as she finally understood.
    “Caliber Detective Agency—We Never Give Up!”
    The old man rose from his chair and stared out the window. Down on the street; Chris hailed a cab and went in search of answers.
    The old man took a puff on his cigar and nodded his head.
    “That’s my boy,”

CALIBER DETECTIVE AGENCY – CASE FILE #6
    D allas, Texas, 1884
    They could hear the sound of the fighting before they reached the edge of the city. Gunshots rang out from so many directions that it seemed as if everyone was shooting at once.
    As they entered the city, Jake and Sheriff Carter stopped their horses and helped their women to the ground.
    “You gals go over to the schoolhouse there and lay low; when the fightin’s over, we’ll come back for you.” The sheriff said.
    Both Eva and his wife voiced their protests at being left behind, but Jake and the sheriff were already galloping toward the fighting.
    ***
    A s they approached the jail, the gunfire ended, however, the dead seemed to be everywhere. There were more than a dozen men with black hoods on their heads lying in the street along with the bodies of several deputies and an innocent young woman, who must have gotten caught in the gun battle.
    Dead horses littered the landscape, undoubtedly shot by the deputies, in a bid to keep the bandits from galloping off after they wrecked their mayhem.
    Jake rode about the bodies, checking for signs of life, but the deputies’ faces were pale and only dead eyes stared out from the holes cut into the bandits’ hoods.
    The sheriff had ridden over toward the bank, which was at the other end of the street. There were a number of men inside, as well as a number of bodies, he rode back to Jake and told him what he saw.
    A deputy emerged from the jail, limping; it was the one with the deep-set eyes named Harrow. He was bleeding from the right shoulder and his arm dangled uselessly at his side.
    “Sheriff! Sheriff, they broke Clayton out and then went over to the bank. We tried to fight them off, but we was outnumbered.”
    “How many men are left?” Jake said.
    Harrow looked as if he wanted to cry.
    “We’re it.”
    “I counted six milling around in the bank there,” The sheriff said. “And one of them was Bo Clayton.”
    A shout came from the bank. It was Clayton.
    “We got you outnumbered sheriff. Everyone get back inside the jail and let us walk over to the stables, and we’ll ride out of here and let you live, or I swear, I’ll help you meet your maker.”
    Harrow grabbed the sheriff by the