Free Come the Spring by Julie Garwood

the bank. What about you?”
    â€œI didn’t take the time either. Are you still hungry?”
    â€œYeah, I am,” Cole answered. “Maybe the hotel will open the kitchen for us.”
    â€œThey will,” Ryan assured him. “We’re marshals. We’ll make them.”
    Cole laughed. “I knew there had to be a couple of benefits to this job.”
    They walked in companionable silence down the middle of the street, the only light supplied by a full moon.
    â€œHow much money do you think they got away with?” Cole asked.
    â€œLike I said before, we won’t know the exact amount until the examiners go through the records. I do know from the receipt I found on MacCorkle’s desk that an army paymaster made a deposit that morning. The amount was seventeen thousand eight hundred and some change.”
    Cole whistled. “That’s a lot of money. I’ll bet the bastards knew before MacCorkle did that the money was coming.”
    â€œI’m sure they did. All they had to do was follow him.”
    â€œWhy bother robbing the banks?” Cole asked. “Why not rob the paymaster on his way to the fort with the cash?”
    â€œIt’s too dangerous and unpredictable, that’s why. The paymaster doesn’t ride alone, and the guards assigned to him are all crack shots. Banks are easier if you know what you’re doing, and the men we’re up against obviously do.”
    The discussion ended when they reached the hotel. The only rooms available were in the attic and were about the size of clothes closets. Cole’s room faced the street. Ryan’s room was directly across the hall. The beds were soft though, and with a little persuasion, the night manager agreed to send up supper.
    Neither Ryan nor Cole got much sleep that night. Cole kept thinking about the grisly scene he’d walked into, and Ryan spent his time thinking about the possible witness.

Eight

 
    Morning came all too quickly. As agreed, the marshals met at the bank, where Sheriff Sloan was waiting to report that the posse hadn’t had any luck finding a trail. Ryan handed him the list of people he wanted to report to the jail to be interviewed. The three women’s names were at the top.
    The sheriff looked over the names and shook his head. “Some of these folks are sick as dogs with influenza. It hits hard and fast,” he warned. “And some of the others are getting ready to head out of town. I ran into Doc Lawrence at the restaurant, and he was up all night tending to the Walsh family, and you’ve got John Walsh’s name on the list. Doc told me Frederick O’Malley is heading out of town with his brood as soon as the general store opens and he can get some more supplies.”
    â€œNo one leaves Rockford Falls until Marshal Clayborne and I have talked to them. That includes Frederick O’Malley.”
    â€œI can’t make him stay.”
    â€œI can,” Ryan replied.
    Sloan wanted to argue. “This seems like a waste of time to me. If anyone saw anything, he would have spoken up by now.”
    â€œMarshal Ryan wants to follow procedure,” Cole explained.
    Sloan was staring at the blue bag on the desk. “Where did that come from?”
    Ryan answered. “It was on the floor under the desk.”
    â€œYou think someone left it?”
    â€œThat much is pretty obvious,” Cole said. “We’re curious to know who it belongs to.”
    A gleam came into Sloan’s eyes. “It had to have been left here on the day of the robbery because the Stewarts, who clean the place every night, would have found it if someone had left it the day before. They would have put it in the lost-and-found box. They’re honest people,” he thought to add. “You don’t think one of the robbers left it behind, do you?”
    â€œNo, we don’t think that,” Cole said dryly.
    â€œWhich desk was it found