Free Longarm and the Train Robbers by Tabor Evans Page B

Reno,
Nevada."
    "Interesting,"
Longarm said, "but I doubt that he's a part of that train-robbing
gang."
    "Why?"
    "The man I seek is
probably not wealthy.  Perhaps comfortable and able to afford a
few luxuries like premium cigarettes, but not
wealthy."
    "But you don't
know that."
    "That's true." 
Longarm pulled Milly close.  "What is this man's
name?"
    "Blake
Huntington."  Milly giggled.  "Isn't that a high-sounding hoot?
The old rich man I entertained is named Clarence
Huntington."
    "And where is
Blake staying?"
    "About four doors
down the hall in Room 207," Milly said.
    "Are you going to
meet him anyplace tomorrow?"
    "He invited me to
lunch at noon."
    "I hope that you
accepted."
    "I did," Milly
replied, starting to sound impatient.  "And I can guess where you
will be at that hour--turning his room upside down looking for
clues."
    "That's exactly
right.  But I won't leave anything that would give away the fact
I made a thorough search.  I'll be in and out in less than
fifteen minutes."
    Milly winked.
 "Don't spend a lot of time.  From the way he was looking at me
tonight, I expect that we will have a very quick meal and then
he'll rush me upstairs in order to get much better
acquainted."
    "Describe the
man."
    "Blake is about
six feet three, slender, darkly handsome, and he speaks with a
slight British accent.  He sounds very distinguished.  He's well
mannered and well dressed.  He's a real gentleman,
Longarm."
    "I'm sure." 
Longarm curbed his annoyance.  "If Blake is such a prize, why
don't you try to snag him into marriage?"
    "I might just do
that except..."  Milly's voice trailed off and she looked
away.
    "Except
what?"
    "I don't know.  A
professional lady develops a sixth sense about men. She can
generally cut through the pretense and look into a man's heart to
see if he is honest and kind or unkind."
    "And this man
is...?"
    "Blake Huntington
is very unkind," Milly said without hesitation.  "There is
something very hard and scary about him.  And the more Blake
tries to cover that something up, the stronger I sense him as
being dangerous.  That's why I thought you need to investigate
this man, because something about him just does not ring
true."
    "then don't let
him get you alone," Longarm warned.
    "Oh, I don't
actually think he'd be foolish enough to hurt me.  I mean, he
must know that it would discredit him with his rich old uncle. 
And I'll tell you something, Blake is after his uncle's money. 
He fawns all over that dottering old Englishman.  It's really
rather sickening."
    "This whole thing
does not make sense," Longarm said.
    "What doesn't make
sense?"
    "That Blake
Huntington could be a train robber.  He sounds more like a
fortune hunter to me."
    Milly pushed
herself up so that her exposed breasts were practically hanging
in Longarm's face.  "Let me tell you something else about Blake
before we put each other into a state of bliss."
    "I'm
listening."
    "Blake knows all
about that train wreck."
    "So?"
    "So he was part of
it!"
    "Nonsense.  Milly,
he probably just read the papers.  I saw the Cheyenne paper down
in the lobby.  It was all over the front page, and I'm sure that
some of the local citizenry have been up there gawking at the
wreckage."
    "Oh, yeah?  Well
how many people knew that you were on that train with Eli
Wheat?"
    "It was no
secret."
    "And that Wheat
escaped?"
    "Still no
secret."
    "Well," Milly
said, her lips starting to nibble at Longarm's earlobe again even
as her fingers played with his big rod, "Blake Huntington was
staying at this hotel during the train wreck.  It would have been
very easy for him to have joined the robbers and then derailed
the train and returned that same evening."
    "Yes, that would
have been possible.  How did you learn that Blake was staying
here then?"
    "Clarence told me
that they had spent four days together out hunting elk in a tent
camp just before arriving in Laramie late last week."
    "And there can be
no mistake about that?"
    "No," Milly