Free Bowdrie's Law (Ss) (1983) by Louis L'amour

in from the glare of the sun, would not have seen his killer.
    Near the chair were three cigarette butts, lying where the killer had dropped them.
    Borrow, as did most men of the time and the area, smoked cigars. Cigarettes were a Mexican custom only beginning to cross the border, so these might have been smoked by someone living south of the border.
    Here the killer had waited. There was no evidence of struggle, and Borrow had been a strong, tough man. The killer might have struck from his chair, but it was likely that he had risen as Borrow drew close and driven the knife upward to the heart.
    Soundless, abrupt, and final.
    But why?
    Bowdrie recalled the old man's kindly features at their first meeting. "I'm stumped,"
    Borrow confessed. "The answer keeps naggin' at me. It's right on the trail edge of my thinkin', but I can't quite get it out into the open."
    He had glanced at the lJlanket roll Chick was carrying. "Might's well leave that here. Youwon't need it at the hotel."
    And the tight roll of his poncho and blankets still stood in the corner where he had left it, yet the roll was neither as tight nor was it rolled in quite the same way now. Why would Borrow, or anyone, open his blanket roll?
    Dropping to his knees, he pulled the roll loose. As it opened, a fold of paper fell out. Taking it up, Bowdrie opened it for a quick look. It was all he needed. Instantly he was on his feet.
    Hurriedly bundling the roll together, he tossed it into a corner. The door opened almost in his face, and Ellen, the freckles dark against the paleness of her face, stood there.
    "Oh, Mr. Bowdrie! Please be careful! They're after you!" "Who is?"
    "They were talking out in back of the restaurant. They did not guess anyone was around.
    One of the men said they would get you when you left the office."
    "Then they saw you come to the door. That's bad, Ellen!"
    "I thought of that. If they ask, I'll tell them you forgot to pay for your meal and I came after you."
    "Good!" He reached into his pocket and counted out some money. "There! That'll pay for what I ate and the next two meals, if I should forget again."
    He put the money in her hand. "Now, do something for me. If you see that lantern-jawed blond drifter they call Rip, get to him and tell him what is happening. Tell him where I am but not to come here. Understand?"
    She turned away quickly, clutching the money in her hand. She paused an instant, flashing him a quick, frightened smile. "Good luck, Chick!"
    He listened to the click of her heels on the walk, hoping she would not be stopped.
    He watched her enter the restaurant, from which she would be able to watch the trail into town.
    They would not wait long now. If he did not appear on the street, they would come here. They had proved themselves to be impatient men. Somehow they had discovered the sheriff had finally found the solution and had killed him. Now they must kill Bowdrie.
    Chick took stock of his position. The sheriff's office was separated from the saloon by a gap of about thirty feet. On the other side there was nothing but an open slope.
    The building comprised four rooms. Two solidly built cells on one side of a narrow hall, on the other the office itself, and farther along, the sheriff's living quarters.
    Bending over the dead man, he removed his gunbelt and pistol. The pistol was fully loaded. From the gun rack he got down the sheriff's old Sharps and his Spencer as well as a double-barreled shotgun. From a drawer he took ammunition for these guns and arranged it in neat rows on the desk.
    Then he took up the body and carried it to the bed, where he straightened it out and covered it with a blanket.
    Bowdrie knew that in this situation he could not depend on Rip Coker. The Ranger would go through hell and high water to do his duty, but the telegraph operator might be a friend of the Bishops or of Young. He would undoubtedly send his message both to McNelly and to Major Jones, who was actually in charge in this area.
    The wise