Tripp squirmed. “I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Look at her, I guess.”
“And?”
“I don’t know, mister. Quit looking at me that way. I didn’t do no harm. Sure, I hit you with my pistol, but did I shoot you? No. I told you everything you wanted to know, and you already busted my nose. In my book, that makes us even.”
“Even?” Conn chuckled darkly. “No. Not by a stretch. You see, I’m not the man who punched you.”
“Yeah you are. I remember your face. The scar and everything. You’re Sullivan.”
“Yes, my name’s Sullivan. Conn Sullivan. The man you killed was Cole Sullivan. My brother. My twin brother.”
Tripp’s eyes bulged again. “Killed? I didn’t kill nobody.”
“Why did you men ride out there?”
“Just to have a little fun.”
The flames in Conn leapt a little higher. “A little fun, huh?”
“Yeah, Henry wanted to get another look at the woman.”
“A look? That’s it?”
“I can’t speak for Henry, mister. You’re gonna have to talk to him.”
“I plan to. But you don’t really expect me to believe that eleven of you rode out there just to look at a woman, do you?”
“Look, we was sitting around after supper, pork and beans, and we got to talking, and Henry riled everybody up, talking about how pretty she was and about the money.”
“What about the money?”
“Your brother had some gold. Look, mister, the last I saw your brother, he was alive. I mean it. Henry told me to go inside, and I tried, and your brother knocked me out cold. Busted my nose, you see what he done to my face.”
“The man you killed read the Bible every day and did his best to live by it.”
For some reason, this bought the lump back into Conn’s throat. He swallowed it down with effort like a peach pit.
“I’m awful sorry for what they did.”
“Do you read the Bible, Tripp?”
“No, sir. I never been what you might call a reader.”
“In the Bible,” Conn said, “you got the New Testament, that’s when Jesus comes, and then you got the Old Testament. That’s everything that happened before Jesus.”
The man’s eyes brightened. “I’ll change my ways, Mr. Sullivan. I’ll start reading that Bible.”
“The man you killed, he was like the New Testament.”
Tripp just looked at him, stupid and confused.
“He was a forgiving man, merciful. I, on the other hand,” Conn said, “am mentioned in the Old Testament. Moses talked of me.”
“He did?”
