Call ignored him. “What are you going to tell them when they hear that not only is Miss Morrison still walking among the living, but also that she’s been awarded the government contract? You were supposed to stop that from happening. I bet you’ve been a real disappointment.”
“Who the hell are these Hammersmith folks you’re talking about?”
“Try not to be dumb as a stump, Carter, or pretend that I am. I never met anyone in Falls Hollow who has an interest in the railroad not knowing who the Hammersmiths are.”
Carter didn’t have a response to that. He shifted his weight between his feet.
“So let’s start with that as a given,” said Call. “You know the Hammersmiths. Ephraim Hammersmith is the head of the family so he probably hired you, though I’ll concede that it could have been one of his brothers. Doesn’tmatter if you approached them or they approached you, in the end you struck a deal that was mutually satisfying.” He deliberately paused before he added, “That means you both liked it.”
Carter gritted his teeth and didn’t comment.
“You arrived at a plan to place the Morrison Station under suspicion and hired Josey Pye to steal the Stonechurch payroll with Digger Leary’s help.”
“Yeah? And how did I do that when I hardly ever saw the pair of them?”
“Desiree,” said Call.
“What about Desi?”
“She was your go-between.” Call observed the subtle deflation of the sheriff’s chest. The star on his vest actually seemed to sag. To Call, it was a clear sign that he’d mistaken none of it. Not so bad for telling only one lie. He didn’t know for certain that the railroad would lay rails past Morrison Station and Laurel would be awarded the contract, but after he had Carter’s confession, he was confident of that outcome.
Carter looked past Call’s shoulder toward the door. “Desi should be here. She’ll tell you that you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
The sheriff jerked his chin at the door. “Go on. Get her. Ask her.”
Rooster took a sideways step to block access to the door in the event Carter foolishly chose to charge it.
Call holstered his revolver. “You know, Carter, it was a mistake to kill Josey Pye. I can’t think why you felt the need to do that except maybe you thought he was going to cross you and take off with the payroll. He could have done that in the beginning, but since he didn’t, I’m guessing he returned to give Desiree her share. You found out about their plan to meet at the top of the falls and killed him. I found your cartridge in the spot you chose to lay in wait. Found some of the greenbacks that got away from Pye and Desiree when you shot him. I also tracked thelegal tender you spread around town. Spending some of that money wasn’t a good idea.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“Serial numbers,” said Call. “That’s what Laurel and I were doing at the bank when you came across us in town. We were identifying the serial numbers of the money you passed to Mrs. Fry, Magnus Clutterbuck, and Bobber Jordan. They spent their money at the mercantile. Mrs. Booker was helpful. So was the bank manager. Finding the money and tracing it back to you is how I know you didn’t turn over all of it to Ephraim Hammersmith. I’m thinking the man knew to the penny how much he was expecting. It’d be the amount he offered to Alexander Berry as a bribe.”
“I don’t know anything about a bribe, Alexander Berry, or Ephraim Hammersmith. You just keep wasting your breath, Landry. It doesn’t bother me none.”
But Call knew that wasn’t true. He started to say as much and stopped when he heard a shout from downstairs. He recognized Mrs. Fry’s strident voice calling up to them.
“Company’s coming!”
41
Call did not find it a particularly helpful announcement as the madam did not identify the company. The sheriff, he noted, looked hopeful. Call risked a glance back at Rooster, whose expression was as uncertain as Call’s own.
“Your deputy?” Call asked Carter. Footsteps could be heard pounding up the stairs. Call supposed it was possible the madam had sent someone for Bobber Jordan. Mrs. Fry had a long and lucrative relationship with the sheriff. Call realized he should have taken that into account.
“Let him in,” Call told Rooster. “And get his gun.”
Rooster opened the door wide enough to look out and kept his foot jammed against the bottom in the event the intruder was unwelcome. “Well, I’ll be darned,” he said when he saw who stepped onto the landing. “It’s Miss Laurel and Mr. Berry. And they’re packin’ iron.”
Call swore under his breath. By the time he thought of telling Rooster to keep them out, it was too late. Rooster had already stepped aside, thrown open the door, and was ushering them in. Call took a step sideways so he was no longer squarely in Carter’s path. His position in the room was necessitated by his desire to keep an eye on the visitors at the same time he was observing the sheriff for sudden movement. Disarming the man did not mean he was no longer dangerous.
“What are you doing here?” asked Call. He directed his question to Alex Berry.
“I want to avert bloodshed. Miss Morrison told me what happened while we were out riding, and she said you were here to confront Sheriff Carter. I aim to make sure ‘confront’ isn’t a euphemism for ‘kill.’”
“He’s a Pinkerton detective,” Laurel said as if it explained everything.
