She shook her head.
Jelly asked, “How do you know Josey Pye has all the money?”
“I don’t,” said Call. “I only know that Digger never got his share. I talked to folks at the station and they were able to account for Digger’s whereabouts. They were confident that Josey and Digger never met up, and they also swore that Josey never passed through the station. He went off the trail at some point.”
“You think he’s in Denver?” asked Rooster.
“I think Digger thinks he’s in Denver. Sheriff Cook is keeping an eye out along with every member of his Rocky Mountain Detective Association.”
Dillon whistled softly. “Never knew there was such a thing.”
Call nodded. “It hasn’t been around long, but the sheriff believes they’re effective as a group. If he’s right, Josey Pye won’t be a free man forever.” Call pushed his plate away and sat back. He picked up his coffee cup. “That’s it. You know what I know and about half of what I suspect.” His eyes swiveled to Laurel. “I’d like to send a message to Mr. Stonechurch. Let him know about Digger.”
Laurel was surprised he hadn’t done that from Denver. “Of course. We can do that this morning.”
“Thank you.” He turned to the rest of the table. “So tell me what I missed while I was away.”
17
Laurel tapped out the message that Call dictated. It was short but covered the salient points of his investigation. If Call was unhappy that he did not have better news to deliver, he didn’t express it. He also didn’t make excuses. Recovering the payroll was always an uncertain outcome, though perhaps he didn’t share her opinion.
Turning away from the telegraph machine when Call ended the message, Laurel discovered he was no longer standing beside her desk but seated in her chair behind it. He started to rise when she came toward him, but she waved him back down. It would have been petty to make him vacate her comfortable chair when he’d just spent most of the night in a rocker. She took one of the guest chairs. Pulling her heavy braid forward over her shoulder, she then massaged the back of her neck.
“Crick?” he asked.
Laurel nodded. “You?”
“Shoulders.” He rolled them twice to work out the kinks. “I won’t be sleeping like that again anytime soon.”
Laurel couldn’t say the same for herself so she said nothing.
“I met your Mr. Alexander Berry while I was in Denver.”
She felt it was incumbent upon her to say that the government man was notherMr. Berry, but after she’d made that clear, she asked, “How did that come about?”
“He stopped in Sam Henderson’s office while I wasthere. Digger Leary, as luck would have it, was tied to a chair in a back room and insensible of the interruption.”
She stared at him. “Do I want to know what you and Sam were doing to Digger?”
“Probably not the particulars. Sam would tell you that we were convincing him to do right by the stage line that had employed him these last five years.”
Laurel understood that Sam felt betrayed because she did as well. She could imagine planting her fist in Digger’s nose given the opportunity and was not uncomfortable with the thought. “Tell me about Mr. Berry. Was there conversation or merely an introduction?”
“An introduction in Sam’s office, but I learned where he was staying and visited his hotel around dinnertime. He graciously offered to share his table.”
Laurel nodded. “I wager he wanted to hear about your investigation. Sam probably told him right off that you were working for Mr. Stonechurch.”
“He did. Sam’s as anxious as you not to have any blame for the robbery attached to him or his business. When I told him I was going to speak to Berry later, he was encouraging. In fact, he gave me a handful of things he thought I should mention.”
“Sounds like Sam. Were you able to bring up his points?”
“I think I got around to all of them. Though between discussing the robbery, Stonechurch Mining, and Morrison Station, I might have missed one.”
“You discussed the station?”
“Of course. I only had two reasons for seeking him out. One regarded your home station and the second regarded you. If I wasn’t able to convince him of your innocence in the theft, then he wasn’t listening. He was complimentary about your operation of the station so there wasn’t much I could add there without gilding the lily. I got the sense that he’s keeping his options open, though. He talked at length about the advantages of an alternate route to Stonechurch. He has a surveyor who’s out there now.”
Laurel did not try to hide her disappointment. “That doesn’t bode well. Did he give you the impression he was open to a bribe?”
