“Just what kind of a hangman are you?” Judge Isaaiah Caine blustered. “You’re supposed to be a professional. The so called best in the business. How could you have bollixed things up so bad? Hell, a school girl could’ve done better.”
“Maybe you should have hired one,” The Hangman said trying to sound glib and unnerved. They were standing in the judge’s office. Caine had not even invited The Hangman to sit. When The Hangman entered the room, leaving Clay Shaw waiting for him in the courtroom, the irate judge had jumped up from his desk and darted toward The Hangman. His face was red and full of rage.
“It might have been cheaper,” The Hangman added, as if this were a laughing matter.
“Funny man, aren’t you?” The judge snarled. “I’m paying you a lot of money, sure. But I expected more value than what I saw today.”
“I fail to see the problem, here, Judge. You wanted three men hanged. I hanged them. They’re dead. What difference does it make? Dead is dead. The job’s done. What more do you want?”
“What more do I want? I’ll tell you. I want a neat proper job. That’s what I want.”
“What you’re saying is that you want it to be all pretty. Well, it isn’t pretty. What I do is not embroidery. Whether it’s done right or not it’s still an ugly business. That’s what you pay me for. To do your own dirty, filthy murdering.”
“How dare you?” Caines’s eyes widened and his nostrils flared. “How dare you talk this way to me? An officer of the court. I have complete authority here and you are in contempt.”
“You have no idea,” Laredo said.
“If I didn’t need you for tomorrow’s hanging, I’d fire you right now.” The judge’s eyes narrowed and he added “But I won’t. And you understand this; if you botch things up tomorrow like you did today, I won’t pay you one red cent.”
“Oh, I’ll get paid, Judge,” The Hangman said. “Someone always pays”
“Don’t you dare threaten me,” Caine growled.
Laredo remained impassive and said nothing.
“Now get out of here,” Caine ordered.
The Hangman sat his hat back on his head and made for the door. Just as he reached for the knob, The Judge ordered. “Tell Clay Shaw to come in here. I want to see him.”
The Hangman nodded, pulled the door open and stepped through. Clay Shaw was lounging in the witness chair. “His Honor wants to see you.” He threw a thumb over his shoulder at the open door. The words “His Honor” had a tinge of sarcasm attached to them.
Shaw slid out of chair and shuffled past The Hangman. “Wait here, for me,” the deputy ordered as he stepped through the doorway and pulled it shut behind him.”
“Yeah, right.” Laredo thought to himself.
“Are you sure this man is who he says he is!”
“Well,” Clay Shaw started seemingly somewhat reluctant. “As we told you, we found him out there on the trail. Sheriff Logan seemed to be satisfied with who he was. He didn’t think there was any reason to doubt him. But…..,” the deputy said letting it trail off.
“But what?” Caine’s brows knitted together.
“Well, I wasn’t so sure. There was something about him that just didn’t seem right.”
“Did you say that to Logan.”
“Yes, sir. I did.”
“And what was his reaction?”
“Well sir, I don’t want to sound like I’m talking behind the sheriff’s back. He is my boss and I respect him, highly. Besides, he’s going to be my father in law when Sue and I get married.”
“I understand, Deputy. But, I still want to know his reaction,” The judge demanded.
“He said, I was just jumping at shadows and not to be concerned.”
“But, you still had some misgivings there?”
“Yes, I did. But I went along with his decision anyway, but I couldn’t help but think….” Shaw didn’t finish.
“Think what, boy? Out with it,” Caine urged.
Shaw grimaced and said, as if he really didn’t want to say it, “Well, Sheriff Logan is getting on in years and….well, I don’t think he wants to see trouble any more than he has to. He’s gotten a bit comfortable and seems to want to ride out his term as easily as possible.” Then he added as if necessary to make himself clear. “Don’t get me wrong, your honor. I don’t want to sound like I’m bad mouthing him. It’s just that….”
“You don’t think he’s up to the job, is that it?” Caine finished for him.
Shaw nodded, “That’s not what I wanted to say, but yes, I guess that’s true.”
“Am I getting a hint that you think you could do the job better? Perhaps, you would like the job yourself?”
“That’s not what I said, sir. But, to be truthful, I do think I could do a better job. And yes, I do want it when Sheriff Logan steps down. The increase in pay along with the ten thousand dollar reward I’ll be collecting for capturing the Laredo Kid would make a good start for Sue and me. But if it looked like I took the job away from Sue’s father, that could cause trouble for us. And, I wouldn’t want that.”
“Of course not,” The judge agreed. But, it was obvious to Clay Shaw that he had been successful in planting the thought in the jurist’s mind.
“Getting back to Dillard,” The Judge pursued. “He didn’t impress me as competent today. I’m not so sure that your first assessment of the man was wrong.”
“But, if he isn’t Henry Dillard, then just who is he?” Shaw countered.
“I don’t know. A man on the run, an outlaw, or grifter. Maybe he just wanted to cash in on Dillard’s reputation and claim the hanging fee. Who knows?”
“There was that other man out there,” Shaw put in. “He’d been killed by outlaws, or so this man said. He was badly burned. You think he could have been the real Dillard?”
“That’s entirely possible,” the jurist agreed. He thought a moment. Then said, “Tell you what, Clay….” Shaw noted and liked the way The Judge was now using his first name. “Henry Dillard was in Big Bend when I wired him about the job here. How about you get over to the telegraph office and send a message to Sheriff Burnside, there. Ask him for a description of Henry Dillard. We may be able to tell if the man we have here is the real thing or not.”
“What if he isn’t? You want me to arrest him?”
“No,” The Judge said thoughtfully. The word was dragged out. “We still have a big day tomorrow. We need a hangman. There’s too many people in town that are going to be upset if the show doesn’t go on. No, if it turns out we’ve got an imposter, we’ll just go on letting him think he’s getting away with it. When it’s all over,” he chuckled before finishing, “we just might have ourselves another candidate for another hanging. Won’t the people, just love that, though? Hanging a hangman.” A spark of light returned to the old man’s eyes as he savored the thought. Then, his face turned stern again. “It’s getting late, Clay. You’d better get over to the telegraph office and get that wire sent.”
“Yes sir,” Shaw agreed, spun on his heel and headed for the door. He could hardly refrain from thinking he had accomplished a major coup here. Now if only The Hangman really did prove to be a fake.
“Oh,Clay,” Caine called as the deputy reached for the door knob. Clay halted and turned.
“Yes sir?”
“Be sure to tell Sheriff Logan about this, won’t you?”
“Of course, your honor,” He agreed, smiled, and opened the door, thinking “Yeah, right.”
His elation quickly subsided as he stepped into the courtroom, pulling the door shut behind him. The courtroom was completely empty. The so called Hangman From Hell was gone.
*****
Chapter Fourteen