Smile And Nod
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The next day the judge came into his chambers and told him to meet with the sheriff in his office. The sheriff was there when he arrived, along with a deputy who stood by the door.
“We got some news for you,” said the sheriff as they sat down at the desk. “Word is out that we arrested one of the men from the train robbery yesterday.” He leaned forward on his elbows. “They say it’s the same man who robbed your house.”
“I know,” replied Mark.
“And word is also out that you were involved somehow.”
Mark nodded again. “You don’t need me anymore. You can let me go now.”
“No way,” snapped the sheriff. “This case isn’t over yet. We’re going to find these other men and bring them back here so I can get my hands on their guns. Then I’ll arrest every last one of them.”
He looked around the room and pointed toward the deputy standing near the door. “Send this fellow up here with us.”
The deputy stepped forward, holding an envelope in his hand. It contained four letters addressed to the judge. They all had the same postmark: New York City. “These are yours,” explained the deputy. “One each.”
The judge took them and opened the first one. There was no return address but only a short note is written inside. “‘Judge,’ it says. ‘Here’s another letter from our friend. Maybe it will make you feel better.’ Signed, ‘Cordy.'”
“What’s Cordy?” asked the sheriff.
“That’s the name of the man who wrote that letter.”
“Why do you think someone would want to hurt Judge Wright?” asked the judge. “Who could be mad enough at me or the town to want to kill me? What did I ever do wrong except try to run away from a bad situation?”
“Nothing,” answered the sheriff. “It’s just what people have been saying about you lately.”
“But how do you explain the letters?” continued the judge.
“Maybe he sent those letters to scare you off. Or maybe he wanted you to think someone wants to harm you so you’d stay home and keep your distance from him.”
“How can I stop thinking about him if I don’t even know where he is?”
“Just remember that nobody knows exactly where he is either. Don’t worry, Judge, we’re doing everything we can to catch him.”
“Then why didn’t you arrest him yesterday?” asked Mark.
“Because I knew something else might happen. So far he hasn’t done anything violent, but there’s always tomorrow.”
“There’s nothing left for me here,” muttered the judge. “I’m leaving today. If you hadn’t taken my gun away, I would have gone after him myself. But now I guess I can’t protect myself like that any more than I can protect anyone else. No matter what happens, I won’t come back here.”
The sheriff smiled. “Don’t forget, we still got your horse. Just give us a call if you change your mind. I’ll send one of my deputies over to pick it up later this afternoon. For now, I suggest you take yourself and your family out west. You’ll never fit in here anyway. Best of luck.”
“Thank you,” said Mark. “For everything.” He rose to leave then turned back toward the judge. “Wait a minute. Let me tell you what happened. This morning the bank manager called me because he found two more of those notes in the vault.
One read, ‘Don’t worry. The money’s safe.’ Another said, ‘Everything is fine.’ When I tried to open the vault, I couldn’t budge the door. It wouldn’t move a hair. The lock has been tampered with. Someone must have forced it shut. I don’t understand it, but I think the thief might still be around somewhere.
That’s why I ran away this morning. To see if he followed me. As soon as I got clear, I rode straight to the jailhouse.”
“Sounds reasonable,” remarked the sheriff. “So now you’ve seen him. How does that help us?”
“When I saw the thief, I thought I recognized him. But it wasn’t until tonight when I saw you that I realized who he was.”
“Where is he now?” asked the judge.
Mark shook his head. “If I knew that, I would have brought him in already. Why don’t you ask the bank manager to look through the records and see if he recognizes him? He might recall seeing this fellow before.”
“All right,” agreed on the judge. “We’ll start there. In the meantime, I want to thank you, Deputy. Thank you for bringing the letters and telling us what’s going on. And thanks especially for not arresting me. You’re a good deputy. Keep up the good work.”
As they walked down the steps together, the judge stopped and glanced back at the house. “Goodbye, Mark.”
“Goodbye, Judge.”
***
After the judge and his family drove away, the sheriff watched them disappear into the night. “Looks like you were right about this being a dead end,” he said. “Let’s go home and get some sleep. We may need our rest.”
They headed back to their office and went inside. “You’re sure you didn’t recognize this man?” asked the sheriff.
“No, Sheriff,” replied Mark. “Not at all. Not even close.”
“Well, let’s check with the bank again,” suggested the sheriff.
“Yes, let’s,” agreed on Mark. “And then we should probably talk to the bank manager.”
“Yeah,” agreed on the sheriff. “He’s the only person who knows if he’s known anyone by that name.”
A few minutes later, they returned to the bank. The sheriff knocked on the front door. A moment later, the banker opened the door. His eyes widened upon recognizing the sheriff. “Sheriff! Good to see you.”
“Hello, Mr. Johnson,” said Mark. “Is everything all right?”
“Oh yes, sir, absolutely. Nothing wrong here.”
“That’s what I figured,” said the sheriff. “What are you looking for, Sheriff? Is it another note?”
“Actually, no. There are several other things we need to discuss with you. But first, I’m curious to know if you remember anybody named John Smith.”
Johnson paused for a moment. Then he looked back at the sheriff. “Are you talking about that old prospector?”
“That’s right.”
“Why, yes, I do. I used to know someone just like that. Name of Jack. Used to hang out around town quite often. Never had much sense. Always getting into trouble.”
“Do you think you could describe him to us?”
“Sure. Tall fella. Very thin. Long gray hair. Looked older than dirt. Couldn’t stop talking. Said he worked for an oil company in Texas. He spent most of his time in a saloon drinking whiskey. Had a reputation for cheating people out of their money. Claimed he made it rain from the sky.”
“Did he ever say where he lived?”
“I guess so. I never really paid attention to anything he told me. Just talked. Talked and talked.”
“How long ago did you last hear from him?”
“Three or four years, maybe longer. I don’t keep track of folks these days. If they want to come in here, that’s fine. Otherwise, I don’t bother. It gets too complicated.”
The sheriff took notes as the banker described Jack. “Thank you very much, Mr. Johnson.”
“No problem. That’s why I came to you—to find out if I knew any more details about the man you’re after.”
“It sounds like you’re pretty well informed,” observed Mark.
“Maybe not as well as you think. Did you catch him robbing the bank?” asked the sheriff.
“No, but I can tell you exactly how he got in. This is a small town. Everyone knows everyone else’s business. So naturally, word spread fast.”
“Was he alone?”
“Yes, and he left the same way he entered. He jumped over the counter and escaped through a window.”
“Have you been able to figure out which window he broke?” asked Mark.
“Nope. No one seems to be missing a pane. We’re still trying to match the glass shards. As far as we can determine, he was gone before we arrived. By the way, we found the stolen gold coin.”
“Where is it now?”
“In my safe.”
Mark nodded. “Okay, thanks again, Mr. Johnson. Let’s head upstairs. We have a lot more questions for you.”
When they reached their office, they sat down behind the desk. “So what happened next?” asked Mark. “Were there any clues left behind?”
“There was one thing,” began the sheriff. “But it wasn’t clear whether it belonged to the robber or if it was planted here afterward. It’s hard to believe, but there might’ve been a second thief involved.”
“What did you find?”
“While searching the bank vault, we noticed a piece of paper taped to the floor near the cashier’s station.”
“Anything written on it?” asked Mark.
“Not at first glance,” answered the sheriff. “We had to take it off the floor and dust it off. When we did, we saw something that looked suspiciously like writing. You’ll recall we searched the room earlier, so we knew there weren’t any fingerprints on the wall.”
“What were the words?” asked Mark.
“They read, ‘I have your money.'”
The End