Shadow of the Gallows Read Online Free Page B

Double Dranch. Ben Lucan and Adam Carter. They testified at the trial. Not that they made very good witnesses. Their rowdy and rather stupid behaviour certainly didn’t impress the judge. Even so they stuck to what they said. And why should they lie?’
    Cobb could think of a number of reasons, the principal one being that they’d been paid to do so. He made a mental note of the names, thinking he would need to speak to them.
    ‘The Double D, where’s that?’
    ‘Next to Bannister’s farm.’
    ‘Bit of a lucky coincidence.’
    ‘Maybe, but then as Lucan and Carter explained, they happened to be working on the fence that divides the two properties when they saw Steadman.’
    ‘Anything else?’
    ‘Yeah, Steadman and Bannister were both courting the same girl.’
    ‘A prostitute?’
    Jackson shook his head. ‘No, a decent young woman actually. Amy Mallory. Her brother owns the livery stable and Amy helps him.’ He shrugged. ‘It wouldn’t be the first time that one man shot another over a girl.’
    ‘Is that it?’
    ‘It’s enough.’
    It didn’t seem much to Cobb but he knew men had been hanged on even flimsier evidence.
    ‘Can I see Steadman?’
    ‘Yeah,’ Jackson stood up, reaching into his desk drawer for a bunch of keys. ‘Leave your gun out here and any other weapons you’re carrying.’
    Cobb made no objection.
    ‘By the way, Owen, who’s the head of the Cattlemen’s Association?’
    ‘A Hugh Rowlands. He owns the Flying R, which is the area’s most important and largest ranch. It’s lands stretch almost down to the Mexican border. He’s a good man. He didn’t like the way things seemed to be spiralling out of control any more’n I did.’
    ‘Are you sure about that?’
    ‘Yeah, I am. And he’ll be willing to talk to you because neither does he like the idea of his employee being hung for a murder he says he didn’t commit.’ Jackson unlocked the door at the rear of the office. ‘OK, Mr Cobb, it’s through here. Take as long as you like.’

CHAPTER FIVE
    There were four cells, two on either side of a short passage. Each had a barred window high up on the wall, two bunks and a chair. Only one cell was occupied .
    As Cobb went up to the bars, Tom Steadman rose from the bunk where he’d been lying, staring up at the ceiling, and came over to him. Although it had been some time since Steadman left the detective agency, Cobb recognized him immediately. The man was now forty. He was almost as tall as Cobb’s six feet, and barrel chested, with fair hair balding in the front. He had a drooping moustache. Even in jail he was dressed well and, despite the fact he was waiting to be hanged, he had a cocky look about him which Cobb thought wouldn’t go down well with a lot of people.
    ‘Zac, you’re here at last!’
    ‘Journey took nearly three days,’ Cobb said, not happy at having to justify himself.
    ‘A goddamn long three days since the judge said I was to hang and I’ve been stuck in here with nothingto do but wait for the gallows to be built. It is being built, ain’t it? I can hear ’em sawing and hammering the wood.’
    ‘You should have gotten in touch before.’
    Steadman smiled to show he’d meant no offence. ‘Didn’t think I’d ever come to this sorry pass.’ He spoke lightly but his hands gripped the bars so tightly his knuckles turned white. With an effort he relaxed and smiled again.
    ‘Well I’m here now. And from what Jackson has told me it don’t seem like he had much of a case against you.’
    ‘It was enough to convince judge and jury. But then the jury was made up of townsfolk and homesteaders , my natural enemies, with nary a rancher or cowhand amongst ’em, so I guess they weren’t that hard to convince. Most’ve been looking for an excuse to do me down.’
    ‘Any reason for that? Apart from the fact that you work for the Cattlemen’s Association.’
    Steadman shrugged. ‘That was enough to make me unpopular with most. You know how it is!’ He