"We'll let you get back to your job, " Ryan said. "Thanks for your help." Edward moved forward to let them out the front door. "Do you think you could get MacCorkle's wife to pay us for the two nights we cleaned? " "I'll be happy to talk to her, but if she doesn't pay you, I'll make sure the new manager does." s Edward shook his head. "If we can be of any help catching those men who killed our friends, you let us know, Marshal."

"I'll do that, " Ryan promised.

The marshals started down the boardwalk. "Now what do we do? " Cole asked.

"Go back to the bank and box up all the papers from yesterday's business. It won't take long."

"Do you think the restaurant's still open? " "No, it's too late. Your apple's going to have to do for the moment. I wish we could go talk to those three women now, but I don't know where they live."

"We can get the addresses from the sheriff as soon as he gets back with his posse."

"Yes, " Ryan agreed.

They walked along in silence for several minutes, and then Cole said, "At least we know the bag was left during the day of the robbery.

MacCorkle was a real sweetheart, wasn't he? " "You mean holding back their wages if they didn't do a thorough job? " "Exactly, " Cole said.

"Why would a woman leave her purse behind? " "She must have been in a panic."

"If she was hiding in the kneehole, she saw the whole thing.

" "Maybe she saw the whole thing, " Ryan said. "We should talk to the man who sits at the desk." He handed Cole the key to the front door of the bank while he dug his notepad out again. After Cole had gone inside and turned up the gas lamp, Ryan found what he was looking for.

"His name's Lemont Morganstaff. We'll talk to him in the morning, " he said. "He might know something about the bag."

"What's he gonna know? " Cole asked.

Ryan shrugged. "Probably nothing, but we have to ask him anyway. "

"And then what? " "If he doesn't know where the bag came from, we still can't assume a woman was hiding in the kneehole. It could have ended up there a hundred different ways. One of the three women could have sat down at the desk to go through some papers. She might have dropped it when she got up. Damn, I wish it wasn't so late."

"You're right. There could be a hundred different explanations. A woman could have left it during the morning. She could have come inside with a friend and been sitting at the desk while he did his banking."

"Why would a woman carry around an empty purse? " "I don't know why they carry them in the first place. Pockets are more efficient."

"We shouldn't get our hopes up. A woman might have dropped it, then kicked it into the corner of the kneehole when she stood up. Does that make sense to you? " Cole shook his head. "The women I know keep track of their things."

"God, I hope she saw it."

"Now who's being ruthless?

If she did see the murders, she has to be scared out of her mind. The last thing she's going to want to do is come forward."

"We'll protect her."

"She won't believe that, not if she heard what happened to Luke MacFarland." Ryan began to pace around the lobby. In the shadows of the gas lamps, the bloodstains resembled ghoulish outlines.

"We're going to try to follow procedure on this one. I don't want to leave any stone unturned.

Exasperated, Cole said, "I've been a marshal one day. I don't know what the procedures are."

"We interview the three women first, but we also question every man who came in here yesterday."

"It seems like a waste of time to me, " Cole said.

"It's procedure." Cole leaned back against a desk and took another bite of his apple.

"Fine, we'll do it your way. There were twenty-nine people inside the bank. You talk to fifteen and I'll take the other fourteen."

"No, that isn't how it works. We interview them together, then compare notes afterwards. I might miss something that you will pick up, " he explained. "We'll talk to the women first, " he repeated. "Then the others. And that's only the beginning. We need to talk to everyone who happened to be on the street, near the street, or in one of the buildings close to the bank. We also" Cole interrupted him. "In other words, we talk to everyone."

"Just about, " Ryan replied. "As much as I hate to, we're going to have to involve Sloan on this. I don't know these people. He does, and people here might tell him things they won't tell us. I'll give him the list of names as soon as he gets back. P} Ryan stopped pacing and looked around the lobby. "I think we're finished here. I'll put yesterday's papers in the safe just in case one of us wants to go through them again. The bookkeepers from the bank in Gramby will be here Sunday to examine MacCorkle's records, and when they're finished, we'll know the exact amount stolen.

Let's meet back here at seven in the morning and have Sloan round up the people we want to talk to."

"I don't think it's a good idea to question them here. We should use the office at the jail." Ryan shook his head. "Jails make people nervous."

"Seeing the bloodstains is going to make them more nervous."

"Yeah, you're right. We'll use the jail." After collecting the papers and locking the safe, they left the bank.

"Have you checked into the hotel yet? " Ryan asked.

"No, I went directly to the bank. What about you? " "I didn't take the time either. Are you still hungry? " "Yeah, I am, " Cole answered. "Maybe the hotel will open the kitchen for us."

"They will, " Ryan assured him. "We're marshals. We'll make them."

Cole laughed. "I knew there had to be a couple of benefits to this job." They walked in companionable silence down the middle of the street, the only light supplied by a full moon.

"How much money do you think they got away with? " Cole asked.

"Like I said before, we won't know the exact amount until the examiners go through the records. I do know from the receipt I found on MacCorkle's desk that an army paymaster made a deposit that morning.

The amount was seventeen thousand eight hundred and some change. "

Cole whistled. "That's a lot of money. I'll bet the bastards knew before MacCorkle did that the money was coming."

"I'm sure they did.

All they had to do was follow him."

"Why bother robbing the banks? " Cole asked. "Why not rob the paymaster on his way to the fort with the cash? " "It's too dangerous and unpredictable, that's why. The paymaster doesn't ride alone, and the guards assigned to him are all crack shots.

Banks are easier if you know what you're doing, and the men we're up against obviously do." The discussion ended when they reached the hotel. The only rooms available were in the attic and were about the size of clothes closets.

Cole's room faced the street. Ryan's room was directly across the hall.

The beds were soft though, and with a little persuasion, the night manager agreed to send up supper.

Neither Ryan nor Cole got much sleep that night. Cole kept thinking about the grisly scene he'd walked into, and Ryan spent his time thinking about the possible witness.