Chapter 16 - The Run on Vane Bank

By noon, everyone knew.

Depositors crowded outside Vane Bank demanding money.

Silas locked the doors.

That made the panic worse.

Storekeepers refused Vane banknotes.

Workers at the rail camp threatened to leave.

Three ranchers learned their credit lines had been frozen.

Carrick began collapsing before Corvin's eyes.

People blamed Martin.

They blamed Vane.

They blamed Gideon.

Some blamed Corvin.

At the feed store, a rancher named Holt grabbed Corvin by the shirt.

"My winter loan is through Vane! You proud of yourself?"

Corvin did not fight back.

"No."

"Then fix it."

"I don't control the bank."

"You controlled whether this became public."

Mara watched from several feet away.

After Holt left, she asked, "Do you regret it?"

Corvin thought.

"I regret the cost."

"That was not my question."

"No."

That surprised him.

"No, I don't regret it."

Mara nodded.

"Good."

They returned to the ranch.

Gideon was awake.

Jonah had spread financial records across the kitchen.

"We may be able to separate legitimate deposits from Red Mesa obligations."

"How?"

"Vane's bank has assets."

"Enough?"

"No."

Silas arrived unexpectedly.

Nobody welcomed him.

He looked exhausted.

"The bank can cover perhaps sixty cents on the dollar if liquidated."

Corvin stared.

"People lose forty percent."

"Unless credit is extended."

"By whom?"

Vane looked at him.

Corvin laughed.

"You've lost your mind."

"Torne cattle, Black Ridge—"

"No."

"Listen."

"No more using the ridge as collateral."

"Then Carrick's bank fails."

Mara asked, "How much money belongs to the Dry Creek trust?"

Vane answered quietly.

"With accumulated value, two hundred fourteen thousand."

More than Gideon believed.

"Where is it?"

"Mostly gone."

"Mostly?"

"Seventy-one thousand remains liquid."

Jonah looked up sharply.

"Where?"

"Red Mesa account in Tucson."

Mara said, "That belongs to the trust."

"Yes."

"If restored?"

Vane understood.

"It would remove liquidity from my company."

"Your company already deserves to fail."

Vane stared at her.

She continued.

"But could the seventy-one thousand support ordinary depositors instead?"

Jonah frowned.

"Not legally. Trust money can't simply rescue a bank."

Corvin asked, "Could it be returned to the trust, then invested through an independent institution that extends temporary credit?"

Jonah thought.

"Possibly."

Vane laughed bitterly.

"So the money I stole saves the town while destroying me."

Corvin looked at him.

"Seems appropriate."

They needed federal oversight.

Whitcomb offered to contact Hawthorne's legal office.

Rebecca proposed a temporary depositor committee.

Price printed instructions urging residents not to panic.

It might have worked.

Then smoke rose from Carrick.

The bank.

Someone had set the records room on fire.

Corvin and Jonah ran inside with others.

They saved account books.

Not all.

Vane emerged carrying a metal cash drawer.

His coat burned at one sleeve.

Outside, he dropped to his knees.

Martin Vale watched from across the street.

Corvin saw him.

So did Vane.

"You," Vane whispered.

Martin walked away.

Corvin chased him into an alley.

Martin turned with a pistol.

"Stop."

Corvin stopped.

"You burned the records."

"Can you prove it?"

"You're running out of places to hide."

Martin smiled.

"You still think I'm hiding."

He backed toward a horse.

"I want every record examined."

"Why?"

"Because every examination destroys another Torne lie."

Corvin frowned.

"This isn't only money for you."

Martin's expression changed.

"My grandfather died branded a thief."

"He stole."

"Did he?"

"Gideon said—"

"Gideon."

Martin laughed.

"You trust him now?"

Corvin went silent.

Martin mounted.

"Ask Gideon who signed Wesley Vale's confession."

Then he rode away.

Corvin returned to the ranch after dark.

Gideon was sleeping.

Corvin woke him.

"Who signed Wesley Vale's confession?"

Gideon's face told him everything.

Corvin felt cold.

"Was it forged?"

Gideon closed his eyes.

"Yes."

"By whom?"

Gideon whispered, "Me."

Corvin stepped back.

Again.

Every time they uncovered one crime, another waited beneath it.

"Why?"

"Because your father was going to prison."

Corvin stared.

"For what?"

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Gideon looked at him.

"The first money taken from the Dry Creek trust."