Chapter 19 - The Man Mary Hated
Edwin Crane looked nothing like Caleb remembered.
Age had hollowed him.
Fear had done the rest.
Kalisa kept her hand near her knife.
Crane noticed.
“I didn't kill your brother.”
“Then lower the gun.”
“No.”
Caleb said, “If you wanted me dead, you'd have fired.”
Crane's hand trembled.
Caleb took one step forward.
Crane lowered the revolver.
“Damn you.”
They sat inside the cabin.
Crane drank directly from a bottle.
“You forged Mary's deed,” Caleb said.
“Yes.”
No denial.
That surprised him.
“Why?”
“Money.”
“At least you're efficient.”
Crane laughed bitterly.
“Mary always hated that about me.”
“You threatened her.”
“Yes.”
“You worked with Hargrove.”
“Yes.”
“Did you help kill her?”
Crane's face changed.
“No.”
Caleb leaned forward.
“Then tell me.”
Crane looked toward Kalisa.
“Nantan came to Dry Creek injured.”
She said nothing.
“Mary arrived. Silas followed. Then Reeves and I came.”
“Why?”
“Hargrove believed she had his ledger.”
“She did.”
Crane's eyes widened.
“You found it?”
“Keep talking.”
Crane swallowed.
“Reeves demanded the book. Mary refused. Nantan tried to stand. Reeves struck him.”
Kalisa's jaw tightened.
“Did he kill him?”
“No. Nantan was already badly wounded.”
“What happened next?”
“Mary told Reeves she had copies in three places.”
Caleb almost smiled.
That sounded like her.
Crane continued.
“She said killing her would only make the evidence harder to control.”
“What did Reeves do?”
“He believed her.”
“So he let her go?”
“Yes.”
Caleb stared.
“Then how did she die?”
Crane's eyes dropped.
“Nantan collapsed. Mary stayed with him.”
“And you?”
“Reeves ordered me to ride with him.”
“Where?”
“Back toward Hargrove ranch.”
“You left Mary alive?”
“Yes.”
Caleb felt the room narrow.
“Then Reeves didn't kill her there.”
“No.”
“Did he return?”
Crane hesitated.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“An hour later.”
“Why?”
“He said he had forgotten something.”
Kalisa whispered, “The ledger.”
Crane nodded.
“I waited near the ridge.”
“Did you see him find Mary?”
“No.”
“What did you see?”
Crane's voice fell.
“I saw his horse at the wash.”
Caleb gripped the chair.
“And then?”
“He returned without the ledger.”
“Blood?”
Crane looked at him.
“On his sleeve.”
Caleb stopped breathing.
Crane continued.
“He told me Nantan was dead and Mary had ridden away.”
“But she hadn't.”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the next morning Hargrove brought me the forged purchase agreement.”
Caleb frowned.
“He needed Mary's signature.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He had her wedding ring.”
Caleb looked down at his own hand.
Mary's ring had never been found.
Reeves told him raiders took it.
Crane whispered, “He gave it to me so I could copy the engraving style from documents she signed.”
Caleb stood so fast the chair fell.
Kalisa moved between him and Crane.
“He did not kill her.”
“I helped him bury her truth,” Crane said.
“You used her ring.”
“I know.”
“You forged her name.”
“Yes.”
Caleb's fists shook.
Mary's letter returned to him.
Do not become him.
He turned away.
Crane pulled a paper from inside his coat.
“This is what Hargrove wrote after.”
Caleb took it.
A short note.
Edwin—
Prepare Whitlock conveyance immediately.
M.W. will not object further.
Use prior date.
S. must confirm.
Destroy this after reading.
—R.H.
Caleb stared.
It was not a confession.
But “will not object further” written before Mary's death was officially known could matter enormously.
Crane said, “I kept it because I knew one day he might kill me too.”
Kalisa asked, “Where is Mary's ring?”
Crane looked at Caleb.
“Hargrove kept it after the forgery.”
Caleb's face hardened.
“Where?”
“His private strongbox.”
“The one that burned?”
“No.”
Crane shook his head.
“The bank in Prescott.”
Deputy Marshal Cole now had probable cause for more than land fraud.
He had a witness.
A threatening letter.
A forged deed.
And a personal object taken from a dead woman that Reeves had never admitted possessing.
But before they could leave the cabin, horses sounded outside.
Crane went white.
“Hargrove.”
Caleb looked through the window.
Six riders surrounded the cabin.
At their front sat Reeves Hargrove.
He called calmly:
“Caleb, send Edwin outside.”
Caleb opened the door slightly.
“Why?”
Reeves smiled.
“Because he stole from me.”
Caleb held up the letter.
“No.”
For the first time, Hargrove's composure vanished.
He saw what Caleb held.
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And Caleb finally understood.
They had found the one thing Reeves Hargrove was willing to kill everyone in that cabin to recover.
