Western World Page #3

You've taken him

under your wing?

The sheriff is to be commended,

Marshall.

Danny holt never knew

his father.

As his mother, Molly holt,

never put a name to him

before she died

in childbirth.

Molly herself, well,

she was one of Harlan Pritz's,

working ladies.

She was one of his whores.

Just say it, ambrose.

That's enough of that, Caleb.

Harlan Pritz?

The owner

of the dogwood saloon.

There's a half dozen men

could have been Danny's father.

A dozen more

she never knew the names of.

Look, I believe

the Marshall understands.

Danny holt isn't saying

what's happened,

and that's the long

and short of it.

Well, let me ask you this,

sheriff,

where were you

when the killing took place?

Well...

I was, across the road

from the hotel making my rounds

when I... I saw ambrose here.

Mayor Taylor...

At your service.

As I was saying,

I was making my rounds

when I saw mayor Taylor

sitting out in front

of the mercantile,

so I just stopped to pass

a few words with him.

You heard the shots?

No, come to think of it...

Mr. Mannors ran out from the door

of his hotel to us and shouted.

And,

we rushed over there.

-You and the mayor?

-That's right.

And you were in,

Mrs. Tammery's room

within moments

and nobody could come or go

without you

seeing them first.

Right again.

And, well, you sent

for the doctor, of course.

Well, yeah, we sent Pete, the owner of

the mercantile, to fetch doctor moss.

Yes, doctor moss

at your service.

So, doctor,

Pete found you in your office

and brought you back

to the hotel?

Yes.

We found the good doctor

at the barrell top saloon,

in the middle of the day,

I might add.

For the love of...

Just stating the facts.

In any case, doctor moss,

you were on the scene

in short order

and examined the deceased.

I was, and I did,

and he was dead. Dead as hell.

-With two bullet wounds?

-To the chest.

-From a. 45 Colt?

-What?

The bullet wounds, they were from

that particular model of Colt pistol?

Well, yes, I assume.

Danny holt was standing there

with a pistol in his hand.

Which was missing two rounds.

I checked.

So, what you're saying is,

you didn't see the need

to examine the bullet wounds,

what with the boy standing there

with a fired weapon and all?

Well,

it seemed pretty obvious.

It does, doesn't it?

I don't suppose you examined

the slugs either?

I mean, isn't that what

you'd normally do, though?

Examine the...

What the hell for?

I mean, good god, man.

Yes, I would normally

examine those slugs,

but in this case, we had

a eyewitness to the shooting,

a dead guy on the ground with

two bullet wounds in his chest,

and Danny holt standing there with a

pistol that had been fired twice,

meaning it was

pretty obvious.

I mean, normal procedure

be damned.

To examine those slugs would

have been a waste of my time

and taxpayer money.

All right, very good, very good.

I'll ju... I'll...

The body's at Roman's.

Give me 15 minutes

and you'll have

your damn slugs.

-Roman's?

-Roman Pearl, the undertaker.

There's a great immediacy

to this, Caleb.

Don't stop at the saloon

along the way.

You don't need any more

to drink today.

And lord knows, you could use some

time away from them gaming tables.

I heard how your luck's

been running lately.

Mayor, why don't you

accompany the good doctor

just to make sure everything's

done all proper like?

No, I want to do this myself,

damn you all.

Come on, Caleb.

You had me and the sheriff witness

your postmortem examinations before.

-I'd rather you didn't.

-Let's just go.

The sooner we end

this nonsense,

the sooner we get the whole

matter behind us.

Do resolve this matter

quickly, doctor.

We wouldn't want any

unnecessary investigations

holding things up,

now would we?

So what do you think of

this here, Marshall white?

He's becoming a damn

nuisance, if you ask me.

This whole examination

is pointless.

Danny holt shot that man

and with that Colt .45

of his.

I agree with you,

I certainly do.

But I suppose

this can't hurt.

Just as an assurance,

you understand?

For the courts, you know.

Gentlemen,

what can I do for you?

I was about to close down

services for the evening.

Well, Roman, we're here about

the unfortunate Mr. Tammery.

By unfortunate,

you mean deceased?

He means the dead guy

on this pine door here.

What about him?

Well, as unlikely

as it seems,

Caleb here has to take

a look at the deceased.

Really? To what ends?

I promise you,

your healing powers,

however formidable

you may hold them,

will do Mr. Tammery

no good tonight.

Just let me look

at the damn body, Roman.

He's all yours.

He's not going anywhere tonight.

I see you don't have him

boxed up yet.

I'm saving that boxing up

for in the morning.

He's being shipped back

to rawlins, I suppose?

That is the plan.

And how's the lovely widow?

Grievous in her mourning,

I suppose?

Um, well, I suppose.

She is a striking lady.

I should visit her at the hotel

and express my condolences.

Well, she's not in the hotel

just now...

May I use your instruments,

Roman?

Of course.

Whatever is he up to?

Well, we need the slugs out of the

body for evidence against Danny holt.

I assumed his guilt

had already been established.

Well, not to the satisfaction

of the U.S. Marshall

that's come to remand him

to the court in laramie.

You should find whatever you

want to work with there, Caleb.

I doubt if your patient

will have any complaint

over precision or technique.

Are you two gonna get out

of my way

or are you planning to dig

around in his chest yourselves?

Well, get in there.

While we're here, ambrose,

I wonder if we might

discuss finances.

Finances?

Whose finances?

Mine, specifically.

Well, what about yours,

specifically?

The town normally pays me

for my services.

Well, if there's

no next of kin,

I naturally assume

that Camille Tammery

had made arrangements

for her husband.

Naturally, and in this case,

you are correct.

Mrs. Tammery has provided

for the arrangements

for her husband.

Quite stingily,

I might add.

Well then, what?

Well, there's the teamster who

tumbled from the wagon a week ago.

The young man found dead behind the

dogwood saloon two weeks prior.

I provided services

for both.

Well, the bare minimum...

The bare minimum is all

that the town provides,

and I have yet to be paid.

Well, yes,

there are some circumstances

that, may defer payment,

just for a short time,

you understand.

Is there a shortage

in the tax coffers, ambrose?

Well, not a shortage exactly.

It's, simply,

money is tight, you know?

Should I approach

the town treasurer?

That's exactly

what I would do.

That's a great idea.

Take it up with him, and...

-Ambrose?

-Yes?

Aren't you the acting town

treasurer until one is appointed?

Yes, well, I'll look into it.

Damn it, Caleb!

How long does it take to remove

two slugs out of a dead man?

Well, I'll be damned.

Those aren't from

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