The Daybreakers and Sackett by Louis L'Amour

Author:Louis L'Amour [L'Amour, Louis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Western, Historical, Adventure
ISBN: 9780307807557
Google: 8JU_Lh23E80C
Amazon: B005MHHRVG
Barnesnoble: B005MHHRVG
Goodreads: 12724822
Publisher: Bantam
Published: 1960-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

It had been a long time since I’d stood face to face with Jonathan Pritts. He walked through the open door and confronted me in the small office, his pale blue eyes hard with anger. “You have Mr. Fetterson in prison. I want him released.”

“Sorry.”

“On what charge are you holding him?”

“He is involved in the murder of Juan Torres.”

He glared at me. “You have arrested this man because of your hatred for me. He is completely innocent and you can have no evidence to warrant holding him. If you do not release him I will have you removed from office.”

He had no idea how empty that threat was. He was a man who liked power and could not have understood how little I wanted the job I had, or how eager I was to be rid of it.

“He will be held for trial.”

Jonathan Pritts measured me carefully. “I see you are not disposed to be reasonable.” His tone was quieter.

“There has been a crime committed, Mr. Pritts. You cannot expect me to release a prisoner because the first citizen who walks into my office asks me to. The time has come to end crimes of violence, and especially,” I added this carefully, “murder that has been paid for.”

This would hit him where he lived, I thought, and maybe it did, only there was no trace of feeling on his face. “Now what do you mean by that?”

“We have evidence that Fetterson paid money to the murderers of Juan Torres.”

Sure, I was bluffing. We had nothing that would stand up in court, not much, actually, on which to hold him. Only that I had seen him paying money to Paisano, and he had been at Tres Ritos when the killers arrived, and that Tina would testify to the fact that he had paid money there.

“That is impossible.”

Picking up a sheaf of papers, I began sorting them. He was a man who demanded attention and my action made him furious.

“Mr. Pritts,” I said, “I believe you are involved in this crime. If the evidence will substantiate my belief you will hang also, right along with Fetterson and the others.”

Why, he fooled me. I expected him to burst out with some kind of attack on me, but he did nothing of the kind.

“Have you talked to your brother about this?”

“He knows I have my duty to do, and he would not interfere. Nor would I interfere in his business.”

“How much is the bail for Mr. Fetterson?”

“You know I couldn’t make any ruling. The judge does that. But there’s no bail for murder.”

He did not threaten me or make any reply at all, he just turned and went outside. If he had guessed how little I had in the way of evidence he would have just sat still and waited. But I have a feeling about this sort of thing … if you push such men they are apt to move too fast, move without planning, and so they’ll make mistakes.

Bill Sexton came in, and Ollie was with him.

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