Longarm and the Lady Laywer by Tabor Evans

Author:Tabor Evans
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

The evening passed quietly after Natalie Malone left. Longarm spent it smoking and sipping from a bottle of Maryland rye while he thought about the case. He had no official connection to it, of course. He could give his testimony the next day as honestly as he could, then walk away from the whole thing with no stain on his conscience.

But the lawman in him was bothered by what he had seen so far during the trial. Estelle Malone wasn’t being railroaded—there was plenty of evidence against her to justify an indictment and trial—but it seemed to Longarm that more attention should have been paid to the other possibilities. Nobody got to be as successful as Jericho Malone had been without making some enemies along the way. Maybe Estelle was on the verge of paying for the revenge that had been carried out by someone else.

Longarm pondered the situation long into the night before finally dozing off.

When he arrived at the courthouse the next morning, fresh from a breakfast of flapjacks, bacon, biscuits, gravy, and coffee, Longarm found Abercrombie Creighton waiting for him with a thunderous frown on his face. Without any greeting, Creighton demanded, “What’s all this I hear about you having dinner with opposing counsel last night?”

“She’s your opposing counsel, not mine,” Longarm said. “Far as I’m concerned, Miss Parmalee is just a nice young lady who’s worried because her daddy is sick.”

“So you took it upon yourself to comfort the young woman,” Creighton said with a sneer. “Your gallantry has outdone itself this time, Marshal.”

Longarm sucked an eyetooth for a second, then said, “What’s the penalty in this state for bustin’ a loudmouthed lawyer in the mush?”

Creighton drew in a sharp breath and took a step back. “Are you threatening me?”

“Just askin’ a legal question. As for Miss Parmalee, we didn’t discuss the case or the trial. You can take my word for that, or you can go to hell.” Longarm paused, then added, “Interestin’, though, that Natalie Malone’s been talking to you this morning.”

“Of course Miss Malone has spoken to me,” Creighton said stiffly. “She’s a witness for the prosecution, not to mention one of the injured parties in this case.”

“She tell you she came to see me last night?”

Creighton blinked and frowned. “No. What do you mean?”

“Ask her,” Longarm suggested. Natalie could tell Creighton as much or as little as she wanted to about her visit to Longarm’s room. He didn’t really care anymore.

Longarm went past Creighton into the courtroom and found a seat. He wasn’t going to stand up today. He cocked his right ankle on his left knee and balanced his hat on his leg. He was ready for whatever the morning brought.

Once again, the courtroom filled up quickly. When Janice Parmalee came in, she looked at Longarm, and he thought for a second she was going to smile at him before she caught herself. She wore a solemn expression as Estelle Malone was brought in and seated at the witness table.

Longarm wondered how Janice’s father was doing this morning.

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