he ran along the sloped roof covering the brothel's porch. A flying leap carried him on to the roof of the building across the street, and he vanished into the night.
Jack remained frozen in place for a few moments, unable to process what he had just seen. A breeze wafted through the open window, pulling at the curtains. The deputy felt the cold air on his face, and it roused him from his stupor. He ran over to the window and looked out. The man was long gone. Cursing, he turned back into the room, trying to calm his thoughts enough to take a good look around.
The bed was empty and stripped of its sheet. The pillows lay against the headboard, undisturbed. Bending down, Jack looked over the rest of the bed for any evidence, but came up empty. In the other room, the bath water was cooling, and a towel lay heaped in the corner.
Jack slammed his hand into the wall. This was Annabelle's room, and somebody had just jumped out of the window holding what looked like a body. He didn't want to believe it. He couldn't. No, Annabelle was still alive. She was probably just downstairs having a drink. Still, just to be safe, he should probably tell the marshal that something was fishy in town. Today was supposed to be his day off, and he thought he'd come pay Annabelle a surprise visit. He cursed this miserable town that couldn't give a lawman even one day of peace.
The cold air burned his ears as he ran through the street toward the station. Bursting through the front door, he gave a brief nod to Sanchez. The seated deputy returned the nod, watching in confusion as his fellow lawman stormed toward the marshal's office.
"Sir, we got a problem."
Duggan looked up from the small wooden crucifix he was holding. "We always got a problem, deputy. I'm stewing about one right this minute, as a matter of fact."
"Well, forget it," Jack said. "We got a worse one."
"You ain't giving me orders, are you?" Duggan asked, raising an eyebrow.
Jack looked down at his boots. "No, sir."
"I didn't think you was," Duggan said. "Now then, what's the new problem?"
"Something's wrong over at the Purdy," Jack said.
"Ain't something you can fix?"
Jack shook his head. "No, sir. Ain't no rowdy drunk this time. I think–" He took a deep breath. "I think somebody might have gone and killed one of them whores."
"Which one?" Duggan asked. When Jack didn't reply, the marshal looked up. Seeing the look on the deputy's face, he groaned. "Jack, tell me it ain't that one you're sweet on."
"Who said I was sweet on a whore?"
"Your face just done told me," Duggan said. "Before that, Mrs Oglesby said she saw you outside that brothel when we was fighting that other monster."
"That bitch," Jack said, shaking his head. "Ain't none of her business where I choose to sit."
"Don't take no big city detective to make the pieces fit." The marshal sighed and stood to his feet. "What makes you think your sweetheart got herself killed?"
Jack swallowed, looking at his boots again. "Well, I went in to call on her. The porter, he was busy with somebody else, so I figured I'd just let myself on up to see her. I went up to her room and I opened the door, and there was this strange feller in the room. He was carrying something that looked like a body over his shoulder. I hollered at him, and he just looked over at me and grinned before jumping right out the window."
Duggan's eyebrows arched over his blue eyes. "You say he jumped out the window?"
"Yes, sir," Jack said, nodding. "It's a second-story window, and he hopped on out like he was jumping a fence rail."
"Well, ain't that odd?" Duggan said, looking down at the cross in his hands. "You didn't find him limping around in the street afterward?"
"Didn't think to look," Jack said. "Ain't heard nobody say nothing about it, though." Jack watched the memory in his mind and shook his head. "It's like he just sprouted wings and flew off into the sky."
Duggan nodded without looking up. Sighing through his nose, he twirled the cross in his fingers. No man he knew could jump out of a second-story window onto a snow-packed street without breaking his legs, and no man anywhere could simply vanish into thin air. If what Jack said was true, their suspect wasn't a man. He didn't want to believe