Those probably aren’t the only two victims either.”
“I don’t need convincing, Dan. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn they’re the same outlaws who’ve been preying on the prospectors around Moose Lodge. That might be the business they’re attending to now. Got a letter from their sheriff a week ago, asking if we’d had any trouble. He was looking for information about who the culprits might be.”
The sheriff leaned forward in his chair. “Come to think of it, did either of you catch a name while they were discussing their plans? Can you give me physical descriptions?”
Meredith and Oliver both shook their heads. “No names were mentioned. We didn’t want them to know we could hear what they were saying, so Oliver never turned around, and I only glanced at them once,” Meredith said. “Two of them had their backs to us, and the third had his head tilted down and a cowboy hat on. I tried, but I couldn’t see his face. All I can tell is that one of them is very tall.”
Meredith had gotten that information from him, the only thing he could share with her with any certainty. He had no memory of their faces. The one who’d stopped them wore a bandana, and the other two had snuck up on them from behind. He had no memory of their features in life, and that had remained true in death. The three were a menacing, hostile presence, and that was about it.
“All right, what we need is a plan.” The sheriff’s features held steely determination as he looked at him, then Charles.
“Here’s what we were thinking,” Daniel volunteered. “We gather a group of men we trust and swear them to secrecy. We don’t want the thieves to catch wind that we’re on to them. Charles and I pretend to bring our haul to town on Monday morning as usual, while you and the others hide at the ambush site. We’ll give a signal when we’re entering the area, a joke and loud laughter. Then you and your men arrest them the moment they make their move.”
“Six men ought to be enough to form a net.” The sheriff cocked a brow at Oliver. “You’ll show us where they plan to make the ambush?”
Oliver’s gaze flickered to Daniel for an instant before returning to the sheriff. “I will.”
“All right. I’ll gather the men, and we’ll meet you here next Tuesday afternoon. I’ll have the others stagger their departures from town so as not to cause any notice. We’ll go to the site, and plan our strategy once we see what we’re dealing with.” He looked steadily at each of them, including Meredith. “Carry on as you normally would. Don’t do anything that might draw attention to yourselves.”
Meredith frowned. “I’m afraid my trip into town with Daniel yesterday may have already—”
“Oh, we drew attention all right, and that’s a fact.” Daniel smiled and covered her hand with his. “I don’t believe that’s the kind of attention Bill is talking about, Meredith. Sheriff Ramsey doesn’t want us to suddenly change our routines. Doing so might lead the gang’s informant to speculate that we’ve been tipped off.”
“Exactly,” Bill agreed. “I’m assuming by now the entire town knows you have company, and they’ll expect you to bring Miss MacCarthy and her brother to Garretsville. Plan a trip into town soon. Eat at the diner or at that new hotel. Show your kin around town. Folks will want to meet them.”
Oliver’s brow rose. “I’d like to visit Garretsville.”
Charles flashed Daniel a wry look. “Since it’s my turn to cook supper tomorrow evening, I propose we head into town then.”
“Fine with me.” Charles turned back to the sheriff. “One more thing. We’ve done a lot of thinking about who might be feeding these three information. It could be anyone who happens to be observant, but we suspect Joe Biggs might be involved. Rumor is one thing, while an assayer telling a gang of thieves there’s gold to be had? That’s fact.”
“Makes sense.” Bill’s expression turned pensive. “I’ll see to it that Biggs is detained on the morning of the nineteenth, and if the crime doesn’t happen then, we’ll figure something else out for the following Monday. Might be our assayer will have to close down for a week due to a sudden illness. We’ll stash him away somewhere safe and secure.”
“Sounds good.” Daniel stood up and stretched.
“Would you like more coffee, Bill?” Meredith asked as she too rose from her chair.