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“We don’t always like people for their perfections, you know,” Lassiter replied. “You’ve given people jobs who needed them desperately, like your poor housekeeper who was brutalized by her late husband. You’ve hired on people you really didn’t even need because they needed you.” He smiled. “You’d be surprised at the people who’ve protested your arrest. One of them was the police chief himself.”
“The police chief?”
Lassiter nodded. “He said he’d be glad to testify as a character witness. His wife said she would, too.”
“But I only loaned them a piece of equipment when theirs broke down,” he said.
“And sent a mechanic with them to do the job,” came the amused reply. “Then, too, there were the orphan boys who had no place to go when their parents died. And you and Julia, your housekeeper, kept them until their out-of-state relatives came to take them to an aunt who wanted them.” He shook his head. “You’ve already got a reputation for good works. So, yes, your arrest is not popular. But the reason for it has to be kept quiet, and you have to stay in custody.”
“Why?” the other man asked.
“Because the gigolo couldn’t get your sister to stop your checks. We figure that his next move will be either an attempt to plant evidence against you in the form of an eyewitness, and we’ve got one of those already, or get you out of the way permanently.”
“I don’t like either one of those options,” Horace confessed.
“Neither do the sheriff and I. So, you’re here for the duration. I’ll either be in here with you or close by, along with one or two of our local operatives. Nobody’s touching you on my watch.”
Horace let out a long breath and smiled. “Thanks,” he said.
“No problem. You’re helping us with a related case.”
“Somebody like me?”
“Not so much.” Lassiter made himself more comfortable on his bunk. “One of his victims had a sister who was suspicious of him. She died under rather mysterious circumstances. The victim almost lost her mind. He left town running because he was afraid she might try to prove he was guilty of murder. He ran right into your sister in Florida and now he thinks he’s set for life.”
“He won’t hurt my sister, will he?” he asked plaintively.
“It’s unlikely, because if he did, you’d still inherit. We think he’ll come after you.”
“Well, if I had a choice, I’d rather it was me than my sister,” he replied. “I don’t mind staying here if you think it’s all right.” He ground his teeth together. “But what about Julia?” he added worriedly. “She’s at the ranch all alone!”
“Not really. We’ve got a guy who’s just hired on as a ranch hand. He’s sleeping in the bunkhouse. Your foreman doesn’t know his true background, which is just as well. He’ll make sure that nothing happens either to Julia or to your ranch.”
“Thanks!”
“All in a day’s work,” Lassiter replied. He smiled as he noted the other man’s relieved expression. He was beginning to see why Horace Whatley had become something of a town mascot in Catelow.
CODYWASWORRIEDabout Horace Whatley’s sister. Lassiter had passed along the conversation he’d had with the man in jail.
“Probably he’s biding his time to see if Mr. Whatley is arraigned and charged with the bank robbery,” Lassiter told him. “I’m certain that Miss Whatley would have informed him that her brother was under suspicion.”
“He already knows it,” Cody said. “Jeb told me about the cashier’s check that was placed in the bank account of the so-called witness who said he saw Mr. Whatley rob the bank.”
“So you could get Mr. Whatley out of jail any time you like.”
Cody nodded. “Which would place him right back in the hot seat. The boyfriend will be keeping tabs on what’s happening here. I’m sure Nita Whatley will tell him everything she knows.”
“It must be hell, to love like that,” Lassiter said, shaking his head. “I’m glad that I’m immune to it.”
Cody didn’t reply. He knew a lot about obsessive love. He’d been a victim of it.
“So we just plug along for the time being and do nothing to spring Mr. Whatley?” Lassiter asked.
Cody nodded. “That way we can keep him alive while we try to tie her boyfriend to the murdered woman in Denver.”
“I have a friend who’s a fed. He has ties with the police chief who’s sweet on Nita Whatley.”
“She’d smell a rat if an outsider poked his nose in,” Cody said.
