AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was and she did.
The photo of Butch Cassidy was from his time in prison. The one for Oscar Virtanen had no photo, but instead a sketch. He could have been just about any young man of that era with regular features and no distinguishing marks. I thought I saw some indication of Butch Cassidy’s personality in his photo, but there was none of Oscar’s in the sketch.
“And here’s a reward poster for Laura Bullion.”
She was called away after that and I left, thinking about the posters.
Sure, highwayman was romantic — if you weren’t on the opposite end of the holdup. But I was also struck that the reward for Laura Bullion was one-tenth of that offered on Butch and one-fifth of that offered on Oscar.
But no reward for Pearl.
That sent my thoughts down another trail.
Pearl was in on the two earlier robberies with him.
Why did she not accompany him on the last one?
Could she have been pregnant?
Sam said the secondary source about that now-lost article commented on the posse member’s deep sympathy for the widow. Why such sympathy for a dead outlaw’s wife? But if that young wife was also pregnant...
Speculation. Total speculation.
But as long as I was speculating, it also occurred to me that with the planning that had gone into the second robbery, with getting out of town on a train, then laying a false trail that they were going farther than they did, and getting clean away, perhaps there was other planning.
Like where to hide the loot if a posse was hot on his trail?
He’d gone north, toward where Pearl was, where their property was. Also toward a pre-designated spot?
So, if he did bury the proceeds, she would have known where it was. Were these men chasing something that — if it existed in the first place — most likely was removed by his accomplice, his wife not long after it was buried?
Would it matter to Keefe?
I got the idea that he wanted the connection, not the fortune. At least he wanted the connection more.
But Sam McCracken?
How would he react if someone pulled the treasure hunt rug out from under him?
I thought of what I’d read about the searchers for Forrest Fenn’s treasure. A few went off the deep end — during the search and after it was declared over.
If Keefe told Sam he was the proven descendant of Oscar Virtanen...
Sam wouldn’t care. Unless it affected finding the treasure.
It wasn’t like Keefe would inherit the money even if he had been proven to be Oscar’s descendant, since it was stolen.
So, was there anything that could have pushed Sam over the edge?
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
I put that question to the group during a video call, back in the KWMT news director’s office, eating takeout dinner from Hamburger Heaven with Diana after the Five.
Before the broadcast, I’d called James Longbaugh’s office for an appointment. To my surprise, he had one available for the next morning.
Three of tonight’s top stories had Diana’s video from today’s assignments. I edited a couple pieces for Leona, so I wasn’t a total waste of newsroom space.
“Keefe taunted him,” Jennifer said. She was in her apartment in Evanston.
