The Cassidy Posse Read Online Free PDF

I’m goin’,” said Mike as he hurried down the hall. He raised his fist to knock at the door but Bill Stewart, Chief of Detectives, opened it for him.
    “Come on in, Mike,” said Stewart. “I told the Chief you were usually the first one in and he wouldn’t have to wait long. Glad you didn’t make me a liar.” He laughed nervously.
    “Good mornin’, Chief,” said Mike, crossing the room to meet Barnes and shake his hand. There was another man in the room sitting at the interrogation table. He had on a brand new suit that looked inconsistent with his weather-beaten Stetson and trail-worn cowboy boots.
    “Mike, Sean Daugherty has escaped from jail,” said Chief Barnes, getting right to the point.
    “Damn,” said Mike in amazement. “We just put him in jail duh other day.”
    “Then you are aware of the situation?” asked Barnes.
    “Well, if I’m not yuh better fit me up fer uh unifarm and put me back walkin’ a beat. That’s the lad supposed tuh have shoved poor Mrs. Carver off ‘er own balcony.”
    “I don’t know if there is any ‘supposing’ to it,” said Barnes emphatically. “There were three eyewitnesses placing him on the balcony.”
    “So much fer that innocent until proven guilty malarkey,” said Mike with a shrug.
    Barnes glared at McGhan a moment and then forced a smile.
    “Your right, Mike,” he conceded. “Everyone deserves their day in court.”
    “The problem is we have to find him to do that,” interjected Bill Stewart, always seeking consensus. It was his idea to bring McGhan up and now that he was one of his detectives, he wanted no problems with Mike and the powers that be.
    “Well, I dun’t think he’s down here in duh Bridgeport neighborhood,” said Mike. “I’d uh heard about it befar I finished me farst cup uh coffee.”
    “No, he’s a long way from here,” concluded Chief Barnes. “He escaped with a cowboy named Red Alvins. We think our man has gone west.”
    Mike looked around Bill Stewart to the man at the table. It would seem he had to fit into this story somewhere.
    “Mike, this is Barry Ketchum from Wyoming,” said Barnes, handling the introductions. “He was Red Alvins’ last employer and we thought he might be able to give you some ideas on where he might run to.”
    From this Mike surmised that he was being given the case and that he would be leaving town soon. What he couldn’t figure out was why he was so lucky.
    “How do yuh do, sar,” said Mike, shaking the cowboy’s hand. They all sat down at the long oak table except Bill Stewart who chose to pace anxiously back and forth.
    “Mr. Ketchum came to Chicago to buy cattle and this Red Alvins accompanied him,” said Barnes.
    “Yep,” said Ketchum. “Red fed me quite a tale about how he knew Chicago and all and hows I’d be better off with him along. He knew I always take one of the hands with me and ole Red was sure bent on it being him.”
    “Well, did he know Chicago?” asked Bill Stewart.
    “Hell no,” replied the cowboy. “That son-of-a-bitch had never been this side of the Mississippi far as I could tell. That was just Red. He always had some angle he was workin’.”
    “He was arrested for killing a man south of town while trying to steal horses,” said Barnes. “Mr. Ketchum believes this Alvins was just using him as a cover to come east.”
    “Dun’t they have enough horses out in Wyoming to steal?” asked Mike.
    “The horse thievin’ trade has got tricky now,” said Ketchum. “Ustah be they could steal a horse and sell it a hundred miles away and they was pretty safe from being caught up with. Now the markings are better and the lawmen are keepin’ better descriptions of stolen property. These days the only safe thing fer them to do is steal a couple hundred miles away. Even farther. I was buying Herefords from T.L. Miller in Beecher just south of here. I noticed Red was over at the horse corral eyein’ a pair of prize Belgiums when we were down there. I guess