Chapter 101: The Uncertain Mayor
Milton knew perfectly well that Arthur would never betray Van der Linde, much less help capture him. His words were only meant to put pressure on Van der Linde Gang.
Over the past few months, Pinkerton’s efforts to secure law-enforcement authority had gone nowhere. Milton realized that if things continued like this, they would never gain the jurisdiction they wanted. So he needed Van der Linde Gang to cause something big.
While the gang was still committing robberies, such crimes were common across the West and carried little weight. Milton had known the location of their camp for a long time, but he kept that information to himself and never told Cornwall. That was why Cornwall still had to ride to Valentine to investigate the situation personally.
Watching the Pinkerton Detective Agency agents leave, Arthur felt a surge of irritation. Even though Davey had told him Pinkerton was now a tiger without claws, facing them in person still carried heavy pressure. In truth, the moment Arthur saw the two agents, he’d considered drawing his gun and killing them on the spot. At that distance, he was certain he could.
But Little Jack was right behind him. And Arthur understood that killing those agents would only bring Pinkerton’s retaliation—something Van der Linde Gang couldn’t afford. Besides, Pinkerton wasn’t putting much effort into going after the gang at the moment.
Returning to camp with Little Jack, Arthur handed him to Abigail, then rode toward Valentine. He needed to tell Dutch about the Pinkertons, and he believed Dutch would have a plan ready for them.
...
Strawberry Town.
The murder of Sheriff Hanley caused quite a stir, leaving the townsfolk uneasy. But in the wild West, death was far from unusual—even for a sheriff. The only bit of comfort was that Sheriff Hanley had been stabbed in the wilderness, suggesting it was likely a personal vendetta. That thought alone eased the residents’ nerves.
The body had been discovered by Officer Lyle of the station.
Strawberry Town was preparing for the election of a new sheriff. The likely outcome was choosing someone from among the current officers. Since Sheriff Hanley had never appointed a deputy, things were complicated, and no one knew who the right choice was.
When Davey arrived, he found the town in chaos, with plenty of people lobbying for support. It felt less like they were mourning a dead sheriff and more like they were preparing for a festival.
“Mr. Callander, I’m sorry. Our talks with Mayor Timmins didn’t go well. He seems to dislike us quite a bit.”
“Even when I offered him a share of the moonshine profits, Mayor Timmins didn’t care about the money and rejected the offer outright.”
“He probably already has his preferred candidate—someone close to Sheriff Hanley. That officer named Luke.”
“The speeches and voting start tomorrow morning. If Mayor Timmins backs Luke, it’ll be hard for Lyle to win.”
Donal delivered the bad news as soon as Davey arrived. The fact that Timmins could turn down American dollars surprised Davey, though his background made it understandable. Clearly, Timmins came from a good family back East. Aside from his ‘boyfriend,’ he must have had ambitions he wanted to pursue out West.
“Set up a meeting with him, Donal. I’ll speak to him myself. Maybe Mayor Timmins will change his mind.”
Donal hesitated. “Mr. Callander, getting a meeting with him won’t be easy. After our first visit, Mayor Timmins refused to speak with us again.”
Davey didn’t get angry. This was what happened when you lacked capable people. To Davey, influencing Strawberry Town’s sheriff election should have been simple, yet Donal had somehow made it a mess.
“Donal, tell Timmins this isn’t the civilized East. This is the wild West. If he doesn’t want any accidents to happen to our friends from the Center, he’d better not refuse my invitation.”
“I’ll be waiting for him in the sheriff’s office. He has one hour.”
Since things had reached this point, Davey saw no reason to waste time and decided to handle it directly.
“Yes, Mr. Callander.” Donal felt a wave of relief. He’d blamed himself for mishandling the situation, but thankfully, Mr. Callander wasn’t angry.
Donal went to deliver the message to Timmins, while Davey walked straight toward the Strawberry Town police station.
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