“Will you come to Winnemucca on the sixth? I’ll look for you in the parlor of the Eldorado Hotel at noon.
“For reasons that you will understand then, I hope you will come alone and that you will not go to the shipping pens until you have seen me.
“My name would mean nothing to you, so I will sign myself just
“Your Friend.”
A sigh escaped Johnny as he handed back the letter.
“Well, what do you make of it?” Molly asked earnestly.
The boy could only shake his head. Here was the final proof of the dead man’s interest in the girl Johnny loved. What lay in back of it was still a closed book, but certainly Traynor had felt himself close to her.
His death may have been without connection with his proposed intention to see Molly, but Johnny just could not believe it.
There was old Kent’s attitude toward Johnny; the whole sorry business at Standing Rock; the bickering; the stupidity of men who were solid citizens.
Was it all a play, a staged show to block justice?