"No." And the sheriff's gesture of negation spread a film of cigar-ash on the floor. "It's the other man I want."
"Sundown?" asked Shoop, sitting up suddenly.
"You go to sleep, Bud," laughed the sheriff. "You can't catch me that easy."
Shoop relaxed with the grin of a school-boy.
"I'll go bail," offered Corliss.
"No. That would spoil my plan. See here, Jack, I know you and Bud won't talk. Loring telephoned me to look out for Sundown. I did. Now, Loring knows who shot Fadeaway, or I miss my guess. Nellie Loring knows, too. So do you, but you can't prove it. It was like Fade to put Loring's sheep into the cañon, but we can't prove even that, now. I'm pretty sure your scrap with Fade didn't have anything to do with his getting shot. You ain't that kind."
"Well, here's my side of it, Jim. Fadeaway had it in for me for firing him. He happened to see me talking to Nellie Loring at Fernando's camp. Later we met up on the old Blue Trail. He said one or two things that I didn't like. I let him have it with the butt of my quirt. He jerked out his gun and hit me a clip on the head. That's all I remember till the boys came along."
"You didn't ride as far as the upper ford, that day?"
"No. I told Fadeaway I wanted him to come back with me and talk to Loring. I was pretty sure he put the sheep into the cañon."
"Well, Jack, knowing you since you were a boy, that's good enough for me."