"Burgoyne, do you know that McKay and Cree George were killed yesterday at Kingsburg?" he finally asked.
Joe nodded quickly. "I hear it talk about today."
"You do not like the police, do you Burgoyne? No need to answer that question. Here is what I want to talk to you about. A white man and an Indian, both wearing the authority of the law, were shot down in the street. The man or men who fired those shots must pay the penalty of the crime.
"I can bring enough men in here to wipe Kingsburg off the map, but the innocent would suffer with the guilty. If I can find the names of the guilty men, we will go there and take them away. But no man in the employ of the police would be able to gather that information, except by accident. You understand?"
Joe nodded and caressed his sore face.
"You know Kingsburg and Magee?"
Joe shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I go there like de rest."
"You know Magee?"
"Sure—like de rest know him."
"And are you afraid of him—like the rest?"