“If it’s possible—yes, I’ll pay well.” Hashknife shook his head quickly.
“You’ve got the wrong dope on me, Moran. My skin is worth quite a lot to me. Even if I was able to solve a mystery, I’d have no chance here. Somebody would fill me full of lead before I got started.”
English Ed laughed shortly.
“Which proves that you don’t think Jimmy is guilty. If he was, why would you be afraid of getting shot?”
Hashknife shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t think Jimmy killed those Big 4 steers at Hot Creek, do you?”
“I don’t know anything about it,” said Holmes flatly.
“Somebody does,” smiled Hashknife. “Nope, I don’t want any finger in this pie; I might get it hurt.”
He nodded and turned back to Sleepy, who joined him. They saw Wind River Jim, Lovely Lucas and Horse-Collar Fields coming from the Ranger Saloon, and the sidewalk was not wide enough for them to walk in single file.
“What did they want?” asked Sleepy.