He knew she had been crying, that she was suffering cruelly, but he offered her courage rather than maudlin sympathy. Hope seemed to flow through her veins at the meeting of the eyes. Whatever a man could do for her would be done by Curly.
They talked the situation over together.
“As it looks to me, we’ve got to find out two things—first, what has become of your father, and, second, who did steal that money.”
“Now you’re talking,” Mackenzie agreed. “I always did say you had a good head, Curly.”
“I don’t see it yet, but there’s some link between the two things. I mean between the robbery and his disappearance.”
“How do you mean?” Kate asked.
“We’ll say the robbers were his enemies—some of the Soapy Stone outfit maybe. They have got him out of the way to satisfy their grudge and to make people think he did it. Unfortunately there is evidence that makes it look as if he might have done it—what they call corroborating testimony.”
Billie Mackenzie scratched his gray poll. “Hold on, Curly. This notion of a link between the hold-up and Luck’s leaving is what the other side is tying to. Don’t we want to think different from them?”
“We do. They think he is guilty. We know he isn’t.”
“What does Sheriff Bolt think?”