"No fuss a-tall, Thompson?" resumed Racey.
"Nary a fuss."
"And you was here alla time Dale was here?"
"I was here before Dale come, and I was still here when Dale—went away."
"In the same room with him?"
"In this room, yeah. In the same room with him alla time. Shore."
"Then if Dale had had a riot with anybody else but the stranger man you'd 'a' knowed it."
"You betcha. He didn't have no trouble, only with the stranger."
"Did anybody else have any trouble with anybody while you was here?"
At this Thompson frowned. Where were Racey's questions leading him? Was it a trap? Knowing Racey as he did, he feared the worst. He would have liked to leave the questioned unanswered. But this was impossible. As it was, he was delaying his answer longer than good sense warranted. Both Jake Rule and Kansas Casey were staring at him fixedly. Racey regarded him steadily, a slight and sinister smile lurking at the corner of his mouth.