Part 14 (1/2)

”Just last night.”

I took fifty dollars in banknotes and put them on the table.

”I expect that I'm also buying some protection for this.”

”You'll have no trouble from me,” Deger said, scooping up the bills.

”Partners, then.”

”If you like to call it that.”

”I do ask one small favor in return.”

He looked at me with his bulldog eyes.

”If a man by the name of Armbruster comes inquiring after me, you are to get me word quickly and quietly. No, don't ask-better you don't know. But you'll remember the name, right?”

”I'll remember,” Deger said.

Then there was the sound of dogs yapping and through the legs of the cowboys ran a trio of c.o.o.nhounds, followed by a small man in white britches and high hunting boots. And when I say ”small,” I mean small. He must not have been more than five-two, even in the boots, and his overall impression was that of a child playing dress-up.

Beside the small fellow was a full-sized man with a humorless expression. His hands were clasped in front of him.

”Mayor,” Deger said with ice in his voice.

”Marshal,” the small man answered with equal venom.

The hounds were creating general chaos underfoot.

”I've got to go,” Deger said, rising from the chair.

”Don't you like dogs?” I asked.

”Not all of 'em,” Deger said over his shoulder as he huffed away.

”James Kelley,” the small man said, extending his hand to me. ”But most folks around here call me 'Dog.'”

When I clasped his hand, he bent down and kissed the back of mine.

I tried to keep from laughing.

”This here is Hoodoo Brown,” Kelley said, motioning to the dour man.

”The same Hoodoo Brown I've read about in the local paper?”

”Yes, ma'am.”

”Where'd you get that curious handle of 'Hoodoo'?”

”It's jes' my name.”

”Mister Brown is a mite bashful about his powers,” Kelley said. ”But he is one of the finest conjure men there is. He grew up in Missouri and learned it from his old uncle Ben, who taught him to use the Good Book to cast spells. Some say that his skill with a long gun comes from a certain pa.s.sage in Genesis.”

”Hesh up, Dog.”

”We're here to talk to you about the ghost of the murdered girl,” Kelley said.

”Sit down, gentlemen,” I said.

They did.

”We'd like to know if you'd come out and talk to the ghost tonight,” Kelley said. ”You know, ask her what her name is and what she wants.”

”Get right to the point, in other words.”

”That's it exactly,” Dog said. ”What a mystery! It's been driving me mad.”

”Oh, I'm sure it's not the only thing,” I said, pus.h.i.+ng one of the c.o.o.ndogs off my lap. ”Hoodoo, is the account in the paper true? You saw the apparition?”

”I did,” he said.

”Blonde hair? Taffeta dress?”

”Not taffeta,” he said. ”Nothing so fancy. Calico.”

”Ah, yes,” I said. ”And the strange light?”

”It was not as the Times described it,” he said. ”It wasn't a spotlight. It was more of a soft bluish glow, like very bright moonlight. The whole affair has upset my digestion and disturbed my sleep.”

”Ghosts tend to have that effect,” I said.

”I'd like to be able to eat without distress, and to sleep the night again,” he said.

”Understandable,” I said.

”So you will challenge the specter?”

”Gentlemen,” I said. ”I've had some experience in these affairs, as you might imagine. I must warn you that confronting the ghost might not have the hoped-for result. Something a bit gentler might produce a more beneficial result.”

”'Gentler'?” Brown asked.

”A seance,” Kelley said.

I nodded.

”When?” Brown asked.