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<h2>XV</h2> Judge Badger, who kept the general store and acted as town magistrate on the side, was tall, bespectacled, and busy-browed. He gave the impression of being a thoughtful and scholarly man, which he was not. He was, however, reasonably honest. Consequently, as Mr. Jay pointed out to Pete Madrid, he was not to be trusted. He was to be managed rather than conspired with. This morning he entered the small townhouse courtroom and took his seat with great dignity. He surveyed the half dozen persons present and addressed himself to the marshal. "Pete, what in tunket is this all about?" "The marshal's office is guilty of an embarrassing mistake," Madrid said, reciting the words as if he had memorized them carefully. "As you know, I have an inexperienced deputy. Last night he...." "If you made a mistake why don't you correct it?" the judge demanded. "Why waste the time of this court?" Madrid pointed at Willie with his thumb. "Because this mule-head won't admit it. He insists on this hearing." The judge turned sternly to Willie. "I want P-Pinky B-Bronklin ch-charged and t-tried," Willie said. "Charged with what?" Willie told what had happened the night before. The judge asked a question or two and then told Pinky to tell his side of it. Protesting that he was in this trouble because of his kindness to a drunk, Pinky rattled off a remarkable story. When he went up to his room after closing the saloon, he said, he had forgotten about O'Hara's being there. He had maybe had a nip too much himself, he admitted, and he had been given a scare by something or somebody crawling around in the dark. He had grabbed a length of pipe which happened to be handy and had cautiously approached the crawler, who was now lying still. Just then Willie had come through the window. "There were t-two l-lamps burning in that room," Willie put in. "You're a liar!" Pinky said. "Now, now, now!" Judge Badger said. "We won't have any more of that." "You're another," Willie said. The judge struck an angry blow with the wooden nutcracker he used for a gavel. He appraised Willie witheringly, then he asked quietly if Willie had any concrete evidence that a crime had been committed, and if so, what it was. Willie had brought Vickers' doctor to the courtroom, and he now stepped forward and said that in his opinion O'Hara who was too sick to appear, had been drugged. He couldn't say for sure what the drug was. The judge asked a few more questions and then pointed out that there was no evidence that the drug had been administered in the Pink Lady and no grounds for a charge against Pinky. "Howsoever," he said, "surreptitious administration of drugs is a serious offense, and this court directs the marshal's office to further investigate this matter with a view to discovery of guilty party or parties. Upon presentation of evidence that will warrant a bill of indictment, this court will order the arrest of said guilty party and he will be taken to Ellensburg and the matter will be prosecuted in district court." Willie left the courtroom with anger a seething molten pressure in him. He trudged toward the main street beside the doctor. "The marshal cooked your goose at the very beginning when he told the judge you'd made a mistake," the doctor said. "If he'd backed you up, the judge might have agreed to a charge." "I kn-know," Willie said bitterly. "They're all in together." Pinky and the marshal reached the street ahead of them, Pinky angling off toward the Pink Lady and Madrid going into the hotel. It was the second time that morning that he had visited the hotel. Willie went to his room and stretched out on the bed. After a few minutes, Madrid barged in without knocking. Willie didn't move from the bed. "All right, cowboy," Madrid said. "I'll take that badge." Willie unpinned it and handed it over. Madrid stuffed it into the pocket of his bright blue shirt. "You're all in together," Willie said. "You're a b-bunch of crooks in together." "Now don't get me mad," Madrid said. "You're getting out of this lucky. Get over and get your pay from Sam Lester. Then get your tail out of town. Today." Willie said nothing. Madrid glared and said, "Do you understand that? Today." Willie nodded. "If you aren't gone by dark, you'll get hurt. Hurt bad." Madrid turned on his heel and went out. After a while Willie got up, walked to the townhouse, and knocked on the door of Sam Lester's office. Sam seemed to be expecting him. He plunked a little pile of gold and silver on his desk. "Sixty-six dollars," he said. "That includes a full day's pay for today. Sign this, please." While Willie was signing the receipt, Sam added a double eagle to the pile of money. "I understand you're leaving town," he said. "This is for traveling expenses." Willie silently pocketed the money. He left the building and walked around back to Persia's kitchen. Stella was dividing a batch of bread dough into loaves and putting it into pans. He asked if Miss Persia was in, and Stella said she was in the parlor. Willie found her seated at the secretary. "I been f-fired," he said. "I'm sorry," Persia said. "But there's nothing I can do, Willie. You made a serious mistake." "You're in it, t-too! You're all in t-together!" "Would you like a letter of recommendation?" Persia said. "I'd be glad to give you one. It might help you get another job." "I hoped you'd l-listen to my s-side of the s-story," Willie said. "Willie, you accused a member of the town council of a serious crime without one speck of evidence. I'm sure it was an honest mistake, but...." Willie put his back to her and walked out. Stella offered him a cup of coffee and a piece of pie, and he ate silently, thanked her, and left. He marched straight across town and took the road to Vickers' camp. <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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