The Chase

“How many agents or law enforcement officers were with you?”

Bell shrugged. “I intended to handle the matter on my own.”

“Wasn’t Longabaugh the Sundance Kid?” asked Danzler.

Bell nodded. “He got the nickname when he tried to steal a horse in Sundance, Wyoming. He was caught and spent eighteen months in jail.”

“Surely you didn’t expect to subdue them without a fight.”

“I think it is safe to say that they would have resisted,” said Bell, without explaining how he would have single-handedly captured the former members of the infamous Wild Bunch.

Van Dorn sat back in his chair, made no comment, and gave the colonel a smug look.

“Why don’t you sit down, Mr. Bell, and join our little game?”

Bell looked at the empty table quizzically and then at Danzler. “You appear to have no chips.”

“Just a friendly little game,” said Van Dorn, shuffling the deck of cards and dealing out three hands. “So far, I owe the colonel eight thousand dollars.”

Bell sat down, the quizzical look altered to one of understanding. The game was a pretense. His chief and the colonel were sitting in the corner away from the other gamblers and playing as if they were in a serious game. He laid his hat in his lap, picked up his cards, and acted as if he were deep in thought.

“Are you familiar with the swarm of bank robberies and murders that have occurred around the western states in the past two years?” Danzler inquired.

“Only in conversation,” replied Bell. “Mr. Van Dorn has kept me busy on other cases.”

“What do you actually know about the crimes?”

“Only that the robber murders anyone in the bank during the act, escapes like a spirit, and leaves no evidence behind that might incriminate him.”

“Anything else?” Danzler probed.

“Whoever he is,” answered Bell, “he is very, very good. There have been no leads and no breaks in the investigation.” He paused and stared at Van Dorn. “Is that why I’ve been called here?”

Van Dorn nodded. “I want you to take over the case as chief investigator.”

Bell threw down a card, picked up the card that Danzler dealt, and slipped it in the fan, which he held in his left hand.

“Are you a lefty, Mr. Bell?” asked Danzler out of curiosity.

“No. Actually, I’m right-handed.”

Van Dorn laughed softly. “Isaac can draw the derringer he hides in his hat, cock it, and pull the trigger faster than you can blink.”

Danzler’s respect for Bell grew during the conversation. He drew back his coat and revealed a 1903 Colt .38 caliber hammerless automatic. “I’ll take Joe’s word for it, but it would be interesting to put it to the test—” Danzler had not finished the sentence when he found himself staring into the twin muzzles of a derringer.

“Age has slowed you, Henry,” said Van Dorn. “Either that or your mind wandered.”

“I have to admit, he is very fast,” Danzler said, visibly impressed.

“What office will I work out of?” Bell asked Van Dorn as he slipped the derringer back in his hat, where it fit in a small pocket inside the crown.

“The crimes have occurred from Placerville, California, in the west, to Terlingua, Texas, to the east,” replied Van Dorn. “And from Bisbee, Arizona, in the south, to Bozeman, Montana, in the north. I think it best if you operated in the center.”

“That would be Denver.”

Van Dorn nodded. “As you know, we have an office there with six experienced agents.”

“I’ve worked with two of them three years ago,” said Bell. “Curtis and Irvine are good men.”

“Yes, I forgot,” Van Dorn said, now recalling. “I might add, Colonel, that Isaac was responsible for the apprehension of Jack Ketchum, who was later hung for two murders committed during a train robbery.” He paused and reached under the table and produced an identical valise to the one Bell had carried into the gambling salon. Bell then passed his empty valise to Van Dorn. “Inside, you will find the reports on all the crimes. Every lead so far has led up a blind alley.”

“When do I start?”

“At the next landing, which is Clarksville, you will depart and take the first train to Independence. From there, you will be given a ticket on the Union Pacific express to Denver. You can digest and study what little clues and evidence we’ve gathered. Once you arrive, you’ll take up the hunt for the murdering scum.” A look of anger and frustration clouded Van Dorn’s brown eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t give you a chance to pack when you left Chicago, but I wanted you to start as soon as possible.”

“Not to worry, sir,” Bell said with a faint smile. “Fortunately, I packed two suitcases for the duration.”

Van Dorn’s eyebrows raised. “You knew?”

“Let’s say I made an educated guess.”

“Keep us informed on your manhunt,” said Danzler. “If you need any help from the government, I’ll do all in my power to assist you.”

“Thank you, sir,” Bell acknowledged. “I’ll be in contact as soon as I get a firm grip on the situation.”

Van Dorn said, “I’ll be working in our Chicago office. Since transcontinental telephone service has yet to run from St. Louis across the prairie to Denver and beyond to California, you’ll have to telegraph me on your progress.”

“If any,” Danzler muttered sarcastically. “You’re up against the best criminal brain this country has ever known.”

“I promise I won’t rest until I capture the man responsible for these hideous crimes.”

“I wish you good luck,” Van Dorn said sincerely.

“Not to change the subject,” Danzler spoke with satisfaction as he laid his card hand on the green felt, “I have three queens.”

Van Dorn shrugged and threw his cards on the table. “Beats me.”

“And you, Mr. Bell?” said Danzler with a crafty grin.

Isaac Bell slowly laid his cards on the table one by one. “A straight flush,” he said matter-of-factly. Then, without another word, he rose and walked briskly from the salon.

3

LATE IN THE MORNING, A MAN DROVE AN OLD WAGON, hitched to a pair of mules, past the cemetery outside the town of Rhyolite, Nevada. The graves had simple wooden fences around them, with the names of the deceased carved on markers made of wood. Many were children who had died of typhoid or cholera, aggravated by the hard family life of a mining town.