Page 64 of Wyoming Tough

Mallory’s eyes widened. “You can tell the origin of the blend?”

“It’s a hobby.” His eyes twinkled with secret amusement.

Mallory didn’t comment. “Now. Who took the egg?”

Harding had another sip of coffee and put the cup down. “A threesome, I’m afraid.”

“What threesome?” Mallory’s mind was working overtime as he searched for suspects.

“A local woman, Gelly Bruner, took the egg. She had a key to your cabinet, which was made for her by an escaped convict, Joe Bascomb, who needed money to avoid being captured. There was a third man involved, peripherally, a man named Bates. It seems he helped Ms. Bruner by planting evidence.”

Mallory’s face was thunderous. “Bates works for me! He said he saw Morie Brannt holding the egg in the bunkhouse.”

“I believe he also helped plant evidence on another cowboy who worked here, a man named Harry Rogers, who’s retained counsel and plans to sue for false arrest.”

“Great,” Mallory said. “I guess we’ll keep our lawyers busy.”

“Rogers does have a case, but it’s the sheriff who arrested him that he’s suing, and also Ms. Bruner. He isn’t suing you. He said you were set up, just as he was.”

Mallory was touched. “In that case he can have his job back with a raise, if he wants it, and I’ll pay for his attorney.”

“You’d have to talk to him about that. Your cowboy Bob Bates has been arrested, however, and charged with aiding and abetting theft.”

“I’m just astonished,” Mallory said heavily. “I did suspect Gelly, but I had no idea Bates was that involved.”

“He had feelings for her and he’s very young,” Harding replied. “He’s sick at heart about what he did. She told him it was a prank. He didn’t find out different until Ms. Brannt was fired, and then he was afraid to come forward.”

“It doesn’t excuse theft,” Mallory said. “Not at all.”

“He’s a first offender,” Harding said. “I’m almost certain that he’ll get probation. Ms. Bruner is, however, in a different situation. She has a record.”

“For what?” Mallory asked, stunned.

“Theft. This isn’t her first walk around the justice system. She’s never been convicted, but she’s been charged twice in the theft of priceless antiques from private homes. I’m afraid she’s not going to have an easy time. Her signature was on the receipt for proceeds from the sale of the stolen egg, and Bates is turning state’s evidence against her in return for first-offender status. He can put her in the house with a duplicate key at the time of the theft. It seems that Bascomb also made her a copy of your house key.”

“Oh, good God,” Mallory exclaimed.

“So it might be a good idea for you to check your other valuables and see if any are missing or have been replaced with copies,” the detective suggested.

“I’ll do that today,” Mallory agreed. “That’s a lot of good detective work for such a short time.”

Harding shrugged. “I love my job. I used to be a cop, but I got tired of the hours, so I quit Houston P.D. and went to work for Dane Lassiter.” He grinned. “He’s some boss, let me tell you.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“There’s a rumor going around that Joe Bascomb didn’t get his cut of the money and he’s out for revenge,” Harding added. “If I were you, I’d put on extra patrols out here and watch where I went. He’s really desperate now. They’ve brought in other law-enforcement personnel to go into the woods after him, including some trackers and some K-9 units.”

“I’ll make sure we’re all armed,” Mallory told him. “And thanks.”

Harding smiled. “My pleasure.”

MALLORY TOLD HIS BROTHERSwhat Harding had related, and they went around the house looking for other missing objects. To their shock, they found at least two priceless ceramic vases missing and one irreplaceable solid gold miniature goblet, not to mention an entire silver service that was kept apart from the others in a special cabinet. It was almost never unlocked and the brothers paid it little attention, because it was in an out-of-the-way place in the house.

Mallory called the sheriff’s department and an officer took down the descriptions of the missing items and their value. He promised to have their investigator get in touch with the appropriate authorities in Denver and search for them. Mallory didn’t expect them to be found. But there was always a chance, even if it was a small one.

Gelly had called him collect from the detention center, crying and begging for help. “I’m innocent,” she wailed. “I’m being set up! It’s a lie!”

“Gelly, you had duplicate keys that Bascomb made for you,” he added. “The prosecutor has an eyewitness who saw you sell the jeweled egg to a dealer in Las Vegas. What do you expect me to do?”

---