Chapter 6: Down for the Count

JJ was up at the crack of dawn the next morning getting into his Bible and praying for God's grace for the day. He remembered to memorize the verse he would meditate on that day. As JJ got to the Marshal's office, Sam greeted him.

"Where is the Marshal?" asked JJ.

"He hasn't come in yet," answered Sam.

JJ had not even got settled when Joe Gibbs, owner of one of the rowdy cafés in town, came running in the door hollering, "There has been a stabbing at my Café!"

JJ followed him down the street into the café. He saw the man on the floor. He looked at the body and found the knife still in his side. He noticed that the man was stabbed on the right side. The knife went straight in, just behind the arm and about six inches below the armpit...

"Whose knife is this?" asked JJ, pulling the knife out of the man's side. "Barney Williams'," said James Greer.

James Greer was one known to use force to get what he wanted. He had seven brothers, all of them outside of the law. Barney had a big spread of about ten thousand acres five miles out of town. He called it the "Square T."

"Yeah, that's right," echoed his foreman, Henry Johnson. There were about six people left in the café.

JJ asked, "Okay, what happened here?"

"Well, Barney Williams, this sodbuster came in here and started raising a ruckus. Some stupid story that my men cut his fence, and Robert here," said James Greer, as he pointed to the body, "tried to calm him down, and then Barney stabbed him," continued James Greer. Robert was a drifter who had been around town for about a week.

"How about the rest of you in here? Is that the way it happened?" asked JJ.

Jim Johnson, one of James' men was a big man of about two hundred fifty pounds. He was known as a brawler and was always starting something. Jim moved up to about five feet from JJ and said with the intent of starting one now,

"Are you calling my boss a liar?" He continued to taunt JJ, while another man came up from behind him and grabbed his guns.

JJ knew he was in trouble and had to respond immediately, so he spun around and swung with all his might, catching the man just below the left ear and square on the jaw bone. There was a loud crack as JJ's fist came in contact with his jaw, sending the man sideways and down into the chair, snapping the legs off the chair. He hit the floor stunned and crying out in pain.

As JJ turned back, Jim had moved up close and caught him in the ribs with a right, and then a left to the jaw, sending JJ staggering back and falling over the man he had just knocked down.

Thinking JJ was down for the count, Jim moved in to kick him in the ribs, but JJ saw his chance and with every ounce of energy that he had left, knowing this might be his last chance, kicked out with his foot, catching Jim on the side of the leg below the hip and knocking him off his feet. JJ jumped up just before Jim could recover. As Jim started to get up, JJ caught him in the face, sending him back down.

JJ tried to grab his guns off the floor where the man dropped them. Before he could, he was grabbed by three of James' men, two by the arms and one by the waist. Jim then got up and started punching JJ in the face. Trying to break free was useless, and JJ was fading fast.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a shotgun and Marshal Steve shouted, "Jim, the next barrel is in your face! Everybody against the wall! Now! Joe Gibbs! Keep your hands on the counter!"

The men holding JJ dropped him and backed up against the wall, along with Jim and all the other men in the café.

"Now! Everyone unbuckle your gun belts and just let them drop!" shouted Marshal Steve, while JJ recovered and retrieved his guns.

"Thanks Marshal. For a minute I thought I was a goner," said JJ, as he picked up all their guns. "No problem JJ. What is going on here?" asked Marshall Steve.

"Robert, over there on the floor, got stabbed in the right side with this knife," replied JJ, picking up the knife.

He then walked over to Marshall Steve and filled him in a whisper were the ones against the wall couldn't hear, " They say the knife belongs to Barney Williams, and it looks like from the location of the wound, that it would be impossible for it to have happened the way that James said it did, and everybody else agrees.

They say that old Barney came in here and stabbed him, but there is only one problem with that. Well, I take that back. Two problems, Barney is going on sixty, and Robert was less than thirty and outweighed him by thirty pounds.

The second problem is that old Barney is right handed and I just don't see how he could face Robert and move fast enough to stab him in the right side like that wound shows."

"Okay JJ, looks like you did your homework. I'll hold them all in here to keep them from talking to each other, and you take them out one at a time and get a statement from each one separately. Then lock them up until we get this solved," remarked Marshal Steve.

"I'd like a fair chance at Jim when I'm expecting it. Come on Jim, lets go, and if you feel like you want a piece of me, with no help from yourbuddies, go ahead and try!" exclaimed JJ.

Jim obeyed JJ without a peep, for his face was in pain from the punch JJ had given him. Jim was trying to remember when someone had hit him that hard. He wouldn't have felt worse if he had been hit with a sledgehammer. Once they were in the jail, JJ said, "Sit down and I'll ask the question and you answer. Don't volunteer anything else. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I do," replied Jim.

"Did you see Barney come in?" asked JJ.

"Yeah he..."

"I didn't ask for a dissertation. If I want anything but a yes or no I will ask you for it," interrupted JJ angrily.

"Who did Barney threaten, James or Robert?" asked JJ.

"Well, he didn't exactly threaten anybody," replied Jim.

"What hand did he use to stab Robert?" asked JJ.

"Left," replied Jim.

"Was his hand raised, or was it down when he stabbed him?" asked JJ. "Down" stated Jim.

"Make a motion on how he stabbed him," commanded JJ.

Jim made a motion swinging his left arm from his hip in a circular motion outward and around in front of him, which was pretty much like JJ figured it had happened. After JJ saw this, he put Jim down as his prime suspect.

"How did he leave?" asked JJ.

"He ran out like he was on fire," answered Jim.

JJ then put him in the cell in the back where he would be unable to hear the others being questioned.

Next, he questioned James, telling him to answer the same way as he had told Jim.

He was able to ask the same questions, because he had written them down. He had also written down the answers that Jim had given him. This way, he was able to keep track of everyone's answers.

"Did you see Barney come in?" asked JJ.

"Yes he..."

"I don't want to tell you again. I don't need more answers than I ask! Do you understand?" warned JJ, interrupting him

Angrily, James shouted "I don't need a..."

"Okay. Then, I guess I'll just have to put you in jail. You either cooperate, or go to trial for refusing to talk. Which one will it be?" exclaimed JJ, already fed up with James.

"You can't do that..."

"All right, I'll cooperate," said James deciding to not take a chance.

"Did Barney threaten you or Robert?" asked JJ.

"He told both of us he was going to kill us," replied James.

"Which hand did he use to stab Robert?" asked JJ.

"He used his right hand like this," said James making a swiping motion from his side and then outward.

So it went with all the ones in the cafe. After JJ took the last man out to be questioned, the Marshal called the coroner. JJ and the Marshal talked about their options at the jail.

After looking over the answers given by everyone who had witnessed the stabbing, Marshal Steve said, "Well, I'm not sure we can make it stick, but I think it was Jim that stabbed Robert."

"Marshal, we have the knife. What we need is the knife holder. If I'm not mistaken, I have seen Jim around town with a knife scabbard. Why don't we go back to the cafe and have a look around to see if we can find it?" asked JJ.

"That is a brilliant idea! Let's go. By the way, why don't you call me Steve from now on? It will make it easier for us in some cases," said Steve. Continuing, he said, "Sam, watch the jail and don't let anyone in while we're gone."

Sam Tucker was a bald headed, sixty-five year old man who, even at his age, was a big help to the Marshal. He knew all the tricks of the trade and nobody, but nobody, was going to pull the wool over his eyes. He did a good job of watching the jail when the Marshals were out on business. Marshal Steve never had to worry about the jail when he was gone. He knew that he could always count on Sam to hold down the fort.

"If you see someone lying on the boardwalk, outside of the door, look for the big hole in the door where I blasted them," exaggerated Sam.