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mug of steaming coffee, he sat back in his chair and thought over the little he’d learned.
    He had already made up his mind that Steadman was innocent. The evidence against him wasn’t up to much. No one had actually seen him pull the trigger. And anyone, for whatever reason, could have killed Bannister and put the blame on Steadman, knowing it would be easy to do so. More importantly Steadman’s character was such it seemed impossibleto imagine him shooting someone from ambush.
    But, of course, unless he found some evidence, what he believed wouldn’t convince the judge to reopen the case.
    He liked Amy. She was genuine and genuinely in love with Steadman. But what was behind the rumour about her and Bannister?
    As well as visiting Hugh Rowlands he hoped to find the time to talk to a couple of the homesteaders. This Fred Warren for one. Discover what they felt about Steadman and Bannister. And he must speak to the two Double D witnesses.
    There was a lot to do and little time in which to do it. He had a bad feeling about this case. He thought he might fail and an innocent man be hanged while the real killer escaped.
    And there was the attack on him and Neil. Was that connected to all this or was it, as the barn-owner believed, a robbery gone wrong? Perhaps Neil would be able to find out.
    By the time he went to bed, Neil still hadn’t put in an appearance. He hoped the young man hadn’t got lost but wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he had.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Watched by a couple of idlers and the curious barn owner, who said his name was Lenny, Neil went through the saddle-bags on the two horses. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for or what he would do with it.
    ‘So, son, you say this Cobb fella is some sorta lawman?’ Lenny pushed his hat to the back of his head, scratching hard.
    ‘Yeah. He’s a private detective. He works for a very famous agency.’
    ‘And you’re his assistant?’
    ‘That’s right.’ Neil was glad Cobb wasn’t there to hear him say that, not that he’d have said it if Cobb was nearby.
    ‘So you’re a detective too?’
    ‘Yeah’ Neil closed his eyes for a moment. Please, God, don’t ever let Cobb find out what he’d said!
    ‘And he thinks these two weren’t just out to rob you but were actually gunning for you?’
    ‘Mr Cobb don’t like coincidences.’
    ‘But, son, how did they know you were coming in on the train?’
    Neil didn’t know the answer to that, after all he wasn’t really a detective, so he didn’t reply. He couldn’t blame Lenny for being doubtful, it did seem unlikely that their attackers knew about them. But Cobb’s instincts were usually right.
    There wasn’t much in the saddle-bags. No papers to identify who the men were, not that Neil would have been any the wiser if there had been, as he couldn’t read or write. No spare clothes. It didn’t seem that the men had been travelling on to any place from here. It did begin to look as if they had ridden here for a purpose, which was to kill him and Cobb, and with the deed done they intended to ride back to wherever they came from. But had they done it for themselves or because someone paid them? If the latter then that someone was likely waiting for their report right now and would have a long wait if so!
    Neil went up to the horses that Lenny had unsaddled and was in the process of rubbing down. He ran his hand over the brand on each. It was the same.
    ‘D’you know what this brand is and who owns it?’
    Lenny scratched his head again. ‘Let’s looksee. Two Ds. Double D. No, don’t mean nothing to me.’
    One of the idlers came closer and stared hard at the brand. ‘Hell,’ he said, some excitement in his voice. ‘Yeah. There’s a Double D ranch over near Newberry.’
    Newberry! Where Cobb and Neil were going.
    ‘D’you know who it belongs to?’
    ‘Yeah, to a couple of brothers. They’ve only been there for a few months, what’s their name? Um, let’ssee, yeah, Drake, that’s