Justice in a Corrupt City – Extended Epilogue

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Three Years Later

Sam Dowell hitched his horse to the post in front of the sheriff’s office. He had been told an old friend of his was sheriff of the town. Many rumors turned out to be false, but Dowell thought one had a good chance of being true. When he knew Wayne Martindale, he often spoke of wearing a badge and was planning to get hired as a deputy somewhere. Oak Junction seemed to be a good place for it. It looked like a clean, yet bustling, town that was prospering. It was surrounded by scenic country too. Lush, green fields, soil that was fertile for crops and ample room for both cattle and horses as well as farms. Colorado, he knew, produced some of the best yellow corn in the nation. Dowell wondered if there were any corn fields near Oak Junction.  But any town needed good lawmen and Dowell wondered if his old friend was one of the people wearing a badge in the town.

He opened the door and immediately smiled. The man with the sheriff’s badge behind the desk was his old friend.

“Wayne!”

Sheriff Martindale opened his mouth and then let out a yell.

“Sam Dowell. Sam old buddy, haven’t seen you for a couple of years. How are you going!”

Martindale also jumped out of the chair and ran toward his friend. They shook hands and slapped each other’s shoulder.

“You did make sheriff, after all. I always thought you would,” Dowell said.

“Yes, a year ago the previous sheriff retired. He said he had chased enough bad guys. He was slowing down a bit, and it was time to leave. The town gave him a gold watch and a five-hundred-dollar retirement check.”

“Five hundred dollars! They must have really liked him.”

“They did. So did I. Sheriff Garret was a fine man and good sheriff. He passed away about six months ago. Peacefully, in his bed, not due to a bad guy’s bullet.”

“That’s the best way to go,” Dowell said. “I trust he was in the arms of a beautiful woman.”

Martindale laughed. “He was with his wife at the time. He lived a good live and had a good death. I hope I die that way. With my wife by the side.”

“You’re married now?”

“Yes.”

Martindale laughed. “There’s a story about that. It’s almost unbelievable how we got together.”

Dowell gave him an odd look. “Really, you’ll have to tell me about that. Sounds like an interesting story.”

“It is. In fact, I killed her first husband.” He quickly raised a hand and stuck out a finger. “It was in the line of duty. I was trying to arrest him.  He didn’t want to come, and we fought it out. I was a better shot than he was.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“I had only been a deputy in the town for about six months when that happened. We married about three months later. And I inherited two wonderful, children, a boy and a girl. Come on in and have a drink.”

They walked back to the desk. Dowell sat in a chair as the sheriff pulled open a drawer and brought out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. He set them on his desk and poured.

“Sounds like you’ve been active here,” Dowell said, raising his drink.  “To the sheriff and his marriage. Not many people find love and happiness in life. I see you did. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, my friend,” Martindale said. “I appreciate it. Becoming a deputy in this town was the next best thing that ever happened to me. The best thing was marrying Kathy.”

“Glad she finally got you. The first guy doesn’t sound like good marriage material.”

Martindale laughed.  “Not hardly. His name was Darius Sterling and, to be honest, he had fooled a lot of people in this town, almost all to be exact. He could be a charming man, and he did have a type of masculinity.  I think anyone’s first impression would be he was a man of integrity.”

“I suppose even the serpent in the Garden of Eden put on a good front. Guess he was somewhat impressive. Adam believed him.”

“Wait a minute. Didn’t Eve eat the apple first?’

Dowell shook his head. “She did but read that first chapter of Genesis closely.  Adam was standing right by her when the serpent appeared. And he was standing right there when he grabbed the apple. She’s not to blame. He is. He could have said no, don’t do it. But he stood there like a fool. To be honest, the scriptures never say if Adam told his wife what the Lord had said.”

Martindale sipped more of his drink. He gave a shocked look. “Well, when did you become a theologian, my friend?”

Dowell almost laughed. “Believe it or not, my friend, I an now a lay preacher. In my last town, I preached a couple of sermons.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and they were pretty good if I do say so myself.”

“Well, I’ll be.” Martindale shook his head. “Well, if you preach the scriptures you should know good and evil.  And Darius Sterling was evil, but like the serpent he was a liar and is no doubt in Hell as we speak. I don’t know if he was a decent man once and just got greedy and ruthless over the years or if he was always ruthless and a liar. If he was, he hid it well.  He was here for most of his life and seemed to be a decent man, well, more than a decent man. You could have asked any number of good people in the town and they would have said he was an honorable man.  And that includes the former sheriff.  Sheriff Garret was a good friend to Sterling at one time and was still a friend when Sterling started his crime spree.  He tried to frame his wife for his fictional murder, but then he had to order the murder of one man and tried to kill another man too. He was only stopped when I figured out what he might do. A lawyer – who was actually the defense lawyer for his wife – and I got the targeted man to move to another location. I figured Darius would try to kill him.  But the gunman who, by the way, was the second deputy, faced us instead. He didn’t give up. He tried drawing on me, and I shot and killed him.”

“Hold it, hold it. The guy was a deputy?”

Martindale nodded. “But I also think the guy was a friend of Sterling. He was working for Sterling. There was a trial going on at that time – Kathy was on trial for killing her husband – and the deputy, whose name was Largo, was briefing him on what was happening at the trial.  Sheriff Garret and I disagreed about the case. At that time, Sterling was a friend of his and Sheriff Garret was sure Kathy had killed her husband. I wasn’t so sure. In fact, I was suspicious of Darius Sterling from the outset of the case. But with the strong disagreements between the sheriff and I, he hired another deputy.  Largo walked into the office one day and said he was looking for a job. He impressed Sheriff Garret who hired him. I’m sure the man had been sent by Sterling. He wanted an informant in the sheriff’s house too, and he got one.”

Dowell took another sip from his glass. “Wow, that guy does sound like an utterly evil man, but clever too. How did you finally prove he was the guilty party and that his wife was innocent.”

“Didn’t prove it in a court. He was the man Sterling sent to kill the witness. Sterling realized the theory of his death was not all that strong because we didn’t have a body. So he had a friend, who drank a lot let’s say, to dress up in one of his suits.  A suit that Sterling has been seen in. And the sleaze attorney always wore a gold watch when he wore the suit. He sent the gold watch to a guy name George Dobbin, asked George to met him out in the country, and gave him directions. So George was wearing the suit and Sterling blasted his face off with a shotgun. For a few days, people thought it was Sterling. But a friend of Dobbin came forward and said he had seen the letter and the package from Sterling, and he saw his friend put on the blue suit and watch and ride off.  The dead man was found in a blue suit, but Sterling had used a shotgun to kill his victim, and the man’s face was blown off.”

“Darn, he was vicious, wasn’t he?”

“Yes, he was. Sterling got what he deserved. He wasn’t hung, but he died from bullets wounds and so did his friend who was helping him.  You know, I had been in posses before I became a deputy, and we hunted some hardcase outlaws. But I still say Sterling was the worst outlaw I had even seen. Totally coldblooded. He would have seen his sweet wife executed and would have done nothing about it. He killed one innocent and would have killed another if he had got away with it. I have no doubt if he had gotten away with this crime and married the widow … well, I don’t think the widow would have lasted for long.  Maybe a year. It would have looked suspicious if she had passed away any earlier than that.”

Martindale paused for a moment and sipped his drink.  “I think the Sterling case was one I will never forget to the day I die. It had a number of unique aspects to it. I can’t help thinking he had it all. All he needed, all that was needed to make a man happy. But he just got greedy and instead of gaining wealth, he lost everything, including his life.”

“Well, the scriptures say the way of the transgressor is hard. He made it hard on himself and, in the end, he got only Hell as a result. So, is that how you become sheriff, after the case?”

“No, Sheriff Garret stayed on for about a year before he retired. Toward the end of that case, he realized he had been fooled by Sterling, and he was kicking himself. They were friends, but he just let his friendship blind him when it came to the lawyer. But as I said, Sterling fooled a lot of people in town. But after he retired, the council said I should take over the job.  That was fine with me because at that time I had married Kathy and had two children to take care of. Ironically, Sterling did make a considerable amount of money as an attorney. He was good at his job. We spent a good amount of his income the first six months because my deputy salary did not pay all the bills. The sheriff’s salary is better.  The children always look fine in church in their Sunday clothes.

“Kathy went through a terrible time but you would never know. She is as sweet as ever, and the trauma she went through – I don’t know how – hasn’t changed her in the least. I think she is the finest wife in the land, and she is a wonderful mother to the children. She didn’t let that experience change her.  She is still as wonderful as she ever was.”

Dowell smiled. “Forgive me for indulging in my second profession as lay preacher, but the scriptures say those who study them won’t change, at least for the worse. They will stay grounded on the Word of God, for it will never change.”

“Dang, you really are a preacher. But that is true in regard to Kathy. Even in the brief time she was in jail, she always had a Bible with her. She said she read it, and it gave her great peace and confidence that things would work out well and that justice would win.”

“Well, I told you about my life. What are you doing now?”

“I’m on my way to a cattle drive. A man down in Littlefield has herded up a bunch of cows and wants drovers.  He is paying top dollar for driving the herd to Montana. I’ve made that trip before so I have experience, and he is paying top dollar.  Next time I drop by here I expect to have a lot more money.”

“You have a night to spare. Why don’t you come by and spend a night with Kathy and me. Plus, you will get the best dinner you ever had. In addition to her many other talents, she really enjoys cooking. You will have one of the best dinners ever.”

“Well, that’s nice. Considering I won’t get much good cooking on the cattle drive, I might drop by and get a decent meal before I leave. Thank you. I look forward to meeting Kathy and the children.”

“Sam, weren’t you a deputy for a while. Didn’t you serve as a lawman in your career.”

Dowell nodded. “For a while.”

“Would you like to again?  One of my deputies will be leaving in two months. The sheriff over in Montrell Falls is retiring in two months. The town council offered the job to him, and he’s going to take it. I need someone I can depend on as a deputy, and I know I can depend on you.”

Dowell thought for a moment.  “Come to think of it, I did enjoy the job. I often thought maybe I made a mistake in leaving it.” He nodded his head. “That’s a great offer. I appreciate it. Let me get those cows to Montana, and I’ll come back here and help you out.”

“Thank you. A lay preacher who is a deputy. That sounds fine.

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