The Saga of Miles Forrest

Well,” he said wiping his chin with his fingers, “do you think this jasper, Johnson knows Merker?”
    I scratched my head.  “Doc, I’ve been thinkin’ and ponderin’ then came back to thinkin’ again and I just don’t know.  The more I think the more I believe that he worked with Utley or Uttleman, or Smith, whoever the gunman was.  It was that guy who knew Merker.”
    As we sat there, Doc wiping his whiskered chin and me pulling at my moustache, we just sort of stared in our coffee cups.  There was a little left in my cup, I swirled it around a couple of times and swallowed it.  It made me grimace some as it had gotten cold.  I started to get up when Doc interrupted me.
    “Here, here, you sit there and frown and ponder some more.  Don’t be doing any of that thinking.  I’ll pour your cup full,”
he said as he went to the stove for the pot.
    He started pouring, when in the door walked Charlie with Judge Klaser.  Doc turned his attention to them and in that movement missed my cup with the coffee.
    “Hey!” I yelped.  “You need customers that badly that you’d scald a man?”
    Edith must have heard us from the kitchen for she came rushing out.  “What in heaven’s name!” she exclaimed.  She saw the spill on the table and went back for a rag.
    “Good thing you got some in my cup before you went to spillin’ the rest of it,” I muttered as Edith was back with a rag and wiped off the table.
    “Give me that pot!” She reached and took it from Doc’s hand.  “I’ll make some more.”
    She started for the kitchen and before she turned the corner.  “You sure you know how to make it?” I said raising my voice just a little.
    With that she turned and glared at me.  I put up my arm just in case she was going to throw the pot at me.  I looked over at Doc as he was pulling out his chair to sit down.
    “Doc, she like that often?” I said half-seriously.
    He looked around sheepishly the muttered, “Miles, you don’t know the half of it.”
    Charlie and the Judge were standing there watching our antics.  “Can we sit?” asked Judge Klaser.  “I sure wanted a cup of coffee.”
    “Now don’t you start,” I warned.  That brought a chuckle from him.
    The Judge started right off and looked at me.  “Miles, I can easily hold this fellow Johnson over for the federal court.  He’d probably get a couple of years,” he paused and looked toward the kitchen.  “Do you think he knows anything about your nemesis Merker?”
    Shrugging my shoulders I answered, “I really don’t know.  Perhaps he knows something, but maybe he doesn’t know Merker by name.  Listen…”
    Edith was bounding back, making her footsteps clomp on the wooden floor.  “Hello Judge, Sheriff Gold…” she poured them each a cup of the fresh coffee.  Looking at Doc first, then over at me she glared and barked, “Give me your cups!”  She filled each of them.  The coffee, was dark and steaming.  After she finished filling our cups she put it on the stove.  “See if that suits you,” she said somewhat softer and walked to the table next to ours and sat down.
    Doc and I looked at each other, then we looked at Charlie and the Judge.  They hadn’t tasted their coffee yet.  In silent agreement we all lifted our cups, took a sniff first, then a sip with a swallow.  None of us choked, gagged, or spit up so we all took another sip, this time a little deeper.  I glanced over at Edith and smiled.
    “Back to Merker,” said the Judge.
    I took one more full swallow and then said, “Turn him loose.  I’ll follow him around for a while.  See if he does anything suspicious.”
    Looking at Charlie I asked, “Did Uttleman have any money on him?”
    “Some, but not the amount we’ve been seeing on the others that have come for you.”
    “This guy’s been on my hide now for more’n a couple of years.  It’s high time I found him,” I stopped and pulled at my moustache.  “Hmmm.”
    “Hmmm, what?” asked Doc.
    “Perhaps I need to rattle the cage of the other man I met back in Pueblo–a Mister Myers,” I offered and finished my coffee.  “I’ll be back, I need to send out a couple of telegrams.  One to the warden in Canon City and the other to my friend Dave Cook in Denver.”  
    I got up and started for the door.  As I was exiting, I almost bumped into Marta.  Molly was bringing her in to see the surroundings.  I tipped my hat at Marta, “Marta,” and then to Molly.  “I’ll be right back.”