Chapter 4 - The Name Inside the Locket
The federal marshal arrived before sunset.
His name was Everett Shaw.
Michael had heard of him.
So had everyone else.
Shaw had arrested cattle thieves, train robbers, and two county sheriffs.
He was supposed to be incorruptible.
He rode into town beside Silas Calder.
That told Michael everything he needed to know.
Shaw entered Walter's yard carrying an official document.
"I'm looking for Michael Dawson."
Michael stepped onto the porch.
"Found him."
Shaw looked at the blood on Pike's shirt.
"Interesting company you keep."
"Pike worked for Calder."
"Worked?"
Pike leaned against the porch rail.
"I resigned."
Calder smiled.
"You stole company property."
"The documents?" Michael asked.
Calder turned toward him.
"Exactly."
Shaw unfolded the paper.
"Search warrant."
Michael laughed.
"For stolen papers?"
"And kidnapping."
Michael's expression changed.
"Whose kidnapping?"
Calder looked toward the house.
"My granddaughter."
Annie appeared behind the screen door.
Michael immediately blocked the marshal's view.
"She came to me starving."
Calder's face remained calm.
"She was taken without permission."
"From a building you set on fire?"
Shaw glanced at Calder.
Calder answered smoothly.
"An unfortunate accident."
Michael stared at the marshal.
"You believe him?"
"I believe evidence."
Michael removed the iron box.
"Then here's some."
Shaw reached.
Michael pulled it back.
"You read it here."
Calder's calm broke.
"Marshal—"
Shaw raised a hand.
He opened the box.
For ten minutes he read.
Michael watched his face carefully.
Nothing.
Too little surprise.
Then Shaw closed it.
"I'll take this."
"No."
"It's evidence."
"Against Calder."
"Possibly."
Michael stepped closer.
"You knew what was in there before you arrived."
Shaw met his eyes.
"You should be careful with accusations."
"You should be careful who hears them."
Walter, Ruth, Pike, Doc Harris, and half a dozen neighbors stood nearby.
Shaw looked around.
Michael realized witnesses mattered.
That was Calder's weakness.
Power survived in darkness.
Truth needed a crowd.
Shaw handed the box back.
"I'll return tomorrow."
"Without Calder."
Shaw did not answer.
Calder approached Annie.
She retreated behind Michael.
The old man's face briefly showed something that almost looked like pain.
"Annie."
She said nothing.
"I'm your grandfather."
"I know."
"Your home is with me."
"No."
Calder stiffened.
Annie whispered, "Mama said you hurt Papa."
Every person in the yard heard it.
Calder's face turned white.
"Your mother is confused."
"She isn't."
Michael looked down at Annie.
For the first time, she stood without hiding behind him.
Calder left.
That night Michael examined the locket.
Ruth sat beside him.
"My father carved these initials."
"Yes."
"He never told me about you."
"He was trying to protect your mother."
Michael rotated the locket.
Something clicked.
He stopped.
"What?"
Ruth leaned closer.
Michael pressed the edge.
A tiny inner plate opened.
Inside was a folded strip of paper.
Michael carefully removed it.
One name was written there.
EVERETT SHAW.
Michael stared.
"The marshal?"
Ruth looked shocked.
Below the name was a date.
Eleven years earlier.
The week before Daniel Dawson died.
There was also a sentence.
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, SHAW KNOWS WHY.
Michael felt cold.
The marshal had not come to help Calder.
Or perhaps he had.
Either way, Shaw had been involved since the beginning.
At midnight someone knocked.
Michael drew his revolver.
"Who?"
"Everett Shaw."
Michael opened the door slightly.
The marshal stood alone.
"No Calder?"
"No."
"What do you want?"
"To finish something I should have finished eleven years ago."
Michael let him inside.
Shaw saw Ruth and froze.
"You're alive."
She stared at him.
"So are you."
Michael looked between them.
"You two know each other."
Shaw removed his hat.
"I worked with your father."
Michael laughed bitterly.
"You were investigating Calder?"
"Yes."
"Then why is he still free?"
"Because your father died before he could testify."
"And my mother?"
"She was killed before she could."
Michael's hand tightened.
"You knew."
"Yes."
"You did nothing."
"I had no proof."
"Now you do."
Shaw looked toward the sleeping room.
"Now we have a living heir."
Michael understood.
"Annie."
Shaw nodded.
"Thomas Calder created the trust through a federal bank. If Annie's identity is confirmed, Calder loses majority control of his company."
"Then confirm it."
"We need Thomas's original signature and family record."
"Where?"
Shaw looked at the locket.
"Your father hid them."
Michael almost laughed.
"Everybody keeps telling me my dead father hid things."
"He expected to survive."
"Where are the originals?"
"I never knew."
Ruth suddenly stood.
"I do."
Everyone turned.
She walked to the fireplace.
"The Dawson property."
Michael frowned.
"We lost it years ago."
"Calder took it."
"Exactly."
Ruth looked at him.
"Your father hid the originals beneath the one place Calder would never destroy."
"Where?"
"Your mother's grave."
Michael went silent.
At dawn they rode to the abandoned Dawson cemetery on Calder property.
Michael found his mother's marker.
He had not visited in years.
He knelt.
"I'm sorry."
Then he began digging beside the stone.
Two feet down, his shovel struck metal.
A sealed tin case.
Inside were documents wrapped in oilcloth.
Thomas Calder's trust.
Annie's birth record.
Worker ledgers.
And Daniel Dawson's sworn testimony.
Enough.
Shaw exhaled.
"We have him."
A rifle clicked behind them.
Calder stood between the trees.
Six men surrounded the cemetery.
He looked at the papers.
"You have nothing."
Shaw drew.
"So did Daniel."
Michael stood.
Calder smiled.
"Daniel made one mistake."
"What?"
"He trusted the wrong person."
Calder looked past Michael.
Toward Ruth.
Michael turned.
May you like
Ruth was holding a pistol.
And it was pointed directly at Michael.
