"monument rock" - читать интересную книгу автора (L'Amour Louis)

So he would quit at last. This was what he had plannedI
when he first came west, to work at a quiet job and amass a fortune by robbery and
murder-then he would quit, go east, and live a quiet, ordered life from then on.
From the beginning he had known there was a limit. So far he was unsuspected. He
was liked by many. His whole plan had depended on the crimes seeming to be unrelated
so they would be considered casual crimes rather than a series planned and carried
out by either one man or a gang.
Yet it would be foolish to continue. Three marshals ... it was too many. Not too
many lives, just too many chances. Too many risks of discovery. No matter how shrewd
this new man might be, or how dumb, it was time to quit. He would not pull even one
more job. He was through. Putting out the stub of his cigarette, he turned over and
quietly went to sleep.
A solid-looking man in a black suit and boots was sitting on the creek bank when
Utah Blaine rode up. The new
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marshal's sun-darkened face had a shy grin that livened his features. "Hi, Tom! Mighty
good to see you."
"Sure is!" The older man gripped his hand. "Long time since the old days on the Neuces."
Blaine started to build a smoke. "So, what're you gettin' me into?"
Tom Church dug at the sand with a stick. "I don't really know. Maybe I'm crazy in
the head. We've had fourteen murders this past year, an' it worries me some. This
here town was started by my dad, an' he set store by it. We've always had the usual
cowpuncher shoot-in's an' the like of that, but something's different. No other year
since we started did we have more'n three or four."
He talked quietly and to the point while Blaine smoked. Nobody in town showed an
unusual prosperity. No toughs were hanging around town that couldn't be accounted
for. Nobody left town suddenly. Nobody hinted at secrets. The murdered man was always
alone, although in two cases he had been left alone only a matter of minutes. All
the murdered men had been carrying large sums of money.
A half-dozen men carrying smaller amounts had left town unhindered; only two of the
fourteen had made killings at gambling. Others had worked claims, sold herds of cattle
or horses. All fourteen had been killed silently, with knife, noose, or club. Which
argued "a killer who wanted no attention. "This town means a lot to us. My boys are
growin' up here, an' two of the men killed were good friends of mine. I think there's
a well-organized gang behind it."
"Got a hunch you're wrong, Tom."
"You think there's no connection?"
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"I think they tie up, but I don't think it's a gang. I think it is just one man."
"How's that?"
"Look at it. Nobody has flashed any money and nobody has talked while drunk. That's
unusual for a gang. You know there's always one wheel that won't mesh. I'll get to
work on it."
Tom Church got up and brushed off his pants. "All right, but be careful. We've lost
three marshals in the last ten months."
It was to Utah Elaine's advantage that he did not make a big show of looking for
information. He did not throw his weight around. He let people know that he thought