NineteenTowards the rail junction
“I won't dally with you, Detective,” said Fergusson, pushing the telegram across the desk towards Simms. “You are who you say you are, and I hold Colonel Johnstone over at Bridger as a personal friend, so we have no issue. Not over your identity, at least.”
“Well, that's reassuring.” Simms shifted in the chair, craning his neck to scan across the two men standing over by the door. They no longer pointed their rifles, but they remained alert, ready to jump into action at the merest flicker from their boss.
“What still rankles me is how you have the audacity to walk into one of my saloons and pistol-whip one of my workers.”
“If he hadn't swung the punch, it never would have happened.”
“That's as maybe. The fact is, you pulled a g*n and that, in my book,
