Chapter 16 Taxco's only tree

One afternoon, Ben Snow rode to a small town where they were about to hang themselves from Taxco's only tree.It stood at the end of Main Street, an old, vigorous pine, which I supposed had been used in this way many times before.He was on his way south, to the Mexican border, and planned to stop in Taxco for a few drinks and a warm meal. "When is the execution?" he asked the bartender in the bar. "Tomorrow morning. They've got the ropes on." "I saw it." "A Mexican lad. Stabbed our town banker with a knife. Fucked him in the chest. A bloody murder. Terrible! Hanging would be cheap for him, if you ask me."

Ben finishes his drink and asks directions to restaurants in town.The bartender pointed him to a little restaurant called Molly's Kitchen. "Best restaurant between here and Santa Fe," he said, "trust me." The meals at Molly's kitchen were really good, and Ben raved about the meal even more after a few days of long travel.He even admired Molly Tyne herself more.She was a vigorous young woman who moved from the East, with great energy and quick hands and feet. After eating, he couldn't help asking, "How did you find a place like Taxco?" "I came out west by train," she explained, as she wiped down an empty table vacated by a middle-aged couple. ...I came to Taxco a year ago because I heard that the Southern Railroad was going to pass through here. I'm still waiting."

"This is not a good place to wait," he remarked. "What about assassination and hanging?" "Pedro Marbimi — the Mexican they were going to hang — was innocent. He was helping me clean the kitchen when the murder happened. But no one listened to me." "There must be a reason why they found him guilty," said Ben, taking a sip of his coffee. "Just because of the knife. They're paranoid that if someone kills someone with a knife, it must be a Mexican." "Have they had a public trial?" "Of course," she tossed her brown hair annoyedly, "or what Taxco called a public trial. Just this morning, the victim's son was judge. Sound fair?"

Originally unwilling to interfere in local affairs, he was eager to get on the road again.But if he had to leave town knowing that tomorrow morning a man who was probably innocent would be hanged from the branches of that tree, he would not be able to sleep at night. "What's the judge's name?" he asked. "Where can I find him?" "His name is Earl Cather. His father, Bert, owns the bank." "Any sign of robbery?" "No. The murder didn't happen in the bank, it happened in his home. First of all, Bert Keyser wouldn't let Pedro walk through his front door. That's why the whole thing is so unbelievable."

Ben didn't specifically point out the possibility that Pedro had entered uninvited through the back door. "Does Earl live with his father?" "No, he owns a textile store and lives on the second floor of the store. Usually he's the only judge in town." "I think I'll go and see him," said Ben. "Why do you care so much whether Pedro lives or dies?" she asked. "Maybe I don't care. I just want to find out." Although it was almost evening, the summer sun was still high in the western sky.Ben climbed the stairs of the textile store to the residential level.Earl Cather was not alone, and at first he had thought the blond girl with him was his wife.When she dodged shyly and hid in the bedroom, he realized that he had guessed wrong.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Earl Cather asked before Ben was allowed on the porch. "The store is closed until tomorrow morning." "I don't buy. I'm interested in this murder trial." "Pedro Mabimi has had a fair trial, and he will have a fair hanging tomorrow morning." "I want to talk to you. In my opinion, it's not entirely fair if the judge is the victim's son." Cather narrowed her eyes.His appearance was already repulsive, and that expression deepened this feeling. "You can't be a law enforcement officer, can you?"

"The name is Ben Snow. I want to come in and ask you a few questions." Cather took a sideways step reluctantly, "I can give you five minutes. As you can see, there is a girl who needs my company." Ben sat down. "Tell me about the murder of your father." "He was killed the night before by the Mexican who tried to steal. I was the only judge outside the county, so I tried the case. We had a jury of six locals, and the evidence Certainly. In any other nearby town, Pedro Mabimi would have been shot on the spot. We have given him a fair trial." "As far as I know, Pedro has an alibi."

"Worthless! He helped Miss Morley for half an hour, but the murder happened anytime between eight and ten. When I went to see him at his house at ten, I found his body." "What happened to the body?" "My dad was stabbed in the chest multiple times. It was horrific! I thought at first someone was trying to take out his heart." "Why do you doubt Ma Bimi?" "They've had a fight lately. He's trying to get a loan from my father's bank to buy some cows. Can you imagine—a Mexican who owns a cattle ranch here?" "But would he kill your father for it?"

"He spoke harshly in bars. People heard it." "still--" "He's a tough guy. I saw him pull a knife in a bar one night because someone said something bad about Mexicans." "There must be a lot of Taxcos who carry knives with them." "No, they don't. We're a little more civilized here, Mr. Snow," he said, with a pointed glance at Ben's gun belt. "You'll find that the townspeople generally don't carry weapons." "Before the execution, I want to talk to Pedro." "That's up to Sergeant Scott. He's in charge of the prisoners."

Ben nodded. "Thank you for your help." "Where are you from, Marshal?" "I didn't say I was a law enforcement officer," Ben said, walking out the door. The jail was a bungalow two blocks from Molly's Kitchen.Sheriff Scott had just switched over from the night deputy, and was about to leave when Ben walked in. "Is there anything I can do for you, stranger?" he asked. "I would like to see Pedro Mabimi before his execution. Judge Cather said it would be no problem." "He did, didn't he? Why did you want to see him?" "I'm looking into the trial. I want to make sure the trial is fair and aboveboard."

"There's nothing wrong with the trial." "A court session was held shortly after the murder." "We were supposed to have a court session yesterday, but we had to bury Bert Keyser first." "And made his son a judge, and—" "The trial was fair." "Have you inspected the crime scene?" "Of course it did. Earl came to me as soon as he found the body. I've never seen anything like it—only a Mexican would stab him like that." "As far as I know, there are no signs of robbery." "No, but Cather's six-shot gun fell beside his body. Looks like he's going to use it for his own protection, or to catch a thief." "Can I see Pedro?" The sheriff pointed to Ben's holster. "With the belt off, put it here." "Of course." Ben unfastened his gun belt and set it on the table. Sergeant Scott stood up from behind his desk, took a set of keys from a hook on the wall, and led the way through a gate and into the prison block.There were only three cells, and only one was occupied. "You have ten minutes," said the Inspector, "and no longer." Ben enters the cell, and Pedro looks up at him. "Who are you?" he said in perfect English. "What do you want?" "I'm Molly's friend. She asked me to see if I could help you." "Nobody can help me. They're going to hang me tomorrow morning." Ben sat down on the hard bunk next to him. "Did you kill Bert Cather?" "No. I've only seen him in the bank. I would never go to his house and threaten him. I don't do anything illegal." "You didn't have an alibi when it happened," Ben said. "I was with Miss Morley. She told them, but they wouldn't listen." "But Kaiser refused to give you a loan to buy cattle. You threatened him?" "I may have said something about not liking that man in the bar, but I didn't threaten to kill him. I didn't kill him at all - someone has to believe me!" "Is there anyone besides Miss Morley who can back up your words?" He shook his head, "No one stood up." "Where's your knife? Did they check for blood?" "They said I washed the blood away. Even if there is a clean knife, it is my evidence." Ben was willing to believe this man only because he himself was wrongly accused of being a murderer once.Some even identified the real Billy the Kid as Billy long after he had died and been buried. "What about the money? Did you try other places after Cather rejected you?" The Mexican thought for a moment, "I asked Sam Easton. He was the one who sold me the property, and I thought it might work to talk to him. He gave me a very good mortgage, but I still haven't money to pay the deposit.” "I might talk to him," Ben decided. "Where can I find him?" "Maybe on his ranch out of town, on the way up north," the Mexican looked into Ben Snow's eyes, "do you really think I've got a chance?" "Let's try." Ben took his horse, Oats, from the stable and rode up the North Road until he came to Easton's pasture.He used to work on a ranch in Texas that was much bigger than this one, but in the dim light he could see that the pasture was good.As soon as he got off his horse, he heard a dull explosion from the other side of the pasture, and saw a puff of smoke and rubble rising into the air.A burly, white-haired man saw him and came up to him, calling out to the other ranch hands, "It's too dark to blast any more. Better start packing your tools." "Are you Mr. Sam Easton?" Ben asked as the man came closer. "It's me, boy. Looking for work?" "No, just to inquire about something." Ben nodded towards the place where the explosion was just now. Easton gestured, "The south meadow is full of big rocks. We have been bombing for two days, and there is still a lot to be done." He took off his wide-brimmed hat and dusted it, "You What do you want to know?" "I'm investigating the murder of Bert Keyser that night." "Oh. That poor Mexican kid got himself in a lot of trouble." "Pedro said he was going to buy a pasture from you." "Fifty acres, if he can get the money together. I caused it, and I'd like to help him if I could. What's your name?" "Ben Snow." "Come with me, Ben. I've got to lock up the dynamite box," Easton said briefly, as they walked toward the ranch, detailing the land deal. "I don't think I can blame old Cather for refusing his application." .He does the same thing to me occasionally. But I still feel sorry for Pedro. It's a big disappointment for him." "Disappointed enough to kill Bert Cather?" Easton shook his head. "I don't think he did it. I wish I was on the jury." "His son doesn't look sad." "Why is he sad? He's inherited a nice big house and a bank. Much better than a textile store." They went to two wooden boxes and Easton lifted one. "Can you move another one?" he asked Ben. "It's only got a few detonators in it. Don't worry—it won't go off." It was dark when they locked the dynamite in a cabin. "How far is Cather's house from here?" Ben asked. "Across the meadows, about two miles. Take the road a bit further. Come in, Mr. Snow. I'll buy you some good whiskey." Easton's wife, a pretty middle-aged woman named Julie, was busy making their guests comfortable. "It's a pity about Pedro," she echoed, taking out several delicate glasses to pour wine. "I don't think I can close my eyes tonight when I think I'm going to hang him tomorrow morning." "On the night of the incident, did you happen to see a stranger appearing nearby?" Ben asked, sipping whiskey. Easton thought for a moment. "I can't say I saw anyone. I went out hunting that evening, but I didn't see anyone." Ben strolled over to the stone fireplace and studied a rifle that hung there. "I've never seen a gun like this before. Can I take a closer look?" Easton took it off, "It's my favorite shotgun - a .457 Winchester repeater, powerful enough to kill a buffalo, or an elephant, if there's one around. Look at the size of the clip! There's no other weapon like this in the entire county." "Amazing," confessed Ben, fiddled with the long rifle's magazine, "but what are you hunting with this?" "I'll be hunting deer that night, but you never know if a stray bear wanders in here." "Did you see anything?" Easton shook his head, "Not a single shot was fired." "Don't bother Mr. Snow with all your hunting exploits, my dear," said his wife. "Are you going to be in town long, Mr. Snow?" "Probably only until tomorrow. I interviewed some people who might be helpful in the Pedro case, but I have no one left to ask." "Where's Mrs. Fernandez?" suggested Julie Easton. "She's Cather's nearest neighbor. She might have seen something." "Thanks," Ben said, "and thanks for the drinks. I have to go now." "Again," Easton told him, "visitors are always welcome here." As we rode back to town, Ben thought about this man, who had a beautiful wife, who could handle dynamite and high-powered rifles with ease.Perhaps, he is the kind of person that the civilization of the West needs. Mrs. Fernandez lived in a small house next to Kaiser's.She would not let strangers into the house after dark, so Ben talked to her through the half-open door. "I don't know anything," she told him, speaking with a thick accent, "I haven't seen anything, I haven't seen anyone." "The case probably happened at this time, just after dark—" "I told the sheriff everything I knew. I heard a shot from the other side of the house and nothing else." "A gunshot?" Ben remembered Sheriff Scott saying Cather's pistol had fallen beside the body. "Do you remember the time?" "Of course. I glanced at the clock. Fifteen past nine." He tried to recall whether Molly had pinpointed that Pedro was with her at this very moment. "Did you tell Sheriff Scott about this?" "I told him. He said I was mistaken. If there were shots, there was hunting in the field." "Thank you, Mrs. Fernandez." Ben left the house and headed for Molly's kitchen.Sam saw no other hunters and did not fire a shot himself, so the shots Mrs. Fernandez heard could not have been from the hunters. The restaurant was closed, but there were lights inside.Ben banged on the door until Molly finally came and opened it.She looked at him for a while before she remembered who he was. "Oh—Mr. Snow, eh? Why are you back? I'm afraid we're closed now." "I've talked to Earl Cather, and Pedro. I've had a busy night." She looked at him for a while before turning sideways to let him into the room. "Please come in." Under the light of the lantern, her skin glowed with an angelic soft halo. "I need to know something. Earl Cather said Pedro only helped you for half an hour." "It's a little longer than that. He's been here from almost nine to nine-thirty. I know Earl said his father could have been killed anytime from eight to ten, but I don't believe it. Earl at ten o'clock When the body was found, the murderer must have had a few minutes before and after the crime." "If we can prove that Cather was killed at a quarter past nine, can you be sure that Pedro was with you at that time?" "of course can!" "Then I think we still have a chance." But she was more melancholy. "We are too late. Everyone is going to bed now, and Earl Cather will not order a postponement of the execution." "No appellate court will allow such a sentence to go into effect with the victim's son as judge." "Of course not. But by the time anyone heard about it, Pedro was dead and buried." "Maybe not," Ben said to her. "Maybe there's a way to delay the execution." "What do you mean?" "It's best you don't know," said Ben. He came to Easton Farm again.It was nearly midnight, and the main house could be seen, with no lights shining through.Ben dismounted, tied the oats to a bush, and walked the last distance.When he reached the locked hut where the explosives were kept, he pried open the bolt, screwed to the old wood, with the barrel of his revolver.He was going to shoot at the lock, and was glad it wasn't necessary. He rode back to Taxco with three detonators in his saddlebag.His original plan was simple - blast a hole in the prison wall and escape on horseback with Pedro.But when he returned to the sleepy town, he immediately discovered that the operation had at least two drawbacks: two sheriff's deputies with rifles were on guard outside the prison, and innocent people were not meant to be hurt, and, besides, the explosions The walls of Pedro's cell were likely to injure the man he was trying to rescue. Ben's first reaction was to be discouraged.Maybe he should have put the whole thing behind him, but Mrs. Fernandez's account of the gunshots, combined with Molly's alibi for Pedro, had cleared Pedro's innocence.He turned his horse from the prison and rode towards the only tree in Taxco on the edge of town. A single detonator would do, he thought, as he tied it to the base of the trunk and ignited the fuse. Just after one o'clock, the sound of explosions shattered the silence of the night.Ben watched from a distance and saw the old pine tree shuddering and falling, touching the ground like a sigh, its branches and leaves slowing the fall. Molly Tyne allowed Ben to spend the night in a pantry in the kitchen, where he slept for a few hours, trying to keep himself deaf to the dull shouts and commotion in the street.The explosion woke up the town. At dawn, Molly gently shook him awake. "Ben! Ben, wake up!" "What's wrong?" He asked, hearing the panic in her voice. "Sheriff Scott asked his deputies to build a makeshift gallows outside the jail. He said he would hang Pedro as soon as it was done." Ben dressed and drank a cup of coffee Molly made, then strapped on his gun and headed for the prison.Sergeant Scott stopped him halfway. "Looking for you, Mr. Snow. We had some trouble last night. Someone blew up the tree we were going to hang Pedro Mabimi. You don't know anything about it, do you? " "How would I know?" "Sam Easton cleared his ranch with dynamite. He said you locked it up for him last night. Then someone picked the lock and slipped in and stole some." "I can't help you with this, Sheriff. I was asleep when I thought it would explode." "Impossible!" roared the Sheriff. "We don't like outsiders meddling in the affairs of this town, Snow! We don't like them blowing up our only tree just to save the next murderer who is about to hang!" We'll hang Pedro in an hour or two, and then we'll find you a rope too!" The jail was just around the corner, and Ben saw makeshift gallows being erected.They did not bother to build steps and gallows platforms--just a tall vertical stake and a cross-piece with a noose.Pedro would be led to the gallows on horseback in the traditional western fashion. "I can prove he didn't do it," Ben told the sheriff. "You've got to listen to me." "I'm always open to listening. Start talking." "Cather's neighbor, Mrs. Fernandez, heard a gunshot at about nine-fifteen. No one else was out that night except Sam Easton, and he told me he didn't fire a shot. The shot The shot could only have come from Cather's six-shot gun, which he had fired at the murderer. And it was impossible for Pedro to be in the house at nine-fifteen, because from almost nine to nine-thirty he Always with Molly Tyne." Sergeant Scott listened in silence, then motioned for Ben to follow him into the jail.He opened a drawer of the wooden filing cabinet and took out a shiny long-barreled revolver. "Here's Bert Keyser's pistol. I found it myself beside his body. Here it is--look at it." Ben opened the magazine and saw that the gun was fully loaded.He looked inside the barrel of the gun. "The gun hadn't been fired since it was last cleaned," he said. "That's right. That's how it was when I found it. Mrs. Fernandez didn't hear any shots at all." "Why is she lying?" "Because she's a Mexican, like Pedro. She wants to save him." "The method is interesting. She couldn't have known about the gun, and she couldn't have known about Pedro's alibi." "Two hours from now it won't matter," said the sheriff, looking through the open door at the gallows. "It's important to Pedro, and it's important to me. Now, you've got to get Earl Keizer to declare a reopening, and I'm going to prove that Pedro didn't do it." "How do you prove it? I've shown you Cather's unfired pistol. Pedro's alibi is worthless!" "I think so. The unfired pistol told me not only that Pedro was innocent, but who the murderer was." At ten o'clock that morning, Earl Cather reluctantly agreed to reopen the case against Pedro Mabimi on the basis of new evidence. "It's very unconventional," he said to Ben at the outset. "The man has been tried and convicted." "It is also very unconventional for you to be a judge," Ben said in a nutshell. "If you refuse to retry now and start the execution, it means that you are only doing this because the victim is your father." "I'll give you an hour," Cather said at last, overcoming Sergeant Scott's objections, "and we can hang Pedro before noon." Even as the jury of six was reconvened and Pedro was escorted from the prison cell to the bar that served as a courtroom, the sheriff continued to babble. "What about the tree that was blown up? Are we going to interrogate this guy too?" "If you have evidence, Sheriff," Cather said. "Sam Easton can testify that Snow knew about the explosives." "That's not enough," Cather said to him, "forget about the damn tree, let's get started," he turned to Ben, "you claim to have new evidence against Pedro Mabimi?" Ben stood up. "I have, Your Honor." He looked around and saw Molly sitting in the hearing room, not far from Pedro.Mrs. Fernandez was there, as was Sam Easton and his wife, Julie. "Show me, please." Outside, the hammering of the gallows being erected in front of the prison had stopped.Ready to execute. Ben cleared his throat and began to state, "When I arrived in Taxco yesterday, Pedro Mabimi's trial was over. He was convicted of murdering Bert Cather, the president of your bank. As far as I know, no one has defended him, and the evidence is weak. His loan application was rejected by Mr. Kaiser, some threatening words were said to him in this bar, and Kaiser was carried by Pedro That kind of knife murdered atrociously. No one in this town carried a similar murder weapon. These are the so-called evidence. And the testimony of Molly Tyne-Pedro was with her at the time of the crime, contradicts it. .” Earl Cather said, "The evidence shows that my father was killed, possibly before or after the alibi time period." "True," agreed Ben, "but let's take the testimony of Mrs. Fernandez and her hearing a gunshot at nine-fifteen. My first thought was that the gunshot must have been Burt's." Cather fired it in self-defense but Sheriff Scott showed me the gun and it hadn't been fired since it was last cleaned. I don't believe Mrs. Fernandez invented the shot to help Piedrot Guilty, because it doesn't help. If she wanted to perjure him, she could claim to have seen a mysterious stranger haunt the Cather's neighborhood. We have to believe her account of a gunshot, which leads to an interesting That's the question. Which gun fired, and where did the bullet go?" "Hunters," murmured Sheriff Scott. "According to Sam Easton, no one was out hunting," said Ben. "If Mrs. Fernandez believes the shot came from the direction of the Cathers' house, then I'd like to believe that to be the case. Bert Cather's gun The fact that no shots were fired allows us to infer that there was a third person in the house at the time. If a gun was fired, it was fired by Kayser's killer." There was a commotion in the gallery, and Earl Cather tapped his gavel to maintain order, "Go on, Mr. Snow." "Assuming the sheriff can find any obvious bullet holes, we have to ask, where did the bullet go? I think the answer is obvious. It entered the body of Bert Keyser. He was not stabbed to death, Instead, he was killed by a bullet." "That's ridiculous!" retorted Sergeant Scott. "If he was killed by a bullet, why was he stabbed in the chest like that?" "To cover up the fact that he was shot, Sheriff. The victim was dismembered posthumously so the killer could retrieve the bullet. Your description of the deceased being stabbed multiple times in the chest is the only explanation." "but why?" "Because a bullet can identify a murderer without a doubt. Which of you would be identified by a bullet in your own gun? Which of you, by your own admission, had the rifle with the largest magazine in the county? Who was it the night of the murder? Hunting near Cather's house?" No one answered.Sam Easton sprang from his seat and fled toward the gate, only to be caught by the two deputies on the night watch whom Ben had watched the night before. Afterwards, Molly brought Pedro to see Ben. "How can I thank you?" said Pedro, "but for you I would be dead by now." "We were lucky to have evidence to back up my guess," Ben said. "From the very beginning, I felt the sheriff missed a lot of things. He seemed to assume that you were the only one with a knife, but anyone would carry a knife when they went hunting. In a sense, Easton was unlucky. A bullet of that magnitude, fired from such a short distance, should have penetrated the victim. In this case, the bullet must have hit the bone or the speed was slowed. When Easton realized the bullet was still in the body, he knew he had to dig it out with a knife. He talked about having some financial disputes with Cather, which I guess That's what led to the murder." "The Sheriff said he admitted everything. Cather wanted to foreclose on his loan. Easton came to his house after the hunt and they quarreled about it. The banker pulled out his pistol and told him to go away, Easton shot him in the chest with his rifle." Ben thought of the gallows at the ready, "Are they going to hang him now?" "No way," Molly replied, with a hint of bitterness in his tone. "He's not Mexican, and he's a landowner. He's going to be in jail and brought to the county seat for trial. I guess he'll hire a lawyer, and pleads for self-representation." "I think I've got to hit the road," Ben said. "I'm glad I could help you, Pedro." On the way out of town, he passed a splinter stump—the only remaining trees in Taxco.