Buffalo Bill Wanted! by Alex Simmons Read Free Book Online Page B

smile.
    â€œYou know these—children?” the servant asked.
    â€œThey were visiting Colonel Cody in his tent,” the show manager said as he approached the group. “Let ’em go.”
    As the servant moved away with a dazed expression on his face, Dooley stuck his tongue out at the man. But when the servant glanced back at the group, Dooley appeared to be studying the design on the rug.
    â€œIf you came by to enjoy Colonel Cody’s hospitality, ” Salsbury told them, “you’ve picked a bad time.”
    â€œWhy?” Owens asked.
    â€œSurely you’ve heard about the attack,” Salsbury replied. “I was here with Bill last night when the police came around to question us again.” He gazed back up the stairs.
    â€œWe read about it,” Wiggins said, “and we thought of something that might help.”
    Salsbury turned back around to face them. “What do you know that might help us?”
    â€œThe newspapers—and other people—are making a lot of the fact that the gun found by the constable belonged to Buffalo Bill,” Wiggins said. “But we know it was lost long before the attack. Remember?”
    â€œLost,” Jennie echoed, “or stolen.”
    â€œWell, look who we’ve got here!” a loud voice interrupted.
    â€œHi, Buffalo Bill!” Dooley almost cheered as the frontiersman walked down the stairs and joined them.
    â€œMorning,” Cody said, ruffling Dooley’s hair and shaking hands with the others. “What brings you here?”
    Jennie quickly explained the reason for their visit. “Did you ever find out how the gun got out of your tent?”
    Cody shook his head. “Nate and I looked into it.”
    â€œYou may find it hard to believe, considering your visit,” Salsbury told them with a grin. “But very few people have access to the tent during the show.”
    Cody shrugged. “I can’t see any of my folks stealing one of my guns. They had plenty of opportunities before, and nothing like this has ever happened. ”
    â€œI think it was some souvenir hunter,” Salsbury said, “and I’ll say as much to Inspector Desmond the next time I see him.” He shook his head. “I doubt, though, that will be enough for the local police—or the newspapers. They’ll still suggest that Cody or someone else in the show hid the gun, pretending that he’d lost it.”
    â€œIt would have to be a pretty determined souvenir hunter if no one could get into that area,” Wiggins said. “And why would he attack the copper?”
    â€œThe police are determined to prove that one of my people took the gun and then turned it against the policeman,” Cody said. “It’s up to me, not you young ones, to prove otherwise. After all, a man was scalped.”
    "Shot and scalped,” Owens added.
    â€œNot with my gun,” Cody said firmly. “It was loaded with blanks, like all the guns in the show.”
    â€œAre you sure?” Wiggins asked.
    Colonel Cody nodded. “Only two shots had been fired. The other cartridges were still in the gun. They were blanks, all right.”
    â€œThat explains it!” Jennie exclaimed. “The newspapers said the constable had been shot. But the doctor at St. Bartholomew’s said there was no gunshot wound.”
    Wiggins was trying to decide what to make of that when Dooley cried, “We’ll help you sort this out, Colonel Cody!”
    â€œAnd we know a person who may be even more helpful,” Jennie said. “Mr. Sherlock Holmes.”
    She had taken the words right out of Wiggins’s mouth. However, he noticed that Nate Salsbury seemed to tense on hearing the great detective’s name.
    â€œWe don’t need anyone else nosing about in this,” Salsbury said. “To be honest, we’ve been trying to lie low. The last thing we need is more unfriendly attention from the