In a Deadly Vein by Brett Halliday Read Free Book Online Page B

a mumble. He surrendered the frontier relic to the sheriff who let it dangle on his forefinger by the trigger guard.
    Fleming said, “We’ll take a little walk up the street and let some of the liquor in you cool off.”
    The disarmed man wet his thick lips. “Guess I’ve been a fool,” he admitted humbly. “I’m—look here, sheriff—I’m John Mattson, from Denver. You won’t have to—this won’t have to go any further, will it? The publicity—”
    “Reckon I won’t lock you up. Hate to spoil my record.” He chuckled. “I just want to make sure you don’t stumble into more trouble.” He urged the big man up the street with a hand on his elbow.
    Before they had gone ten feet, the tall, glittering woman slid out of the shadows and confronted them. She sobbed, “John! Oh, John, what made you do that awful thing!” and flung bare arms around her husband’s thick neck.
    The sheriff stepped back and almost bumped into Shayne.
    Mattson said, “Olivia!” and the word was smothered by her teary voice:
    “Oh, John! How could you ever have been so silly! I didn’t know you cared that way. As if I’d ever leave you. You know I love you, John. You know I do.”
    Mattson took her arms from around his neck and demanded harshly, “What about Carson? You were drooling about him this afternoon.”
    She sobbed, “That was nothing, John. Honestly it wasn’t. If I’d thought for a moment you’d take me seriously—”
    “Seriously? Good God ’lmighty. You were demanding a divorce this afternoon so you could marry Carson. Yes, and by God, you wanted half my money to turn over to him. Now you say you weren’t serious.”
    Olivia Mattson laughed scornfully. “Marry that youngster? I guess I was just a silly old woman wanting some flattery, John. But it’s all over now. I wouldn’t trade you for a hundred Frank Carsons.”
    Sheriff Fleming touched Shayne’s arm and they withdrew. The sheriff muttered, “Frank Carson,” in a troubled voice. “Would he be the husband of Pete’s girl?”
    Shayne said, “He would. See you later.” He retraced his steps and shouldered his way inside the barroom.
    Frank Carson grabbed his arm and pulled him aside before he could look around for Phyllis and Casey. Carson asked in a desperate voice, “Have you found Nora yet?” His face was drawn and white, and his left eyelid jerked nervously.
    “Not yet. Have you been up to your room?”
    “I just came from the theater. Got tied up in that mob backstage. You know what a madhouse it was.”
    “Nora left a note for you in her room,” Shayne told him gruffly. “Said she was going to look for the sheriff and might not be back in time to play her part.”
    “The sheriff? Maybe she found him, then. Maybe everything is all right.” Carson gripped his arm with surprising strength.
    Shayne shook his head. “Fleming hasn’t seen her, and he has been right around all the time where she could have located him easily.” He paused, then added drily, “The sheriff was in here a moment ago disarming a drunk named John Mattson who wanted to use a baby cannon on you.”
    Frank Carson’s eyelid fluttered uncontrollably. His gaze met Shayne’s brooding eyes and flickered away. He wet his lips and muttered, “We’ve got to find Nora. Nothing else matters.”
    Shayne asked, “When did you last see Olivia Mattson?”
    A shudder left Carson’s wide shoulders drooping. He tried to smile, but it was a ghastly grin. “You know about that, eh?” With sudden fierceness, he said, “That fool woman! You don’t know how to figure them out here. Kid around a little and they take you seriously. That’s what held me up at the theater,” he confessed. He wiped sweat from his forehead. “God! what a filthy scene. I had to tell her off in front of a lot of people. Imagine her coming around with crazy talk about divorcing her husband. She knows I’m married to Nora. I had to tell her off,” he repeated dismally.
    “You shouldn’t lead a