Longarm and the Colorado gundown

_{“Frankly, Deputy, we were more surprised than anyone. We thought it impossible that anyone would have an interest in the shipment. Its value would be stated in the tens of thousands of dollars, true, but its weight was a matter of tons. Much too heavy to be moved by any conventional means. Mule train, for instance. It would have required a string of a hundred thirty mules to carry it. We calculated that first thing. And believe me, there are not that many mules in these mountains that were unaccounted for on the day of the robbery. That was the first thing we looked into.”}

_{“Logical,” Longarm agreed. He glanced around, but the other players hadn’t returned to the table yet. None of them, in fact. Although he could see one of the men standing at}

_{the bar in conversation with someone else. And now that he was paying attention he noticed another seated at a different table, already engrossed in a new game there. It occurred to him that perhaps this was something of a setup. Just maybe he’d been seated beside this pleasant fella for a purpose? Not that he minded. Yet. But it was something to keep in mind.}

_{“Freight wagons could carry that much weight, of course,” the man went on, “but no wagons can reach the area where the robbery occurred. It simply isn’t possible. Even so, we searched for wheel tracks. There were none.”}

_{Longarm grunted.}

_{“We are at a loss as to how the concentrates were spirited away. And we are very much concerned that the thieves may successfully repeat their performance. Until we know how they did it the first time, we will have difficulty thwarting them the second time. If you see what I mean.” “I see what you’re saying,” Longarm admitted. “I’m not so sure I see what you mean. Not all of it anyhow.”}

_{The gambler smiled. “Good. You are as bright as we’d hoped you might be.”}

_{Longarm didn’t know quite what to make of that remark, so he let it slide by.}

_{“We ... our little consortium of mine owners and railroad investors, that is... have mixed thoughts about your presence here, Deputy. I suspect you can understand that.” “Not particularly. Not unless you’re doing something you oughtn’t.”}

_{“Oh, no. Nothing at all like that, I assure you. No, our, um, concerns lie with the Ute Indians. You are here to give them the freedom to attack us. Naturally we resist that. The other side of that coin, Deputy, is that your expertise could be useful to us when it comes to arresting whoever stole our gold concentrates.”}