Longarm and the Colorado gundown

_{“Which is why your town chief of police is out looking for something that’s clearly outside his jurisdiction.” “Exactly.”}

_{“I was kinda wondering ’bout that.”}

_{“But you could—”}

_{“Ames, let me set you straight about something. I can’t march in an’ throw my weight around when I don’t have jurisdiction. This is a local crime, an’ the only way I could get into it would be if the local law asked me t’ help. I got the authority to cooperate, but only on specific request. Without that, man, my hands are tied. And, uh, judging from the look on your face, I’d say that you already been told all this. Why am I bothering?”}

_{“We were hoping you might... make an exception? You would be handsomely compensated, I assure you.” “Bounty hunting? That ain’t what I do, Ames.”}

_{“It wouldn’t be that at all.”}

_{“Okay then. You want t’ bribe me to exceed my authority.”}

_{“No!” Delacoutt yelped.}

_{“Look, Ames, if you boys want me in on this, get your police chief t’ stand in front o’ me and ask for my help.” “If Boo Bevvy stands in front of you, Deputy, you’ll serve that writ you are carrying, and we will have to turn a flood of savages loose on our women.”}

_{“I already told you, man—”}

_{“And I don’t believe you. All right? Is that clear enough? The federal government mollycoddles those red savages. Everyone knows that. Lo, the poor Indian. Well excuse}

_{me for saying so, but Lo butchers white babies and rapes white women and scalps white men, and those of us who don’t have to follow a party line on the subject would just as soon see Lo and all his relatives dead and buried. And that, sir, is the truth as I see it.”}

_{And it was too. The way this dumb, deluded bastard saw it, anyhow. At least he was being honest in his reaction. Longarm found it difficult to fault a man for that. And he had to admit that he would’ve felt the same himself if he believed what Ames Delacoutt did. The difference between them was that Longarm happened to know better.}

_{“I’d be glad to help out with your robbery investigation, Ames,” Longarm said. “But you know what you folks gotta do first.”}

_{“You force a hard choice on us, sir. If we don’t give in to your demand, we face ruin. If we do, we face death. Thank you so much, Deputy.” Delacoutt sounded bitter, and no wonder given the lies that he believed.}