Snippet #2431654

Anna nodded to William as they made their way through the town. "As you wish. Perhaps you could search around the outside of his house. I suspect Sheriff Coobs was killed so that his sins and secrets would die with him. There must be evidence as to why." Everything was pointing to the sheriff's involvement in the attacks. The attackers struck with the numbers to kill everyone before a warning could reach the town. That required coordination, planning, tactics, and at least a half dozen men, even for an isolated ranch. It only took one stable boy on a fast horse to escape and raise the alarm, yet none had. And then the attackers would need quick horses of their own to escape before someone came to investigate the gunshots or rising smoke that would be easy to notice across the flat and empty terrain. At least a half dozen horses, yet the sheriff and his posse never found a trail. Something was not right. The only question that remained was why, but they had killed Coobs before he could answer such things.

She paused to ask one of the citizens walking by where the Coobs's house was, the townsperson pointing ahead before making themselves quite scarce. Finally, Anna mused, someone with some simple forthrightness. Continuing on to the house, Anna stood at the door, knocked, and waited. Of course, if Abigail Coobs did not answer promptly, she was going to enter one way or the other. The Lord's swift justice was not something to be delayed.