IIK - Talk of Murder
”Like much of New Mexico, I fear we have more than our fair share of troublemakers,” Dolan says, ”But with regard to your concerns, a few names come to mind.”
“Resolving the matter of who took the children is understandably a priority. They are innocents and their families should never have to worry over their safety. What transpired was intolerable. In his defense, I must say that I had the impression that Sheriff Brady had been seeking to locate the missing youngsters diligently. I might go so far to say, based on my conversations with him, that he was positively haunted by their absence.”
The businessman folds his hands on the table in front of him. ”My employer, Lawrence Murphy, due the variety of his interests, retains the services of a number of people. Recently, I was required to fire one of the men he retained as a ranch hand. One Manuel Segovia. I did so after learning that Señor Segovia had been keeping company with a pair of miscreants, the Schraeder brothers, Karl and Horst. They’re known cattle rustlers and have also been implicated in stagecoach robberies and the killing of a prospector. I had assumed that Manuel might be working with the Schraeders to relieve Mr. Murphy of some of his cattle. But, I have heard rumors that the two of them were involved in holding the wife of a saloon keeper in Las Cruces hostage over a gambling dispute. For such men, taking children might be a simple next step.”
“As to Michael Kibbee, he was part of the reason I ventured out this afternoon. I wanted to check in on his welfare. He has done a singular job with the Independent, but, as is the lot of many newspapermen, he has managed to anger a few in the community. He...is outspoken with some of his views. However, such disagreements fuel a healthy debate and are certainly no cause for violence.”
“There is a man that has...hired himself out for some unsavory tasks. An individual of large stature. Andrew Roberts. Most in these parts call him ‘Buckshot’ Roberts. By all accounts, he is capable with his fists and with a firearm. It’s entirely possible that someone paid him to harm Mr. Kibbee.”