Strange Medicine (Dr. Maxwell Thornton Murder Mysteries #1)(59)

“Yeah, I’ve heard a few stories over the years. I didn’t put much stock in them to be honest.”

“Oh, Granddad was adamant.”

“All right.” I frowned. “But how does that tie in to the doc’s house?”

“Granddad always said Sam Bass stayed in that house, the doc’s house, for a time when he was hiding from the Texas Rangers.”

“Huh.”

“But other stories had him living in Dallas during 1878. I wasn’t sure which story was accurate, so I needed to figure out if he had actually been in that house. If he had been in the doc’s house, that was an exciting thought.”

I rubbed my jaw. “Why exactly?”

“Well, because of the stolen gold, of course.”

“Okay.”

“I had Liam and Rocky take some books from the library on notorious outlaws from Texas to see if anything in them might support Sam Bass being right here in Rainy Dale.”

“You guys were the ones who stole those books?”

She looked embarrassed. “Well, I told them just to check them out like normal people, but Liam was paranoid people would figure out what we were up to.” She shook her head. “He was paranoid about everything.”

“Why did you return them?” I squinted at her. “You freaked Julie out doing that.”

“I felt bad for poor Julie. I mean, goodness, it’s hard enough getting quality books all the way out here. It seemed wrong to steal them. So I had the boys return them.”

I shook my head. “You’re sure enough not made for a life of crime, Hanna.”

“I know.”

Even though I knew she’d gotten herself into this mess, I felt sorry for her because she looked so demoralized. “Okay, so what did you find out from those old books?”

A tiny flicker of excitement entered her eyes. “They supported the idea that Sam Bass had spent time in Rainy Dale. Apparently there was a beautiful, golden-haired girl he had a thing for. Rumor had it she lived in a small town thirty miles west of Dallas. The books described this little town as having two black mountains that met in the shape of a saddle.” She met my gaze. “We were positive that was referring to Saddle Back Ridge to the north of Rainy Dale.”

“Huh.” I nodded. “Okay. So Sam Bass might have been in Rainy Dale. But why were you guys so focused on the doc’s house? Even if he did stay in town, how would you know it was that house?”

“Well, after all the stories my granddad had told me about that house, it seemed possible Sam actually might have stayed there. But I needed details. I started scouring the diary for any mention of where he stayed when he was in that little town west of Dallas. I read that damn diary so many times it was almost falling apart in my hands.”

“I’m assuming you found something that encouraged you to keep focused on the doc’s house?”

She nodded vehemently. “Yes. There were several entries where Sam described a huge oak outside his house that looked like it had been split in two by lightning.” Her cheeks were flushed. “There’s a tree just like that in back of Dr. Thornton’s home. Do you remember it?”

I narrowed my eyes as I tried to picture Maxwell’s backyard. “I know there are a bunch of oaks, and I might remember one that looked like it was hit by lightning a long time ago.”

She sighed. “Well, I sure as heck remembered seeing it. That’s when things got really exciting.”

“I can understand why a famous outlaw staying in that house might be interesting from a historical point of view, but what made you think he hid gold there?”

“Because of all the stories my granddad told about Bass living in that house and hiding gold somewhere in town. Sam Bass wasn’t a trusting soul. My feeling was Sam would have wanted to hide the gold somewhere he could keep his eye on it. Plus, his journal hinted at putting things ‘under the house’ and ‘inside the guts’ of the house.”

“He was that specific?”

“He sure was. If you bothered to look.” She bit her lip. “Most people maybe wouldn’t be able to put two and two together. But with the diary and all the stories my granddad had shared, it fit together into a perfect little treasure map to me.”

“So that’s why you were digging around the foundation and in the walls?”

She nodded. “We knew he stole twenty-dollar gold pieces from the stagecoach robberies, and I was sure they were somewhere in that house.” She looked wistful. “But we just couldn’t seem to find them. It was so frustrating.” Her mouth drooped.

“Maybe Sam Bass moved the gold, or maybe it was never there to begin with.”

“Perhaps.” She clenched her jaw. “I prefer to think the diary was real.”

“I guess that’s your right.”

She twisted her lips. “The people who owned that diary didn’t even know what they had. Generations had passed it down time and time again, and none of them had ever even bothered to open it up and read it. Ned couldn’t believe his luck when he stumbled on it.”

“Yeah, but let’s not forget that got him killed.”

She paled. “Oh, God.”

I pulled off my Stetson and ran my fingers through my hair. “How could you numbskulls think it was okay to smash walls open and creep around the doc’s home? It didn’t occur to you that might draw attention?”