"What about the intelligence on those McKinley prospecting personnel?" William asked about something he particularly cared about.
"Those people have all disappeared from the town, and they haven't been found in Denver either," Rafael answered.
William smiled coldly in his heart. There was definitely something fishy - it should be about mineral deposits, otherwise it wouldn't be like this.
"Keep a close eye on outside lawbreakers during this period. If the situation is urgent, you can directly notify Henry first - he's seen you and knows you're my man."
"Alright, Mayor. I'll take my leave then." Rafael respectfully withdrew and left.
——
At noon, Henry came to the Phoenix Bar alone.
However, this time he didn't stay on the first floor, but went directly to the second floor, where there was a private room reserved specifically for the sheriff.
This time he ordered double yesterday's amount - four venison steaks, four beef steaks, three pounds of bread, and five portions of oatmeal porridge.
However, the waitress Barbara didn't react unusually - she thought someone else would be coming later.
Henry planned to transfer hot food into his space whenever he had the chance.
Having a storage space and still eating dry rations would be unreasonable.
For this purpose, he had specifically brought many bowls, plates, and other utensils into the space.
After three days of use, he already knew that items in the storage space didn't interfere with each other.
Henry had just finished lunch when Drummond knocked on the private room door.
After entering, Drummond said, "The detailed intelligence on the McKinley family will take another day or two."
Henry nodded to show understanding.
After all, information transmission in this era relied either on legs or telegrams.
And there was definitely a lot of intelligence on the McKinley family, making expensive telegrams inappropriate.
Telegrams were charged by the word, with each word costing about $0.2!
Henry said, "There will be many unfamiliar faces coming to town recently. Let me know as early as possible if you notice anything unusual."
"No problem." Drummond agreed readily.
Henry nodded, stood up, and left.
As for the bill, it was put on account and would be deducted from the profit sharing later.
Drummond escorted Henry downstairs. Just as they walked out of the bar entrance, they saw a carriage approaching. It stopped in front of them, and Luke jumped down from the carriage, saying, "Sheriff, there's a gentleman from New York looking for you."
Immediately after, a tall, thin man in a tailcoat gentleman's suit and wearing a high-quality silk top hat elegantly stepped down from the carriage.
He held a walking stick in his left hand and carried a leather briefcase in his right, with a very neat and handsome handlebar mustache on his lips. He wore thin black leather gloves and looked elegant, refined, and scholarly.
He was dressed completely like a Victorian-era British Commonwealth gentleman.
"Hello! I am Louis de Toulouse-Lautrec from France, commissioned by Miss Kate Cavendish to handle her estate matters. Are you Henry Bruce?" the man asked with great elegance.
"I am. Thank you for coming so far. Let's talk in the bar's private room," Henry said, then turned to Drummond and said, "Please take Mr. Louis to my private room. I'll come after giving Luke some instructions. No need to close the door."
Drummond nodded and said, "Mr. Louis, please follow me."
Louis nodded to Henry and followed Drummond into the bar.
"Luke, take this carriage driver to the Bull Restaurant for lunch, then take him to the police station to wait. I'll come over after I finish here," Henry said while handing Luke a 50-cent coin.
Luke happily accepted the coin, got back on the carriage, and gave directions to the driver.
Henry went up to the second-floor private room, where Drummond was having a pleasant chat with Louis. But when he saw Henry enter, he immediately stood up, walked out of the private room, and closed the door behind him.
The private room door had been specially treated for soundproofing, so people outside basically couldn't hear sounds from inside.
At this time, Louis also stood up, smiling as he looked at Henry. However, he immediately noticed Henry's left hand lightning-fast draw a revolver from his waist and point it at him.
Louis barely maintained his smile and asked in confusion, "What's happening? What's wrong?"
Henry said coldly, "Hands up, now!"
Louis was extremely frustrated, not knowing where he had revealed a flaw, but the situation was stronger than the person. He had encountered more difficult situations before.
At this moment, he absolutely couldn't resist directly. He had to go along with the other party first to have a chance to counterattack.
So Louis raised his hands.
"Turn around!"
Louis complied, but swore in his heart: once he found an opportunity, he wouldn't let Henry die too easily!
However, just as he turned around, he felt a sharp pain in his heart, and a sharp sword tip actually protruded from his left chest!
His heart pierced, Louis instantly lost all strength. He still wanted to struggle to ask something - at least to die understanding what happened.
But his back brain instantly felt a cool sensation, then burning pain.
'I am not resigned!' This was Louis's last thought as his soul instantly fell into the abyss and his consciousness fell into eternal sleep.
From the moment he saw this Louis, Henry's danger premonition made his brow ache faintly.
Although there was no flash of the other party's impending attack, the malice was as glaring as a 100-watt incandescent bulb in his previous timeline.
Moreover, Henry's sharp gaze discovered the other party very likely had a gun hidden under his gentleman's suit.
Fraudsters throughout history all used the same routine - starting with shocking statements.
Once you were scared or intimidated by him, being manipulated was not far away.
Having experienced the information bombardment of the internet age, Henry was relatively well-informed. Moreover, if he couldn't trust his own system, what could he trust?
A string of incomprehensible high-sounding names, inheritance claims - only a ghost would believe this!
So Henry could only send him to meet the ghosts.
Not knowing what devious methods the other party might have, Henry directly struck first and maintained sufficient distance from him.
The moment Louis turned around, a swift sword measuring 1.2 meters instantly appeared in Henry's right hand. He stepped forward and lightning-fast thrust his right hand forward, piercing through the other party's heart!
Then his left hand stored the gun in his space, and a throwing knife appeared from nowhere. With one swing, it inserted into the other party's back of the head.
Since the other party intended to commit deceit, let him die equally unclear about what happened.
Henry tried to collect Louis's body along with the sword into his space. It completed very smoothly, indicating he had thoroughly died.
So Henry laid a blanket on the ground, released him from the space onto the blanket, put on gloves, and searched his body.
Sure enough, in the inner pocket of his jacket was a Colt double-action 1877 pistol, plus a 12-centimeter dagger - this was the famous "one-push death" among military equipment in the western region.
It could be used for attacks from behind, directly hitting the opponent's vital points.
The Colt 1877 was much smaller than the Colt 1878, not easily discovered when hidden under a jacket, making it a favorite of many assassins in this era.
There was no escape now. Which guy whose name sounded noble-like and was responsible for managing aristocratic assets would carry these two assassination tools on his person?
Henry opened Louis's briefcase and found a set of materials inside, but they were all black and white photos and information about jewelry, plus a commission letter.
It was made to look like Kate had commissioned Louis to handle these jewelry inheritances.