The relevant personnel had already assembled. Henry called Luke and old White, who was in charge of the warehouse, into his office and said: "During the few days I'm away, Luke will handle general external affairs, and old White will handle internal police station matters. If major external incidents occur, such as deaths or large-scale bloodshed, old White will be responsible, and Luke, you must cooperate well. Do you understand?"
Luke immediately responded loudly: "Understood!"
Old White also said gravely: "I'll do my best."
"That's settled then. If there's anything you really can't solve, do your best to delay until I return to handle it."
"Understood."
"Alright then, I'll go announce this temporary appointment and then depart."
Henry led the two men to the police station hall to announce this to everyone, then left with 9 officers on horseback.
These 9 officers included Pete, Rock, Hank, four officers aged 18-24 that Henry favored, plus two others - 33-year-old Charles and 32-year-old Owen.
These two men both had wives and children in Fresco Town, had lived there for over three years, and were very familiar with the roads and conditions from Fresco to Denver.
Henry's principle for selecting people this time was reliability, avoiding the possibility that when he left the group to pursue bandits, someone in the team might betray him and stab him in the back.
"Rock, go to Phoenix Bar and drive their two-horse four-wheel carriage to Linda's place to help her load her luggage."
"Charles, take the others to Linda's to help move things together. Let's try to depart at 7 o'clock."
Everyone took their orders and dispersed. Henry rode to Mayor William's manor.
Of the 85 miles from Fresco Town to Denver, 70 miles were mountain roads where they couldn't travel fast.
Driving a carriage would take at least 9 continuous hours to complete these 70 miles, but they would definitely need to rest along the way, so it would take at least 10 hours at minimum.
Adding the hour-plus after leaving the mountains, the entire journey would require budgeting at least 12 hours.
So departing at 7 AM, arriving by 7 PM would be very smooth - encountering no ambushes or accidents.
When he reached William's house, butler Pierce heard the announcement, said a few words to a maid, then came out saying: "Good morning, Sheriff Henry. The carriage is ready, please wait a moment."
"Good morning, Pierce. Thank you for your trouble." Henry smiled and nodded.
Soon, a two-door hardtop four-wheel carriage driven by a middle-aged coachman arrived at the manor gate.
"Wright, follow Sheriff Henry's instructions along the way," Pierce instructed.
"Yes," Wright responded loudly.
"Thank you, Pierce. Goodbye." Henry nodded slightly in acknowledgment, turned his horse and left.
Wright drove the carriage to follow.
Henry first returned home to get his suitcase, placed it in the carriage, then went together to Linda's house.
Among the send-off crowd, lawyer Benjamin had also come and chatted briefly with Henry.
Bustling about, around 7 o'clock the group departed on schedule.
Ten riders and two carriages totaled 15 people and 14 horses.
Pete's wife Mary also rode horseback - she was a rancher's daughter with excellent horsemanship.
Mary was also of Scottish descent - with a high forehead, particularly white skin, and orange-red hair, giving off an enthusiastic youthful energy.
Linda sat in the small carriage with Becky and André.
Because the luxury carriage chassis was well-made with little bumping, Becky and André seemed to be sitting in a cradle, drowsy.
Charles and Owen served as scouts one mile and half a mile ahead.
Today the weather was favorable, with gentle breezes and sunshine.
——
After Henry's group departed, old White went to Mayor William's manor.
After hearing old White's report, William said gently: "During your patrols these next few days, have people pay special attention to Linda and Henry's houses."
"I will," old White said, then prepared to take his leave.
Butler Pierce entered the living room and said: "Sir, there was a major incident at the McKinley family mine's smelting plant last night. Larsen rushed over - would you like to see him?"
William exchanged glances with old White and said: "Have him go to the garden, I'll come out now."
After Pierce turned and left, William said: "Come on, White, let's go listen together."
The two soon met Larsen in the garden - a white youth of twenty-four or twenty-five who was a helper William had placed in the McKinley mine's logistics department.
"Starting at 8 PM last night, gunfire continued at the smelting plant, and later there were even explosions."
"Later, over twenty of us followed Colm, who was in charge of McKinley logistics, to the smelting plant and found everyone inside had disappeared. The factory's wire mesh perimeter had a large hole blown in it, and we heard a large portion of the silver ingots and military supplies in the warehouse were missing."
"The smelting room was destroyed by explosions, and much equipment inside was severely damaged."
"However, there were still quite a few valuable things in the large warehouse. Over ten helpers rose up and killed Colm and several long-term McKinley employees, loaded up twelve logistics department wagons with supplies and fled overnight."
"The mine stopped operations today. When I came over, some miners and mine guards had come down from the mountain and gathered at the smelting plant waiting for McKinley family people to handle it, but no McKinley family members ever appeared."
Hearing this, William asked: "What about those cavalry? There was a company of over 200 men - not one was seen?"
Larsen shook his head: "No, on my way back I saw lots of bloodstains on the slope connecting the factory to the outside road and for over a hundred meters behind it, plus some severed limbs, but not a single corpse. Further back on the road there were no such traces."
William said: "Pierce, take Larsen to rest."
After the two left, William asked: "White, who do you think could have done this?"
Old White said: "It probably wasn't the Palermo family - they don't have such strong capabilities here. As for others, I can't think of anyone at the moment."
William said: "Yesterday someone also heard gunshots and explosions from Devonshire Manor. They didn't send anyone to town to collect goods yesterday, and now with this incident, send officers to check on their situation at Devonshire Manor."
"Alright, I'll handle it immediately." Old White took his leave.
William waited for Pierce to return, then had him notify Rafael to come over.
——
At the McKinley family manor in Denver, Brendan frowned deeply and said: "Sean never replied to telegrams yesterday. Have Aiden take 10 guards to join Richard's escort team. After they've traveled over half the journey, have this team speed up and go to Devonshire Manor to see what's happening. Send me a telegram this afternoon."
Butler Elliott took the order and left.
(End of Chapter)
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