Wilderness Redemption Tour

It was almost noon, and neither of them had eaten yet. Arthur asked Lin Yan to go up and watch, while he went to the town's grocery store to buy some food.

The two parted ways. Because the hillside behind the street-side shop was very steep and it was impossible to walk up normally, Lin Yan had to go back to the main road and take a detour. After reaching the hillside, Lin Yan followed the tree to find the right spot, chose a position where he could see the back door of the clinic, moved two stones to use as stools, and began to monitor.

At first he was very interested, thinking that it would not take long for the plot to be triggered. But as time went on, he gradually lost his patience, and fortunately Arthur came over with their lunch.

"Found anything, Jamie?" Arthur asked as he came over and placed his purchases on the ground in front of them.

"No, no suspicious people appeared, and there was no movement."

"Ah, that's normal. It's like hunting, you need to be patient enough to catch the prey. We'll stay here in the afternoon. If you feel bored, you can go for a walk in the town. Of course, it's no problem to go find the female owner of Lizzie's clothing store." Arthur mentioned Lin Yan's performance in the clothing store yesterday.

Lin Yan thought to himself, "You've said it out loud. Even if I have this idea, I'm embarrassed to go there again." He replied speechlessly, "Don't make fun of me. I'll stay here with you."

Arthur bought a few cans of canned food and a pack of oatmeal cookies for lunch. Lin Yan looked at the packaging of the canned food, which was two cans of baked beans and two cans of peaches. After a simple lunch, the two began the long surveillance process again.

During this time, Arthur was probably afraid that Lin Yan would be bored, so he kept telling him about the gang, about who had been in the gang for how long, why they joined, what activities they had participated in, and even what embarrassing things they had done. Time passed little by little as Arthur was telling his story, and the sky gradually darkened. Just when Lin Yan thought that he had nothing to gain this afternoon, he saw Sheriff Malloy of the police station go up the stairs outside the police station to the second floor of the police station, open the door, look around, and confirm that no one was around to see him before entering the house and closing the door.

Strange, what is Sheriff Malloy doing? Why does he look so sneaky? Is there some secret hidden in the second floor of the police station? Is it related to the woman he met in the police station today? No, we have been guarding here for an afternoon, and no one has entered during this time.

At this moment, Lin Yan suddenly noticed a familiar figure of a woman in black on the road. Under his gaze, the woman disappeared at the entrance of the police station at the corner of the intersection, and then reappeared on the stairs leading to the second floor of the police station.

That's right, it's her, Mrs. Calthorpe. It seems that she is indeed having an affair with the sheriff. We can catch the thief and the stolen goods, and catch the adulterer and the couple. Now we have something on the sheriff. Thinking of this, Lin Yan pushed Arthur on the side and said, "Arthur, look, that's Mrs. Calthorpe who we met at the police station this morning. She seems to be having a tryst with Sheriff Malloy. Should we go over and take a look? If we can catch the sheriff's handle, we will have less trouble in the town in the future."

Arthur didn't see Mrs. Calthorpe's face, but he saw her knocking on the door of the second floor of the police station. When the door opened, it was Sheriff Malloy. Arthur smiled playfully and said, "I didn't wait for what I was supposed to wait for today, but I didn't expect to get something unexpected. Let's leave it here for now and go over to see something interesting."

Lin Yan followed Arthur down the hill and came to the stairs leading to the second floor of the police station. Arthur fiddled with the camera that the writer gave him at Kenneth's Tavern and said happily, "I didn't expect this thing to be useful right after I got it. Jamie, follow me, be careful not to make any noise, we are going to have a good show to watch."

Lin Yan couldn't help but give Arthur a blank look, thinking to himself, you can't be the ancestor of paparazzi.

He followed Arthur and lowered his body, tiptoeing to the window of the house. There was a faint sound coming from the house, a sound that Lin Yan had only heard in some two-person action movies, but the feeling of being at the scene of the incident made his heart beat faster.

What a pity, what a pity that the curtains were drawn in the room, otherwise we could watch the live broadcast, Lin Yan thought with some regret. Seeing that Arthur was listening to the movements in the room with the same interest as himself, Lin Yan asked in a low voice: "Arthur, what should we do? Rushing in?"

Arthur adjusted the camera in his hand and said, "Wait a little longer, at least until they are done."

The two men stood outside the window and listened for a while until the sound in the house disappeared. When Arthur was about to break in, the sound of quarreling was heard again.

"Oh, Moira, please don't do this."

"What do you want me to do? I've already given so much for you."

"But I love you deeply..."

"No, you love no one, not me, not your wife. If you want to talk about love, you only love yourself!"

"I won't let you say that, you are hopeless!"

"Hopeless? Do you really think so? I've wasted so many years on you, and in the end you say I'm hopeless?"

"Aren't you married too? I'd say you're hopeless!"

"Haha, you're just a small town rat who thinks highly of himself, you know that? Rat! A self-righteous rat! That's what's wrong with you. Go to hell!"

Then, Lin Yan heard the sound of someone falling to the ground and two slight woman's groans, and then there was no movement.

Hearing this, Arthur signaled Lin Yan to get ready, he was going to break in. Then he held the handrail on the second floor, kicked the door open with a force, and raised the camera to take a close-up of Sheriff Malloy, who was still holding the woman tightly with both hands. At this time, the sheriff had never thought that someone would break in at this time, he just stared blankly at Arthur holding a square box, and didn't think of fighting back at all.

After taking the photo, Arthur handed the camera to Lin Yan behind him, then calmly pulled out the revolver from his waist, pointed it at the now naked sheriff, and said with a smile: "Mr. Sheriff, I suggest you put on some clothes first, and then we can have an um... equal conversation."

Lin Yan had never seen a dead person before. Even the peaceful expression on his parents' faces when they were in trouble was made up. At that time, he was just sad and didn't think of being scared. Now, seeing a naked female corpse with a hideous face in the game, even though the scene was a little erotic, he still felt terrified and didn't dare to look at it again.

Malloy's anger had disappeared after Arthur's commotion. Looking at his lover Moira, who was strangled to death by him, he began to feel regret and fear. He put on his shirt and pants with trembling hands, and Arthur took the opportunity to take the bed sheet and cover the woman's body on the floor.

After getting dressed and sitting in the chair beside the bed, Sheriff Malloy seemed to have regained his usual dignity and decisiveness, but his trembling hands told Arthur that he was still a little scared.

"What do you want?" Sheriff Malloy looked at Arthur and asked.

"Well... Actually, we didn't have any plans. We just saw you and Mrs. Calthorpe entering the room one after another from outside, and combined with your actions in the police station during the day, I made a bold guess. Just now we were outside listening to the noises in the house, and we were planning to come in to witness your affair, but we didn't expect the development of things to be beyond my expectations. Let me make it clear here that we are not criminals who specialize in blackmail, but two ordinary citizens of the country who accidentally came across a murder scene. I feel very guilty now for not being able to stop Sheriff Malloy of Valentine from committing the crime." At this point, Arthur covered his chest with pretended heartache.

"Don't pretend in front of me. I've seen a lot of people like you. Tell me, how can you help me keep this secret?" Sheriff Malloy said expressionlessly after watching Arthur's performance.

"That's great. You're worthy of being the sheriff of this town. You always speak directly." Arthur flattered him first, then changed the subject and said, "I haven't thought about what your request is yet, but I heard that Deputy Sheriff Craig often appears near the back door of the clinic. I want to investigate further. I wonder if you can help me? Of course, I think you know that this little thing of mine is completely different from what you want me to do for you, so this matter can only be regarded as an appetizer at most, not the main course." Arthur seemed to be very experienced in negotiations, and he was trying his best to fight for his own interests.

Sheriff Malloy took out a cigarette from his shirt pocket, put it between his lips, lit it with a match, took a deep puff, and said calmly: "Well, I also know a little about what the deputy sheriff does. There is a gang base behind the clinic, where they carry out criminal activities. These people hand over a certain amount of money every week to ask for the protection of the police station, and the deputy sheriff is the middleman between them and the police station. If you are interested in that place, I suggest you bring another helper and make a quick decision. If the police station hears the noise or someone reports it, I can go out later and leave you enough time to escape. This should be the limit of what I can do for you in public. You don't want me to be reported and dismissed because of this."

Arthur smiled and said, "Of course not. Don't worry, we are all veterans and are very skillful. Since we have the intelligence, we have decided to act tomorrow. I won't carry the camera with me all the time, so dear Sheriff, you'd better do as you say. As for the photos, I will measure how much contribution you have made to us, and when it is almost enough, you will be free. Don't worry, I am very fair."

"Okay, but please remember, I won't agree to it if it harms my interests. Now, it's time for you to leave." Sheriff Malloy issued an order to expel them, and Arthur didn't bother with him anymore. Today's harvest was rich enough. He turned around and pulled Lin Yan away from the cabin where a murder had just occurred.

Lin Yan followed Arthur back to the place where he tied the horses in the morning without any hesitation. He also knew that this was the most likely time for the sheriff to kill them. Otherwise, if he let them escape and someone else got hold of his evidence, he would be threatened at any time. On the way, Lin Yan wondered if the horse and saddle would be lost. The result was gratifying. Everything was still there. It seemed that under the governance of Sheriff Malloy, the people of Valentine were very simple, or perhaps the residents lived well and did not need an additional "side job".

The two men untied the reins and mounted their horses in one go, and Lin Yan followed Arthur and quickly left the town under the cover of night. After galloping for a while, the two men saw that there were no pursuers behind them, so they slowed down their horses.

"Ha, I've seen the sheriff in this town shielding criminals a lot, but this is the first time I've seen him kill someone, especially his mistress. I was worried that the sheriff would gather people to hunt us down, but it seems I overestimated him." Arthur lowered his horse to walk side by side with Lin Yan and said with a smile.

"Maybe the lady he killed was right, he was just a coward." Lin Yan also said with a smile. At this time, his mood also relaxed. After breathing the fresh air in the suburbs, he felt that the scene just now was not so scary. He even felt a little regretful that he did not look at the lady a few more times.

After hearing this, Arthur laughed twice, then responded, "Right, it seems that this sentence is not a humiliation to him, but a true portrayal of him. He killed people because he felt that his disguise was seen through. Okay, Jamie, let's go back quickly, and see who in the camp is willing to do this tonight. We will set off tomorrow morning. Generally speaking, there should be a few good guns in this kind of place, so your gun is found." Arthur winked at Lin Yan after he finished speaking.

The two returned to the camp under the starry sky. After a simple dinner that Pearson had prepared for them, Arthur stood in the middle of the camp and asked everyone, "Ladies and gentlemen. Jamie and I found out about a good job today. Is anyone interested in joining us tomorrow?"

Bill, still wearing his plaid shirt, replied, "Micah, Lenny, and I were planning to go to Strawberry to get some information tomorrow, but we can't go."

Javier, who was wearing a colorful shawl, also agreed, "Charles and I are going to Blackwater Town tomorrow to inquire about Sean's whereabouts."

Seeing that no one was talking, Marybeth, who was reading a book by the kerosene lamp, raised her hand and said, "Arthur, can we go? We have been so bored these past few days. I think we have washed all the clothes of everyone in the camp for the past year, and repaired all the torn clothes. If we keep staying here, I think Karen will have a conflict with Ms. Grimshaw."

"And me, I also want to go out and move around." It was Sadie who spoke.

"Sadie, are you going too? It's great. You can go out with us to relax. Maybe you'll feel better." Marybeth said in surprise when she saw Sadie asked to go out.

Sadie said nothing, but just looked at Marybeth, smiled and nodded.

"Okay, okay. Tomorrow Jamie and I will take a group of ladies to do something, and let you relax at the same time. That's it, we will set off early tomorrow morning." Arthur concluded.