A personal friend of mine and an officer of the Cattleman's Association, B. J. Elliott had gone to Los Cruces on business. But he never returned and I was getting worried about him. I told Micah I would go to Los Cruces to see what I could find out.
I was almost there when I came across two men, Griff, the 
owner of The Lucky Chance Casino in Los Cruces and his hired gun. They were tormenting a man who was buried up to his neck in dirt and then galloping at him just barely missing him. There seemed to be a disagreement about a gambling debt. The man told Griff that he had been cheated. Griff didn't like being called a cheater. "I think one more treatment will kill you," said Griff, as the two men started for his horses. "Hold it! That's enough!" I said while holding my rifle on them. "Well now.....what business is this of yours?" asked Griff. "I don't like your idea of sport mister.....dig him up!" Just then Griff's hired gun drew his gun and I killed him. Griff still had his had on his gun which was in his holster. "Draw it all the way out.....slow!" I said to Griff. As he took his gun out of his holster; I told him to drop it on the ground. "Dig him up!" I demanded. "I don't know where the shovel is," said Griff as he stood there with his hands crossed, sure of himself. "Well use your teeth or your toe nails, but dig him
up!" We stood there just looking at each other. "After you're finished I'm taking you to the marshal in Los Cruces," I said.
I took Griff to the apple eating marshal in Los Cruces. He was more into his apples then he was with what had happened outside of town. His deputy had more sense then he did. I told him that Griff deserved to be jailed. "Well now, Mr. Griff here is one of our leading business men.....owns the lucky Chance Casino," said the marshal. "He I know about.....who I don't know about is you!" "Does that matter after he and his hired gun tried to stomp a man to death?" I asked. "Nothing as crude as all that marshal. Merely a little treatment up in Box Canyon to encourage the payment of gambling losses. Gambling mister.....whatever your name is.....is legal here. Collections can be enforced," stated Griff. "Anyway.....I didn't see this treatment," said the marshal. "And if you don't see a thing you don't act.....huh?" I said. I shot his man in self defense.....why don't you arrest me?" "Or did you have to see that too?" I asked. "Yes sir.....besides.....since I'm new here I think it's a good policy to get along with the local businessmen," said the marshal. "Policy.....huh! Next thing I know you'll be telling me to give him back his gun," I said. "Well if you don't.....he might file a complaint against you," said the marshal. "Not might.....will!" Said Griff as he turned to me and asked....."Now which do you prefer?" I slowly walked up to Griff and handed him his gun. Griff then asked if that would be all. The marshal told Griff to put it down as a misunderstanding. "I will.....this time!" Said Griff. As Griff started to leave, the marshal's asked me what my business was here. I told him my name and that I was from the North Fork Cattle Association and that I had come here about one of our officers who had been missing, a personal friend of mine.....his name is B. J. Elliott. Griff was hanging on to my every word and taking his time leaving. The marshal told me I was too late. That Elliott was dead. He said he was found dead about two weeks ago, shot in the back. "Who did it?" I asked. "Well I didn't see that either," said the marshal. "And if you don't see a thing, you just don't do anything, huh? Even when a man is murdered!" "I'm thinkin' about a witness, if I can find one.....they don't come forward so fast," said the marshal. "So you just sit!" "Mr. Cain....." "The name
is McCain!" "Excuse me.....I wouldn't wanna make a bad impression by movin' on things too fast," said the marshal. "Yeah.....I know.....you're new here," I said. "Come back anytime you want to Los Cruces," said the marshal. I haven't left yet.....Sheriff!" I was upset with him and his attitude and I made sure he well aware of it with my words and my tone in them. I just couldn't understand why the marshal wasn't interested in any of this. I then left and headed to the hotel to get a room.
The marshal told his deputy that I was a pretty impatient man. His deputy told him he didn't blame me. Deputy Ben told him that people wanted action, but he wasn't delivering any. He asked the marshal why he hadn't arrested Griff.....everybody in town knew his casino was crooked. Ben told him it was foolish for him to think that a witness would come forward about Elliott's killing. The marshal told Ben that he "kinda" had a witness. Ben was eager to hear who it was. It wasn't who, but what. The marshal had a bullet. He told Ben that it had bounced off Elliott's rib and into his heart. Ben just looked at him for a moment before asking him....."You dug a bullet out of a dead man?" Asked Ben as he swallowed hard in disbelief. The marshal told him this was his silent witness. He felt this bullet was going to tell him what he wanted to know. Ben thought he was loco. "I expect you haven't heard about a new thing called.....ballistic." Ben shook his head no, and he was sure nobody had heard of it either. "You will.....you will," said the marshal.
I had asked the clerk at the hotel if he knew where I could get a hold of a Judge Hopkins. He said he wouldn't be here until tomorrow on his monthly rounds. He said there would be no way of telling when he might arrive. He reminded me that the judge was pretty independent and had pretty many cases waitin'. I told him I would wait. I then headed for my room. I don't think I even had the door unlocked to my room when the hotel clerk left and went to tell Griff about what 
I had just said.
Griff was dining with Molly, his girlfriend. When the clerk told him about my waiting for Judge Hopkins. Griff gave him some money for the information and told him to go through my things when I leave my room. He told him when the judge arrived he was to keep his ears open when we had our talk. I don't know how much money Griff gave him, but he was very well pleased with it and told Griff he would do that. This made Griff nervous. Molly reassured Griff that there was only two people that saw him shoot Elliott in the back and that she would never talk.
I got my bath and went back to my room. I didn't notice the marshal was there at first. I asked him what he wanted. "Do you swear this is your rifle?" He asked as he held the rifle in his hand. "Yup," I said. "The one that killed Mr. Griff's hired gun with?" I walked over to him and took my rifle from him. "Like I said.....in self-defense, yeah." "That's what I figured! I found out he was facing you at the time.....the direction your bullet went in.....so now I gotta know.....is that one and only exact rifle fire that bullet." "I told you," I said. "Yeah.....but now I've got to prove it!" Said the marshal. "Well all 44-40's are the same.....what are you going to prove?" I asked him. He told me that in this world no two things are exactly the same. Not even the same apples. He told me he had something to show me and I was to bring my rifle along with me to his office. Again he called me Mr. Cain and again I corrected him.....McCain!
He sure had me curious as to what he had in mind. So we headed to his office. He had his deputy load several bales of hay into the a jail cell. The whole time Ben was complaining. The marshal took out his .45 and said he was going to fire a couple of bullets into the bales of hay. He explained he used the hay because it is so soft that it would hardly mash the bullets. I asked him what that would prove. He told me to watch. He then fired two shots into the bale of hay. He told me to shoot one bullet from my rifle into the bale of hay. Ben thought a tree was more appropriate, but he felt he had to humor the marshal. After I fired a shot into the bale of hay, the marshal told Ben to take the hay stack apart and find the bullets. Ben didn't like that, he was pretty upset, he complained the whole time. We talked while we waited for Ben to find the bullets. "Some of the things I do you don't like so much," said the marshal. "Wasting bullets in a bail of hay is one of them," I said. "It's not quite a waste.....I think. Do you know why gun barrels are rifled?" I told him so the bullet could spin in its flight. Otherwise it would tumble end over end. "And never hitting it's target,
right?" Asked the marshal. I agreed with him. He then took a bullet out of his pocket. "This bullet found its target.....your friend Mr. Elliott." I took the bullet from him and asked him....."This one?" He then told me to look at it through the magnifying glass. He then told me about the marks on the bullets which he called striations. He told me about a new kind of science called ballistics and not many marshals knew about it yet and not many killers either. I asked him what it all meant. He told me since the barreling rifling of any one gun always makes the same marks on a soft lead bullet means that this bullet was fired from only one particular gun. Ben had found the bullets and the marshal gave me
two bullets fired from his six gun to compare. They were identical. He then handed me the .44 - .40 fired from my gun and told me to look at it and then handed me the second one. I told him I only fired one bullet. He told me after we had talked earlier he and his deputy went and got the other bullet. He no longer alleged that this was my rifle, he now could prove it. This goes for all weapons. That's why he had Griff claim back his six gun from me. He said he would bet his job that Griff had fired the bullet that killed my friend Elliott and now he can prove it. He didn't want to arrest Griff for scaring a man that owed him money.....he wanted Griff for murder! "Have an apple, Mr. Cain." "Just call me Lucas," I said as we both laughed and grabbed an apple, even the deputy joined in. Wait 'till I tell Micah this one!
The marshal then went to Griff's office to set the bait. Griff & Molly were counting the earnings from the casino. The marshal told him he had a summons. Griff thought it was all settled and that what had happened earlier was a misunderstanding. The marshal told him that I had made a citizen arrest and that he had checked his law books and there it was. He told him he would have to ask him for his gun. He said I showed him that part in the book too. "He's quite a reader.....isn't he?" Asked Molly. He asked Griff if he minded. He reluctantly gave up his gun. He asked if he was under arrest. The marshal told him that would be up to the judge. He kept throwing my name around. He also told Griff he wouldn't be surprised if I didn't have some sort of influence backing me. The marshal then apologized and started to leave without Griff's gun, realizing this; he then went back for the gun.
When the marshal got back to his office Ben already had two more bales of hay waiting for him. This time with a different attitude about them. He asked the marshal if he got Griff's gun, which he told him he did and they were in great shape. "I hate to think what for shape the feed and Grain store thinks we're in," said Ben. The marshal asked him why he would say that. "Buy four bales of hay for two horses the same day," said Ben. He said they looked at him as if he took to nibblin' on the stuff himself. The marshal just laughed. The Marshal took the bullet that he took from Elliott's body out of his pocket. He was now ready to match the bullets. He then took Griff's gun and shot into a bale of hay.
I thought I would go and check to see how the marshal was making out. The bullets didn't match. Ben suggested maybe there was a chance some other bullets got fired into the bale of hay. The marshal said....."Who else goes firing bullets into hay other then him?" You know.....he did have a point. I told him sometimes we 
all get ahead of ourselves, that his ballistics was a good try. I left and when back to my room.
Ben asked the marshal if he was ready to let him throw out all the laboratory equipment. The marshal said no. "What earthly good is it if it doesn't find a man guilty?" Asked Ben. "The same good when it finds a man innocent," said the marshal.
When I got back to my room I decided to sit and relax and think about all of this. I found myself looking to the six gun lying on the dresser. I picked it up and thought.....what if.....I headed straight for the marshal's office.
I rushed into his office. "Marshal!" I said. "Anymore killings tonight Mr. McCain? It's after hours," stated the marshal. "We might just be back in the ballistics business after all," I said to the marshal. I then told him about what all occurred out at Box Canyon this morning. I told him that I had taken both of their guns, Griff's and the hired gun. What if.....what if I had given back the wrong gun? What if I had gotten them mixed up? What if I had given the hired killer's gun to Griff by mistake and I had in my hand, Griff's gun? He then rushed over to Ben who was sleeping in the cell to go over to the feed and grain store and get two more bales of hay. "Ill quit first, how am I gonna explain two more bales of hay in one day?" Asked Ben. "Two more bales of Hay Ben!" yelled the marshal. "Tell him, my horse eats like a horse."
The bullet from the gun I just gave the marshal and the bullet that killed Elliott matched. That was enough proof for the deputy and me. But the marshal did have a point. He said that he was sure Judge Hopkins would like it better if that gun would be found in the possession of Griff after the new killing tonight. "New killing.....who's going to be killed?" I asked. "You I think," said the marshal.
The marshal then went to see Griff. Griff asked the marshal if I had been reading that book again. He told Griff's that this time I had gone too far, that this was Los Cruces, not North Fork where I belonged. He said he had listened enough to me and he had dismissed the summons and now was returning Griff's gun. "Well.....what.....what did he say marshal," asked Griff. "Ah just some foolish talk about you and the Elliott killing." "Me!" Said Griff like he was surprised. The Marshal told him I didn't know anything about the killing and neither did anybody else and that I just thought I got wind of something to tell the judge. The marshal apologized and went on his way.
Griff took the bait. He got my room number from Molly and slowly crept into my room, firing three bullets into what he thought was my body, my bed was made up to appear as if I was asleep in my bed. "Drop that gun Griff!" Demanded the marshal. Griff turned to shoot at the marshal, but the marshal shot first and killed Griff. We walked into my room. The marshal said....."Deputy.....take the bullets out of McCain's body." 
We both stood there looking at each other. It did sound a bit strange to hear that.
"You call this tomfoolery what?" Asked the judge. "Ballistics, Judge Hopkins, ballistics, It's a wonderful new exact science you honor," said the marshal. "You expect me to trade a defendant's freedom on something such as this? That this bullet.....exhibit A.....which killed Mr. Elliott.....and this bullet exhibit B.....which is fired into a scare crow.....both were positively fired from the same gun?" Asked the judge. "Jude Hopkins.....your honor.....you see.....ballistics is how we call this....." The Marshal didn't get to finish his sentence. The judge interrupted him...."Fiddle stick's is how I call it. Nothing can ever replace the reliable human witness who can swear precisely and exactly to what he has seen or heard!" "Mr. McCain I am deeply sorry we were all too late to save your friend Elliott." "Perhaps other districts.....other marshals could have," said the judge as he looked at the marshal. "How so your other marshal's Judge Hopkins?" Asked the marshal. "Because they were not squandering their time playing in haystacks! Good-day gentlemen!"
"Something tells me ballistics is going to catch on a lot slower then I thought! Meanwhile I've got another thing to look into.....of course the judge ain't gonna believe it!" Said the marshal. "What's that?" I asked. "Fingerprints!" "Fingerprints!" I asked. "Well.....they do it with snowflakes!" That was enough for me; I headed back to North Fork.
He was the older brother and brains of the gang who used Mark as a pawn in a bank robbery scheme. 'The Bullet' as the marshal who tried to use ballistics to hold a gambler who just attempted murder. 
