The murder of his business partner leads Cheyenne to investigate the man's hidden true identity.
Episode Notes[]
- Mike Connors of the TV show Mannix guest stars in this episode.
Real World References[]
- Notice any? Add them here.
Continuity Nitpicks and Errors[]
- Notice any? Add them here.
Plot[]
Cheyenne Bodie is a partner in a freight business in Carson City, Nevada with a short-fused short man known as Shorty Jones. Just before a big job, Shorty says he has to leave on a personal issue in Sacramento, but will return. After a week of waiting, Cheyenne decides to go after him.
Cheyenne chats with Coll about Shorty's family.
Bodie reaches California's capital and finds Shorty in jail for fighting with a pickpocket named Roy Simmons. As he explains he's trying to protect his wife and son, someone shoots and kills Shorty through the jail window! Outside, Cheyenne and the sheriff find a casing from a .44 Winchester rifle -- the same model that Simmons carries. Inside the sheriff's office, they meet attorney Saylor Hornbook who the day before exchanged harsh words with Shorty at the hotel. Shorty was answering a newspaper ad placed by Hornbook asking for information about the Marshall estate. Hornbook requests to look through Shorty's belongings, but Cheyenne refuses and takes the items himself.
Roy Simmons is trying to protect Shorty's son from the killer...or is he?
As Cheyenne enters his hotel room, someone pistol whips him in the dark. Cheyenne wakes and struggles with the man, causing him to drop his revolver as he runs from the room. While Cheyenne cleans up, he's visited by Hornbook who again requests to look through Shorty's belongings. In exchange, Hornbook identifies the symbol on the revolver as the Marshall family brand, whom he represents. Not finding what he wants among Shorty's things, the lawyer leaves. Cheyenne takes stock of his list of suspects. Hornbook also carries a .44 Winchester.
Cheyenne pays the Marshall ranch a visit, finding Adalaide Marshall at target practice with her .44 rifle. Tight-lipped Adalaide refuses to acknowledge anyone from her ranch attacked Bodie, despite the tell-tale revolver. The woman stands to inherit the ranch and her uncle's money, but not until Hornbook finds out if her only other relative, Samuel Marshall, Jr., is alive or dead.
Adalaide isn't keen on answering Cheyenne's questions about Shorty's death.
Cheyenne decides to seek out Shorty's wife for answers at the Jones ranch in the Siskiyou Mountains. He stops at the Crossroads Rest hotel to ask for directions, but doesn't notice Roy Simmons seated across the room. The chatty proprietor Bruce Coll gives him directions to the ranch and tells him that Simmons and another man were also looking for the place.
Cheyenne arrives at the ranch only to find a tragic scene: Mrs. Jones is dead and her son is missing. Hornbook arrives shortly after and is shocked at the murder scene. They bury her and return quickly to the Crossroads Rest as a furious snowstorm begins. When Cheyenne tends to the horses in the barn, he sees Coll's daughter Vardis leave a back room. Cheyenne finds Roy Simmons inside caring for the missing Jones boy. Roy claims to be protecting him. Back in the hotel Cheyenne finds Adelaide and her fiancé Gregg Dewey, the man who attacked Cheyenne in his hotel room. They too have come to speak to Mrs. Jones, now deceased.
The snowstorm keeps the visitors confined together in the hotel lobby. As Coll reads Hornbook's latest newspaper ad asking for info about the Marshall estate, Cheyenne perks up. He visits Simmons and demands that he share any clues he might have. Simmons reveals a locket he stole that proves Shorty was Sam Marshall, Jr. This was the clue that Hornbook was so desperate to find. It proves that the Jones boy is the true heir to the estate! The last mystery to solve is who killed Shorty and his wife.
Cheyenne puts a plan in motion to flush out the killer. He tells the others he is going to look for the missing boy at the Jones ranch. Dewey and Hornbook demand to come with. As they tramp around the hillsides in snowshoes, Cheyenne directs everyone to split up. Earlier, Cheyenne instructed Simmons to follow them. When Cheyenne, Simmons and Dewey regroup, a shot rings out in their direction. Hornbook has them pinned down and is trying to kill all three of them! Cheyenne suspected the lawyer was the killer, as his newspaper ad indicated he knew Sam Marshall (Shorty) was already dead. Hornbook had taken advantage of the disputed estate and was now killing everyone involved. Cheyenne uses his rifle to start an avalanche and a crushing wave of snow buries Hornbook.
All the mysteries encircling the Marshall family are finally resolved. At the Crossroads Rest, Vardis and Simmons commit to taking care of the Jones boy and each other.
Quotes[]
"You haven't given me much chance to talk to you, Mr. Bodie, to tell you how really sorry I am about Mrs. Jones."
"Are you, Miss Marshall?"
"Well, of course. It's a terrible thing. Do you suppose it's the same man who killed her husband?"
"Or the same woman."
- - Adalaide Marshall learns that Cheyenne Bodie suspects her of murder.
Purchase Cheyenne Season 3[]
