Ralph is sweeping up outside the bank when Blake Yedor comes out and tells him to touch up the sign. He locks up and walks away, and across the street two men, Levi Cate and Zack Barrett, watch. Levi insists that he's been watching for several days and Ralph is the big man at the bank, sweeping the front every day. He figures that Ralph will be eager to buy their story.
Later, Ralph is cleaning up at the sheriff's office and Hoby gives Ralph his Bible after he left it at the church. Once Hoby leaves, the Brothers come in and look at Ralph in apparent astonishment. They say that Ralph has a nose and eyes just like his father, and Zack says that they're Ralph's uncles. The Brothers say that they stopped by the farm in Des Moines where Ralph grew up, and Ralph doesn't remember. Ralph has never heard of any uncles, and Levi tells him that they were never in favor with Ralph's parents. They tell Ralph that everyone in the family is dead except for the three of them.
Hoby returns and Ralph introduces them to his "uncles." They know everything about Ralph's family, and Ralph offers to take them over to the hotel to show them his room and get some dinner. Hoby figures that it's all too convenient, and checks on the Brothers. Later, he meets with Tenner and tells the saloon owner about his suspicions. Tenner performs a magic trick and points out that they know all about Ralph. He wonders where they got hold of the information because nobody knows it except Ralph, and finishes the trick.
At Ralph's hotel room, Ralph tells the Brothers about how he ended up in Porter. They assure him that Ralph will never be lonely again, and he offers to help unpack their bags. He sees a stethoscope in it, and they claim that they found it on the road. Ralph offers them his room while he stays at the stable, and Levi asks if they can store their things somewhere safe. He prods Ralph into offering to store the items in the bank vault, but Ralph warns that Yedor has a rule against it. Ralph agrees to ask him and asks them how they found him in Porter. The Brothers claim that Ralph's grandmother told them in a letter two years ago, and Ralph points out that his grandmother died ten years ago. Ralph assumes that they meant his grandfather, and they play along.
Once Ralph leaves, Levi complains that Zack almost queered the whole thing. Zack says that he thought Ralph's Bible mentioned a grandmother. He spills coffee on their luggage, and the two men quickly clean it up and confirm that the money hidden inside is undamaged.
The next day, Ralph and the Brothers go to the bank, and Yedor takes a look at the suitcase. He reluctantly agrees to let them put the suitcase in the bank because it's Ralph asking, and he takes the suitcase and puts it in the vault personally. Levi pickpockets Yedor's door key, makes a molding, and then slips the key back when Yedor returns. Hoby watches as the Brothers walk away, and then starts going through wanted posters.
Back at their hotel room, the Brothers go to work making a duplicate key. Later that night, they use the duplicate to get into the bank and crack the safe.
The next day, Yedor tells Hoby that someone broke into the bank but didn't take anything. The clerk, Jed, shows Yedor a counterfeit bill that he found in the money Yedor took out of the vault that morning. Once Jed leaves, Yedor explains that he set the combination to a specific number. When he came in, the dial read something different. Hoby suggests that Ralph brushed against it when he was sweeping, and Yedor sends the other clerk Frank to get Ralph at the Buckhorn.
The Brothers come in to get their suitcase. While Yedor gets it, the brothers make small talk with Hoby. Yedor insists that they check their suitcase, while Jed comes over and tells Yedor that all of the money is counterfeit. The Brothers quickly leave and Hoby notices. Yedor checks the vault and discovers that almost half of the money is counterpart. Ralph comes in and tells them that he didn't notice anything unusual about the vault. Yedor says that Ralph's uncles took off, and Ralph mentions that they had maps of their diggings in the suitcase.
Hoby rides after the Brothers and gets ahead of them via a shortcut. He draws a gun on them and says that the blacksmith told him that they were taking a different route then where they claimed. Hoby tells them to toss down the suitcase so he can see the maps, and Levi offers Hoby a part of the $10,000 that they stole. He explains that they spent ten years in prison planning the whole thing out, and then goes for his gun. Hoby kills him and tells Zack to toss down his gun.
Later, Yedor counts the money in the suitcase and confirms that it's all there. Hoby explains that Zack was a safecracker and Cate was a counterfeiter, and they met in the Austin prison. As Ralph goes, Hoby apologizes to him and admits that he bought most of it himself. Once Ralph goes, Yedor points out that they picked on Ralph but figures that he learned not to be so trusting. Hoby says that he hopes Ralph didn't learn that and leaves.
Written by Gadfly on May 8, 2017