Paladin is in the lobby of the Carlton going through ads, and finds
one from a Colonel H.P. Lathrop. Lathrop is looking for a man who
matches Paladin's personality and abilities almost exactly, and says
that anyone interested should contact him at River Acres in Sacramento,
CA. Paladin clips out the ads and sends it to Lathrop along with his
card.
When Paladin travels to the River Acres estate, the maid,
Tuolumne O'Toole, lets him in. While they wait for Colonel Lathrop,
Tuolumne explains that her name is Cherokee from her mother's side, and
her father was an Irish railroad worker. Lathrop comes in and Paladin
wonders how the colonel knows so much about him and what he wants done.
The man avoids his questions while his wife Martha comes in. She
introduces herself briefly to Paladin and then begs off, saying that she
has to tend a sick local boy, Pablo.
Paladin tries to get down
to business but Lathrop instead talks about his family's distinguished
military background. The colonel finally says that they'll talk about it
that night after dinner and has Tuolumne show Paladin to the guest
room. That night after the meal, Paladin has tea with Lathrop and Martha
and the colonel finally tells Paladin that he wants to hire him to find
a woman, Gloria Morgan. She was the queen of the tenderloin district in
the town of Lodestar, AZ, until the settler boom went bust. She
disappeared since then and Lathrop claims that he wants information on
her for a book of the history of the West that he's writing.
Martha is clearly upset when Lathrop describes Gloria in glowing terms.
Seemingly satisfied, Lathrop takes Paladin to his study and shows him
clippings of Gloria. Paladin notes that there are no pictures of the
woman, and Lathrop tells the gunfighter that he wants him to find out if
Gloria is still alive and where she is. He claims that his physical
condition due to injuries in the Civil War preclude him from travelling,
and admits that Paladin is the second man he hired. When Paladin
wonders what happened to the first one, Lathrop tells him that the man
never returned and Paladin doubles his standard fee.
Paladin
goes to his room and finds Tuolumne waiting for him. She claims that
Lodestar is dangerous but Paladin isn't impressed by her attempts to
scare him away. He wonders what is going on and Tuolumne says that
Lathrop is a monster that enjoys torturing others. Lathrop deliberately
waited until after supper when Martha was present to describe Gloria to
Paladin, and takes pleasure from her suffering. Tuolumne believes that
Lathrop will have Gloria brought to River Acres and use her presence to
torment his wife further. Paladin points out that he was only hired to
confirm Gloria's existence and what happens afterwards isn't his
concern. Tuolumne draws her knife and promises to kill him if he comes
back. Paladin easily disarms her, gives her a kiss, and shoves her out
of the room.
After taking the job, Paladin rides to Lodestar
and goes to the local hotel. The clerk tells Paladin that they have
plenty of rooms. However, when Paladin asks about Gloria, the clerk goes
silent and a man standing nearby, Steve, tells the clerk that they're
booked up. The clerk hastily agrees, saying that they have a group of
herders coming in. Paladin is clearly unconvinced and Steve starts to
draw his gun. The gunfighter disarms him and tells the clerk to give him
a room. Once he has the key, Paladin tosses Steve his gun back and goes
upstairs. As he checks his gun, Steve tells the clerk to tell Clay
Sommers that they've got trouble.
Paladin goes to the town
saloon, walking past a saloon girl drinking alone at a table. The
bartender knows about Paladin and tells him that they've got no alcohol
whatsoever. Paladin grabs a bottle from around the table and says that
Gloria is no lady. The bartender tells him to get out of town, but
Paladin ignores him and sits down with the saloon girl, Mazie. She
eagerly accepts a drink and starts talking about Gloria, saying that she
was better looking and could hold her alcohol better than her rival.
Paladin wonders where he can find Gloria and Mazie tells him that the
saloon owner, Clay, knows but won't tell. She then suggests Paladin talk
to Gloria's best friend, Lulu, who is a laundress when she became too
old to work as a saloon girl.
Before Mazie can say anything
else, Clay comes out of his office and tells Mazie to leave. She quickly
scurries out and Paladin tries to talk to the owner. Clay calls the
bartender over and the man attacks Paladin with a keg hammer. Paladin
easily disarms him and tries to get answers from Clay, but the owner
ignores him and goes into his office.
Following Mazie's advice,
Paladin goes to see Lulu. He pays her a dollar to wash his shirt and
compliments her on her skill as a laundress. He then turns the
conversation to Gloria, repeating his technique of saying she was no
lady. Lulu come to her friend's defence, insisting Gloria was a saint.
Before she can provide details, Clay arrives and shoots the shirt out of
Paladin's hands. Lulu hits Paladin with her washtub and pours water on
him, and Clay enters the yard with Steve and the bartender. They take
Paladin's revolver, escort him to his horse, and tell him to ride out of
Lodestar and keep riding. Paladin reluctantly rides out of town, none
the wiser.
That night, Paladin rides back into Lodestar and
takes out his derringer. He goes into the saloon and wounds the
bartender in the shoulder when the man tries to attack him. Paladin then
shoves Clay into his office, recovering his revolver, and sees a
picture of Gloria on the desk. He recognizes the woman and wonders why
everyone in town is so loyal to Gloria when she was nothing but trash.
Clay flies into a rage and tires to attack him, but Paladin slams him in
his chair and tells him to start talking. The saloon owner explains
that he was in love with Gloria but another man felt the same. They held
a gunfight to see who would earn the chance to marry her and Clay lost.
The other man was wounded as well, and when they both recovered, Gloria
told them that she wasn't in love with either one of them. Rather than
cause more trouble, Gloria left town.
Paladin convinces Clay of
his intentions and the owner sends a message to Steve. The gunfighter
meets Steve at the hotel and the man, following Clay's advice, tells
Paladin that he was the other man and describes Gloria.
Once he
has what he needs, Paladin rides back to River Acres. Tuolumne meets
him at the door and Paladin assures her that he isn't there to hurt
Martha. Lathrop brings Paladin into his study with Martha and tells the
gunfighter to make his report. Paladin tells them that the important
thing is to understand what Gloria was like in Lodestar. A man brought
her there as a teenager under false pretences, claiming that he was
going to marry her. He abandoned her instead and she got a job as a
saloon girl. Lathrop notices his wife's reluctance and eagerly tells
Paladin to continue. The gunfighter tells them that when there was a
cholera outbreak in Lodestar, there were no nurses or doctors. Gloria
stepped in to administer the sick despite the risk, proving that she was
a fine woman.
Noticing the last comment was directed to his
wife, Lathrop tells Paladin to continue. Paladin says that Gloria
finally saved enough money as a saloon girl to travel to San Francisco
and train as a nurse. He hesitates to continue but Martha tells him to
go on. Paladin then says that she took on a new name to escape her past
and married a man. However, someone sent Gloria's husband a poison pen
letter revealing Gloria's disreputable past. Her husband, offended and
humiliated, tries to get revenge by hiring a third party to find out the
truth about Gloria and report back to him... and Martha.
Lathrop, having heard enough, tells Paladin to shut up. Refusing,
Paladin says that Gloria would have told her husband everything if she
had asked for her story. Martha agrees and tells Paladin to continue,
overriding her husband. Paladin says that Gloria Morgan is dead, but she
lives in the memories of those in Lodestar who loved her. Realizing who
his wife really is for the first time, Lathrop tells Martha that he
believes it all and goes to embrace her.
Paladin walks out and
Tuolumne, who has heard everything, promises not to kill him ever again.
When he asks her why she is so loyal to Martha, Tuolumne explains that
when she was 14 she tried to work in the saloon in Lodestar. Gloria
spanked her and told her never to come back there again. When Gloria
moved to San Francisco, she took Tuolumne with her. Tuolumne admits that
she's in love with Pablo's big brother. Paladin apologizes for kissing
her earlier, and Tuolumne says that her boyfriend will get her third
kiss... and then kisses Paladin again before running off.
Written by Gadfly on Dec 3, 2017