Attempted Murder of Kate Muldoon at the Roily Stable

The attempted murder of Kate Muldoon at the Roily stable is the second attack on her in one night and the moment her escape becomes an armed confrontation. Del Delaney’s intervention saves her from the gunman waiting by the stable’s back entrance; his successful return shot ends the immediate threat, but not Kate’s need to get out of town. The episode carries the danger from the hotel into the route she must take to reach a horse, then sends the two fugitives into the night under pursuit and uncertainty.

Causes and Immediate Stakes

The stable encounter follows Kate’s escape from the hotel with Del. They have gone down an exterior stairway into an alley, and Kate is intent on reaching the livery stable and leaving town. Del, who has been drawn into helping her, is not entirely comfortable with the situation: as they leave, he recognizes that she has involved him in her flight, though his resentment gives way to the understanding that she believes her life depends on his help. The stable is therefore not a pause in the danger but a necessary point in the escape, where Kate hopes to obtain her mare.

As they approach, Del considers the possibility that whoever is trying to stop Kate has arranged to block the available exits. Kate runs ahead toward the stable’s back door, absorbed in getting to her horse and briefly moving beyond Del. His suspicion proves decisive. He realizes that a gunman may have been stationed there to prevent her from escaping, and the danger is concentrated in the moment she reaches the light near the entrance. Del’s quick intervention is a response to a threat he anticipates, not to a warning Kate has time to give.

The Attack at the Back Entrance

Del grabs Kate by the arm and pulls her back as he draws his gun. She falls clear of the place where she had been heading; almost at once, a shot comes from inside the dark stable runway. The gunman misses. Del fires in return, then drops low and moves into the nearest stall rather than assuming that the danger has passed. His caution matters: from cover, he hears a man claim that the attacker has been hit, but he cannot yet know whether the speaker is the same person who fired or someone else.

The stand-off ends when Kate calls out to the speaker and identifies him as Andy Brown, the stablekeeper. Andy answers, and Kate confirms who she is. He tells her the attacker is dead, establishing the result of Del’s shot. Kate then urges Del to come out and identifies Andy as someone she knows. Del remains armed as he approaches, unwilling to trust the situation simply because Kate does. His caution is grounded in the events of the night: the stable has just become another place where a person waiting in the dark tried to stop them by force.

What the Stable Reveals

Andy’s account clarifies that the threat was already inside the stable before Kate arrived. He had seen the suspicious man earlier in the evening but had not acted on that sighting. Later, the man confronted him with a gun, forced him into a stall, and threatened him if he made a sound. The attacker had thus secured a position at the stable by first neutralizing the person who ran it. The episode reveals both the planning behind the ambush and the danger to anyone who might interfere with it.

Kate identifies the intended victim in her own terms: this is the second time that night Max Landon has tried to have her killed. Her statement connects the stable gunman to the earlier attempt and names Max as the person behind the continuing danger. The evidence of Andy’s confinement adds a practical detail to that accusation: the attacker had not simply appeared at the exit, but had taken steps to keep the stablekeeper from raising an alarm. The stable has offered Kate a way out, but it has also become a trap laid across that way out.

Escape and Consequences

Kate immediately tells Andy to saddle her mare, Blondie, and tells Del to prepare his own horse. She expects the shots to bring people quickly, so there is little opportunity to investigate further or wait for reassurance. Andy asks whether the man was after her; she confirms it and insists that he saddle the mare. She also tells him not to disclose that she has left, preferring that anyone searching for her be left without an immediate trail. She rides out through the back door, and Del follows.

Their departure does not settle the disagreement over what safety requires. Del says they are heading south, while Kate demands to know why. At a bridge, he wants them to wait and take cover beneath it; Kate initially resists, focused on putting as much distance as possible between herself and the men Max hired. Del insists that she follow his direction if she wants his help, and she goes under the bridge when riders approach. When she fears that the riders are the attackers, Del tells her they are his friends. The Kid calls for Del, and the arriving riders find the pair concealed by the bridge. The immediate ambush has been defeated, but the escape now depends on concealment, allies, and Del and Kate’s uneasy coordination.

The scene’s turn is sharply practical: Kate reaches the horse she needs only after surviving an attack at the stable door, and the successful shot does not end the pursuit. Its sequence also deepens the danger without detaching it from the escape plot. The attacker’s death creates a brief opening; Andy’s testimony identifies how the ambush was prepared; Kate’s accusation points to Max; and the approaching riders force another decision about whether to hide or keep moving. Safety remains temporary, measured not by arrival at the stable but by whether Kate can get beyond the men looking for her.