Delaney Arranges for Red Muldoon’s Will to Be Read

Del Delaney’s arrangement for the reading of Red Muldoon’s will turns a legal appointment into a direct test of whether anyone in Roily can protect Kate Muldoon from Max Landon. Del secures a time with Judge Bailey, promises to bring Kate, and insists that he will proceed even though the judge describes Landon as the real power in the county.

The Approach to Judge Bailey

Del opens the conversation by asking whether Judge Bailey wants to know where Kate is. The judge, who appears markedly old, rises with sudden excitement and asks whether Del knows her whereabouts. Del confirms that he does, but adds that Max Landon knows as well. The urgent question, he says, is whether Bailey, the sheriff, or anyone else in Roily can protect Kate from Landon. From the outset, then, the meeting is not merely about locating her or carrying out a will-reading; it is about whether the town can keep her alive long enough for the legal process to occur.

Del says that he and his friends will accept one hundred dollars a day, although Kate cannot pay until the estate is settled. Bailey presses him on how far he and his companions are prepared to go for that fee. Del answers that they will go as far as necessary, explaining that, as he understands Kate’s situation, she will never receive her inheritance unless Landon is dead. Bailey confirms the grim implication and recognizes how troubling it is for a judge to acknowledge it.

A County Under Landon’s Power

Bailey’s assessment makes clear why arranging a formal reading is so difficult. He says that Landon is effectively the law in the area: the sheriff sides with whoever is winning, and at this point that is Landon. Bailey expects no meaningful help from neighboring counties or the state. He also describes the local population as too small to resist Landon’s force, likening the imbalance to a child confronting a grown man. Resistance might mean dying without changing the outcome.

The judge’s position is not simply a lack of willingness to act. Bailey says he can preside over a trial, but cannot ensure that a jury will decide justly while jurors fear what Landon may do to them. He cannot force Landon off the Diamond M, and he cannot shield Kate from a murderer’s bullet. The will-reading therefore stands inside a wider failure of enforcement: legal authority exists in form, but Bailey doubts that it can protect either a fair verdict or the person whose inheritance is at stake.

The Appointment and Del’s Commitment

Bailey wonders aloud whether Del’s concern might be explained by the value Kate could receive if she survives to collect it. Del feels anger at the suggestion, but recognizes that the question is natural and that Bailey thinks highly of Kate. Rather than answer by defending his motives, Del states his next move: he will ride to the Diamond M as soon as he leaves Roily and get a look at Landon. Bailey calls this the most insane course he can imagine. Del accepts the description, saying that a person cannot always play the odds and that he has to take chances.

Del’s plan joins the dangerous visit to Landon with the legal appointment. If he survives the ride away from the Diamond M, he intends to bring Kate to Bailey’s office so the judge can read the will. He says he will sit there and hear it regardless of what Landon says or thinks. When Bailey asks whether Del and his friends can keep Kate safe until then, Del answers that they can. He fixes the appointment for the day after tomorrow; Bailey selects three in the afternoon, and Del agrees to have Kate there. Bailey says he will see that Landon is notified.

The Meaning of the Arrangement

The exchange ends with Del questioning how such a situation can exist in the present when it resembles the lawlessness of an old mining camp. Bailey answers not with a remedy but with the limits of his office: he cannot compel a just jury, remove Landon, or protect Kate from a gunman. Del responds that he can protect her, and that he will. He then leaves the judge’s office, making the agreement a commitment rather than a speculative proposal.

The reading has not yet taken place in this scene. What Del secures is a fixed time and a public legal purpose around which he can organize the effort to bring Kate back. Bailey’s promise to notify Landon ensures that the appointment will not remain private. Against Bailey’s account of a sheriff who follows power and a town unable to oppose it, Del’s promise offers no institutional solution; it places the immediate burden of protection on himself and his companions.