Bat is asked to meet a woman at a cemetery near Timberline, Wyoming. The woman tells him the Clarion newspaper in Cheyenne is going to print a story Sunday written by John Surratt who was a conspirator with John Wilkes Booth but never convicted. The story will open many wounds but also he was her uncle who died six months earlier. She shows him the grave but the grave marker is gone. At gunpoint she takes him to the stone carver who verifies he made and installed the headstone. Bat agrees to go Cheyenne as the owners of the paper are his friends. Ned Ruggles has taken over from his father Dana who is now retired. Ned refuses to stop the story telling Bat Surratt goes by the name John Watson and can be contacted in a bar. Bat tries to make contact but an incident where he is almost killed tells him Ned is trying to stop him. His father offers to help Bat as he doesn't want the paper ruined by putting up $10,000 for John Watson. The ruse works but not before Bat can get Watson to talk.
—Anonymous