Benjamin immediately understood that Henry wanted to secretly help Linda's family.
"Henry, you have a heart as precious as gold in its kindness. No problem, I'll help you handle this matter properly."
After spending more than ten minutes settling this commission, Henry bid farewell to Benjamin and walked back to the police station.
At this time, in Mayor William's home, a private detective named Rafael was reporting to him.
"The Dorin gang and Doug gang were basically wiped out. After Ronald returned home last night, he arranged for James to deliver a letter to Devonshire Manor."
"Also, around 5 or 6 this morning, gunshots erupted in the Wild Wolf Valley area. Maxwell Ranch, which was closest, was awakened by the gunfire and stayed on high alert. More than an hour after the gunshots stopped, they sent people to investigate and found over 150 fallen cavalrymen."
"Based on these cavalrymen's clothing and war horses, they should be McKinley family private soldiers. The death of their famous leader 'Eagle Eye' Oliver confirms this."
William's eyes flickered. "Eagle Eye" Oliver was an extraordinary individual.
Rafael continued his report.
"Shortly after the investigation, a large group of McKinley cavalry returned to the battlefield to collect horses and bodies."
"Around 5 AM this morning, Police Chief Henry left town alone on horseback and didn't return until about 7 AM."
"I've already arranged informants to closely watch Devonshire Manor, but those private cavalry aren't inside - they should be at another camp."
After hearing the report, William pondered for a long while and said, "Send more people to find out what the McKinley family's prospecting teams have been doing lately. It would be best if we could figure out whether they've made any major new discoveries."
"Understood."
"Also, absolutely don't let Henry notice you're investigating him. Don't cause him any misunderstandings."
"Understood."
"That's all then. Report to me at any time."
After Rafael left, William pondered for a long time and sent telegrams to all his children.
He had to quickly figure out the ins and outs of this attack.
As the town's overlord, any behavior threatening the town could be seen as a provocation against him.
Henry, back at the police station, began reviewing various files, mainly to understand the personnel situation in the town and the surrounding fifteen-mile coverage area.
No wonder this town was so prosperous - there were 3 large and small gold mines, 5 silver mines, 5 copper mines, 8 coal mines, and 6 gypsum and other stone mining operations in the surrounding area.
64% of the silver mines here were silver-copper or silver-zinc mixed ores, plus some lead and other metals, so silver mines and copper mines were often integrated, only separated after decomposition and refining.
Separate labeling was also for individual accounting.
William's Sinclair family owned two gold mines, one silver mine, one copper mine, and three coal mines.
McKinley had one silver mine, one copper mine, and two coal mines.
The Palermo family had one gold mine and one coal mine.
There were many other smaller forces mining here.
Everyone in the town served the mining industry centered around these three families - miners, prospecting teams, guard units, and various trading companies.
The populations at each mine were also substantial.
More than fifty farms of various sizes were distributed around the area, providing the town with meat, vegetables, fruits, and grains.
Even so, there was still a large meat shortage. Cowboys continuously drove cattle herds along cattle trails from spring to fall, starting from Texas, passing through New Mexico, then to Colorado, coming through the state capital Denver.
Coal, copper, and stone were hauled to Georgetown twenty-some miles away for rail transport.
Gold and silver refined from the gold and silver mines were transported by guard units to Denver City, 85 miles away.
There were countless banks there, plus a mint.
So mining magnates had to have substantial strength to protect their wealth.
In fact, the main work of the Fresco Town Police Station was maintaining law and order in the town and surrounding areas.
Deterring bandits who roamed around causing trouble.
The mines handled their own security arrangements.
Henry counted and found that among the wanted posters issued by the police station since its establishment, there were still thirty-four bandits who hadn't been captured.
Half of them had been outstanding for over five years.
There had been more fugitives originally - these past two days Henry's efforts had reduced the number by 8.
Through careful comparison, Henry discovered that among the three particularly vicious corpses he had collected, there was one worth a $500 bounty.
But he wasn't in a hurry to claim the bounty - these bodies would all have appropriate uses later.
The four bars here all had close relationships with the three mining giants and the police station.
As for local gangs, there were none.
Because the town wasn't too big but had plenty of big fish, there was no room for those guys to survive.
However, outside gangs often passed through, which was when officers stepped in.
——
Four hours earlier, in a Victorian-style manor 84 miles away in Denver, McKinley family leader Brendan frowned deeply.
Around 8 AM he had received a telegram from Sean, giving him a basic understanding of this loss.
The losses were truly devastating!
The previously hired Dorin gang and Doug gang had at most cost $15,000 in deposits.
This morning's operation to ambush Henry was what truly broke his heart.
The dozen or twenty war horses and weapons were nothing - those 156 elite cavalrymen were the main loss!
It took at least 5 years and over $2,000 in comprehensive costs to train a battle-hardened cavalryman.
The entire family only had about 600 such warriors.
A quarter of them were wiped out in one go!
Then there were the pensions.
Even with the family's numerous enterprises, this loss was devastating.
With such massive losses, Brendan knew his leadership career was nearly over, unless he could secure that gold mine with its enormous reserves.
The foolproof plan had failed miserably because of a boy named Henry who appeared out of nowhere.
Moreover, no matter how slow William of the Sinclair family was, he would have some awareness of the problem by now, at least sufficient vigilance.
Mainly because these past two days of failed operations had naturally exposed many problems.
Ronald was probably controlled or even killed by William.
Brendan let out a long sigh.
When he first adopted this risky course of action, 3 of the 6 family elders had opposed it.
Now there was no way to quickly seize the entire gold mine. He could only try the other three elders' original approach - attempt to contact William Sinclair and see if they could get a share.
After all, this gold mine discovery was also unexpected. If their prospecting team didn't leak information, it would take the Sinclair family a long time to find it through exploration, and without luck they might never discover it.
At least they hadn't targeted Sinclair's core members yet, leaving sufficient room for maneuvering.
But - Henry must die!
Brendan swore through gritted teeth.
This morning's ambush was definitely connected to Henry.
He had left at exactly 5 AM and returned 2 hours later - the timing perfectly matched when the McKinley cavalry were attacked.
So Henry was very likely one of the sharpshooters in the ambush.
Blood debts must be paid with blood!
This would also demonstrate the McKinley family's strength, prevent others from seeing their weakness, and facilitate subsequent cooperation negotiations with the Sinclair family.