From a judicial point of view, the case in Shepherd Town should be in the hands of the nearest Billings County judge.

However, according to the mayor's intentions, he simply called all the residents in the town to hold a public trial meeting to vote.

That's what most of the towns in the frontier do anyway.

However, some townspeople disagreed with the mayor.

At their insistence, the mayor had to leave for the county to report the case.

It was three days before Chen Jianqiu and Roosevelt saw the judge appear on the road alone on a horse at the entrance of the town.

Roosevelt and Chen Jianqiu greeted him.

"Mr. Howard, it's been a hard work."

Roosevelt was acquainted with the judge and exchanged pleasantries.

Judge Howard rolled over and dismounted, taking off the black top hat from his head.

He looked to be in his forties and wore a black smock with wide sleeves.

However, Chen Jianqiu noticed that the blouse was very dirty, full of wrinkles and mud spots, and there was a piece missing from the edge.

The judge scratched his hair, which looked a little messy, and looked tired.

"Mr. Roosevelt, I thought you were back, there really isn't much to stay in this place." He sniffed his nose.

Roosevelt smiled awkwardly, glanced again at the end of the road, and asked, somewhat puzzled:

"Are you alone? What about the mayor? Didn't come back with you? ”

"Dead."

"When I was camping in the rugged area, he said he was going to the river to get some fish to eat, and then he didn't come back, and I didn't find the body."

The judge looked ordinary and spoke in a calm tone, as if he was telling something commonplace.

He turned around and took a hat from behind the horse's ass and handed it to Roosevelt:

"I don't know what struck me, I only found his hat by the river."

Chen Jianqiu now finally understands why the mayor of the town is reluctant to go to the county to report the situation.

The judge hung the mayor's hat on a sign at the entrance of the town.

It is said to be a street sign, but it is actually a wooden sign with almost unreadable handwriting nailed to a broken wooden stick standing upright.

One horizontal and one vertical, barely a cross, can be regarded as an accountable to Jesus.

The three of them took a few steps back, took off their hats, and bowed their heads to the sign.

"Silence!"

Mayor Mare's death didn't cause much of a stir in the town.

The previous mayor of the town was drowned in the river after riding a horse at night the year before last.

The previous mayor drank too much the year before and froze to death holding the street sign at the entrance of the town.

That's right, the wooden street sign with the mayor's hat on it now.

What should the townsfolk do, they are more concerned about what the dog man and woman are convicted of.

Judge Howard took full advantage of the fairness of the laws of the western United States and the transparency of justice.

The jury included residents of the entire town, and the judge said he would fully respect the jury's opinion.

This made Chen Jianqiu very emotional.

He went to mourn the hat at the entrance of the town.

Yes, Mayor Mare basically died for nothing.

The makeshift court was arranged in the camp of the circus.

Open-air, spacious.

The one-armed commander lent the town the platform that had not yet had time to be dismantled.

Except for Judge Howard, who had a seat to sit, everyone else stood.

However, this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the townspeople.

In the end, there were only four people in the dock, Pinker, Catherine, and two other accomplices.

The others were killed in the fierce fighting at the circus camp.

Judge Howard read out the crimes of several of them, and then asked the bailiffs Asuka and Sean to carry the evidence—the box—up.

"And! Hurry up, don't waste time! The judge waved at them.

"Give it up, let it go."

From the periphery of the jury came a man's voice and a sheep cry.

The crowd got out of the way.

The bald head drove the dozens of sheep into the center of the camp.

But the former Pinkerton detective apparently has little experience herding sheep.

The flock begins to scurry around after entering the inner circle.

The people standing in the inner circle dodged one after another, retreated, and were hit by the sheep a few times before they could dodge.

The bald head began to chase the sheep running around, and the sheep ran after the people.

The scene became somewhat comical and chaotic.

This has seriously challenged the seriousness of the Tribunal.

"Can't you find someone who is more professional?"

Judge Howard couldn't hold back his temper no matter how good he was, and he waved his arms desperately at the townspeople.

"Hey, bald, I'll just say you can't."

The two-ponytail girl squeezed in from the back of the crowd.

She got a border collie from nowhere, ran with it, and drove the stray sheep back into the flock.

Chen Jianqiu stood with his waist crossed and watched.

Before she became a detective, this girl was probably a professional shepherdess.

As for the process of the trial, it is even more sloppy.

In this case, Judge Howard did not give other sentencing options.

Guilty, or not guilty.

Guilty, hanged.

Not guilty, released.

"In favor of the guilty, please speak out." The judge looked up at the surrounding townspeople, the jury.

It was as if the townsfolk were frying in the middle of the pot, and the supporters shouted loudly with all their might, wielding whatever they could.

"Kill them! Avenge those innocent! ”

"Hang that slut!"

"Slaughter these strangers!"

"Hmm." Judge Howard nodded, and pressed his hand downward, indicating that he had felt the surging public opinion.

"Then, those who are in favor of innocence, please speak out loud."

There was some quiet below, except for a few women whispering:

"Those men deserve to die, see if that woman is guilty of death."

"At most, she doesn't report it, and she can't even be considered an accomplice."

Compared to the voices just now, the voices of these discussions are almost negligible.

"Hmm." The judge straightened his belongings and stood up from his chair.

"It is clear that judging by the volume of voices, there is a majority of people who support the guilty."

He straightened his clothes and cleared his throat:

"I declare that Pinker and Catherine are sentenced to be hanged! Tomorrow morning! ”

The next morning.

Several criminals were taken out of their cells at the police station and taken to the place where they were tried yesterday.

There was a makeshift gallows made of wood.

Well, the materials are naturally provided by the circus friendly.

The night before, it had rained heavily, and the potholes on the road had turned into pools, which had become unusually muddy and dirty.

The townsfolk ran out of their homes early in the morning and lined up on both sides of the road to watch the prisoners being taken to the execution ground.

They were much quieter than they had been yesterday, and when the prisoners had passed, they followed.

Four death row inmates ascended the platform along a wooden ladder.

Four rope nooses hung from the gallows, and directly below each rope lasso, was a trap, controlled by a wooden joystick next to it.

The bald head stood aside, rubbing his hands, and his eyes revealed a little excitement.

He wore a gray hat that he found out of nowhere today.

If yesterday he lost people in front of everyone because he was not professional enough, then today he has finally entered his professional category.

The bald head was a professional executioner before he entered the Pinkerton Detective Agency.

Even the construction of the gallows was carried out under his direction.

Chen Jianqiu couldn't help but sigh a little, where did this circus detective agency find these talents, and they did everything.

Pink and the other two were expressionless, making it impossible to guess what was going on in their minds right now.

Catherine's face was bloodless, shivering, and she muttered something she didn't know what she was muttering.

"Hood, hood thrown over!" The bald head rubbed his hands together and shouted at Sean under the stage.

The black man threw a couple of black burlap hoods on them.

The bald head picked up the hoods one by one, put them on the death row inmates, and then put the nooses around their necks.

When it was Catherine's turn, the woman suddenly collapsed on the table,

The bald head set her up.

"Hey, you'd better stand up straight, or you won't have to move the mechanism, and you'll be finished."

He said as he put the woman's head in the noose.

At the entrance of the village, Chen Jianqiu and Roosevelt stood in front of them to monitor the circus.

"It's finally over." Chen Jianqiu looked in the direction of the gallows and said.

There was no answer.

He turned his head and saw that Roosevelt had turned.

"What's wrong?" Chen Jianqiu asked.

"Catherine didn't deserve to die, she was just being taken advantage of." Roosevelt put his hands on the railing of the stable and sighed.

"Yes, but, that's the West."

Chen Jianqiu picked up a cigarette.

"Execution!"

The bald head walked over to the joystick, holding the handle in his hand.

Suddenly, a voice came from under Pinker's black hood.

He seemed to have said something.

The bald head did not stop the movement of his hands.

He pulled the joystick.

The traps under the feet of several death row inmates opened with a "bang".

The four men hung in the air without making a sound, and soon turned into four corpses.

No one heard what Pink said before he died, and no one cared.