Chapter 4

What I had in mind was to get Hollcroft to do something that would get him arrested and that would result in a long prison sentence. Murder wouldn't do it, but theft was a surefire way to get to him if I could just manage it. If I could prove that he was taking money from me and not rendering a service in return, most Texans would convict him and push for the longest possible sentence.

Therefore, I visited Hollcroft the next morning to ask how much all of this protection was costing me. He hemmed and hawed around a bit and said, "I'll need $150 per week for four men. And I will need it in advance."

"Yes, Sir, Mr. Hollcroft. I'll gladly pay that to stay alive, but I will need a detailed receipt, if you please. Do you want cash, or will a bank draft do?"

"It would be most helpful if you would pay in gold coin. Eagles and double-eagles would be the most convenient."

"Please put that in the receipt, if you will. I have a very poor memory, and it is hard for me to keep track of my expenditures. If I ever can take my cousin to court, I would like to be able to show how expensive it was to protect myself from him."

"That is very understandable, Miss Anderson. I will give you a detailed receipt. Can you get the money through the bank in Ruby Ridge, or do you have to return to Singer Flats to get it? If you can get it from the bank down the street, I will send a man with you to be sure that you are not robbed while you are carrying so much money."

"That would be appreciated, Mr. Hollcroft. Yes, I can get the money from the bank here in town. The only delay will be from the time it takes to send and receive a telegram. That should be only 20 or 30 minutes."

The gleam of greed in Hollcroft's eyes would have lit up the room if the sun had not already been so bright. He quickly found a man to go with me as my bodyguard to get the money. I was back with the money and had the receipt from him, all in less than an hour. Providing the kind of "protection" that Hollcroft was doing should only cost about $55-60 per week, and still leave him with a substantial, but honest, profit. This receipt, alone, should provide all of the evidence I need to charge Hollcroft with swindling me. However, I felt that I should discuss the situation with Judge McAllister before I charge Hollcroft with anything.

I waited for three days before I went back to see Hollcroft. "Mr. Hollcroft, I am going crazy sitting in that hotel room. Do you think that it would be safe for me to go to Austin for a day or so to visit a friend. I am sure that my cousin would never think of looking for me in Austin, so I feel that I could go without a bodyguard. Of course, I would still pay you for your services while I am gone."

Hollcroft's face went from pleasant interest in the first part of my little speech to the beginning of a frown when I mentioned going to Austin, but turned back into a beaming smile when he heard that I was still going to pay him his exorbitant fee for "protecting" me.

"Well, Miss Anderson, if you feel that you would be safe traveling to Austin by yourself, I will not try to dissuade you, but I do hope that you will be careful."

"Thank you for your good wishes, Mr. Hollcroft. I am sure that I will be quite safe in Austin. I shall return in a few days. Until then, I will bid you goodbye." I left Hollcroft's office and returned to the hotel where I packed my trunk and had it stowed in my Oldsmobile. I checked the fuel and oil levels, as well as the air pressure in my tires. Everything was normal, so I left Ruby Ridge for Austin. Of course, my real intent was to talk to Judge McAllister.

Judge McAllister was happy to see me, especially when I showed him the receipt from Hollcroft for "protecting" me. "That man is a damned scoundrel! Oops, please excuse me for my excessive speech, but I just got carried away. Yes, this is enough to arrest Hollcroft. We want to maintain your cover, so we will send one of my normal deputy marshals to arrest him. My marshal will be accompanied by the Ruby Ridge marshal who will make the actual arrest. You will have to testify against Hollcroft if it goes that far, but I think that we can still maintain your cover. What are your ultimate plans for Hollcroft?"

"I will be satisfied if he spends several years in prison, preferably at hard labor. I must tell you that if he gets off again, I will personally shoot him."

"I don't blame you. I certainly hope that we can put some pressure on him. We will have to offer him some incentive to tell us what he knows about the KGC. We may even have to agree not to prosecute if the tells us enough. Of course you know how hard it is to keep a secret, so I am sure that the top people in the KGC will shortly find out that Hollcroft has talked to us. You can believe how much that disturbs me, because they are sure to take reprisals against Hollcroft for turning on them. Oh, well, that is just the chance we will have to take."

Judge McAllister grinned at me with that statement. I swear, I think that it would have been safer to face a hungry wolf than Judge McAllister when he looked like that!

Hollcroft was arrested by the Ruby Ridge marshal with a federal marshal along to make sure that there was no hanky-panky that let him escape. I was kept out of the proceedings as much as possible. Hollcroft was convicted of swindling a poor defenseless orphan girl and sentenced to 15-18 years at hard labor.

He was given about five weeks to experience the joys of prison confinement and the TLC from his fellow prisoners. By this time, he was a physical and emotional wreak. The hard labor during the day of breaking rocks under the unrelenting Texas sun and the sleepless nights from the tender attention of his fellow inmates had Hollcroft reduced to a lump of quivering jelly. That's when he was visited by a representative from Judge McAllister.

Hollcroft was offered a reduced sentence of one year of solitary confinement in exchange for everything he knew about the KGC. His solitary confinement would start the moment he began cooperating. That day, he was moved to a new cell in a different wing of the prison.

Hollcroft did not know as much as we had hoped, but he was able to provide us with a list of names. Most of the names were for people of lower rank, but four were the names of men of much higher rank, and one was the name of a member of the ruling council. Now, we were getting somewhere! The effort with Hollcroft had proved well worth while, and even I was willing to concede that his punishment was adequate revenge for me. Therefore, at the end of his year in solitary confinement, he received a pardon from the governor, and that was the last we heard of Hollcroft.

My next assignment was to go after one of the higher ups, but not the name we had on the ruling council. The reason was twofold: I really did need more experience at undercover work, and we wanted to know more about the ruling council and what their true aims were before we tackled them directly.

The man I was assigned to bring down was living in Santa Fe. His name was Abner Folsom, and he was the owner of a major bank in the city. Hollcroft had not known much about him, but Folsom was reputed to be either number one or number two in the NMT (New Mexico Territory) KGC hierarchy. He was also rumored to be the most likely governor of the State of New Mexico when it was finally admitted to the union in a few years.

Folsom had a powerful public political organization with plenty of money, as well as control of the territory's KGC. The combination was certain to get him elected governor, if he wanted the job. And it appeared that he did want the job.