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Show Page 62 Smelter Ranch. Posing as a prospector, he asked if he could stay a few days as the mountain where he was heading was still snowed in. Always hospitable, Ann agreed and Nelson made himself at home, riding out each morning to "prospect" near the ranchhouse. In reality, Nelson was a stock detective hired by Bill Patton to gather proof Ann and Yarberry were rustling Two Bar cattle. Instead of prospecting, Nelson was crouched on a hill above the ranch observing the couple's movements through a pair of binoculars. Nelson was not entirely successful in his rustling investigation. He never caught Ann and Yarberry red-handed in the act of butchering a Two Bar beef. He had noticed on his arrival, however, that the meathouse at the Smelter Ranch was empty. Two days later, three quarters of beef were hanging in it. Blood still dripped from the meat and fresh wagon tracks led up to the door. On the back porch of the ranchhouse the detective also found a pair of blood-spattered women's overshoes. With this information, Nelson scuttled off to tell his boss, Bill Patton. On March 22, Patton and a couple of Two Bar cowhands began a search of the area around the Smelter ranchhouse. A quarter mile away they found the head, entrails, and hide of a freshly killed heifer. For identification purposes it was common to notch an animal's ears in a particular way, in addition |