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2.

Sgt. Aten decided to travel up to San Saba and see what he could discover about the wagon or who had sold it, and to whom. So the following morning Aten went to Eagle Pass to get a stage coach to San Saba. Meanwhile private Hughes was to continue the arduous task of searching the banks of the river to discover where the stones came from.

When Aten arrived in San Saba he called into the sheriffs office and while talking to sheriff, discovers that the night before Duncan had arrived there asking to stay until the sheriff could give him a clean bill of health. It seemed that people were accusing him of murder, although the sheriff could only guess that they meant the murder of the four people killed down near Eagle Pass if they were the Williamsons, as they had come from the San Saba area, and it was rumoured in the area that they were going to move down to Mexico.

This was Sgt. Atens first break. He could now put names to the murder victims, provided the details he had matched the descriptions of the Williamson family. The sheriff described the Williamsons as Mrs. Williamson being about fifty, her daughter Mrs Levonia Holmes was about thirty, and Beulah was about sixteen. Ben the youth was twenty-one. The ages matched those of the victims, and when the sheriff added that Duncan had stayed at their Ranch for several months and that Mrs Holmes had bunions on both feet and wore dentures, and Ben also had teeth that were wide apart, Aten knew he had something concrete to go on. Added to these facts the Sheriff mentioned that Duncan had recently purchased Mrs Williamsons ranch. He had paid her $200 dollars in cash, along with a further $200 in "vendors lien notes", (a quote from Atens biography) along with a new Mitchells wagon, bought from J.S. Clark in San Saba, along with a team and harness. Word had it that they were going to move to Mexico, and Duncan and a cowboy named Walter Landers would escort them there. Apparently they had left early one morning heading for Mexico and about a week or ten days later Duncan had returned to San Saba, and made enquiries about the Williamson family`s whereabouts from Tom Hawkins the local blacksmith. This caused tongues to wag, hence Duncans reason for asking the sheriff to protect him.

Aten recognised the name of Walter Landers as he had had him under detention as a cattle rustler at one time, and he was now going under the alias of "Picnic" Jones. All the facts gathered up till now pointed to Duncan or Landers being the murderer, but Aten needed some hard evidence to go with the circumstantial.
On talking to the local people Aten discovered that Duncan had the reputation of being a hoodlum, was cousin to the Ketchum brothers-Sam and Blackjack Tom- both well known for their outlaw ways. Landers brother-in-law was no better, living under he name of Thompson, he had fled to Mexico to escape charges of rustling. Dr. A.E. Brown the local dentist confirmed to Aten that he had made the false teeth that Lavonia Holmes wore and he also verified that Ben Williamson had gapped teeth. The Blacksmith told Aten the same story he had told the sheriff about Duncans inquiry as to the whereabouts of the Williamsons, So Aten decided it was time to have a chat with Duncan himself.

Duncan said that he had escorted the Williamsons to Mexico and had then returned back to San Saba. When asked about Landers he said he thought Landers might have been sweet on the Lavonia girl, and probably went on into Mexico with the others. When asked if he thought the dead family at Eagle Pass might be the Williamsons, Duncan said that they may have been killed for the money they were carrying.