How's that leg?
Full of torment, Bob. Thanks for asking.
Blessed are the poor in spirit...
...for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are them that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the...
Meek.
Blessed are the meek.
- Is it him? - Yeah.
Why is he here? Does he know about Wood, do you think?
I don't know. All I know is he don't miss very much.
- What should I say about you if he asks? - Tell him I'm in K.C. With Mattie.
He was buffalo hunting. He was thrilled to meet yours truly.
Yeah, over there in Europe there's only two Americans they know for certain...
...Mark Twain and Jesse James.
- Why, it's the kid. - How's everything?
- I never take off my gun belts. - Yeah?
Good thinking.
Well, Charley, did you hurt your leg?
Yeah, I slipped... I slipped off the roof...
...and I smacked down into a snow bank like a ton of stupidness.
One second I'm screaming, "Whoa, Nelly!"
Next second, poof, I'm neck-deep in snow.
Well, whatever possessed you to climb a roof in December?
There was a k... A kite. What am I saying? There was a cat.
A cat. It was on the roof and I went after him.
It was a tomcat yowling and what all, and I slipped.
I thought maybe your club foot was gaining on you.
Oh, yeah.
Dick went to Kansas City to be with his wife. He was here for a bit.
Hey, here's a cute story, Jess.
Bobby was what, 11 or 12...
...and you were by far his most admired personage.
He couldn't get enough.
It was "Jesse this" and "Jesse that" and "Jesse this" from sunrise to sunset.
Fascinating.
No, there's more. This is cute.
We're at supper and Bob asks, "You know what size boot Jesse wears?"
- Charley, Jesse doesn't wanna hear this. - Shush, now, Bob, let me tell it.
Bob says... He says, "You know what size boot Jesse wears?"
He says, "Six and a half." He says, "Ain't that a big enough boot...
...for a man 5'8"tall?"
I decided to josh him a little, you know, he being my kid brother and everything.
So I said, "He doesn't have toes is why."
That's a really stupid story.
"He was dangling his feet off a culvert and a catfish nibbled his toes off."
Bob taxed himself trying to picture it.
That'd be a good joke if it was funny.
Isn't that a cute story, Jess?
Give me some more conversations, Bob.
I got one. This one's about as crackerjack... It's the one about your...
Let Bob tell it.
All right.
I don't even know what you're talking about.
About how you and Jesse have so much in common.
Go on, Bob.
Yeah, come on, Bob.
Tell us a story.
- Nope. No. - Come on, entertain Jesse. He's here.
Come on.
Well, if you'll pardon my saying so, I guess...
...it is interesting the many ways you and I overlap and whatnot.
I mean, you begin with our daddies.
Your daddy was a pastor at the New Hope Baptist Church...
...and my daddy was a pastor at the church in Excelsior Springs.
You're the youngest of three James boys, and I'm the youngest of five Ford boys.
Between Charley and me, there's another brother, Wilbur...
...with six letters in his name.
And between Frank and you, is another brother Robert, also with six letters.
And my Christian name is Robert, of course.
You have blue eyes, I have blue eyes.
You're 5'8"tall, I'm 5'8" tall.
Me, I must have had a list as long as your nightshirt when I was 12, but...
...I seem to have lost some curiosities over the years.
Ain't he something?
Did I ever tell you the story about that scalawag, George Shepherd?
Shepherd's one of Quantrill's lieutenants.
He give me a story much like Bob's what bring him to mind.
Going on about how much we had in common, and so on...
...so he could get in the gang.
How could I have known he had a grudge against me?
How could I have known he was lying to get on my good side?
I said, "George, come on aboard. Glad to have you."
George thought he was smart, except he wasn't.
One morning, George rides into camp...
...and about 20 guns open up on him.
See, old George, he only had one eye. You gotta have two eyes, you wanna get Jesse.
You ought not think of me like you do George Shepherd.
You brought him to mind.
Well, it's not very flattering.
Sure is good eating, Martha.
Well, I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
How come George had a grudge against you?
I said, how come George had a grudge against you?
Well, you see, George had a nephew he wanted me to protect during the war.
This nephew had 5000 dollars on him.
It just so happens he winds up killed and someone swipes that money.
And when George is in prison, someone whispers to him:
"It was Jesse James slit the boy's throat."
It was just mean gossip, was it?
Bob's the expert. Let's put it to him.
Oh, dear, I made him cranky.
I'm not cranky. I just been through this before is all.
Most people get around on making fun of me. They don't ever let up.
Someone's getting awful fresh over there.
Woman, shut your face for once.
Don't want you to skip off to your room and pout...
...without knowing why I come by for this visit.
Why? So you could tell us how sorry you are...
...you had to slap our cousin Albert around?
I come by...
...to ask if one of you two Fords...
...would care to ride with me in a journey or two.
I guess we both agree it ought to be Charley.
You've been acting sort of testy.
Have you seen Wood Hite lately?
No. Not at all.
I swear that stew had some squirrel meat in it.
- Still arguing with you, is it? - Yeah.
- You're Charles Ford? - Yes, ma'am.
You've seen me once or twice before.
I got a letter from George Hite.
He hasn't seen hide nor hair of him.
And you say you haven't seen Wood?
No, l... I can't imagine where he could be.
Yeah?
You finished with your sleeping?
I could use a couple more hours if it's no trouble.
Yeah.
I been holding a discussion with myself over if I ought to tell you this or no.
My good side won out and...
Well, I wanna make a clean breast of things.
Yeah, my mind's a little cobwebby is the only drawback.
I could use a little... A little more sleep.
You know I went to Kentucky?
Yeah.
I come back through Saline County and...
...I think to myself:
"Why not stop by and see Ed Miller?"
So I do.
Well, things are not to my satisfaction.
Ed's got himself all worked up over something.
I can see that he's lying like a rug.
So I say to myself, "Enough's enough."
And I say to Ed, "Come on, Ed.
Let's go for a ride."
You understand what I'm saying?
Going for a ride is like...
Going for a ride is like giving him what-for?
Exactly.
So...
...Ed and Jesse...
...they argue on the road.
Did you ever count the stars?
I can't ever get the same number. They keep changing on me.
I don't even know what a star is exactly.
Well, your body knows.
It's your mind that forgot.
You go on ahead, partner. I'll catch up with you.
It's okay.
It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay.
And when push came to shove...
...Jesse shot and killed him.
Jesse did.
You got it.
You...
So, you see, your...
Your cousin, he got off easy.
I was just playing with Albert.
Yeah, I made him squeal once or twice myself.
I'm just not as thorough as you are.
You got a tale to swap with me now?
I don't get your meaning.
Seems to me, if you have something to confess in exchange...
...it'd only be right...
...that you'd spit it out now.
I can't think of a single thing.
About Wood Hite, for example.
I'm not gonna... I been saying over and over I can't figure out where he's gone.
Now, I'm not gonna change my story just to have something to spit.
- Why was your brother so agitated? - Which?
Bob.
That's just his way. He's antsy.
You know?
You go on back to sleep now.
You got me agitated now, you see?
Yeah, just ain't no peace when old Jesse's around.
You ought to pity my poor wife.
Ed Miller was a good friend of mine.
He introduced me to you at that one poker game.
I'm a little angry with you, if you wanna know the God's honest truth.
You ought to pity me too.
As proof of his confederacy with the James Gang, Bob told the authorities...
...that Dick Liddil was sleeping over at the rented farmhouse...
...while his ruined leg mended.
And then, created a map of the Harbison property...
...leaving out the creek where Wood Hite's remains now moldered.
Right, you boys are cornered!
Come on out peaceably and nobody'll get shot up!
Don't shoot!
Come on out and show yourself!
Hello.
We got him.
Give me that Colt, son.
- All right. - Andrew James Liddil...
...I have a warrant here for your arrest...
Snowstorms would move over Missouri that Sunday, February 19th...
...shutting down commerce for more than two days.
- Go, go, go. - Are the papers here?
- He wanted to know if the papers are here. - I don't care what he wants.
Yet this wouldn't prevent Robert Ford...
...from presenting himself to Governor Crittenden...
...at the Craig Rifles Ball on Wednesday.
I deem it a great privilege on this glorious occasion...
...to recognize publicly...
...the intelligent and effective assistance...
...that Captain Henry Craig has rendered the state of Missouri and myself...
...in our joint quest to rid Jackson County...
...of the James band.
The task that Captain Craig has assumed...
...will require fearless courage, extraordinary vigilance...
...and an unerring selection of instrumentalities.
Well, I've gotten the signal from my wife that enough is enough.
However, before I sit...
...I would like to ask you to join me in a toast...
...to a great son of the state of Missouri...
...my friend, Henry Craig. - Here, here.
Yes.
Just let my attorney know.
Who is that? Who is it?
Get out of the way now.
You know, you're more goddamn trouble than you're worth, Bob.
I was just gonna say hello.
No, you weren't gonna do that, Bob. That's not why you're down here.
You think it's your goddamn coming-out. You think you're the belle of the ball.
Now you get upstairs and try to keep your identity secret, you silly little bastard.
The governor'll see you in good time. Take him up, boys.
Bob would later be cross-examined repeatedly...
...about the exact nature of the deal he had made with the authorities.
And he was never consistent in his recollections.
My wife's asleep in the other room, so let's speak as quietly as we can.
So you're Dick Little.
Liddil.
I beg your pardon?
I spell it with two D's.
He's given us a full confession, governor.
Newspapers haven't caught onto it yet.
And you've guaranteed him a conditional pardon...
...and amnesty for all the robberies he's committed.
You Robert Ford?
How old are you?
Twenty.
You surrender to Sheriff Timberlake as well?
No, no, governor. That's his brother, Charley Ford, he's in the James Gang.
But little Bob here, we got nothing on Bob.
He's just acting in capacity as a...
...private detective.
Jesse James sent me a telegram last month...
...saying he'd kill me if he had to wreck a train to do it.
He said once I got in his hands, he'd cut my heart out...
...and eat it in strips like it was bacon.
I'll wreck his train first.
I'm sorry, Your Excellency. I was thinking about something else.
Jesse James is nothing more than a public outlaw...
...who made his reputation by stealing whatever he wanted...
...killing whoever got in his way.
You'll hear some fools say he's getting back at Republicans and Union men...
...for the wrongs his family suffered during the war.
But his victims have scarcely been selected with reference to their political views.
I'm saying his sins will soon find him out.
I'm saying his cup of iniquity is full.
I'm saying Jesse James is a desperate case...
...and may require a desperate remedy.
Y'all got the right man for the job.
Come on. Come on, now.
Come on, now.
Have you ever considered suicide?
I can't say that I have. There's always something else I wanted to do.
Or my predicaments changed, or I saw my hardships from a different slant.
You know all what can happen. It never seemed respectable.
I'll tell you one thing that's for certain.
You won't mind dying once you've peeked over the other side.
You'll no more wanna go back to your body than...
...you'd wanna spoon up your own puke.
Hey, since we're looking to rob banks...
...I was wondering if we could add another fella to the gang...
...and sort of see if we couldn't come out of our next job alive.
Bob wanted to know could he ride with us next time we took on a savings bank or...
A savings bank or a...
A railroad.
Bob isn't much more than a boy to most appearances.
But there's about two tons of sand in him.
And he'll stand with a shooter when that's what's called for.
And he's smart too. He's about as intricate as they come.
You forget I already met the kid.
Hell, he surely thinks highly of you.
All of America thinks highly of me.
Still, not like you got two million names to snatch out of a sock...
...whenever you need a third man.
I can see you trying to wear me down on this.
That's my main intention.
Robberies would be conceived but never carried out...
...in Nebraska, Colorado and Missouri.
During this time...
...Henry Craig enjoined Robert Ford to return to Elias' Grocery Store in Richmond...
...and await instructions from Sheriff James Timberlake.
All right, three cans...
...peaches. Two cans...
Two cans sifted peas.
One bottle...
...Mary's Morning Tonic, and a half...
Half a sack of flour.
I'll be right with you.
I haven't seen any sign of him.
Well, do you know where he's living?
No.
No?
Well, I can't guess how he does it...
...but he is always knowledgeable about what's going on.
He's gonna know I've been here with you. You ought to take that for granted.
And he will kill you if he gets the chance.
Are you willing to risk that?
Yes, I am.
I've been a nobody all my life.
I was the baby.
I was the one they made promises to that they never kept.
And ever since I can remember it, Jesse James has been as big as a tree.
I'm prepared for this, Jim...
...and I'm gonna accomplish it.
I know I won't get but this one opportunity...
...and you can bet your life I'm not gonna spoil it.
Well...
...wait for your chance.
Don't let yourself be found alone with him, and do not...
...let him get behind you.
You been chosen.
Well, what do you mean?
Well, your brother said that you might wanna join us.
But maybe you like this grocery store more than you said you did.
- So you missed me? - Oh, yeah.
I been crying myself to sleep every night.
Don't let him see us so much as wink.
He's suspicious as a damn coyote, and he don't trust you one iota.
- Well, I guess that makes... - Hey.
He already put away Ed Miller. He said so like it was something piddly he'd done.
If we're ever alone for more than a minute, I'd like a chance to talk to you further.