- Reverend Walker: [catching Joe digging up the grave they buried the previous day] Hold it right there, Mister! Now, drop the shovel... and turn around real slow.
- [Joe faces Walker and Gillis]
- Reverend Walker: You were warned to leave town.
- Ward Gillis: You ain't very smart, Mister.
- Reverend Walker: See if he's got a gun.
- [Gillis hands Walker the rifle he's holding and finds Joe's gun]
- Reverend Walker: Can you think of any reason why we shouldn't shoot you? Grave robber.
- Joe Mannix: I wasn't planning to rob it, just open it.
- Reverend Walker: Why?
- Joe Mannix: Curiosity.
- Ward Gillis: Just who are you?
- Joe Mannix: A private detective.
- Reverend Walker: Who hired you?
- Joe Mannix: Mark Slocum's wife is worried about him. Afraid his plane may have crashed.
- Reverend Walker: Well, what makes you think that Mark Slocum is here in Gopher Flats?
- Joe Mannix: Because Jeb Carter isn't.
- [Gillis cocks Joe's gun]
- Joe Mannix: I wouldn't pull that trigger. You don't think I'd come up here without some backup muscle? You'll never get away with it.
- Ward Gillis: What if we try?
- Joe Mannix: You'd be making a big mistake. You're not in any real trouble yet. Not murder, anyway, the way I figure it. Now, why don't you tell me exactly what happened? Maybe I can help you figure a way out of it.
- Ward Gillis: Mister, you ain't gonna live long enough to help anybody.
- [a gunshot fires; Joe pushes Walker and Gillis to ground and flees]