True --Not True

"Ortega came in around nine. Had two whiskeys and asked if I'd seen Voss. I told him I hadn't. That was true. Then he asked if I'd heard anything about Voss. I told him no. That was not true. The sheriff ought to learn the difference between those two questions. "

"Jackson spent forty minutes explaining why something impossible might actually be possible. I understood about ten minutes of it. I charged him for four drinks. He only had three. Considered it a consulting fee." 

"Father Serrano stopped in this afternoon. Had coffee. Asked about the sheriff. I told him the sheriff was drinking too much. The Father said I shouldn't encourage it. I told him I'd encourage the sheriff to drink water if water paid the rent. "

"Sheriff Ortega told me once that everybody in Mesilla had something to hide. I told him that was probably true, but some of us were smart enough not to tell the sheriff about it. He didn't laugh. That's the trouble with lawmen. They appreciate honesty right up until somebody gives them some."

"Father Serrano told me drinking wouldn't solve my problems. I told him neither would praying, but at least I could see the results of drinking. He said I was a difficult man. I told him that's why the Lord put me behind a bar instead of in a church."

"Jackson came in with another wild story about something out in the desert. Said it might change everything we know about the world. I told him to write it down and sell it as one of his comic books. He said nobody would believe it. Now that's something you don't hear from a man who makes his living selling stories."

"I've watched men grow old sitting on these barstools. Hair turns gray, bellies get bigger, and stories get better every year. Except Captain Voss. That fellow looks the same every time I see him. Either he's discovered the fountain of youth or he's got the best barber in New Mexico. And I don't think it's the barber."

"A stranger asked me once if I could keep a secret. I told him I'd been keeping secrets for thirty years. He asked how much I charged. I said that depended on whether he wanted me to keep his secret or tell somebody else's. He paid for his whiskey and left. Smart fellow. Most people don't know when to stop asking questions."