An', furthermore, Phil told me straight when I asked him that he didn't know himself who fired that shot." He paused for a moment for them to grasp the full import of his words.
Then he summed up the case.
"As the thing stands, we've got no evidence against anybody.

It can't be proved that the calf wasn't Nick's property in the first place.

It can't be proved that Nick was anywhere in the neighborhood.

It can't be proved who fired that shot.

It could have been Yavapai Joe, or anybody else, just as well as Nick.