The Floating Corpse

by James Walker

  “Hey, Uncle Will, don’t worry about it. I understand. Then I added to show my solidarity, “It’s like Pop always said-‘nothing costs a penny and nothing takes a minute!’ It could be a while before this gets sorted out.”

  He brightened up a little. “I’m glad you understand, Collin. It does help to assuage my guilt a little.

  Now, there is no service for the rest of the day and tonight, but we can get you on the first train tomorrow. I wish we could have had more time…”

  The rest of his spiel was lost on me as outrage filled my chest. Here I was, pledging my allegiance and he was talking about shipping me home. I set my drink down and pulled myself as upright as I could. Then I let him have it with both barrels, talking right over his monologue.

  “I don’t give a fat rat’s ass when the next train is, because I won’t be on it! I am not going anywhere!

  “I told you last night that I would stick by you-even before we found the child! And remember-I was there when we discovered the child! I have just as much right to see justice done for that poor infant as you do!

  “I may not be my father, but I am a grown man more than capable of being some assistance to you! We’re in this together!”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ozaki scowling at me from across the room. With a shake of his head, he stomped off, leaving me to wonder what his anger was about. I thought to get more of an argument from him, but Uncle Will look stunned by my firmness. After a long pause, he sighed and took another plug on his soda. When he took the bottle from his lips he was smiling.

  “Excellent! Like I said before-I always think better when there is a Frohman about!”

  “Good, that’s settled then.” I said, with a smile of my own. “So, what’s our next move?”

  He took the cat in his lap off and dropped her to the floor. “For the present, I will rest before dinner and you shall take the final leg of your tour with Miss Catherine.”

  “That’s it?”

  He shrugged. “We have gone as far as we can with the information we have, Frohman. I telephoned my contact with the Pinkertons, then I placed a call to my brother George, the senator, and he gave me the name and number for the commissioner of the state police. One Michael O’Hare. I rang him up and explained the situation and he offered to have his men in the area ask about. Perhaps they will provide a lead.”

  “State Police?” I asked. “I’ve never heard of a State Police.”

  “They are newly formed. No more than a year or two old. Their purpose is to keep the peace in the rural areas of the state, like Chester, that aren’t populated enough to support their own force. It is also in their charter to provide support for any and all precincts when needed.”

  “Oh,” I nodded. “Like the Texas Rangers- only without the Comanches.”

  William barked a laugh. “Quite so. We are fortunate that our Indians are more civilized.”

  “So, what did the Pinkies have to say?”

  He looked troubled as he mumbled. “Nothing new to report, I’m afraid. Though they beat around the bush, they offer no real evidence of his whereabouts! I fear they have lost complete track of Roy since Washington.”

  Our earlier conversation made sense then. “I see, so you’re afraid he may show up! That’s why you brought up sending me on my way—again! Well, I hope he does. With the chief’s men on high alert and us on our toes—he won’t stand a chance of sneaking up on us. And if he does…” I said nothing more but patted the revolver under my jacket.

  Uncle Will grew deadly serious and glared at me. “Do not let your confidence in that weapon give you a sense of false security. Roy is a dangerous man. Part of me still rebels in allowing you to be involved with a dispute that is Ozaki’s and mine alone.”

  “Maybe.” I conceded. “but who’s going to watch out for Mrs. Woods…or Catty?”

  He looked a bit poleaxed for a moment. I’m not sure my Uncle could fathom the depth of some men’s evil. I’m not sure that someone hurting the girls had ever crossed his mind.

  “I’m staying.” I said firmly.

  He patted me on the knee and stood. “I shall see you at dinner.” He turned and walked away, calling over his shoulder, “Eight-thirty sharp!”

  13

  I finished my drink then swung off the sofa and put my boots back on. I could hear Catty banging around in the kitchen, so I headed through the pantry to find her. When I rounded the corner, I found her bent over in front of the stove, carefully centering a cast iron Dutch oven on the rack. The thing looked like it weighed a ton.

  “Need some help with that?” I asked.

  “Not likely.” she replied as she removed her hands and shut the oven door. Straightening up, she grinned and added. “I’ve got three brothers who can’t fry an egg. I don’t trust men in a kitchen.”

  “Hey,” I protested, placing my spayed fingertips on my chest, “I’ll have you know I was the frat house chef in my college years! The boys would swoon for my Viand Porcine Cassoulet!” Which was just the French way of saying pig and whistle berries.

  She shook her head and laughed, “I’m not surprised a bunch of college boys would go for pork and beans.”

  This girl was always surprising me. Plucking off her apron, she beamed. “Are you ready to see the rest of the castle?”

  “Absolutely! I’m refreshed and rehydrated.”

  She paused for a moment and looked me in the eyes. “You haven’t had too much to drink, have you? You need some balance for this.”

  Now I was intrigued. I smiled. “No, I’m fine.” She still looked skeptical, so I added, “I shared the drink you poured me with a cat.”

  She laughed. “That-I can believe. We can’t leave anything on the counter around here without needing a broom to keep the devils at bay! Alright then, up the stairs we go.”

  She led me across the kitchen, and we went up the back staircase. We went right past the second level with the bedrooms and up to the third floor, where the art gallery was. Off the landing there was a short walkway that ended at the wall. Two other hallways jutted out at right angles. One that led to the gallery and one that led past a few doors, then on to another stairway that went down to the second floor. Nowhere I hadn’t already been.

  Catty just stood behind me but didn’t offer an explanation. Apparently, she had picked up some bad habits from my uncle. Still, I was more than curious by then, so I asked. “Where do those two doors lead?” I asked, pointing down the hall.

  “The one on the right is a closet and the left is a guest bedroom. That’s where I sleep when I stay over.”

  I’ll admit now, that I felt a storm of butterflies in my stomach. Surely, that wasn’t the place she wanted to show me! I turned to see what kind of expression she had on her face, when she suddenly curtsied and put her hand to the wall next to her. As she slid her arm back, a section of the paneling slid with it to reveal a shallow closet that was filled with crooked shelves.

  I couldn’t for the life of me, see what they were designed for and was doubly shocked when Catty got a grip on them and pulled them out of the wall. Attached at the floor, they turned out to be a set of stairs that neatly fell forward to rest against the opposite wall. My eyes followed the stairs up to a wooden hatch, set into the ceiling!

  Catty was delighted at the dumbstruck look on my face. I stared at it for a moment, suddenly realizing how the uppermost balcony was accessed. “Wow! That’s the cat’s a-…meow.”

  “That’s nothing,” She said, waggling her eyebrows. “The best part is still ahead. Come on!”

  She quickly scampered up the stairs and easily pushed the trap door up. I waited a moment for decency’s sake and followed her. It was dim where the hatch went through the floor to reveal another room, but sunlight was streaming in towards the front and Catty was moving in that direction. I realized that this was the room at the very top of the castle with the highest set balcony.

  I rose from my knees and looked around. It was really more like a ca
ve than a room, as the front was completely open with railings that curved out into the air with a slight arch encircling a small balcony. The floor, walls, and ceiling were bare castle stone. No bigger than fifteen by fifteen, I let my imagination run wild and envisioned it as a cell. I laughed when I looked at Catty and thought of the fair maiden locked in the tower.

  For herself, she was grunting as she pulled a large, wide, and segmented board from along one wall and tried to muscle it out into the center of the balcony. “A gentleman would give me a hand rather than laugh at me,” she snipped.

  Not wanting to explain myself, lest I sound like a sap-head, I leapt forward and grabbed the top of the board to help support it. I was caught off guard by how heavy it was, until I realized that it wasn’t a single- it was a number of boards attached together in a strange pattern. Before I could ask her what it was, she lifted her knee and pushed the board at a certain point so I could not see from behind.

  I nearly let go as the board. Catty pushed down on the top railing and the entire structure collapsed, and then snapped into place. Just like that, I was resting my hand on the back of a bench seat! I just shook my head and smiled.

  Folding her skirt under her legs, Catty sat down and patted the bench next to her. I came around and took a seat with a respectful distance between us. “This is amazing,” I said, leaning back against the seat. “I always knew my Uncle was a clever man- I’ve seen countless set designs and special effects he designed, but I never realized he was so handy with his hands.”

  Catty nodded. “I guess I’m just used to it. It seems that he comes up with something more exiting each week. If you could have seen this place when it wasn’t more than stone and bare beams, you would be overwhelmed by the transformation.”

  “I can believe that. Even my father’s descriptions didn’t do it justice.” I got up and walked over to the balcony. Up this high, there was a stiff breeze and I put both hands on the railing to steady myself. Views from here were spectacular. I knew logically that Long Island sound was too far south to see, but I swear my eyes could almost make out its big blue expanse. To my left was beautiful rolling hills and down below, I could easily make out Ozaki’s house and the ferry landing. For that matter, I could see the ferry landing on the other side and the full vision of the town that stretched out and away from it. In fact, I could see well past the buildings and into the countryside behind it. To the right of that was more land and the railroad bridge that spanned the river. The big barge dotted the water below it and there were a few other crafts plying the river as dusk approached.

  Looking further right, I could see the trail being made in the woods, for Uncle Will’s miniature train tracks, up to the spot where our mystery began. I was awed by the vista. A pair of eagles glided over the river in front of us and I swear I was looking down on them.

  I turned to Catty, “This must be the highest spot along the coast! Would you mind pointing out some landmarks for me? I know I’ve been around on the ground, but it all looks so different from up here.”

  Catty got up and joined me at the railing. She pointed out various spots along both sides of the river and gave me a general overview of the town. Shoulder to shoulder, I enjoyed her voice and her enthusiasm.

  “Where do you live?” I asked.

  She pointed to a place past the town. “It’s hard to see from here. Open that chest over there and take out the smaller bag.”

  I hadn’t noticed the wooden chest that sat against the wall, my attention being on the bench. On closer inspection, I was impressed that it was cedar lined and tightly fitted against the elements. There were a variety of objects laid out neatly inside, each wrapped in its own cloth bag. There was a long tube shaped article on the bottom and a smaller bag next to it. I took the small one as Catty instructed and set it on the seat of the bench to open it. I was delighted to find a set of fairly large Bi-oculars.

  “Outstanding!” I said to Catty as I brought them over to her. “I suppose the other thing is a telescope.”

  She nodded and put the glasses to her face. “Last month, Mr. Gillette brought us all up here one night to watch a meteor shower. It was amazing!”

  After a moment, she found what she was looking for. She put her elbow on the railing to keep the glasses steady and motioned for me to look through them. I slipped in next to her, enjoying the closeness, and after a few prompts I located her family’s home; a typical New England salt box, but it sat on a large wooded plot. Having always lived on the move, it looked like a nice place to grow up.

  After a minute, she left the glasses with me and returned to the bench. I was fascinated by the powerful focus of the glasses, so I spent a few more minutes looking around.

  I was drawn to movement on the water and saw a small sloop pull away from the barge and headed for the town. Though I had never seen it, there was something familiar…

  “Hey Catty, is that your brother’s boat?” I asked.

  She got up again and leaned against my back and looked over my shoulder so she could track my line of sight. “I think so. Here, let me have those.” She reached around, and I relinquished them to her. “Yep! That’s him. Looks like he’s got a couple of those barge rats with him. Mangy curs!” She handed the glasses back shaking her head in obvious disgust.

  “You don’t seem too impressed with the Railroad engineers,” I commented dryly.

  She snorted. “Some engineers! They’ve been here nearly a month and they haven’t so much as moved a rock! Everybody in town is laughing about it. Lazy bums if you ask me! I don’t know why my brother caters to them so much. Always taking them supplies and ferrying them back and forth to town. He’s at their beck and call all hours of the day and night. Which is strange because all they must do is lounge around.”

  While she went on her soft rant, I refocused on Marquis’s boat. My blood boiled when I saw Marquis clearly, but I kept it to myself for Catty’s sake. There were two other men with him on deck. A tall, older man, who appeared to be giving orders, gesturing at both Marquis who was at the wheel, and the other man who was gripping a line that went over the side. As the boat chugged slowly along, the second man would raise a knotted line and the older man would write something in a book.”

  I took the glasses from my eyes and turned my head to face her. “Well, I hate to tell you this, Catty, but they are not lounging now. They’re plumbing the depth of the river. Makes sense in their line of work.”

  “Well…there’s a first time for everything, I suppose!” She walked back over and sat on the bench. I thought she was even more interesting when she was miffed, so I joined her on the seat.

  “Besides,” I pointed out. “I’m sure they have a fat contract with the railroad company. Probably get paid by the day, so I’m sure they’re taking their time and most likely they’re paying Marquis a pretty penny under expenses. Don’t worry about those railroad kings -- they can afford it.”

  She gave me an arched eyebrow. “Would you accept that from your employees?”

  “No,” I conceded. “My theater syndicate doesn’t import Chinese or exploit negros for our hard labor. My Father taught me that if you paid a man a pittance, they rarely met expectations but if you paid a good wage to a good man, they always exceeded them.”

  She laughed, “Well, Mr. Gillette pays us fairly well, I guess. Still, he’s got more money than anyone I know, and he spends every cent like it he was giving blood!”

  I had five times Uncle Will’s assets, but I was too embarrassed to tell her that. She must have seen something on my face, because she laughed again and patted me on the thigh.

  “Never mind”, she said absently as she looked out over the horizon. “It’s almost time.” She turned to me and gave me that beautiful smile, “You’re about to see something that money can’t buy.”

  I tore my eyes off her face and looked out over railing. What I saw was akin to a religious revelation! The sky began to dim as the sun was sinking over the trees in the distance. Slowly edgin
g downwards, we could actually follow the motion. Yellow rays of the sun began to turn into reds, purples, oranges, and every shade in between illuminated the clouds and landscape as if it were a giant painting being brushed into life before our very eyes. Neither Catty nor I looked away or even spoke for the next ten minutes until the sun had dropped below the horizon. When I looked over at her, she had her hands pressed together in front of her and her head bowed. After she opened her eyes and looked up, she saw me staring at her.

  With a sheepish smile, she explained. “My grandma always said that if you sent a prayer with the sunset, it goes straight to God as he takes back the light.”

  “Beautiful place to pray Catty.”

  She shrugged, “I think she made it up, but I’ve been doing it since I was a little girl.”

  “What were you praying for?”

  She looked at me for a moment then laughed and poked me in the arm, “Everything you take for granted, I’ll wager.” She stood and smoothed out her dress.

  “Gees Louise, Catty!” I protested. “That’s not fair! I know-“

  She cut me off by bending over and placing a finger softly against my lips. “We can discuss that another time if you wish,” She said teasingly, “But the sun is down, and I have to get supper out of the oven before the chicken is mush and the dumplings are lumps of coal!”

  “We don’t want that!” I said as I got to my feet.

  “Here, help me with the bench,” Catty said.

  “Could we just leave it?” I asked. “I’d like to come back up here tomorrow, I mean, if you want to.”

  She gave me a long look, but smiled and said coquettishly, “We’ll see.”

  She did fold up the bench and we stored it against the wall. This one would keep her cards close to her chest.

  Dinner was better than I could have hoped for. Never in my life had I enjoyed such a simple meal. The stew was perfect and Mrs. Woods’s dumpling rivaled, perhaps even surpassed, her biscuits. It was so good, I settled for cider to wash it down. To my delight, Catty ate with us and Ozaki too which made the meal all the more relaxing, with idle chatter and great food. I was starting to feel like this was a second family to me.