Ransom on the River: Deep River Inn

by Bettie Jane

  As soon as the gun fell to the ground, Henrietta ran to Jemmie and fell to her knees embracing him.

  “It’s all right Jemmie. Everything is all right.”

  So Sadie’s ear, Henrietta might have been talking as much to herself as she was to Jemmie.

  Sadie, seeing that Jemmie was safe with his mother, secured some rope from inside the barn and worked with Gus to hog tie Olga. Every kid who ever lived on a farm knew how to hog tie.

  Once she was tied, they let her lay on her belly on the cold hay-covered floor of the barn. Surprisingly, Olga didn’t put much effort into fighting back.

  Maybe she was just as exhausted as the rest of them.

  Still, Sadie had no sympathy for the woman who’d held Jemmie at gunpoint, which was maybe the least of what the poor child had been through on this snowy Sunday, potentially the longest day of his very young life.

  She’d speak with her later and see what she could learn about the day’s events and the deaths of Muriel and Carl.

  “Gus, I’m going to check on the others. You have this for a minute?” Sadie’s eyes looked in Olga’s direction leaving no mystery as to the this she was referring.

  Sadie walked out of the barn and looked out into the cold snowy air. The wind had picked up making it harder to see very far. She made her way up the stairs to the front porch and walked into Pete’s house without knocking.

  There was a rifle on the ground in the middle of the living room where all the men were gathered.

  Pete was sitting on the couch and Oscar and Fred both pointed guns at him. William and Enoch stood guard over the whole situation. Sadie suspected that if not for the presence of William and Enoch, Oscar and Fred may have already sought their own justice in the form of a bullet in Pete’s brain.

  It looked to Sadie like Pete had tried to resist and fire a weapon when confronted.

  She was eager to talk to him, but since nobody appeared injured, she had some business to attend to first.

  “I’ll be back in a minute to talk to Pete.”

  She pulled a couple of blankets from Pete’s couch and trekked back out to the barn now that she was confident the situation in the house was in hand. Pete had so many armed guards, he was currently the least of her concerns.

  Back inside the barn, she was pleased to see Henrietta snuggling with Jemmie and that a little color had returned to his palor. Gus had Olga well away from the boy, and she was still very much immobile from their job with the ropes. Olga’s eyes were open, but glassy. The rest of her features were flat. She looked like she’d been through quite a lot and was in shock over the entire affair.

  Still, Sadie found no sympathy for her, whatever her reasons may have been.

  She knelt down in front of them, wrapped mother and son in the blankets and addressed Jemmie directly.

  “Jemmie, are you hurt?”

  He shook his head. “No, ma’am. I’m a bit hungry, though.”

  Sadie nodded. “We’ll get you home and warmed up soon. Anna and your grandmother are at your house waiting for you. Could you answer just a few questions for me and then your mother can take you home.”

  He nodded, looking quite solemn all of a sudden.

  “Can you tell me what happened today, after Carl grabbed you in the woods?”

  “He took me to one of those fish cabins out in Swedetown.”

  “Was he alone when he took you?”

  Jemmie nodded. “At first he was, but when we got to the car, there was a woman waiting.”

  “What color was the car?”

  “It was a black.”

  She drove us out there. Carl kept telling me there was nothing to worry about. That my father had arranged for him to keep me until he was done with his trip to Astoria. I knew he was lying. Even if Father had arranged for it, Carl was real rough, picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder. I was certain Father wouldn’t have approved of the way Carl was treating me. I was just glad that Joel wasn’t with me.”

  “And when you got to the fish cabin, do you remember what happened there?”

  He nodded, his face a little more pale.

  “The woman—

  Sadie interrupted him gently. “Was it that woman?” she asked, pointing at Olga.

  “No, ma’am. It was a different one.”

  “All right. Go on.”

  “Carl and the woman, I think maybe he caller her Marie or something, they made me wait in the bedroom. I don’t think I was supposed to hear them, but the walls were real thin. I could hear exactly what they were saying in the kitchen. They were talking about getting some money once they returned me to my father and then they were planning on where they were going to go with all the money.”

  “That must have been confusing for you.”

  He nodded again, still snuggled up next to his mother. Henrietta listened to the events of Jemmie’s day with tight eyes and drawn lips.

  “Yes, ma’am. When that other woman came in—she started screaming and carrying on something fierce—then I was getting more nervous. I think she didn’t like that the other two were going on a trip without her. She called them both some names that I cannot repeat in front of my mother without getting a whooping.”

  Sadie and Henrietta both chuckled.

  “No more whoopings, Jemmie, I promise,” his mom said.

  Sadie smiled and said,“that’s okay, Jemmie, you don’t need to repeat any of that.”

  He looked at her and then continued. “There was a lot of yelling and at some point the first woman, she came in to the bedroom where I was waiting. The other woman followed her in and…and she shot her. Right there in front of me.”

  Henrietta looked like she might vomit. Jemmie kept going.

  “I thought maybe she was going to shoot me too, but it seemed like the money they were going to get from Father kept them from doing that. She went right back out into the hallway and then I could hear her fighting with Carl. Some stuff broke and there was a lot more screaming and then a loud thud. The screaming stopped then. It was quiet for a few minutes and I thought maybe they both had died. I decided I better take a look and that’s when I saw Carl in the bathroom. There was so much blood. I thought he was probably dead, but I didn’t want to get close enough to check.”

  “You are doing really well, Jemmie. Can you keep going?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I didn’t know where the other woman—that woman,” he pointed at Olga, “went so I ran for the front door, but she came back in the house just as I got there.”

  “And the other woman, is that the woman over there with your uncle Gus?” Sadie confirmed to be certain she understood what he was saying.

  He nodded, his lips in a thin line.

  “Then what happened?”

  She told me I just needed to behave and I’d be home soon enough. That those other two got greedy and impatient and if I could just remain patient and quiet and do everything she said, I’d be back in my own bed soon enough.”

  He took a shaky breath. “So I did what she said. We waited on the sofa for a little while. Someone came to the door, but they didn’t come inside.”

  Sadie could feel her breath speed up when she realized that was probably her and Enoch and they’d been so close Jemmie.

  Jemmie kept going, unaware of Sadie’s private agony.

  “Then another man showed up. The two of them moved Carl from the bathroom into the trunk of the black car. They made me ride in the backseat. The woman drove the car and the man followed her in a truck. They drove the car to my father’s logging camp and I thought then they were going to let me go, but they didn’t. They made me get out and into the truck that the man was driving and left the car, and Carl, at the mill. I was sad when we drove away. I thought maybe I should have tried to get away.”

  His voice dropped to a shaky whisper.

  “But I was afraid.”

  “Of course you were, Jemmie,” Sadie said. “You’d just seen some very violent things. You did well. You listened to them
and you kept yourself safe. Did you come here, to this barn, after you left the mill?”

  He gulped and then kept telling his story. “Yes, ma’am. That woman kept me tied up in here. Said that tomorrow I’d be home if only I was very good and listened to her tonight.”

  Then he smiled. “I’m sure glad you came tonight, though. It was real cold in here.”

  He seemed to be borrowing his mother’s warmth and no longer shivering at all.

  “Would you recognize the man if you saw him again?”

  “Sure, but I don’t need to see him again. It was Mr. Phillips. He works for my father, so I recognized him.”

  “Well, in that case, I think you’ve answered enough questions. Henrietta, why don’t you take him home.”

  “Happy too. Will you let Oscar and my father know that Gus took us home?”

  “I will.”

  They started walking out of the barn, mother and son, when Henrietta turned around and smiled at Sadie.

  “Thank you, for everything you have done for my family today, Mrs. Anderson. I know that this town hasn’t exactly given you the warmest welcome. Most of us are still grieving the first Mrs. Anderson. I can’t speak for everyone, but I for one, am grateful that you are here. You are good for the Sheriff and you are good for our entire community. Even if the rest of those biddies can’t see it yet.”

  “I am so glad we found Jemmie and could return him safely to you.”

  Sadie turned to Gus, pulling her own weapon from her belt. “Gus, I’ll take Olga inside. You can go with Henrietta and Jemmie.”

  “Thank you, Sadie.”

  She drug Olga to her feet and pushed her toward and up the front porch steps and into the Phillips home. Olga moved slowly, but the Colt revolver digging into her back kept her moving forward.

  She took her into the kitchen so she wouldn’t be in the same room as Pete.

  The men standing guard over Pete noticed and Enoch and William were right on Sadie’s heels.

  It was time to get to the bottom of what had happened here today.

  18

  “Olga,” Sadie said, seated across from Olga at Pete Phillips’ kitchen table. “I’ve been looking for you. A lot has happened since I saw you this morning. I can’t help but think if you’d been honest with me then, Jemmie would have been returned to his family a lot sooner and Muriel and Carl would still be alive. I’ve already spoken with the boy and then men have interrogated Pete. Tell me your version of what happened?”

  Olga stared at Sadie with defiance burning in her eyes.

  “I don’t have to tell you anything. You aren’t the law.”

  “Well, funny you mention that, Miss Svenson. Today, actually, I am. You see, the Sheriff is in the hospital and I don’t know yet if he will live or die. Before he left, he deputized me which gives me all sorts of privileges, not the least of which is hauling you to jail.”

  Sadie briefly wondered if she could find the keys to the jail to lock up both Olga and Pete until Deputy Fisher returned from Portland. She quickly brushed that thought aside. She’d figure that out when she was satisfied she’d pulled every bit of this story out of Olga and Pete that she could.

  “Now,” Sadie continued, “when exactly did Pete get involved in this situation? He’d like nothing more than to blame the whole of it on you, but I suspect there is more to the story than what Pete is saying?”

  She was bluffing, of course. She had no idea at this point what Pete had or hadn’t said. Likely the men had gotten some information out of him, and she’d get to him next, but she’d like Olga’s version first.

  “We know that you killed Muriel and Carl. Was Carl planning on taking the money for himself and running off with Pete’s wife? Was that what you walked in on?”

  Olga paled a bit, her lips turning into an even deeper frown.

  “How did you know that?”

  “When did you know about the ransom?”

  Olga hung her head for a moment and then looked up, a lone tear slipping down her cheek.

  “He only told me he was going to have some money, a lot of it, and that we would finally be able to leave this godforsaken, rain-drenched town. He promised we’d go to California, somewhere with a beach and sunshine. I was working this morning and he didn’t expect me home until after dark. I walked in on he and that woman discussing where in California they were going to run off too. He was going to leave me here, after everything I’ve done for that good-for-nothing low life. Just like that. He was going to take the money and leave. When I learned their plans, well, I eliminated Muriel from the problem. I thought, maybe, with her out of the picture, he’d take me. I was mad that he’d taken up with another woman but I thought maybe I could forgive him. Especially if we could leave all of this behind.”

  “I’m guessing Carl wasn’t too happy with you killing his new girlfriend.”

  “He wasn’t happy at all. When I saw that she was really who he wanted, I was furious. We fought and he fell and hit his head on the toilet.”

  “That’s when you left to call Pete for help moving the body?”

  She looked irritated that Sadie already knew this.

  “When you came to the door, I still didn’t know what I was going to do, but when you asked after Carl and I remembered that Pete lived so close, well, I thought he would help me since his wife was carrying on with another man. I thought we could take the ransom money—the boy had already been kidnapped, it just made sense—and then I could take my half of the money and leave town like I planned and he’d have some money. I thought maybe it would ease the betrayal of his wife.”

  “Why did you only move Carl’s body and not Muriel’s?”

  “It was Pete’s idea. He said it would like Carl murdered her. I swear I had nothing to do with the boy’s kidnapping.”

  Sadie nodded. “And neither did Pete.”

  Olga shook her head. “He didn’t know about any of this until I called him to tell him about Muriel and Carl and tell him I needed his help.”

  “One more question, Olga. Did you you hear when Enoch and I came earlier this evening?”

  She nodded, obviously resigning herself to her fate. “Yes.”

  “Was the dog barking at you?”

  “That was what gave us away, wasn’t it? We almost got a way with it. That blasted boy and his dog whistle.”

  Just as Sadie thought. He’d used his dog whistle to disturb the dog, hoping he’d get our attention.

  Jemmie was a clever little boy.

  It had worked and was likely the reason the boy was safe with his mother this very moment.

  She’d be sure to tell him.

  “Enoch, will you please bring Olga to the jailhouse. I’ll meet you there.”

  “Sure. What about Pete? Should we take him too?”

  Sadie shook her head. “I’ll have William take him in a separate vehicle. I don’t want Olga and Pete in the same vehicle, but the rest of the interrogation should happen at the jail when Deputy Fisher can do it.”

  Enoch nodded.

  “I’ll get a ride from Fred to pick up Daniel’s keys to the jail and meet you there.”

  19

  Three days after Jemmie Brix was taken, Olga Svenson, Pete Phillips, and Oscar Brix were housed in separate cells at the Wahkiakum Courthouse.

  Carl and Muriel paid for their involvement in the kidnapping with their lives so justice had already found them.

  According to Deputy Fisher, Pete wouldn’t have a very long sentence since his involvement was so minimal in comparison, but his reputation in this community was ruined. He’d never work her again and would likely be run out of town by the locals. Olga would likely be sent away to a state facility since she’d confessed to murdering Muriel. Whether or not she’d be convicted for Carl’s death was debatable. She didn’t have money for an attorney so the deputy didn’t think it likely she’d get off on any kind of technicality. So she was likely looking at serving time for two homicides.

  With Jemmie home and at
least some of the responsible parties behind bars, Sadie made her way via ferry to Astoria to be with her husband.

  She’d been a gone a few months, since her marriage to Daniel but when she first laid eyes on the city that had been her home, she was immediately overcome by homesickness. She caught only a brief glimpse of her parent’s Deep River Inn and Tavern, but neglected to indulge the urge to pay it a visit. She went straight to St. Mary’s to check on her husband.

  The news that waited for her wasn’t great. He’d not woken up since he slipped into a fever dream on Sunday night. They assured her that if Daniel hadn’t come to the hospital when he did, he would already be dead. As it was, they still didn’t know if he would ever wake up.

  With a bit of pressure, she’d been allowed to wait by his bedside for him to wake up. Olivia, her daughter-in-law, came yesterday to visit and Sadie didn’t expect to see her again until tomorrow.

  With Deputy Fisher back in Cathlamet, Sadie left all her worry about Jemmie and what would happen in his capable hands.

  For now, she hung on every breath Daniel took, wondering if it would be his last.

  A soft knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and Sadie looked up to see who it was.

  Henrietta Brix.

  “Hi Sadie, the nurse said I could speak with you, if I was brief.”

  “Hello, it’s nice to see you. How is Jemmie?”

  “He is home, safe, thanks to you.”

  Henrietta held out a small brown parcel.

  “I brought you some food, enough for a couple of meals. Anna made it.”

  Henrietta blushed, looking like she felt guilty for not having prepared it herself.

  “Thank you. That is so kind of you. This is a long way to come to deliver food.”

  Mrs. Brix’s cheeks reddened again. “I woke this morning thinking about your situation. The ladies are all talking about how sick the Sheriff is, how they don’t know if he’ll survive and I just…well, you were there for me when I needed a friend and I thought you might need a friend.”