Poison Branches

by Cynthia Raleigh

  “I’m good, just heading over to the bar to start my shift. Why don’t you ladies come in for a drink?”

  Perri looked at Nina and stammered a few uncertain syllables. Nina responded, “Well, that sounds like a good idea. I was getting pretty dry after all the talking, aren’t you Perri?”

  “Yes, definitely, a drink would be great.” Perri put her keys back in the zippered pocket of her purse and returned to the sidewalk. The trio walked past the door to the police station toward the entrance to the tavern. Nick held the door open and waved them in with a flourish, “After you, gentle ladies.”

  “You just need a costume; you would make a wonderful pirate or medieval gentleman,” laughed Nina.

  Nick’s grin made Perri smile. She was consciously trying not to be what she thought was too obvious. She didn’t want to be one of those women. She chalked up her response to having not had more than a couple of dates since her divorce and, even then, it had been more than six months. She told herself it was more nervousness over being out of practice in how to act rather than to the person talking to her. Then she realized she was thinking about dates, and all Nick had done was ask them to come to the tavern for drinks. She felt a little foolish when she realized that she was hopeful about Nick.

  “Grab a stool at the bar,” Nick said as he walked toward the employee area of the bar, “I’ll be right back, just have to clock in.”

  Perri avoided looking at Nina since she could feel her stare boring into her. She hung her purse on the hanger along the underside of the bar, settled on the stool, and after reading the same line on the draft menu several times, she finally turned to Nina and said, “What?”

  “Not a thing Sweetie, just glad to see you react, at least a little, to a very handsome guy. ‘Bout time.” Nina smiled widely.

  “I don’t want to ‘react,’ I feel stupid.”

  “You aren’t stupid. I will call you stupid though if you don’t react or you say no.”

  “Say no to what exactly, he hasn’t asked me anything.”

  “Not yet, good grief, give it time. You don’t expect him to run you down in the parking lot after meeting you a couple of times and ask you on a hot date, do you? You’d be the first one to recoil from that.” Nina laughed and Perri looked sheepish. “Come on, he asked us to come here and I doubt it was just to sell a couple of beers.”

  “Yeah, ok. I know. Just don’t embarrass me…”

  “Why would I embarrass you? I’m hurt,” said Nina with mock offense.

  “Come on. We aren’t sixteen anymore, so let’s try to behave like…”

  “Bwa ha ha, you are too funny. Don’t worry, I won’t intentionally embarrass you,” Nina assured her as Nick came back behind the bar.

  “What can I get for you? I’m buying.” A dimple appeared on the left side of Nick’s mouth when he smiled.

  “I’ll have a glass of red wine,” said Nina.

  Nicked nodded and looked at Perri, “And what can I get for you?”

  Perri answered, “I think I should have a Dead Guy.” Nina shot a questioning look at Perri.

  When Nina turned, she said, “Simmer down, it’s a kind of beer remember? I figure since this is the Arrogant Rogue, I should have a Rogue’s Dead Guy.”

  “Excellent choice, Perri. Comin’ up.” Nick took a wine glass from the rack above the bar and filled it with wine that glowed red with the low bar lights. He pulled a bottle of beer from a chiller at the other end of the bar and popped the cap, then set both down on the counter.

  “You’re going back to the land of the Hoosiers tomorrow morning, huh?” He leaned on the heel of his hands, far apart on the bar, looking at Perri.

  “Yes. We had planned to go home Sunday, but we were asked to help Detective Vines out with some research so we stayed a couple of extra days.”

  “Well, I’m glad you did. It sounds like things are getting a little weird, what with Rodney Sauer turning up dead too. First Amy and then Rodney.” Nick put a few empty bottles in the recycling bin and wiped the counter, “You haven’t had any trouble, have you?” Nick asked.

  Perri responded, “None other than with two of the Sauers.”

  “I heard about Milton running you off his neighbor’s property. That guy isn’t right.”

  “I’m sorry Rodney was murdered, but he was thoroughly unpleasant and I don’t find it difficult to believe that he got himself whacked.”

  “Perri…my goodness,” exclaimed Nina, staring at Perri with meaningful eyes.

  “No, I agree,” chuckled Nick, “he was headed for an abrupt end with his attitude and all the things he got into.”

  “Did he have a lot of familiarity with local law enforcement?” asked Nina.

  “Oh yeah! Always something with him. His brother, Howard, used to be like that, but he finally grew up a little bit. As soon as he got some sense about himself, he moved away. Somewhere in Florida I think. Haven’t seen him for years.”

  “What happened to Mrs. Sauer?” Perri wanted to know.

  “I think she left a long time ago. I don’t remember exactly when but I kind of remember there being a Mrs. Sauer when I was a kid.”

  There was an awkward silence until three construction workers came in and sat down along the far end of the bar. “Be back in a bit,” said Nick.

  “Oh, that’s fine, you’re at work, we understand,” Perri quickly took a swig of her beer and nearly choked.

  Nina turned in concern, “You ok?” as she handed her a napkin.

  “Yes,” Perri sputtered as quietly as she could. “I inhaled and drank at the same time. Man, I hate when I do that.”

  “Look on the bright side, you didn’t spit it out all over the bar. That would be bad. And you were worried about me embarrassing you.” They both laughed.

  After Nick served the three construction guys, a couple more groups of people came in, meandered around, and finally settled at tables. They ordered drinks which kept Nick busy for about fifteen minutes, but his furtive glances back to Perri did not go unnoticed, mostly by Nina who occasionally remarked, “You see that? Mmm hmm.” Nina and Perri were both finished with their drinks when he came back, at the same time as more people filtered into the bar.

  Nick watched them enter but leaned over the counter, across from Perri. “Now, you guys are heading back up north tomorrow, right?”

  “Yes, we are done here. I came to get some research done for myself and to have our annual Girls’ Trip, although we didn’t do much of the relaxing we were going to do.” Perri cast an apologetic look over at Nina, who waved it away. “Then I ended up doing some research for Sarah Vines.”

  “I heard about that, impressive.” Nick nodded, looking Perri in the eye.

  “Not really, just looking up records in the Clerk’s office. Sarah didn’t have time to do it.”

  “Well, she asked you to do it. That’s something that doesn’t happen often.”

  “Really? She seemed very organized and personable enough.”

  “Yeah, she is, but she hasn’t had that position for very long and, you know how it is when you’re trying to prove yourself, not wanting to ask for help. There were a couple of other officers who felt they should have gotten the position when Daniel Bales left to take a job in Nashville.”

  “Oh, I see. I don’t know if what we found will help her or not, but I hope so.”

  “What did she have you doing, if I can ask?”

  “She never said not to tell, so I guess I can.” Perri told Nick about trying to find some indication of what Patricia may have been looking for in the research she had asked Amy to help her with, as well as the contents of the documents they had found.

  Nick whistled lowly. “My, my, Patricia was looking into some serious stuff.” He thought for a few moments, “So, Sarah Vines is thinking that Amy was killed because she was helping Patricia?”

  “I believe she does think that, yes. As to the details of why someone would kill her, that I don’t know for sure. I traced Jonathan Black
well to Oklahoma and Sarah asked me to look into anything I can find out about him and his life in Oklahoma tonight and let her know, but that should be the end of it for me.”

  “Hey Nicky!” came a call from across the room. Nick grimaced and straightened up. The source pointed at an empty glass and bottle, asked, “Another?”

  “Ok, Kevin, just a sec. You two want another drink?”

  Perri answered, “I do, but I think I’d better pass. I have to drive and I don’t want to have to head back to the police station,” Perri grinned. “Nina, if you want…”

  “No, I’d better not or I’ll be snoring like a buzz saw in the car on the way back.”

  “We’d better go. It looks like your shift is about to get pretty busy.”

  Nick agreed, “It’s that time, I guess.”

  Perri and Nina stood and slung their purses on their arms. Perri could feel the warmth of Nina’s scrutiny, like someone shining a sun lamp on the side of her face. She said to Nick, “Thanks very much for the drink, Nick, I enjoyed talking to you.”

  “It was all my pleasure, Perri.” Nick hesitated, then said, “You know, it’s too bad you have to go back now. There’s a festival this weekend, nothing much, just a kind of harvest thing, but it’s a lot of fun. Can’t I tempt you? Plenty of food, drink, and good company, and there’s usually a bonfire once it gets dark.”

  “That sounds great, I’d really like that, but…” Perri stammered.

  Nina came to Perri’s rescue, “She means ‘but I have to take my friend Nina home in the morning so she can get back to her family and to work on Thursday.’”

  “Ah, I see, well I will choose to take that as an acceptance of my offer which is only prevented by the interference of a prior commitment.” Nick leaned forward a bit, “How’s that?”

  “That’s exactly correct,” Perri said with a smile that reached her eyes.

  Nick waved in response to another signal from the same table before saying, “Uh, if you don’t mind, can I call you?”

  “Sure, that’d be fine.” Perri stood staring at Nick.

  “Can I get your number?” he asked.

  “Yes, I’ll write it down for you.”

  Nick slid a paperboard coaster across the bar, turned it over, and pointed to it, “Write it on there, if you don’t mind, and I’ll be sure not to lose it.”

  Perri wrote her cell phone number on the coaster and smiled, “Well, goodbye. Thanks again.”

  “Bye ladies. Please drive carefully and have a safe trip home.” Nick smiled, the dimple returning on the left side of his mouth. He waved again as he walked backward toward the opposite end of the bar.

  Perri and Nina walked through the big oak door of the tavern. As they started down the tiled ramp another customer, a blond, curly-haired man pushed roughly past them as he came out of the door behind them. Shuffling forward a few steps, Perri exclaimed, “Excuse US.” The man hustled away from them without looking back.

  “Well, really!” Nina blurted loudly as the man disappeared around the corner.

  She and Nina walked into the humid night, the sidewalk still radiating the heat of the day. The crickets had started their evening program and the air was dead still.

  When they were a block from the tavern, Nina turned to Perri and said, “Sure, that’d be fine? Are you kidding me?”

  “What? What should I have said?” came Perri’s defensive response.

  Nina started to laugh, “It sounded like an answer to someone asking if you minded sitting at a table instead of a booth. ‘Sure, that’d be fine,” Nina parroted. Perri looked dismayed. Nina snickered, “Don’t worry, I may not have done any better, but it was all I could do not to laugh right then.”

  They walked the rest of the distance to the car, Perri in thought. As they got in, Perri looked across the roof of the car at Nina, raised her hands in the air and said, exasperated, “So I carried a watermelon!”

  Nina hooted with laughter at the use of their longtime euphemism for making a social blunder where romance was concerned and slid into the bucket seat of the Cooper.

  Chapter 27

  Nina was curled into the large overstuffed armchair absorbed in reading a mystery. Perri was sitting at the head of the bed, propped up by numerous pillows, and with her laptop on the bed in front of her. She had her notes next to her and was scrolling through city directories for Guthrie, Oklahoma, trying to find a clue to Jonathan Blackwell’s business. She hit paydirt when she saw a listing in the 1894 directory: ‘Blackwell’s Water Company: Wells and Supply.’ The owner was listed as Mr. Jon. Blackwell.

  “I think I found something,” said Perri. Nina looked up from her book inquisitively. “Looks like our renegade owned a water supply company.”

  “Water supply?” asked Nina.

  “Mmm,” Perri’s fingers clattered over the laptop’s keys as she did a couple of searches. Nina resumed reading until, nearly half an hour later, Perri said, “Ok, I think I see what he was doing, or did.”

  Nina put the bookmark back in her book and turned around to sit upright. “What did he do?”

  “In a nutshell, back in 1889, Oklahoma land that had been the home to Native Americans was opened up for settlement by the federal government. There was a massive land grab on April 22, 1889, that started at noon with a pistol shot; more like a huge race of thousands and thousands of people to snatch acreage. Some greedy guts snuck in early, days or weeks prior, to cherry pick sites they wanted, some even hid and camped out. That’s where the Oklahoma term “Sooners” comes from.”

  “Can you imagine what chaos that must have been?” asked Nina, amazed.

  “No, I can’t. They even had trains bringing people in to make the run. Hopeful land grabbers ran, rode horses, drove wagons, anything you can think of to get ahead of the others.” Perri clicked through several tabs on her computer. “The University has an archive of old maps, plats, and other drawings. Our MIA Blackwell appears to have acquired some very prime real estate north of Guthrie, stretching from the current edge of town to the Cimarron River, including the area where Cottonwood Creek branches off the river and flows through Guthrie. His land also had large subterranean water resources.” Perri looked at Nina, thinking.

  “What does that mean?” asked Nina.

  “Well…given the reports of food and water shortages in towns in Oklahoma immediately after the land rush, and also for some time afterward because of the massive increase in population, it would seem to me that Mr. Blackwell had a pretty firm grip on a water supply to the town of Guthrie. He would have made a killing since he essentially controlled the water supply.”

  “Couldn’t people have dug their own wells?”

  “Yes, but that takes time and it doesn’t supply an entire growing city, including all the businesses and farms. He also controlled a section of the River and streams. Blackwell’s Water Company not only dug wells, provided maintenance and supplies, but probably had a stranglehold on the larges sources of water in the area. According to this Guthrie City Directory, in 1894, Blackwell’s occupied the entire top floor of a building on Oklahoma Avenue called the Adler Building. He was doing well enough by 1894 to have a large office.”

  “So, he ran off, dumped his wife and kids, became a land and business owner, and never came back?” frowned Nina.

  “Yep. And there’s more. By 1910, Mr. B evidently was also in the oil business, because he is listed in the Directory for that year as owner of Blackwell Oil. I don’t see anything that says if the oil was found on the same property, if he bought more land, or just bought into the business somewhere else, but he was doing a bang-up business out there.”

  “No wonder Patricia was interested in finding out more if she discovered her great-great-grandfather ran off to make a fortune somewhere else and never came back.”

  “If that didn’t interest her, this sure did,” said Perri.

  “What’s that?” Nina got up from the chair and sat on the end of the bed. Perri turned her laptop so Nina could
see it. She clicked on a document, which opened and slowly came in to focus.

  “This is a marriage certificate between Jonathan Blackwell of Guthrie, Oklahoma and a Miss Prudence Noble of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, dated 1891.”

  “Oh wow, that scoundrel ran off and got married again, but, this would not be valid, would it?”

  “Yes, because Susannah filed for, and got, a divorce in 1887 based on Jonathan’s abandonment,” responded Perri.

  “That’s right. Do you think he knew that or just went ahead and married someone else anyway?”

  “I have no idea. He doesn’t seem like the type to care and back then there was very little chance of being caught out if no one is looking for you anymore.” Perri shook her head.

  “What a creep!” Nina had a look of revulsion on her face, “Runs off and leaves his family and just goes on with another life like it never happened.”

  “The next thing I want to find out is if Mr. Blackwell had another family. He was thirty-five years old when he married Prudence, who was nineteen at the time. Chances are they had children. Jonathan could have had a second family.”

  “Oooo. Now that would be a real thorn in the side if Patricia knew, especially since her family had such a long history of difficulties. And it would also be…”

  “…a reason for Amy to be removed if she was poking around in the records. Patricia may not have gotten this far without Amy.” Perri pulled the laptop closer to her and said, “Let’s check the census records for 1900, 1910, and 1920 and see if Jonathan is listed with a family. His mother died in 1901 and we know he was still in Guthrie then, because her Will placed him there. Unless the name is misspelled or not transcribed correctly, it shouldn’t take long to check.”

  Nina sat cross-legged on the bed and leaned forward on her elbows. Perri first searched the 1900 census. “It’s either ironic or a sick coincidence that Guthrie is also located in Logan County, Oklahoma.” She bit her lower lip as she typed in the name to search and wait while the arrow circled round and round.

  “Let’s see, not too many Blackwells. There he is. Let’s have a look at the actual image of the census record. The image appeared, there were numerous areas of scrawly writing that was crossed out and rewritten, and a couple of dark areas that looked like water stains. “At least it is legible, and this is the year they included the birth month and year. Awesome. Here they are, living on Warner Avenue. The Head of the Household is Jonathan Blackwell, his wife is Prudence, and there are three children: Edward, age eight, born April 1892; Phillip, age six, born May 1894; and Catherine, age two years and eight months, born October 1897. Jonathan’s occupation is listed as Merchant,” Perri looked at Nina and made a face.