"Yeah, we thought we would. It's just too cold out there."
"I know, that's another thing I didn't like about huntin', the cold."
"Well I guess we'll see you in the morning before we go, then…"
Chapter Thirty-Three
No Proof
"What are we gonna do now Jim?" Smitty asked as they prepared to get a night's sleep.
Jim shook his head, his feelings mixed, his exasperation showing. "I've never run across this kind of thing before, Smitty. I've got to study on it. It doesn't look as though I'm gonna be able to bring him in, though."
Smitty took his boots off and rubbed his feet. "The town council will have a fit."
"The ranchers aren't going to be too happy either. Especially after all the time they spent trying to help us catch him. Smitty, I never run across anything quite like this in my life. My hands are tied unless I can find some evidence. It's hard to believe that a little man from Cross Timbers could commit such terrible crimes and there isn't any evidence…"
Smitty reared back on the bed and put his hands under his neck. "Got religion, who would have thought. I mean, it's the last thing I ever thought of on this case."
Jim took his boots off. "I'm pulled two ways on this."
"What'd ya mean?"
"On one hand, I'm happy for Sadie. The little old woman deserves something good in her life, and she's awful close to her brother. It might kill her if I brought Elmer in. On the other hand, I sympathize with the ranchers and the town council, it don't seem like I've done my job…"
"I don't think the ranchers will hold a grudge when they find out. But the council will probably holler for a long while. Just because they can."
"I'm not likely to get elected Sheriff again after this."
"Aw…maybe it will settle down. Ain't been no more killings…"
Jim laid down and stretched out. He was stiff and cold and miserable. "It's liable to be one of those unsolved cases for years…"
"But we are pretty sure he was doin it. I mean, the killings have stopped for now, and he's stopped. So…maybe people will forget about it in the long run."
"Forget about it?" Jim shook his head. "There's no way they will forget about this. It's the most gruesome murders I've ever seen. I won't forget, as long as I live."
After a long silence Smitty almost laughed. "Maybe if he goes back to killin' you can nab him then…"
"What if he don't?" Jim closed his eyes.
"Then the murders are over and it just rests as an unsolved case." Smitty answered glancing at him through the dark.
"But I know he did it, Smitty. That's my problem. I'd bet my life on it. How can I live with that?"
Smitty shook his head. "Would you rather arrest him, take him to trial and wait for someone to show up to take him up north to one of those funny prisons? Would you rather break that poor old woman's heart and take her one and only brother in for murder? Or would you rather just be ready in case he ever tries something like that again?"
"That's some choices."
"What I'm trying to say is that you ain't got no choices.
"It will take a miracle to make the town council understand this…"
"That's for sure, but let's don't fret about it anymore tonight. We need our sleep and rest. We are gonna need it when we get back." Smitty said and closed his eyes.
"I'm not even sure I want to go back, now…" Jim muttered and closed his eyes. "If it wasn't for Ruby, I'd be tempted to stay right here."
~*~
The next morning they went to the Haven to have some coffee and some more of Sadie's eggs.
It was even colder today, but Sadie had a nice warm fire going. Jim and Smitty sat at their usual table and waited for Sadie to wait on them.
Sadie came and poured them a cup of coffee without even asking.
"What's wrong boys, you look plum discombobbled."
"Just dreading the trip home, Sadie." Jim didn't mean to sound as sour as he did, but his inability to carry out his duty had him silently scolding himself.
"Well, I done got you some of those dumplings, for the doc. And I put the recipe in there for you too." Sadie smiled as she handed him the package. Want some breakfast before you head out?"
"We could use some of those eggs you made last time." Smitty licked his lips and took the bottle up dumplings from her. "You need your jar back later?"
"Sure, next time you are through…" she smiled.
After they ate, they told Sadie goodbye and although they had hoped to see Elmer before they left, he was nowhere in sight.
The trip began silently, as both men seemed to wrestle things in their heads.
"Jim it ain't our fault. We done everything like we should have. It's just fate…" Smitty frowned at him.
"I wonder how good a farmer I'd make…" Jim muttered miserably.
"You won't lose your job? You've been Sheriff for seven years, they wouldn't fire you."
"Don't bet on it. I sure messed this up." Jim belittled his own efforts.
"You handled everything the right way Jim. Don't be so dern hard on yourself. You still ain't got any proof."
"Elmer got away with this, even though I know he did it, he got away with it. I can't catch him. I can't arrest him. I can't do anything. I'm not sure I can live with this…"
"So you ain't Mr. Perfect. So you missed one. Look at how many you done caught? Look how safe you've made the town over the years. People like you Jim."
"They did until now. Now I’m not so sure I like myself."
Smitty twisted his head and then started laughing. "I ain't knowed a Sheriff yet who didn't let one get away."
"I'm glad you think this amusing."
"Think of it as saving good ole Sadie…" Smitty smiled reflectively.
Jim was silent a moment and then he shook his head.
"What…?"
"I don't even know why he did it for sure. I don't know why he killed them the way that he did. What was it all for, Smitty?" Jim asked, his expression serious.
"We may never know, Jim."
"Religion, who would have thought it?"
But as the town came into focus, Jim and Smitty stopped to look at Melville through different eyes, and reflected on their experience. "Maybe we'll catch him later, Jim."
"Maybe he'll fall from Grace and start all over again."
"You know Sadie deserves something good to come of her life. Maybe Elmer will quit the business and maybe God has got a hold on him. You can't fight God Jim."
~*~
"Why didn't you arrest him?" The mayor wanted to know. "You've had plenty of time and opportunity. You say he's guilty, why didn't you bring him in?"
One more puff on that huge cigar and Jim would walk out. The mayor had the annoying habit of blowing smoke right into someone's face. How he got elected, Jim wasn't sure.
"I told you already, I have no evidence to convict him. There is no use bringing a prisoner in without some kind of evidence, you know that as well as I." Jim protested.
"Then why in tarnation did you ride out there in the first place?" the Mayor kept up his battering.
Smitty interrupted. "We had to get some more of Sadie's dumplin's."
The mayor shot Smitty a strange look.
"That reminds me, I have to speak to the doc. I'll talk to you when you cool down."
"I could have your badge you know…" the mayor spouted his face turning up in a sarcastic sneer.
"You could, but who would take my place. I don’t see many in this town willing to do it." Jim said and left.
With that he slammed the door and shook his head with disgust. "How did he ever get to be mayor?"
Smitty chuckled. "He's just hot air, Jim and you know it."
"I guess. Let's take this food over to the doc so we can rest a bit." Jim decided as he pulled the jar he had tied with rope around his saddle horn.
The doc and Vivien were studying something together, they had their heads buried in books.
"Ji
m, so how did it go. Got Elmer behind bars?" Rusty asked with a smile.
"Not hardly." Jim muttered.
"What happened?" The doc looked from Jim to Smitty.
"Religion, that's what happened."
"Religion? I don't understand." Jim gestured for them to sit down.
"Elmer got religion. He isn't hunting any more. We have no evidence, we can't arrest him. It was all for nothing."
Rusty stared with an open mouth. "Religion?"
Jim looked at him with a smirk. "Haven't you ever heard of it, doc?"
"Yeah, but I didn't think many outlaws did."
"There is absolutely nothing normal about Elmer. So it shouldn't shock me."
"I'm sorry Jim. I guess this puts you in a bad way around here." Rusty exclaimed.
"You might say that. At least as far as the mayor and the council are concerned. But I've never lost a case like this. It burns me a little. And yet…in some ways, I'm glad. Does that make any sense at all?"
Rusty studied his friend for a long moment. "Depending on the circumstances, yes it does."
"It's his sister, she's about as nice as anyone can get. A poor lady who tends to the poor of the town. She feeds them every day." Smitty explained.
"If she's poor how can she afford it?" Rusty didn't make sense of it.
"Her brother brings her the meat." Jim said drily.
"Good Lord, you don't mean that he kills people for their meat and brings it back to her?"
"That's exactly what I mean…"
Vivien ventured into the conversation. "What a complicated mess, Jim. I do feel for you.
"Well, we just came to tell you and to leave you these dumplin's. Compliments of Miss Sadie."
"I'm sorry Jim. I really am." Rusty said and took the dumplings. "Thank her next time you see her."
"I hope I never see Cross Timbers again." Jim fretted.
"So what happens now?"
Jim stared at the two of them, "I really just don't know. I guess I go back to being the town Sheriff and disentangle myself of this whole mess."
"Maybe that's for the best. At least for your sake." Vivien said with a smile.
"Enjoy your meal, we're going to go warm up with a glass of whiskey I think…"
"You don't drink whiskey." Smitty shook his head and frowned.
"Maybe I do now!"
Chapter Thirty-Four
Elmer's Leaving
Sadie sat down in the rocking chair on the porch, and watched the sun go down. Only a few remained inside to finish up their supper. They'd never know she was sitting outside crying her heart out.
His letter had been so strange and yet Sadie thought she knew why he left.
Dear Sadie
I'm writing to tell you that I'm leaving. I don't want to leave you here alone, to fend for yourself. But I got some things I got to get straight in my head, and I can't do them there.
I'm not sure where I'm headed or when I will be back. I only know that since I gave my life to the Lord, I got some things to straighten out somehow. Some bad things. When I get them taken care of, I'll be home…for good.
Lord knows I love you Sadie. Take care of yourself. I'll be home someday, but don't count the days. I've done some bad things, really bad, and I need to get straight with the Lord about it.
Your loving brother
Elmer
Sadie felt the tears fall from her cheeks as she reread the letter. Dear God, what would she ever do without Elmer. He was her life. Didn't he know that?
Right with the Lord. She knew what that meant. Elmer had realized their love was a sin and had run away. He was ashamed of himself and her. That was the only thing she knew that Elmer ever done wrong. She would miss him so. What would she ever do without him?
She crushed the letter in her hand, and then straightened it out so she could reread it. She wished he was here so she could talk to him about it. She'd been a big part of his sin, she knew that.
Sadie's Haven was nothing without Elmer there to bring in the meat. How would she survive here now? Most of the folks expected meat on the table. Now she wasn't sure she could manage that.
Maybe she ought to close down and just feed herself now. She wouldn't have enough to feed everyone.
Oh dear God…what had she done?
~*~
Rusty and Vivien sat down for supper to eat the dumplings. Rusty had bragged so much on them that Vivien had to taste them herself.
"You know I feel so bad for your friend, Jim. I mean he's worked so hard to find the killer, and just when he has found him, everything falls apart for him. It isn't fair." Vivien said. "Oh my…these dumplings are heavenly. I've never tasted anything so…good before."
"She left us the recipe, you can copy it if you like." Rusty smiled at her. "I know, I feel for Jim too, but maybe it's meant to be."
Vivien glanced up at him in question. "How can you say that?"
"I don't know. This Sadie woman, she seems to be a saint, and she's Elmer's sister. She didn't even know where the meat came from, how he got it. She thought he hunted for it. She's such an innocent. It would probably break her heart to find out the truth." Rusty sighed.
"You know mental health has so far to go."
Rusty nodded.
He was about to say something when he bit down on a hard object. He frowned and took it out of his mouth. It was a bone.
Shocked he put it on his plate and finished the dumplings. Then he looked at it again.
"My God…look at this…" He exclaimed.
Vivien glanced at his plate and her eyes widened. "Is that what I think it is?" She asked almost choking on her food.
"I don't know, we need to examine it…" Rusty insisted.
Rusty went in the office to get his microscope he'd ordered some time ago. He put the bone on the glass and adjusted the lens so it magnified it.
"It is…it's a distal phalanx. Come look, I want you to see it and verify it." Rusty exclaimed with both excitement and surprise.
Vivien gazed into the lens and nodded, "You are right it is. It's the tip of the thumb. A human thumb. How did you know?"
"I don't know. But a turkey does not have fingers." Rusty almost laughed until he realized what they had found. "Oh my God, do you know what this mean?"
"Of course…the dumplings had human remains in them."
"But why would they? How did they get there. IF Sadie is an innocent, how did the bone get in the dumplings?" Rusty inquired as though she knew the answer.
"We've got to get a hold of Jim right away. But first I want to examine this more thoroughly. Let's pull out some books and compare to be sure. Don't want our imagination running away from us, do we?"
For an hour they studied everything they could find on the human hand. They compared the bone to the diagrams in the medical books, they looked the same.
Rusty smiled at Vivien. "He wanted evidence, I think we just found it."
"Let's go tell him…he'll be thrilled to know…" Vivien cried.
~*~
"Are you going to let this ruin our Christmas, Jim?" Ruby asked as she watched his sour expression.
"No…no of course not."
"If he has stopped killing, isn't that the most important thing?"
"Yeah, I guess you are right. Come here, I need some serious lovin'." He smiled at her.
She obliged, sitting in his lap in the pale light of her room.
His kisses smothered thoughts of Elmer and the killings for a long while as the room was filled with heavy breathing and many kisses shared between them.
He finally pulled away and looked into her beautiful brown eyes. "Ruby…I've wanted to ask you for a long time, and now is as good as any."
"Ask me what?" she smiled at him, kissing his cheek.
"Let's get married. Right away." He insisted.
Ruby nearly fell out of his lap. "Are you serious?"
"Yes ma'am. You know how much I love you. You just can't turn me down. I couldn't take more rejection." He teased.
"Oh Jim…" She smothered him with more kisses.
When he pulled away his smiled curled around her heart. "Is that a yes?"
"Y-yes…yes, it is a yes! Oh Jim, I love you too. I have for so long…"
"I know honey. I wanted to have this case behind me before I asked you. But now, I don't have to worry any longer. Elmer has gotten religion, and he's stopped killing, and although I can't arrest him. I can try my best to forget him for a while. I think a wedding is just what I need."
"But honey, you know what I do for a living. Doesn't that bother you?"
"Nope. I know you haven't bedded a man since I came into your life. That's all that matters. I love you, Ruby. We are two misfits that fit perfectly together. I live a strange life too, and it won't change unless I'm fired."
"They'd never fire you. You've saved this town."
"My defender…God woman I love you."
"Oh Jim…I'm so happy," She kissed him again, leaving no doubt just how much she ached for him too.
The room heated up, and he carried her over to the bed and laid her down. He was about to take his shirt off when a knock came at the door.
Rusty and Vivien stood at the door with their mouths open. "We didn't mean to disturb you, Jim."
"No disturbance, we just got engaged." Jim announced with a big smile.
Rusty looked shocked, and Vivien was speechless.
"Oh…well, we are so happy for you." Rusty finally said aloud.
"Thanks…come on in." He gestured.
"Aw…no, now is not the time. Later." Rusty smiled.
Vivien looked at Rusty then Jim. "Yeah…later, it can wait."
"What can wait?" Jim asked.
"Nothing, we'll talk to you tomorrow." Rusty excused themselves and left.
"What was that about?" Ruby asked as she moved toward Jim.
"I don't know…but right now…I just don't care." He said and kissed her hotly on the lips.
Good Day for a Hanging (Book Two of the Western Serial Killers series) Page 21