by Robert Knott
“Don’t need your company,” Eugene said as we walked up.
Henri nodded.
“We are just enjoying the celebration,” he said. “Like everyone else. And it is a good one, no doubt.”
“Saw Victor Bartholomew and his hands across the way,” Virgil said with a glance through the crowd in the direction of Baptiste’s office.
“That so?” Henri said.
Virgil nodded.
“It is a celebration, is it not, Marshal?”
“Not doing anything wrong,” Eugene said. “Nothing you can do about that.”
Virgil ignored him, as he stayed focused on Henri.
“You expecting trouble, Mr. Baptiste?”
“Just you,” Eugene said. “You two are the only damn trouble we got.”
“Just protecting our interest,” Henri said. “We don’t need trouble or threats.”
“Have you had trouble or threats?” Virgil said.
“Nothing specific,” he said. “Surely, we don’t need to go through all that again? Not on this special day of days for Appaloosa.”
“McCormick’s men threaten you?” Virgil said.
“Why do you ask?”
“Have they?”
“Is there reason to be alarmed?”
“Tell me.”
“I do not know what you are referring to, Marshal Cole.”
Virgil leveled a stern look at Henri.
“Seen Daniel McCormick?” he said.
Henri looked at him like he was just called a bad name.
“Now, why would I see Daniel McCormick?”
“Have you?”
“I have no business with the likes of Daniel McCormick.”
“When was the last time you did see him?”
“I don’t make a habit in making contact or associating with crooks and thieves,” Henri said.
“Answer the question.”
“Not anytime recent,” he said. “Why do you ask?”
“How about you, Mr. Pritchard?” Virgil said. “Have you seen Daniel McCormick?”
Pritchard glared at Virgil.
“Why don’t the two of you get a piece of pie or go have a dance or something.”
“Or lock you up,” Virgil said.
Eugene shook his head.
“I have not seen Daniel McCormick,” he said.
An exotic woman caught my eye through the crowd. She was an extraordinary-looking lady wearing a shimmering white dress that accentuated her dark skin. She was large and powerful-looking, a robust creature, with strikingly beautiful large, dark eyes. Her wide, full lips were painted bright red. And she seemed to be looking directly at Virgil and me. Then I noticed a small young man next to her. He, too, was dark-skinned, but his eyes were bright blue. He stood beside her, dressed in a black suit with polished boots. He was leaning against a post with his arms folded. Both of them seemed to be looking in our direction. The kid had a smile on his face. And it seemed as if he were staring at Virgil. I glanced to Virgil, but when I looked back, both the kid and the woman were gone.
71
The colors were spectacular, the kid thought, as he walked through the crowd. The sounds were penetrating, but they were also very pleasing. He was feeling more alive than he had ever felt before in his life. He was swaying to the music as he walked. He turned to her and smiled. She was following him, holding his hand. He stopped and then moved off the street and up on the boardwalk. He found a place for them to sit. They smiled at each other, then the kid laughed.
“This is funny?” she said.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“That is him?”
“Yes.”
“I just figured someone different.”
“How so?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Just different.”
“He is a formidable man.”
“He does not look like much trouble,” he said.
“He is deadly.”
“So am I.”
“I’m glad you feel that way. That he does not seem like too much trouble. But you must beware.”
“Just have to find the right place and time.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt,” she said.
“You worried about me?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t.”
“I want nothing to happen to you.”
“It won’t.”
“And I don’t want you to get caught.”
“I will not get caught, I’ll be invisible,” he said with a laugh. “Hell, I am invisible.”
She studied him some.
“Are you sure?” she said.
“You have not changed your mind, have you?” he said.
She turned her attention out to the people and thought for a moment, then shook her head.
“No.”
“Well, there you go. I will just wait for the right place and time. Night will be best.”
“Yes,” she said. “Nighttime. I like the night.”
He pulled the tintype from his pocket and smiled at the photograph, then he looked out into the street full of people.
“There are so many ladies,” he said.
“We will find her,” she said.
He smiled at the tintype again and shook his head.
“Hard to say.”
“You have come this far. Do not be discouraged.”
He stared at it. He rubbed his thumb gently across his mother’s face in the photograph.
“And you are sure? Sure you saw her?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know. She has to be so much younger here, though, in this photograph.”
He looked out at all the people.
“It will be difficult to tell.”
She shook her head.
“I saw, I know, I have vision.”
He nodded, smiled at her, and then returned the tintype to his pocket.
“Come.”
He took her hand and they moved on toward the stage, weaving among the people, looking at everything and everyone as they walked. When they got closer, they saw two pretty women step up on the stage. One was shorter, with peach-blond hair, and the other was taller, with dark hair. The smaller woman smiled and waved to the crowd as she picked up a large megaphone. She looked to the bandleader and waited for the song that was being played to end. Then she motioned for another woman, a third woman, to come onstage. A slender, taller woman walked up and joined the other two. The three women stood side by side.
The teamster’s wife squeezed his hand. He looked to her and she nodded to the three women standing up on the stage.
“One of them?” he said.
She nodded.
He reached in his pocket and pulled out the tintype. He looked at it closely, then looked to the three women standing next to each other. Then the woman with the peach-colored hair raised the megaphone and brought it to her lips.
72
Hello, everyone,” Allie said loudly through the megaphone. “I’m Allison French, one of the chairs on the Appaloosa Days committee. And on behalf of the committee, and Mrs. Bernice McCormick here, who donated so generously, we are happy to bring you some special entertainment as the sun sets here on beautiful Appaloosa Avenue.”
The crowd whooped and hollered.
“So please help us in welcoming the talented thespian and singer, Martha Kathryn!”
Bernice and Allie walked off, leaving Martha Kathryn standing center stage.
The sun was setting and the last bit of the day’s golden light lit Martha Kathryn up like a theater spotlight. She stood tall, with her chin held high, and was stunning in her gown, which shimmered in the waning light. She smiled at the applauding crowd. She spoke out with a confident voice,
thanking Appaloosa, the mayor, the ladies’ social, Bernice, and Allie.
Then she sang songs from her show, and instantly everyone in the crowd was enthralled. The whole street remained silent, hanging on every word of her captivating voice. When the song was over, the people went wild with applause. One song after the other she sang, and after each tune the people showered her with adulation, clapping heartily. When she was finished with her last song and took a final bow, the street erupted with a rousing thrilled ovation.
“Isn’t she something, Virgil?” Allie said as she clapped her hands hard.
“She is.”
“Everett, she is so amazing.”
“She damn sure is,” I said.
Allie turned to me.
“Don’t let this one go, Everett,” she said. “Please.”
Virgil smiled at me.
“I’ll do my best,” I said. “She has a mind of her own.”
“She has a mind for you,” she said. “That is obvious.”
When Martha Kathryn stepped down from the stage it was dark out, and the streetlamps and store lights were now providing the lighting up and down Appaloosa Avenue.
I walked over to greet Martha Kathryn.
“Think you got something there,” I said. “You might ought to take that up as a profession.”
She laughed.
“You think?”
“I do. I also think I might have to find a way to provide my own brand of appreciation.”
“Wonder what that will be like?”
“Have to wait and see.”
Allie came up and put her arms around Martha Kathryn.
“Oh my God,” Allie said. “You were amazing, thank you. My heart is fluttering.”
“Thank you,” Martha Kathryn said with a laugh, then looked to me. “Think I need a drink before this is all said and done.”
“Well, hold on,” Allie said. “We are only moments away from the fireworks.”
Virgil lingered behind her. His gaze moved off to something behind me, and I followed his look. I turned to see Book with his deputies, Hank and Skeeter. They were coming toward us through the crowd.
“They finally made it,” Book said.
“Excuse me,” I said to Martha Kathryn.
Hank, the older of the two, removed his hat as he said, “Sorry it took us a while. Weather and such held us up.”
“We figured,” I said.
“Rained like hell to heaven it did,” Skeeter said.
Hank nodded.
“So what did you find out?” I said.
“The lady,” Skeeter said. “She is with us.”
“With you?” Virgil said, following Skeeter and Hank’s look. Coming up behind them were Maureen and her husband, Simon Crow.
“We brought her from Dover to Appaloosa in her buggy,” Hank said.
Maureen stepped up with Simon.
“There you are,” Virgil said.
“Yes,” Maureen said. “And these nice young men saw to getting me back here to Appaloosa safely.”
“And we are grateful,” Simon said, chiming in. “Otherwise I would have had to fetch her. Turns out her brother was needed on his job right after his daughter gave birth. Some kind of logging accident happened.”
Maureen nodded.
“Nobody was hurt, but it was an emergency and he was needed.”
“She would have been there for weeks,” he said.
“So what can you tell us?” Virgil said. “This was a long shot having the boys ride over to ask you, but we needed to know. Do you remember who was with James McCormick the day he died?”
“Matter of fact, I do,” she said.
Just then the first firework rocketed up. It made a loud boom and lit up the spectators with their expectant faces lifted to the sky, prompting uproarious oohs and ahhs.
73
Another firework lifted skyward with a shrill whistle. Then it exploded in a burst of red, white, and blue sparkles that slowly dropped like a weeping willow tree, then fizzled out and fell to the earth.
Virgil and I found Weldon, who was staring up at the sky.
“Where is Bernice?” Virgil said.
Weldon looked around. He turned one way and then the next. He shook his head.
“She was right here,” he said as another rocket exploded. “Just a minute ago. She was right here.”
Virgil got Hank, Book, Skeeter, and Weldon’s full attention.
“Find her,” he said. “Find Bernice McCormick.”
Weldon and the others nodded and moved off, looking for Bernice, turning this way and that as they dispersed into the crowd.
Virgil looked to me, shook his head, and we moved off through the onlookers with their heads lifted to the sky. As we approached McCormick Enterprises, we could see into the office. And we could see Irene. She turned slightly as we neared, and then I could see she was standing with Bernice.
“There she is,” I said.
When we stepped up on the boardwalk, we could now also see Lawrence. He was talking with the ladies. When we opened the door, the trio turned to us. Lawrence had a coffeepot in his hand and was pouring them a cup of coffee.
We stepped into the room and Bernice smiled.
“I’m sorry, I did not mean to slip away,” she said. “I have never been one for fireworks. I find them unnerving.”
“Me neither,” Irene said. “I’m afraid we have that in common.”
“Coffee?” Lawrence said, holding up the pot. “It’s fresh.”
Just then Weldon, Book, and Skeeter came up behind us as Lawrence poured coffee for the women.
“Damn,” Weldon said. “I’m sorry, Marshal. Won’t happen again.”
Weldon looked to Bernice.
“Sorry, ma’am. My apologies.”
“No, my apologies,” she said. “I should not have run off.”
Irene started spooning sugar into her coffee.
“Lawrence,” Virgil said.
“Yes,” he said with a smile.
“Sit down.”
“Pardon.”
“Put the coffeepot down and sit.”
Lawrence blinked.
“Something wrong?” he said.
A booming firework brightly lit up the office for a few seconds, then faded.
“Do like I tell you.”
“What is it, Marshal?” Irene said.
“Sit.”
Lawrence nodded, then took a seat behind his desk.
“You two. Both of you,” Virgil said to Irene and Bernice. “You, too. Take a seat.”
They stared at Virgil, then both women took a seat.
“What has happened?” Irene said. “Something bad, I presume?”
Virgil nodded.
“I regret to inform you. Your husband . . . Daniel McCormick is dead.”
“What?” she said.
Bernice gasped.
Virgil nodded.
“What happened?” Lawrence said. “Oh my God.”
Virgil glanced to me.
“He was murdered,” I said.
Irene put her hand to her mouth and started shaking.
“My God.”
“Where?” Lawrence said. “How?”
“He was poisoned.”
“Poisoned?” Lawrence said.
Virgil nodded.
“And dumped off the train.”
Irene’s chin dropped to her chest, and she began to weep.
Virgil focused on Bernice.
“If something were to happen to you. What would happen with your share of McCormick Enterprises?”
“Well, I . . . I have no beneficiary,” Bernice said.
“Why?”
She shook her head.
“Well, with no c
hildren, there really was no one else.”
Bernice looked to Irene.
“No one other than Irene and . . . Daniel.”
“So the shares would revert back to the partnership.”
She nodded.
“Yes. But we never thought anything like this would happen, especially with James and I being younger . . .”
Virgil looked to Irene as another firework lit up the room.
“Mrs. McCormick?” he said. “Irene?”
Irene lifted her face, meeting Virgil’s eye.
“Yes,” she said.
“If you were to die, if something were to happen to you, who would be your beneficiary?”
“Why, Lawrence,” she said. “He’s our only blood relation.”
Virgil nodded.
“That’s kind of what I figured.”
Virgil looked to Lawrence.
“You are under arrest for the murder of both James and Daniel McCormick.”
“You can’t be serious,” he said.
“I am,” Virgil said. “You were the last person seen with James the day he died at the Crow’s Nest.”
Virgil pulled out a paper with a list of the passengers who were on the train that he got from Clifford.
“You also boarded the train with Daniel the same day he left for Santa Fe and returned on the night train that evening. It was you.”
“No,” Lawrence said. “You are mistaken.”
In a snap, Lawrence opened the drawer of his desk and reached his hand inside, but I moved quickly on him before he had a chance to pull out the gun he was reaching for. And with my foot I shoved the desk back hard to the wall, pinning Lawrence up against the large map of the McCormick Mining Company.
Virgil stared at Lawrence then turned to deputies Book, Skeeter, and Weldon.
“Take him down to the jail and lock him up,” he said.
Then Virgil turned to Bernice and Irene.
“And if I were you, ladies, I don’t think I’d take a sip of that fresh coffee.”
74
Deputies Weldon and Skeeter escorted Lawrence to jail, and Deputy Book walked a disheveled Irene to her home.