Bad Day for a Killing (Book Three of the Western Serial Killer Series)

by Hestand, Rita

  It took a while to find in the dark, but Tom was determined to be a big man that night.

  "Here it is…" someone shouted. "Look, she ain't even got a decent stone over her. That says a lot, right there, don't it? And our own Sheriff puts flowers on her grave every day. Somehow that don't sit right with me."

  The others mumbled together.

  "Let's get to diggin'." Tom instructed.

  "I don't hold with diggin' up the dead…" One man remarked, backing away from the gravesite.

  "Me neither. It ain't right. We'd be as guilty as she was…"

  "You're scared…" Tom accused. "Then why did you come?"

  "Like everyone else, I listened to you go on about the old woman, but she never done me no wrong. And the way I heard hit, folks in her home town thought she was a saint. So count me out. You men are drunk and don't have any idea what you are doin'. Diggin' up the dead…No…it just ain't right. You don't mess with the dead, Tom. No matter what, you don't mess with the dead!"

  "Then I will do it myself," he proclaimed.

  The others stood by watching, murmuring to each other as Tom hoisted the dirt. He had plenty of witnesses.

  He was half way down in the grave by the time Jim and Smitty made it to the cemetery. They had followed the noise of the crowd.

  Both of them had gone to bed early, and the bartender came and woke Jim up. He let him know there was another mob, fixing to dig up Sadie. So Jim woke Smitty, and after they armed themselves with shotguns, they marched down to the cemetery.

  "What do you people think you are doin'?" Jim asked, his face a wad of frowns as he pointed the gun at Tom. The very way he held the shotgun over them had everyone taking notice and backing away. Everyone but Tom.

  "We're diggin' up the witch, that's what we are doin'." Tom announced.

  "You are drunk, go home, all of you." Jim instructed.

  "They might, but I won't. I am digging her up. We got to get her out of this town. She's a witch I tell ya." Tom insisted. He kept digging until he heard a thud. Then he reached down and pulled the casket open as though he had every right to do so.

  It was too late to stop him now, even though Smitty tried to pull Tom out of the grave, he lost his grip and Tom continued.

  "She's a woman who died in child birth." Smitty announced upset that he couldn't stop the man.

  But the silence stretched for long moments, then murmurings went up all around them.

  Everyone gasped as they looked down expecting to see a decayed body.

  "She ain't there. That proves it. She's a witch. How else could she have got out of there?" Tom announced once more. "They buried her here, and she ain't in there. Look for yourself Sheriff, she's not there. It's some kind of dummy…"

  The crowd got louder and began to agree with Tom.

  "She is just a poor ole woman who tried to feed a town…" Jim said sadly as he stared down at the fake body. A million questions danced in his head, compounding the headache which was growing worse by the minute. He had no answers for these people, but they deserved none. They were all drunk. Control was what he needed, not answers. Those would come later.

  "Then where is she?" Tom asked.

  "I don't know…" Jim muttered. "But I'll find out. Now all of you, I'm warning you, go home. This is not your concern. She is not a witch. There are no witches."

  "Do you know what she done? She fed human food to people, that's what she done. No one in their right mind would do such a thing. I’m telling you, she's a witch."

  Jim wanted to slap the man and shut him up, but the crowd agreed with him. "She's an innocent. She knew nothing about that. I know it for a fact." Jim tried to explain. "She thought she was doing good for her community. She gave them hope when they had none. She didn't know what her brother had done. Her brother was the guilty one, if you want someone to blame."

  "Doesn't matter, the ends the same. She fed them human remains. Where's her kid?" Tom asked. "Her kid is probably a witch too."

  Fear for the newborn forced Jim to gain the control he needed to do his job. With a fire he hadn't known he possessed, he cursed under his breath and threatened. "Tom, one more word out of you and I'm hauling you off to jail." Jim insisted, putting the gun to his ribs.

  "Where's the kid, Sheriff? The baby?" Tom continued.

  "She died…"

  "Then where is she buried…." Tom kept up the questions.

  "I will not allow this to go on. If you people don't go home now, I'll throw the lot of you into jail. And it's really none of your business where she is buried."

  The crowd got louder, but they finally hushed and went home. All but Tom.

  "It won't do no good. Witches have to be burned alive…" Tom announced loud enough for all to hear.

  The crowd murmured but they went home.

  "You are under arrest…" Jim shouted at him. 'Now get up out of there and march yourself over to the jailhouse."

  "On what charge?" Tom demanded, staring down into the grave as though he himself didn't quite believe the grave held no body.

  "Disturbing the dead and the peace of this town. And any other charges I can think of." Jim said and hauled him off to jail. "Inciting a riot."

  Tom didn't go quietly, he woke half the town. In the end though he was put in a cell and locked up.

  "I don't want to hear another word out of you tonight…" Jim shouted. "I've lost my patience Tom. You've done the damage tonight, but no more. It's over."

  "Well. I…"

  "Not one word, Tom…." Jim's eyes grew together in a frown that sent a message of warning to Tom.

  But Jim and Smitty sat in stunned silence when they got Tom in the cell and went to sit in the office. For long moments they both just stared at the floor as though trying to piece together what had happened, and why.

  "She wasn't there!" Smitty said, shaking his head. "What happened? We had her funeral, didn't we?"

  "We had a funeral, yes. I don't know…I honestly don't know." Jim muttered. "There's got to be an explanation. I just don't have it, right now."

  "Do you think the doc knew about it?"

  Jim cast him a strange look and nodded. "She had to have known. You know that as well as I. She is the only one that could no. But…tonight let's let it lie. I'm just too tired to go on with it. We'll get our answers. Let's go home Smitty, we'll worry with this in the morning." Jim announced. "I'm too tired to think straight right now."

  "I'll go home, but I won't sleep…" Smitty admitted.

  "Neither will I." Jim nodded.

  ~*~

  The next day, the town was quiet. Jim drug himself out of bed, sipped some coffee that Ruby had made for him while he tried to explain what had happened last night.

  "I don't believe it. There was no body?" Ruby's tears were close to falling. "My God, Jim, what happened to it? Do you think someone stole it?"

  "No…"

  "Well you don't think she's a witch do you?"

  "No, I don't." He turned to look at his innocent wife who wanted to believe the good in every one. "But It's true, honey. I didn't want to believe it either. But it's true. There was no body. In fact there was a fake body in the casket. That implies that Vivian knew all about this and helped her plan something. Problem is, she might have done more harm than good."

  Ruby's eyes widened. "Do you know what this mean? It means Vivian knows what happened."

  "Yeah…that's how I figure it too. She's the only one that could have known." Jim sighed as he sipped the hot coffee and studied what had happened. "That dummy belonged to her, I seen it in her office."

  "Are you going to talk to her?" Ruby asked.

  "I guess…" Jim hated having to ask the doc anything. But someone had to do it. "Someone has to."

  "Would you rather I talked to her?" Ruby suggested. "I mean, it might be easier to talk to a woman, woman to woman, don't you think?"

  "Yeah, I guess I do. I gotta admit, I was hopin' you would volunteer for this. I don't cotton talking to her right now. I
don't want to be rude. And in the mood I'm in, I'd probably be a little insulting. Do you mind?"

  "Not at all. I want to know what happened as badly as you do. I can't believe Tom caused such a stir about it." Ruby consoled her husband. "But worse still, I can't believe anyone would follow him out to the cemetery and dig her up."

  "Yeah, well, he's in jail and he won't disturb anyone else for a while. I'm keeping him there until I can get a grip on this myself. Finding her gone, was as much a shock to me, as it was to the town. The sooner I know the truth, the better off Sadie will be. Right now they have murder in their hearts for the deception and the fact that they believe Sadie is a witch. If they knew the whole truth, she would be dead."

  "Do you think there will be more trouble?"

  Jim glanced at Ruby and nodded slowly. "Yeah, a lot more trouble. Honey, don't you see, if she's alive, and the news spreads. She could be in real danger. I have to find out what happened and fast. Because if I don't, she may be dead before I can get to her."

  "I hadn't thought of that."

  "I've had all night to think of that." Jim muttered miserably.

  "I really can't believe that Vivian would lie to us about this though." Jim admitted.

  "People can disappoint you Jim. Sometimes it's to protect others, sometimes it's ignorance."

  Jim shook his head. "The doc isn't ignorant."

  "Yeah…I'll get ready and go on over." Ruby insisted seeing the depression in her husband's face. She wanted to help him, help the town, and help Sadie.

  "Thanks hon, and let me know…fast." Jim encouraged.

  Ruby stopped, moved toward him and kissed him on the lips. "Don't worry, this will all work out…I just know it.

  "Yeah, but it's how it will work out, that bothers me. Everyone knows it was Elmer who did the killings. But Sadie really was an innocent. They won't stop long enough to find that out, I'm afraid. They'll kill her Ruby, if they find her. And I've got to stop them."

  "Oh darling…please be careful."

  "Don't fret honey, I aim to…" Jim reassured her.

  "This is their mess, I just want to save them from themselves. And the people of this town are not bad people, but they can be led by an idiot." Jim assured her. "They've proven that much."

  "I'll hurry…" She cried and rushed to get dressed.

  ~*~

  Vivian sat in her parlor, her face pale, her hands folding and unfolding. She couldn't look Ruby in the eye.

  "Please…we want to help Sadie, Jim has to know the truth. This puts Sadie in a bad position. They were calling her some kind of witch, and the people believed it. She's in real danger Vivian."

  "Ruby," Vivian began. "I know you don't understand. And I'm sorry. But Sadie knew the only way she could give up her child was tell everyone she died. She knew the town would blame her if they found out she gave up her child. I didn't want to lie to you. To anyone. But…you see…oh…" Vivian grabbed her handkerchief and put it at her mouth. Tears fell down her cheeks.

  "I'm the only one that knows…and if I tell her secrets, then more will know. Just like the crime that Elmer committed, Sadie committed a real sin. A sin that neither her nor Elmer could live with. A sin that is unspeakable. And I promised not to tell what it was. I promised. Please…you have to understand."

  "I'm trying real hard, but her life is at stake now. It's too late for secrets. You must tell me everything. So Jim can help her."

  "Oh God…forgive me…" She cried. "But…Ruby…They were lovers, Ruby…"

  Vivian's voice gave out as she cried aloud.

  "Lovers? Who? What are you talking about?" Ruby cried out.

  "Elmer and Sadie were twins. And they were lovers."

  Ruby heard the words, cut couldn't contemplate them. "No…it can't be true…The two of them…together. And they were twins? My God!"

  "Yes…but please understand. That was her only sin. She isn't guilty of anything else. She had no idea about Elmer and the killings. She knew nothing of the meat he brought her. She thought he ran away because they had committed such an abomination."

  "Oh my God, Vivian. How can this be?"

  "They were raised together…according to Sadie their own mother made Elmer sleep with her. And Elmer did. Then when she died, he was with Sadie all the time. They had no one else in their lives. They were lonely. They reached out to each other. It's odd, Sadie knew it was a sin, but she did it anyway. Elmer didn't. He hadn't gotten religion until later. Sadie drug him into that. She admitted it to me. She isn't dealing with it very well. She wants what is best for Elmer and what is best for her child. And you can't find fault with that, no matter what they have done."

  "But that wasn't why he ran. Was it?" Ruby stared at her for a long moment.

  "No. He ran because he was really guilty of all those murders. But Jim didn't tell her. He couldn't. He knew it would break her heart. For she really loved Elmer. She still doesn't realize it. She may never know. I pray to God she never knows, because that woman has dealt with more than anyone I've ever known."

  "Okay…" Ruby held Vivian in her arms while she cried. "Vivian, this is important. We can still save Sadie…but we have to know all of it."

  The baby cried and Vivian went to check on her. She came back and plopped down in the chair with the baby and rocked her. "Sadie told me about her and Elmer. That is why she couldn't keep the baby. She didn't love it. 'Born in sin', she called it. She knew what they had done was a sin, but it was done and she couldn't undo it. She knew I'd lost a baby and she saw her chance to make amends. She wanted me to raise her child. And never tell the child the truth. She didn't want the child to know. That's why we have to keep this all a secret. If the baby ever knew…"

  Ruby nodded. "Yes, I can understand that too. The baby need never know. Listen Vivian, for your sake, I don't have to tell Jim everything, just where she went and why."

  "She went home, Ruby. Home to Cross Timbers."

  "Oh dear God…tell me it isn't so…" Ruby cried out.

  "Why…what's wrong? Where else could she go. She had no money…"

  "Don't you see. If anyone there gets wind of what was in those dumplings, they'll believe what Tom said about her. They'll think she really is a witch. At least Jim knows where to find her now. That will help. I've got to tell him that much at least."

  Vivian laid a hand on hers. "Please Ruby, keep this as quiet as you can."

  "I will…don't worry. I don't want the baby to suffer either." Ruby said gently. "None of this is her fault."

  "Thank you…"

  "Why did you tell us she died, and then go through a funeral for her…" Ruby asked as she turned to go. "I mean…"

  Vivian cried out now. "She wanted it that way. She said she needed to go home. She didn't want to see the baby, or she might want to take it with her. She knew that wasn't best for her child. She never looked at her. She couldn't. She wanted me to raise it, so she had a good life. She said that was the best thing she could do for her. I understood that. It was oddly enough a mother's love that made the decision for her, although I'm not sure she understands why she gave the baby up so easily.

  "But she didn't want anyone in her life anymore. I think she went home to die. She lost Elmer, she lost the baby, and if everyone knew the truth she would have lost all her friends. She had only God to face and she had asked his forgiveness. The sad part is, she has no idea that Elmer killed all those people. It was all his fault that she was in trouble." Vivian cried.

  Ruby stared at her. "Then she really doesn't know what Elmer did with the meat?"

  "No."

  "That's probably best. You are right to an extent. But if she'd never tried to feed the town, none of this would have happened. Elmer wouldn't have become a killer. However, the sin they committed…that is different. And she thinks that's why Elmer ran off. "

  Vivian nodded. "I let her continue to think that, rather than tell her what everyone will accuse of her. There is no reason to tell her…unless…"

  "What a mes
s this is…" Ruby frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

  "Please, forgive me, Ruby." Vivian came toward her. "I hated deceiving everyone, but I so wanted to help her. She has so little in life. If you don't believe me, go look inside that shack, there is a mountain of things for the baby, there is very little for Sadie. She's never had much, barely enough to eat herself. She is the most selfless woman I know…"

  Ruby smiled sadly at her. "Vivian I of all people can forgive. But I'd rather not tell Jim everything. He set such store by Sadie. I think this would shatter it all."

  "So do I…"

  "I'll tell him what he needs to know. And don't worry. Everything will be alright."

  "Ruby…I love that baby…she's so beautiful. My heart leapt when Sadie asked me to raise her. Even knowing what I did. I still love her and will do for her the rest of her life. There is the possibility that this union has affected the baby. But only time will tell. At least she has me to lean on. I can help her if there is trouble."

  "Yes…she is a beautiful baby…and I'm happy for you and her, at least. But…I'm no doctor. Is there a threat to the baby?

  Vivian glanced down at the child in her arms and nodded. "Yes…she could have mental problems, she could die from a disease this creates. I am sure there is a lot I don't know about it. But I will read up on it and do all I can to prevent problems for her. Or she could…live a normal life. I'm hoping for the latter."

  "I've got to tell Jim. God help us all!" Ruby cried and walked out the door.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  John was in a quandary. Sweat peppered his brow. His hands actually shook. His father-in-law had committed a murder and at one point seemed determined to make it look as though John had done it. But Penelope announcing she was pregnant caught him off guard. Caught them both off guard. It made John so happy, and yet so sad. For he feared something might disturb their euphoria .He had been so happy, secure and comfortable here in Hard Tack, not that comfort was shattered by shadows of trouble.