Darlene Franklin - Dressed for Death 01 - Gunfight at Grace Gulch

by Darlene Franklin

  I brought out the steno book Dina had used to list the big three—means, motive, opportunity—and explained everything we had learned. Frances made notes. It took forty-five minutes to finish.

  “Is that it?” Reiner sat up in the recliner. “Is that why you dragged me away from home on my day off? You know, you really should leave the questioning to the police.”

  I looked to Frances. “We’ll look into what you have told us,” she said.

  “That’s not all,” Audie said. “We’ve arranged for everyone involved to come back to town at noon today. We’re going to put on an encore performance, with Mitch and the mayor playing the major roles this time.”

  “And we could use your help.” Actually, I thought they could use our help. After all, hadn’t we pretty much uncovered the murderer for them? If today went as we hoped, all that remained for the police was to clamp handcuffs on the murderer’s wrists.

  “I can come.” Frances spoke up before Reiner could forbid it. “What do you need me to do?”

  Reiner wouldn’t let himself be outdone by a subordinate. “I’ll be there. I don’t know what fool plan you’ve concocted, but I don’t want anybody hurt this time.”

  We explained the roles we wanted both of them to play, and they agreed. Ten minutes to nine. Enough time to snag a box of donuts from Gaynor Goodies before I opened for business.

  Ordinarily I enjoy Saturday mornings at the store. More children come in on Saturdays than on any other day, and their fascination with the old-fashioned costumes always delights me. I feel like I’m imparting a bit of history to fire their imaginations.

  But not today. Each time the doorbell rang, I checked the clock. The hours until noon dragged by. I shut the door behind my last customer at quarter of twelve and closed up for an early lunch.

  Half a dozen people had already gathered in front of the Gulch. Someone—probably Frances, bless her heart—had put up barricades at either end of the street to block traffic.

  Pastor and Enid Waldberg were there early. Dressed in period costume once again, with the addition of the prairie bonnet I had given her, Enid looked like the perfect prairie wife. She waved me over.

  “Are you all set?” She spoke quietly. I’d told her the true purpose of the gathering the night before.

  “I think so.” I hedged my answer. “Put it this way. Keep your eyes open and your prayers sent heavenward until this is done.”

  “I always do.” She smiled at me.

  I spotted Dina and Suzanne by the swinging doors to the Gulch, not yet taken down since last weekend’s festivities. Dina waved me over. “Hey, Cic!”

  Suzanne leaned against the door. A wide smile shouting joy brightened her face. “I’ll come get my dress this afternoon.” She winked. “I heard about your date with Audie last night.”

  “Let me guess. You stopped by Gaynor Goodies this morning.” As I had expected, Grace Gulch’s rumor mill had done its work. Some date. We spent the night planning how to get a murderer to confess, but she didn’t know that. Not yet.

  Before I could answer, Audie called for our attention. Everyone had arrived.

  “Thank you all for agreeing to come back today.” His pleasant actor’s voice carried without shouting. “We are going to try to reconstruct the events of last Saturday. We’ve asked you all to join us because you were in a position to see what happened. Mitch Gaynor and Mayor Grace have kindly agreed to take the parts that Cord Grace and poor Penn Hardy played. I will stand where Mitch stood on Saturday. Cici will take the mayor’s place on the sidewalk.”

  I waved at the crowd and joined him on the right side of the saloon doors.

  Everyone bustled around for a few minutes until they settled exactly where they had been standing when the gunfight took place. Cord turned around and shrugged. He had no assigned place, so he joined Suzanne and Dina by the doors. I spotted Frances across the street, her eyes tracking Mitch’s tall figure as he headed toward the Gulch.

  “Action!” When Audie shouted the word, I almost expected to see cameras on tripods rolling down the street. Of course they didn’t. Mitch and the mayor disappeared behind the saloon doors.

  Moments later, the two men burst through the doors, reading lines from the script Audie had provided. Without the benefit of practice, their voices didn’t project well nor carry much emotion. Still, those of us on the sidewalk could hear well enough.

  “You can’t get away with it. You’re a scoundrel and a cheat.” As close as the words were to Mitch’s threat, they didn’t carry the same level of anger.

  “I’m not a cheat. I arrived first, fair and square. And you have to accept it.” The mayor, a political ham, couldn’t keep the grin from his face.

  They pointed guns at each other and pulled the triggers. Both men crumpled to the ground.

  I held my breath. Tension twisted my shoulders, but I refused to turn around.

  “Hand over your weapon, Mr. Howe—er, Gaynor.” The chief of police addressed Audie, who had taken Mitch’s place in the audience.

  The audience whirled from the drama taking place in the middle of the street. The Colt in Audie’s hand pointed straight at the spot where Mitch had been standing.

  Surprised gasps erupted around me.

  Mitch jumped to his feet. “Someone tried to shoot me?”

  I took a step forward. “The same way you shot Penn Hardy during the gunfight last week.”

  Mitch pointed. “You’re lying!”

  I inched forward and landed within Mitch’s long shadow. “You wanted to prevent Hardy from taking over the Sequoian.”

  “Stop moving!” Mitch waved his gun around.

  I halted dead in my tracks.

  “You’ll never prove it.”

  “I think we will.” Frances stepped out from the shadows. “As soon as we match the ballistics from that gun in your hand to the bullet that killed Hardy.”

  Mitch’s face crumpled, erasing its normal civilized mask. He pointed his gun wildly. A puff of smoke exploded from the end of his weapon.

  “No!” Audie yelled and jumped in front of me. We landed on the sidewalk, his long legs crushing my crinoline.

  Around us people screamed. Audie did not speak or move. His chin dug into my shoulder. His stillness frightened me.

  “Audie, are you all right?” I brushed my fingers across his back. I couldn’t feel any blood. He still did not speak. “Audie!”

  When Audie finally lifted his head, his eyes dazzled like sapphires. “I like holding you in my arms,” he whispered into my ear, but it wouldn’t have made a difference if he had shouted the words. Commotion made conversation impossible. He stood up and then helped me to my feet.

  “If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.” Frances Waller finished giving the Miranda warning to Mitch Gaynor. Handcuffs already secured his arms behind his back. The mayor shook Reiner’s hand, congratulating him on bringing the case to a close. Dina lifted a camera to her eyes to capture the moment for the paper.

  Audie and I did the work, not the police. But I could live with letting the police take the credit. The grapevine would spread the truth before an hour had passed.

  I looked back at my sister. She waved at us and pointed to a small metal object on the wooden boards. One of the blanks from Mitch’s gun, I supposed. Frances spotted it at the same time and retrieved it for evidence. Audie told me that he had triple checked the guns for blanks and that they had never left his sight from the time he handed the guns over to the mayor and Mitch. We had tried to think of a way out of using the guns, but it felt necessary to pull off the deception. Mitch must have forgotten there were blanks in the weapon.

  “Audie.” I turned to look at the man who had placed his body in harm’s way to protect me. “You could have been hurt.”

  “Blame Wilde again. ‘Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.’ I forgot that the gun held blanks. All I saw was that the woman I love was in
danger.”

  The woman I love. I looked at him, a silly smile spreading across my face, my insides melting from more than the midday sun.

  Faces swam around us, and voices congratulated us on our part in the day’s events. I heard their voices as if under water.

  Only four words came through loud and clear.

  “The woman I love.”

  19

  September 30, 1891

  Dear Mary,

  Please God, this will be the last letter I pen to you before you become my wife. I am hard at work on our home in preparation for the arrival of my bride.

  Ethan and Elizabeth Hardy promise to escort you to Chandler, where the preacher will marry us at his tent church. The trees are changing color; God Himself is painting the earth in preparation for our celebration.

  God’s grace has indeed reigned in Grace Gulch.

  Your husband-to-be,

  Robert Grace

  ~

  Friday, October 4

  “I lost my job.” Dina sounded positively cheerful when she made her announcement at a celebration dinner a week later. Cord, Audie, and Suzanne joined the Wilde family for the evening. Even Jenna had returned for the event. “Without Mitch, the Sequoian is shutting down.”

  A moment of silence descended on the table. Regret at the loss of a century-old community newspaper and the horror of local leader turned murderer still appalled us.

  “So Penn succeeded, even in death,” I said. Frances had confirmed that the victim had been seeking to put the Sequoian out of business. “I guess Mitch decided to put an end to his takeover attempt. He figured that without Penn, his problems would go away.”

  “Were any of Penn’s tactics. . .well, illegal?” Jenna asked. “I didn’t think he had it in him.”

  We avoided looking at Suzanne. We hadn’t told Jenna that tidbit. Adultery might not qualify as a criminal matter, although I had heard that adultery was still on the state law books as a crime. Who would sponsor a bill giving the green light to adultery? But it was still against God’s law.

  “Aside from having an affair with me, do you mean?” Suzanne brought the matter up herself. She laughed. Her hair fell in soft waves, framing her radiant face.

  Jenna set her fork and knife on her plate and stared at Suzanne. “Really? I didn’t know.” She busied herself with her barbecued chicken and didn’t say anymore. She was more sensitive about such things than most; she had never even revealed the name of Dina’s father.

  “And aside from threatening to publish that mad cow rumor?” Cord said. “It’s libel to publish a lie, so technically it’s illegal.”

  “Praise Jesus that’s all in the past.” The words fell naturally from Suzanne’s lips. “It took losing Penn for me to realize that I needed the Lord in my life. I talked with Pastor Waldberg this morning and asked Jesus to be my Savior.” Joy beamed from her face.

  “Hallelujah!” Dad said.

  “Praise the Lord.” I touched her briefly on the shoulder, the hard feelings of a few weeks ago a distant memory as I greeted her for the first time as my sister in Christ.

  A shadow passed across her face. “I only wish Penn could have known Jesus, too. I really did care for him.”

  “Maybe he did,” Cord said. “He was a deacon at Word of Truth, wasn’t he? Of course church membership does not equal salvation, but maybe he was saved and had just, well, drifted away.”

  Pastor Waldberg had officiated at Penn’s funeral last Sunday afternoon. When I spied Gwen weeping in the front row, I felt guilty for having ever suspected her.

  “To answer your question, Jenna,” Suzanne said, “I don’t think Penn did anything illegal. He liked knowing things about people. It made him feel powerful, you know? But he was very careful not to cross that line. He lived for the paper, and he didn’t want to jeopardize that.”

  “Who’s going to take over the Herald, I wonder,” Audie said.

  I knew the answer, but I waited for Dina to speak up.

  “His city editor. A distant Grace cousin. She’s offered me a job, by the way.” Dina grinned. “So I’m not joining the ranks of the unemployed any time soon.” Her now neon-orange hair could have lit the dark night.

  Congratulations rippled around the table. “What will you be doing?” Jenna asked.

  “I get to be a real reporter! I’ll be following the Grace Gulch Bulls. Best of all, I get in for free.”

  I joined in the laughter. Dina loved high school football.

  “Not only that, I get to edit the Grace letters. Oh, the editor will be looking over my shoulder, but she said I should have the chance since my family uncovered the truth.” She tilted her head in my direction. “Thanks, sis!”

  I hadn’t heard this part. “Well done!”

  “Has anyone objected to your publishing them?” Audie asked, looking at Cord.

  Cord shook his head. “Old Bob left them at the newspaper for safekeeping, I guess. Only after his death, no one knew about them. Ron and Magda figure that he wanted the Herald to have the story. After they’re published, we’ll give them to the historical society.”

  “If you’re all finished with congratulating each other, how about some dessert?” Dad pushed back from the table.

  We followed him into the kitchen. Everybody had brought a different variety of pecan pie—part of the official state of Oklahoma menu. I brewed a fresh pot of coffee, glad I had stayed with twenty-first century casual wear for the day. For once, I could enjoy the bountiful spread without worrying about my corset.

  Suzanne ate the least and said an early good-bye. “Thank you so much for including me tonight.” She hugged me. She hugged Audie and Cord, and then Dina and Jenna. She would have grabbed Dad if he hadn’t taken a step back. “I guess we’re family now.”

  “Amen, sister!” Audie smiled fondly at her. “I’m so glad you know the Lord now.” He held up her coat for her to slip it on. I was pleased that no hint of jealousy marred my happiness.

  She hugged me again on the way out and whispered in my ear, “Hold on to that one, girl. He’s a keeper.”

  We decided to play Trivial Pursuit, the Silver Screen edition. Dina followed me to my old bedroom where we kept the board games and hugged me. “Thanks for everything, sis.”

  “I didn’t do much.”

  “You just made sure no one blamed me for Penn’s death, and you found the real killer. That’s something.” She blinked her eyes. “You came through for me, just like you always have.”

  I sat on my bed, which was covered with a crazy quilt, one of the last things Mom made before she died. I had tried so hard for so long to make up for the lack of a mother in Dina’s life. “Someone had to.”

  Dina joined me on the bed and ran her hands over the quilt. “I know it was tough for you when Mom died. And I know you think I always preferred Jenna.”

  “That’s only natural.”

  “Well, yeah, Jenna gave birth to me, and she’s a lot of fun, but you—you’ve always been there, rain or shine. I’m sorry it took a murder investigation for me to see it.” She hugged me again then jumped off the bed. “We’d better get back out to the living room before they send a search party.”

  Even with a full complement of players, I still won the game. I usually did.

  “You have an unfair advantage,” Dina grumbled. “You associate all those movie stars with their costumes.”

  “You’re just jealous because I won.” I tugged lightly on her wild orange hair.

  “I’d better get going,” Cord said. “Dawn comes early for us ranchers.”

  I walked with him to the door. “I’m glad you could come tonight, Cord.”

  “Are you sure?” He managed a crooked smile.

  “We couldn’t have solved the crime without you. You helped us to figure out the angle of the gunshot.”

  “That’s not what I meant.” He nodded toward the kitchen, where Audie stood rinsing plates and talking to Jenna. “I felt like a fifth wheel.”

  It was time
to clear the air. I leaned forward and whispered something in his ear before kissing him on his cheek. I waited on the porch until his truck turned at the end of the driveway. With him went a chunk of my history.

  Audie came up behind me on the porch. A breeze pushed cold air beneath my cotton shirt, and I shivered. He slipped his arms around me.

  “You and Cord seemed deep in conversation.” Audie sounded uncertain.

  I snuggled closer in his arms. “Oh, I just told him that he would always be my friend, but. . .that was all we’ll ever be.”

  I felt vibrations in his arms. He spun me around, his eyes boring into mine. Unable to move, I looked at him, hoping my expression said what my lips did not. A smile I’d grown to love spread across his face, opening into a wide grin.

  “That’s all right, then.” He pulled me closer and kissed me. For an eternity, I felt the promise of the first redbuds of spring, the warmth of a summer rain, the fulfillment of the peach harvest in fall.

  “There’s one thing—beside his lifestyle—where I disagree with Wilde,” Audie said after a very long time.

  “Really? What’s that?”

  “He said that ‘a man can be happy with any woman as long as he does not love her.’ He got that one totally wrong.” Audie cupped my chin with one hand. “I happen to share King Lemuel’s opinion. ‘A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.’ ”

  He locked his cobalt gaze on mine, his eyes as intense as the fire of any precious gem. “I believe that I’ve found that special woman, and I intend to spend every day of the rest of my life making her shine.”

  I couldn’t wait.

  The End

  Don’t miss the second book in the series – A String of Murders

  Darlene Franklin’s greatest claim to fame is that she writes full-time from a nursing home. She lives in Oklahoma, near her son and his family, and continues her interests in playing the piano and singing, books, good fellowship, and reality TV in addition to writing. She is an active member of Oklahoma City Christian Fiction Writers, American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Christian Authors Network. She has written over thirty-five books and has written more than 250 devotionals. You can find Darlene online at https://www.facebook.com/Poet.Darlene.Franklin and http://www.amazon.com/Darlene-Franklin/e/B001K8993A/You can find Darlene online elsewhere at here.