by Alan Black
“Thank you. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I always had an arrangement with Clayton. He left us alone and we stayed in our place. We didn’t allow trouble in my place, so he only came by occasionally. Oh, he was never a customer. It was nothing like that, but he just checked on things. I was hoping we could have the same arrangement. Being a woman and all, I know most women don’t much care for our type of work. So, I wanted to meet with you.”
Grace nodded. “You’re right; I don’t much like your business. But LillieBeth says you were helpful to her and that you’re nice. For now I’m going to hold any action against your place. We have bigger fish to fry. We’re looking for Trance, Abe and Zeke Braunawall. I want them for the murder of Clayton. You come tell me if they come into your place.”
Samson frowned. “I can’t do that, my customers demand we keep closed mouths. But, I will have my man throw them out before they get their second foot in the door.”
Grace said, “That’ll do for now. We will talk later.”
“Fair enough, Sheriff. We-”
The front door flew open with a bang. A young boy shouted into the kitchen, “Ma! There’s been a lynching at the stable.”
MON DAY – EARLY EVENING
Grace shot out of her chair and ran to the door. As fast as she moved, LillieBeth was out of the restaurant first. Samson’s man followed close on their heels.
A small crowd had already gathered at the stable’s barn door. Grace slowed down at the edge of the crowd, but LillieBeth bulled her way through, pushing, shoving and moving people out of her way. The young woman stopped at the front of the crowd, stared for a moment at the body swinging from the rafters and turned to face the crowd.
Grace saw the distress on LillieBeth’s face. She stopped next to her friend and looked. Odie Washington was hanging from the rafters.
The body was swinging and twisting from a crude noose around its neck. Odie had been hoisted up, instead of being dropped from a height. His face was puffy; proof he had been strangled rather than having his neck broken. It had taken a while for him to die. He was stripped naked and mutilated. A Christian cross was burned into his chest. She had seen enough burns and helped brand enough horses that she could tell he had been alive when he was branded. A rag was tied in his mouth to muffle any screams. He had been emasculated, not just castrated. His penis and testicles lay on the ground under his feet in a pool of blood. His left hand had been completely severed, but there was not much blood, as if he was already dead when it was cut off unlike the thick blood pool under his genitals.
She stared at the body. How could someone do this to another human being? This was beyond brutality. It was evil, pure and simple evil. She didn’t know what to do, but surely she had to get the body down and covered before any of Odie’s family saw it.
A hand on her shoulder startled her.
Samson’s man reached into his boot and pulled out a long knife. He handed the knife to her. “Sheriff, you cut the rope and I’ll catch the body. There’re children here who shouldn’t be seeing this.” He gestured toward the crowd with a nod of his head.
LillieBeth must have heard, because she shouted. “Get out! Everyone get out!”
A voice shouted, “You got no right to chase me out.” A chorus of voices rang out in agreement.
LillieBeth flipped the safety off her rifle and levered a cartridge into the chamber. “I am in no mood to argue rights, or whether you like taking orders from a child or not. Everyone gets out except you.” She pointed the gun at a man. He was short and balding, skinny of build, with uneven features. People moved away from the man and started milling about, but no one moved toward the door.
Grace shouted, “You may not know me, but I am Grace Grissom. Mayor Cummings hired me as sheriff. This young woman is Deputy Hazkit. You’ll do what she says and do it now.”
People drifted toward the door and into the stable yard. It only took a few minutes before everyone was out of the barn, but the crowd continued to stand and look in through the open door.
Grace knew entertainment was limited in such a small community, but watching a mutilated body hang was not entertainment. It was ghoulish, morbid, and perverse.
LillieBeth continued to point the gun at the man. She gestured to the ground. “Sit. And keep your hands in your lap where I can see them.”
“Clear the way.” Cummings pushed through the crowd. “What is going…?” His voice faded to a whisper at the sight of the body. He blanched and turned his back.
Grace said, “Mr. Mayor, please close the stable doors.”
Cummings pushed the doors shut, but stayed inside the stables, keeping his back to the body.
Grace nodded at Samson’s man and he signaled his readiness. She slashed at the rope, dropping Odie’s body into the man’s waiting arms. He lowered Odie slowly to the ground. Grace grabbed a large canvas tarp and covered the body, the loose body parts, and the blood pools. She turned to her deputy and sighed. By now, it should be a common occurrence to see LillieBeth pointing a gun at someone, but it was still unsettling to see someone so young casually threatening an adult. “LillieBeth, you really need to find a better way to start a conversation with people other than pointing a weapon at them.”
LillieBeth nodded, “Yes, Mrs. Grissom, I mean, Sheriff Grissom. Daddy always said to never point a gun unless I was ready to shoot it. Since I am ready to shoot this man, I think it qualifies. Besides, he may be a smallish man, but he is still a lot bigger than me. I need some way to equalize our conversation.”
“I can understand that. I’m not saying you shouldn’t point a gun, but maybe ask your question first.”
“Yes, Sheriff Grissom. I will consider that, except I mostly shoot squirrels and rabbits. They do not shoot back or try to knife me if I ask questions they do not want to answer. Men try those things.”
Samson’s man interrupted and said, “I have to get back to work to oversee the cleanup from weekend business, unless you need a hand with something else.”
“Thank you,” said Grace. “I think we can handle it from here.”
He said, “We have a couple girls of his kind over at the house. Both Mercy and Trixie know Sariah and the boys. I’ll send them over to help you with Odie so Sariah doesn’t have to see this.”
Grace said, “My husband was recently murdered. I can tell you Mrs. Washington will want to see this no matter how horrible it is.”
He said, “I suspect you’re right, but his children should not have to remember their father this way.” He left by the stable door. The small crowd tried to see through the crack in the door before he slammed it shut behind him and pushed his way through the crowd.
Turning back to LillieBeth, Grace said, “Are you going to shoot that man or ask him any questions?”
“Mrs. Grissom, this man is wearing Odie’s bracelet and he was one of the men with Abe Braunawall, so I have not quite made up my mind about shooting him.”
The man started to speak, but LillieBeth shook her head. “Hobble your lip, mister. I am not asking you anything yet and I do not really want to hear your lies. You did not find that bracelet anymore than your friend Abe found Clayton Grissom’s gun. Odie did not give you or sell you the bracelet. He told me, just this very morning that it was destined to be a gift for his oldest son when the boy grew up.”
Grace grabbed a length of rope, the same one used to lynch Odie. She tied the man’s hands behind him.
The man spat into the dirt. “You can’t use that rope on me. It was used to hang a darkie.”
Grace said, “Why not? None of Mr. Washington’s blackness will rub off on you.”
The man said, “I didn’t have anything to do with that. Abe Braunawall and Bobby John McDonald did that.”
Grace said, “Bobby John McDonald will be a name I’ll remember. Shall I tell him you sent your regards when I catch him so he knows who pointed us in his direction? Never mind, you saw this lynching?”
The man shrugged. “Sur
e. I watched the whole thing.”
LillieBeth snapped back, “You watched, but you did nothing to stop it?”
The man smiled. “No law says I have to stop them. Sure, I watched, but I didn’t help none. They tied him up and stuffed that there rag in his mouth. Abe burned the cross in his chest with a running iron from the stable’s blacksmith shop. He said it was a warning to other uppity blacks. Bobby John cut off his pox passer as a warning to other blacks not to go around touching white women. Then they hung him. After he was dead they cut his hand off ‘cuz it had touched a white woman. And so what? He had it coming.”
Grace said, “And you just picked up the bracelet after he was dead.”
The man said, “Why not? He wasn’t wearing it no more.”
LillieBeth said, “Should we take him to jail for participating in Odie’s murder?”
The man snorted, “What for? I didn’t do nothing and you can’t prove I didn’t do anything other than watch.”
Grace had not heard Cummings come up behind her. He startled her when he spoke.
Cummings agreed with the man. “He’s right. Now, I don’t like it. Odie ran a good stable and he was a good boy, but there isn’t a jury in Missouri that would convict a white man of lynching a black man without solid evidence and plenty of witnesses.”
Grace nodded. “I suppose not.”
LillieBeth shouted “What! That is not right.”
Grace agreed, but there was nothing she could do about it. “Mr. Cummings, can we hold this man as a witness against Abe Braunawall and this Bobby John McDonald for the murder of Odie Washington?”
Before Cummings could answer, two black women pushed open the back door to the stable. They rushed forward to Odie’s body. One of them peeled the canvas tarp away from Odie’s body. She covered him up again and nodded to the other woman, who ran back out of the stables.
Grace said, “I’m Sheriff Grace Grissom. You’re from Samson’s?”
The woman nodded. “Yes’m. That other girl was Trixie. Mrs. Samson said we should come over and give a hand to Sariah and the boys.” She pointed at the man. “He one of them what done this?” She slipped a long thin-bladed knife from her dress sleeve. The glare in her eyes was enough to give away her intentions. “My name may be Mercy, but I got none in my heart for them what done this.”
Grace shook her head. “This fellow says he saw it happen, but claims he didn’t have anything to do with it. He said it was Abe Braunawall and Bobby John McDonald, but we don’t have any proof of that, just his word.”
The man snorted, “Do you think I’d stay around here if I did something like that?”
LillieBeth nodded in reply, “Mean and stupid are not strangers, but oftentimes they are close friends. I am sure Abe Braunawall is both. Maybe you and McDonald are too.”
Mercy said, “I know both them other men and this one to boot. They’s all mean. It’s easy to believe that they had this kind of meanness in them. But, trust me, I’m meaner. They best stay home with their own women from now on instead of coming by Samson’s.”
Grace pointed a finger at the woman. “Not in my town. I don’t care if you cut those two from crotch to neck, just not in my town. Understand me?”
“You going after Abe and Bobby John?” Mercy asked.
Grace nodded, “I am.”
LillieBeth said, “And I am too.”
The black woman said, “Little bitty thing like…wait, you’re that Hazkit girl? Yeah, you’ll do. Okay Mrs. Grissom… Sheriff. We’ll leave it to you for now.”
Grace looked at the man sitting in the dirt. “What’s your name, sir?”
The man said “I don’t have to tell you anything and you can’t make me.”
LillieBeth laughed without any humor in her voice. “He sounds just like ten-year-old Billy Hollister.”
Grace said, “Don’t tell me your name, I don’t really care. We’ll call you Taradittles. That’s what my father used to call little white lies. I think that’ll suit you for now. So, Taradittles, where did Braunawall and McDonald go?”
“I ain’t saying,” the man clamped his mouth shut.
Mercy licked the blade of her knife. “You let me at him and I’ll make him tell us whatever you want to know.”
Grace leaned down and whispered in the man’s ear.
The man blanched. “They went to our campsite just north of town. It’s on Bass Creek in a stand of oaks about half a mile.”
Cummings looked at Grace. “You must have a secret way to make men talk.”
Grace pulled him aside. She spoke so LillieBeth could not hear. “What I said isn’t for young ears, no matter how mature she seems.”
Cummings glanced at LillieBeth and nodded.
Grace said, “I just told him I’d let that chippie from Samson’s take him out in the woods and do whatever she wanted to him. When she was done, I was going to bury him in an unmarked grave with Odie’s member in his mouth. It seems he didn’t like that idea.”
I don’t expect so. But, I cannot condone such behavior.”
Grace said, “Me neither. I’d never do that to Odie or any part of him. But, Taradittles didn’t know that.”
Cummings smiled. “Sneaky. I think a man sheriff would’ve been more straightforward. Maybe I didn’t make a mistake to let you on as sheriff.”
“Mr. Mayor, can we hold him as a witness or not?” Grace repeated her question.
Cummings shook his head. “No, Sheriff Grissom., I don’t think we can hold him as a witness. However, I don’t see why you couldn’t detain him for stealing from a corpse. It wasn’t exactly grave robbing, but it’s close enough to satisfy me. We can deal with what a judge thinks later.”
“LillieBeth, please go to the sheriff’s office to see if there is a set of manacles for Taradittles. You had best get a wiggle on or you’re going to get wet.”
LillieBeth glared at the man, but she made her rifle safe. A spattering of rain, the foretaste of the coming storm, drizzled down on the dwindling crowd. The young woman didn’t have much of a crowd left to push through. Entertainment was one thing, but standing in the rain for the chance to look through a crack in a door was another thing entirely. Most of the crowd was rushing back to whatever Monday evening chores remained yet to do.
Cummings said, “I thought you were just going to lock this fellow up to get some answers from him.” It was more of a question than a statement.
Grace said, “I think it’ll be more effective to have him show us Braunawall’s campsite instead of sitting on his backside out of the weather.”
Cummings glanced up as if he could see the threatening sky through the barn roof. “I have to get back and close the bank. I’d better get a move on or I’m going to get wet. The rain is starting to come down harder. Report back to me as soon as you find the men who did this to Odie.”
“Mayor Cummings, I’m sorry about what happened to Odie. I’ll try to arrest McDonald, no matter what poor justice the law will give him. However, you must know I’m after Abe Braunawall for his part in the death of Clayton and because Abe can lead me to his cousin Trance who shot my husband.”
Cummings looked thoughtful but said nothing before Grace’s prisoner spoke up.
Taradittles said, “I ain’t going to show you anything. I already told you where to find the camp. That’s enough.”
Grace said, “It’ll be enough when I say it’s enough. You will go, but I’ll give you a choice; you can go with just LillieBeth and me or I can invite your painted lady friend from Samson’s to join us.”
Taradittles said, “All right. I’ll show you, but only if you promise to let me go afterwards.”
Grace said, “I’ll turn you lose when I’m done with you, not before.”
“Well, while we’re waiting for your daughter to come back, how about letting-”
“She isn’t my daughter,” Grace interrupted. “I wish she were.”
“Were she my daughter, I’d whomp her backside until it was red and bruised. That
there child is a menace.”
Grace knew LillieBeth was only a menace to people who did her, her family, and her friends wrong. She was helping Grace to track down the man who shot her husband and the men who helped him. She wouldn’t expect such a thing from any child, male or female. The twelve-year-old was mature beyond her years, tougher than a child of any age should be and more than a little focused on the job at hand. She wondered if LillieBeth learned her focus while hunting for her next meal. Hunger would drive a person to stay their mind on any task if it meant the difference between a full belly and going to bed without supper. The Hazkits lived meal-to-meal like many people in the Ozarks. LillieBeth was on a hunt with Grace, but it wasn’t for their next meal. They were hunting men. The hunger they were trying to fill was for justice. She needed to learn better focus from the young woman.
Taradittles said, “How about letting me fill a blanket?”
Grace said, “It isn’t that cold.”
He snickered, “No. I mean, how about letting me roll a cigarette? How stupid are you that you don’t know good English?”
“I know enough to know smoking is a nasty, smelly habit and you’re better off without it.”
“That ain’t-”
“Not smoking will be a reminder for you not to insult me when you want something,” she interrupted.
She left the man sitting in the dirt and went to help Mercy with Odie’s body. They uncovered him, stretched out the tarp and moved him onto it. Grace picked up the remaining pieces of his body and put them gently next to him. They wrapped him up, leaving his face clear, yet with enough flap to cover him completely when the time came.
Mercy cut away the gag and pulled it loose from Odie’s face. She grabbed a bucket of water and a clean cloth and washed the dead man’s face, neck, and shoulders. “I’ll wash him down completely for Sariah afore we put him in the ground, but best keep him covered until she sees this much first.”
Grace closed the man’s eyes and mouth. She massaged his face muscles until his face looked relaxed and peaceful.
“Mrs. Grissom, are you sure I can’t have at the man you have trussed up?”