Meanwhile, at the downmarket end of the room, Takahashi was still talking with the intense housemaid.
"Thank you for your words, Miss"
Hersh looked a bit surprised at that bit of politeness. "That's alright - got lots of 'em" she shrugged, and boy was that true.
"I believe in Karma, which I suspect is similar to Kismet," he admitted. "It wasn't my karma to kill Mr. Boyd and I'm content with how things worked out in the end."
She shook her head impatiently and her braids nearly hit him in the face.
"That ain't what I'm sayin', Mister Takahashi. I don't just mean it was bad luck you didn't git him, I reckon there's a greater force at work here. Now I ain't particularly religious nor nuthin', go to church Sunday like everybody else, 'n' say ma prayers before I goes to bed, like all good girls do, and I don't understand all this new fangled spiritualism like what Mrs Orr does over at her place, but..."
She frowned hard, her pea-sized bumpkin brain trying to put into words the strong feeling she had.
"... something special happened here today... you remember when I ran out a-shoutin' and a-screamin' for help? I... why, I ran right up to you and asked you to come... and then, why it was as if you was magically replaced by the Marshal. I never seen nuthin so queer. An' I knowd I'd just been smashed in the phiz and might have been a little woozy headed, but after you and Mr Guyer ran in, I looked up and I seen this lady... oh, she was beautiful Mr Takahashi, an' she was wearin' a queer white silk gown an' her hair was all up and like midnight black and her face was painted white with just a little touch of red here..."
The ignorant farm girl touched her bottom lip, not realising she still had some of her own blood on her finger, leaving a dab of vivid red upon it. She had no way of knowing that she had just described the traditional Japanese ceremonial makeup of stark white foundation, oshiroi, and bold vermillion lips, or beni.
"Anyhow, that nice lady, she just smiled at me an' then I think I maybe passed out fer a second. But... what I think she wanted me to know was that you weren't here to kill ol' Mr Boyd there, you come here to do somethin' else... somethin' else that's kinda good... somethin' better than revenge."
Now she'd gotten it out of her system, the girl looked a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, Mister Takahashi, you must think I'm as nutty as a fruitcake."
The Town Marshal was explaining to the half strangled Mrs Ashby how Boyd had gained access to her parlour without first presenting his card at the front door, as was the custom in the better circles that the rich young widow was used to.
"What happened was, this Boyd fellow entered your home, I believe, through an upper window."
"That was my error, Mr Guyer, I do so like to keep the house well ventilated, and I have Herschelina open the upstairs windows every morning to give the rooms a good airing." she informed the man who had 'ventilated' Boyd.
"Mister Takahasi here had his wife murdered by Boyd in San Francisco..."
That was probably a bad way of putting it, it rather made it sound like the Japanese hired the druggist to do it!
"... and was in town after him. The bonus to all of this, and your misfortune to have almost been his fourth victim, William Boyd is our strangler. We can now close that case.'
The widow put her hand to her throat. "How horrible!" she gasped. Still, one had to consider, the first three victims had been two common prostitutes and a crooked store clerk; if Mister Boyd had kept to such people, his actions might almost be seen as laudable. But now he had raised his sights, so to speak, to include respectable folk, it was as well that his career had been terminated.
There was some noise from without as the local undertaker, a dour Scotsman, arrived and pushed his way through a bunch of loafers who had stopped to see what was happening.
"Seems we are gathering a crowd outside. I had best disperse them before it gets out of hand. Mister Takahashi, if you would remain in here until the street is cleared and word that the strangler is dead is out." With that, he side-stepped Mister Jolly and went out the front door.
Mrs Ashby smiled graciously at the old man in black and swept a hand gracefully to the couch.
"Ah, Mister Jolly, do allow me to show you to our corpse..."
Clemmy? What was Jane going on about? Frowning, Weedy leaned to whisper in Josh's ear, "That's her dead sister, she thinks she talks to her." Well, Weedy did have to admit that sometimes he 'talked' to his Ma, although he was (pretty) sure it was just him making things up. But then, Miss Jemima had said it was real. Too bad that F. Falmer Browne wasn't around any more so Weedy could ask him...or could he?
"That's Giles, Jane's little brother," he pointed out, hoping Josh would just figure that was the second friend, since he wasn't sure about the whole Clemmy thing, and he didn't want to try to explain to Josh.
"Miss Jemima said I could talk to my ma," he whispered, "but I never got a chance to try, since she'd buried in Whitefish." Maybe that was something he should try some day...
The bed squeaked and groaned as he struggled to pull his high top shoes off.
"Angels and Ministers of Grace defend us!" he spat, using Hamlet's words as an oath while, bent at the waist, he tugged.
"Mister Priest!" Flo snapped forcefully "You will give yourself an apoplectic stroke!"
She eased him back up straight.
"Now, you will allow me to undress you. I will not take 'no' for an answer. If there is an inappropriate moment I shall... I shall avert my gaze."
She sank to her knees on the carpet beside the bed and deftly pulled his boots off, then his socks, then lifted his feet up so he naturally went into his back. She was stronger than she looked.
She then picked up a nightshirt from the back of his chair and held it up.
"Now, let's get you into this and make you comfy."
It was a relief to see Mrs. Ashby wasn't badly injured in the attack though it was clear she was still a little shook up despite doing well to hide it. Shintaro instead turned his attention to the maid who had by now cleaned the blood from her face with a hankerchief and was gesturing for him to come closer. Seeing no reason not to he walked over to hear what she had to say.
"Thank you for your words, Miss," Shinstaro responds. "I believe in Karma, which I suspect is similar to Kismet," he admitted. "It wasn't my karma to kill Mr. Boyd and I'm content with how things worked out in the end."
"Missus Ashby, that is very kind of you, and I would be delighted, but not necessary. It is not what one would say was all in a day's work, because it is not. What happened was, this Boyd fellow entered your home, I believe, through an upper window." He explained, then continued, "Mister Takahasi here had his wife murdered by Boyd in San Francisco, and was in town after him. The bonus to all of this, and your misfortune to have almost been his fourth victim, William Boyd is our strangler. We can now close that case.'
Speed was glasd Missus Ashby had not been number four on Boyds tally sheet. Three was far more than enough. "Seems we are gathering a crowd outside. I had best disperse them before it gets out of hand. Mister Takahashi, if you would remain in here until the street is cleared and word that the strangler is dead is out." With that, he side-stepped Mister Jolly and went out the front door
Everybody was fussing and asking questions and answering them at the same time. The cook waddled in, screamed, and was then dispatched to fetch the undertaker, Mister Jolly and one of the many doctors who had congregated in Kalispell due to the magnet of the new hospital, which was about to open sometime soon.
Shintaro turned his attention to the two women in the room.
"The maid was struck hard enough to bleed, I can fetch doctor if either young lady requires it," Shintaro offered even though he had no idea where to find one in town.
"That is quite all right, my man, my cook has been dispatched" said Mrs Ashby, who had pulled herself together with true British phlegm and was now wondering why there was an oriental man in her parlour. It was bad enough having a raving lunatic trying to murder one, without have a 'ching chong chinaman' entering the premises. If one had to have such people enter one's house at all, they should do so through the servants' entrance.
The Colquitt girl had acted well and would be rewarded, but it was the Marshal who was the true hero of the hour and it was upon him that she lavished her attention.
"Mister Guyer, I will be forever grateful for your prompt action in despatching this foul wretch" she announced waving a hand at the inert form of Boyd "It will be my great pleasure to receive you for tea, as soon as we manage to get the blood out of the hearth rug."
The frowsy little maid with the face that was more freckles than otherwise, was more fixated with the Japanese man. She wiped away the blood from her face with a hanky and tossed her head in his direction in a 'come hither' manner.
When he was close enough, she stared at him with frowning visage and said to Shintaro urgently "I'm sorry to hear about your wife, Mister. That's pretty rough doin's. And I guess it would'a been nice forya to 'a killt Mister Boyd personally, I always knew there was somethin' peculiar about him..." (in the next few days, just about everybody in Kalispell, armed with the benefit of hindsight, would be claiming that)
"... always asking me if I was regular, and such.. but... I think something funny happened her today... Mister, do you believe in kismet?" she asked a little mysteriously.
@[Flip] - to Mrs Ashby
LdyPayne - to Herschelina
"This is my cousin, Josh," Weedy explained, putting his hand on his cousin's shoulder. "He came here all the way from Tennessee with his pa, in a real covered wagon! He and his pa are living with me and Ma for now."
"From Tennessee?! Golly, that's quite a space! Well, pleased to meet you, Josh. I assume that's short for Joshua, like in the bible? Hmmm, Joshua Chappel, has quite the ring to it doesn't it?" Jane nodded. Josh was lucky, as Weedy's cousin, he was looked upon favourably by the lovelorn girl.
"What's yer name?" Josh dared to ask the girl, hoping she didn't bite his head off the way she did that other boy!
"I'm Jane Patterson Forde." She put her hand out next to her where it was just empty space "And this is my sister Clemmy. You can't see her because she's a ghost, or all in my head, one or the other. My Pa wants me to see a head doctor about her, but my Mommy says it's a waste of money and there's just country quacks around here anyway. But I tell you this Josh, because sometimes I might say 'Oh, Clemmy doesn't like that' or 'Clemmy thinks that's silly' and otherwise you'd wonder what I was jawin' about" she looked to her side and went quiet for second, then turned back to the little lad "Clemmy says she likes you! There, you've made two friends already on your first day!" she beamed.
Gilles looked at his sister askance. As far as he was concerned, Jane just did all that Clemmy stuff for attention, but he wasn't about to risk his ear again by saying so out loud.
@[Bongo]
Isaiah smiled when Mrs. Bowen seemed open to offering the classes. There certainly was a need for it, knowing he and Addy couldn't be the only two to get informal educations; just enough to get by with.
"That's really kind of you, Miss. Bowen." He smiled politely at the woman and then answered all of her questions. Isaiah still had a lot to learn about the town. He had no idea what the White Rose was. The town sounded supportive of the school, though, and trying to grow the city, if they were dedicating a fundraiser entirely for the small school.
As for the what to ask Isaiah hardly even knew what to say. "No ma'm, not really. I'm suppos'n you will teach him the basics, readin', writin', maybe some history?" He asked with a raised brow. Honestly to him the reading and writing were the most important, anything else was just a cherry on top.
+++++++++++
Then it was like a hurricane had hit Josh and the school yard. There was someone yellin' in his ear something that didn't make any sense, then the same kid was yellin' across the school yard, then bellowing because this girl had snatched him up by his ear. Boy, he knew that hurt, his Ma had grabbed him up a few times like that when he'd talked back to her. It had taught him real quick to mind his manners. When the boy ran off perhaps the eye of the storm had arrived, the calm before the storm hit again when the girl asked about him.
Thankfully Weedy introduced him. He held up a hand and shyly waved at the girl. So far he was the smallest kid in the schoolyard. He glanced around lookin' someone his age but nothing.
Weedy made him feel real good when he talked about his exciting trip from Tennessee and their covered wagon and all. He was still sad about his Ma dying and that he had to leave all his family and friends back home, but the trip across the country had been exciting. All this new stuff though had him in a ball of nerves.
"What's yer name?" Josh dared to ask the girl, hoping she didn't bite his head off the way she did that other boy!
Shintaro watched Boyd bleed out his face expressionless, unaffected by the man's little jab. Yes he would have enjoyed being the one to take Boyd's life but seeing him die was all he needed to know his wife's murder was avenged. Nor did he have to break his word to her in his promise not to kill, a vow he took during the passage to America.
"There is no need to apologize, Marshal," Shintaro said, turning to look over at him. "Your aim was far better than mine, I couldn't have taken that shot without worry of hitting Missus Ashby."
He watched as the Marshal bent over the body to extract something from his body. From what he could tell it looked like a piece of wire or thin cord, not something he would expect to be on a pharmacist's pocket. It then dawned on him his wife wasn't the last victim of the man who went under the name of Boyd.
"It seems my wife's spirit won't be the only one to rest easy now that their murderer has been dealt with," Shintaro said then turned his attention to the two women in the room.
"The maid was struck hard enough to bleed, I can fetch doctor if either young lady requires it," Shintaro offers even though he had no idea where to find one in town.