"Smokey! Sic em, boy, sic em!"
Nellie Miggins had seen enough, she needed to tell someone this exciting gossip and get it off her bony chest, so she went across to Mrs Wigfall's guest house and rapped on the door.
"Mary. Mary! Open up, you'll never believe what's happened now!!" The door was opened by the girl Jemima and Granny pushed past her and into the front parlour to regain Mrs Wigfall and some of the boardinghouse guests, who had no idea who the dramatis personae involved even were, about what had happened or, at least, her version of it.
Jemima, standing in the the doorway to the parlour, drank all this in and thought of Arabella: she had worked for Crabbe: Jemima had better let her know that he'd been murdered in cold blood after discovering his ward being molested by a drunken cowboy. At least, that was the way Granny had reported it.
The frowsy girl didn't waste time telling her mother where she was going, she hot-footed it down the street to the back kitchen door of the saloon. Mrs McMahon, the big cook, didn't have a clue where Arabella was. She knew where she should be, right there, helping her! She gave Jemima quite an in depth diatribe upon the matter. When she could get a word in Jemima just asked Cookie to let Arabella know that something had happened to Mr Crabbe.
The cook went to look for the missing girl. She wasn't in her room. On the off chance she knocked and popped her head into Caroline's room. "You seen that girl, Miss Caroline?" she asked "That feller Crabbe's had something happen to him. Her friend, that plain looking girl with the..." she motioned toward her upper lip "She just done came over to tell her."
Thus the rumour made its rounds of the town: growing, shrinking, growing again, changing, evolving, mutating. it was a pity Mr Fa had moved on, he would have felt at home amongst these Chinese whispers.
As Marshal Guyer went in to check that the coast was clear, Granny Miggins was scurrying away, likely in quest to be the first to give the news. Jonah tipped his hat to her, thinking, in a most unchristian way, that he was glad that he wasn't directly involved in what was going on. He'd never been fond of wagging tongues, especially if he was the topic.
"It's all right if the girl stays upstairs,'" he commented, his thoughts turning to other unchristian notions, namely, that Mr. Crabbe had not shot himself.
Intrigue!
I took an oath for this job. The oath says bring him in. That's what I'll do.
Yeah, hon, you can. I'm lookin' for my good friend, Lorenzo Crabbe. I heard something real bad might have happened to him," she answered.
"Oh...and checkin' up on Bridget too," she added.
Charlie frowned. The news got around quicker than he thought it would. He had to give Granny Miggins some credit as she was pretty fast for someone of her advanced years.
"I'm sorry but Mr. Crabbe...well...he has met with an untimely end," he replied as looked over in the direction where the body.
"As for Bridget, she's upstairs...with Brendan Connolly."
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
Hearing voices, and one being a female one at that, he looked to the good Doctor and said. "We can go on in but it seems that someone else is in there now. I'll get the room cleared for you." He strode into the house, the door still open.
"Miss Mundee, I'm afraid I'll need to ask you to leave. Doc Danforth is here to examine the late Mister Crabbe's corpse." He paused, "I assume that Deputy Wentworth here explained that Lorenzo Crabbe is dead? We believe heart failure and a gunshot wound likely self-inflicted." He was well aware that Granny Miggins already had the details, and her own additions spread about town so he saw little harm in telling the singer a more accurate rendition of what had occurred.
The deputy gave her the answer she was sorta expecting but defnitely not wanting.
"I'm sorry but Mr. Crabbe...well...he has met with an untimely end," he replied as looked over in the direction where the body.
Caroline followed the direction of the young man's eyes and yeah, there was Lorenzo lying upon the floor.
"Goddammit," she muttered.
"As for Bridget, she's upstairs...with Brendan Connolly," the deputy added, the very last part throwing Caroline a bit.
"Brendan? When did he get here?" Caroline well knew about the whole possible marriage option with the cowboy and the unfortunate Bridget. Was he here about that marriage? Was he discussing it with Lorenzo. Who now was dead. She had a lot of questions.
That's when Marshal Guyer entered the place.
"Miss Mundee, I'm afraid I'll need to ask you to leave. Doc Danforth is here to examine the late Mister Crabbe's corpse."
"I doubt he's THAT good a doctor," Caroline wryly pointed out, despite the seriousness of the situation and the sadness she did feel.
She would have to take some private time later to say her goodbyes to her old friend but that did not mean she was going to meekly scamper off because some lawman ordered it.
"Fine, but I wanna go upstairs then and see Bridget. See how she's doin'. The poor thing must be in shock," Caroline started for the stairway.
He paused, "I assume that Deputy Wentworth here explained that Lorenzo Crabbe is dead? We believe heart failure and a gunshot wound likely self-inflicted."
"I don't see any reason Miss Mundee can't go upstairs, but please, just stay there until I'm done," Jonah commented, then added wryly, "I prefer not to be observed when I perform miracles." Then he looked at the lawmen. "Show me the way, gentlemen. Was anyone with Mr. Crabbe when this happened?"
Of course, the actual investigation wasn't his job, but if this was more than a shooting, it would be helpful to know some of the details prior.
I took an oath for this job. The oath says bring him in. That's what I'll do.
Charlie was about to stop Caroline from going upstairs when Doc Danforth spoke up...
"I don't see any reason Miss Mundee can't go upstairs, but please, just stay there until I'm done," Jonah commented, then added wryly, "I prefer not to be observed when I perform miracles." Then he looked at the lawmen. "Show me the way, gentlemen. Was anyone with Mr. Crabbe when this happened?"
"Yes, Miss Bridget and Brendan Connelly were both here when it happened," Charlie answered, "We're still trying to work out the events that led up to Mr. Crabbe's demise."
This was about as far as Charlie could go with the official version. Until the doctor stated the actual cause of death, there wasn't much more to be said. However, with the appearance of Caroline, he knew that there was one or maybe more stories already circulating around town thanks to Granny Miggins.
Thinking about the situation as it was, Charlie turned to Caroline, "Miss Mundee, perhaps it's best you don't go upstairs just yet."
"I don't see any reason Miss Mundee can't go upstairs, but please, just stay there until I'm done," Jonah commented, then added wryly, "I prefer not to be observed when I perform miracles."
"Thankya, Doc, I can stay up there while you do your duty. Later on though, I should talk to you or the Marshal. I know something I think might be important," Caroline smiled.
Then the doctor looked at the lawmen. "Show me the way, gentlemen. Was anyone with Mr. Crabbe when this happened?"
"Yes, Miss Bridget and Brendan Connelly were both here when it happened," Charlie answered, "We're still trying to work out the events that led up to Mr. Crabbe's demise."
So Brendan was here before the death? Interesting. Caroline had a hunch about why too. But she wanted to hear it from the source.
Thinking about the situation as it was, Charlie turned to Caroline, "Miss Mundee, perhaps it's best you don't go upstairs just yet."
Caroline smirked, "I'm sure ya mean well, hon, but I'm goin' up there now. I'm good friends with both Bridget and Brendan."
Though that friendship with the cowpoke may well be about to hit a wall if he did what she was worried he did.
Halfway up the steps, she turned to the deputy, "It's you who should stay down here, this is between us up there."
And with that she continued on up til she reached Bridget's room.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
"Excuse me, Miss Mundee, but I'll tolerate no disturbance while the doctor is about his assessment of what happened here." Speed warned, he had dealt with this woman before, and since he was aware of this triangle, Bridget's condition, as well as her future, which did not look all that promising at the moment, and then there was Connolly's faithlessness.
Bridget Monahan was in no condition to endure the stress and strain of dealing with a spurned lover, not with her only benefactor laying dead on the floor. True, Crabbe was not in the running for 'parent of the year', but he had taken care of Bridget, more than it looked like Connolly would be doing for her.
Once the logistics were worked out, Jonah went to the body, kneeling down and peeling away the man's shirt. "If he did have a heart attack any evidence of that would be obliterated by the bullet." He'd only read about the signs of cardiac disease, but they'd be evident, were the heart not a jumbled mess.
"There's no sense in cutting him open, so I'll need to hear what the witnesses have to say." There could be some speculation, based on what Crabbe did just prior to the shooting.
He raised the man's right hand and nodded. "There's gun powder residue here," he commented, "indicating he was holding the gun when it went off, and..." he nodded to the wound on the man's chest, compact, with little stippling, "this is a close shot, against the skin, or very close. I'd judge self-inflicted."
Standing, he faced Speed. "It was the shot that killed him, of course, or he'd not been able to shoot himself, right?"