Posted September 30, 2021 / Franklin Fortner
Caroline left to summon the Marshall.
Hiram approached the man with the derringer.
"What's your name?" he asked in the manner of one in a position of authority.
"Fortner. Franklin Fortner," the man offered straightforwardly. "I just came in to get a drink and it looks like I should have just kept on my way to the hotel."
Priest tugged at his chin and nodded sagely.
"Look," continued Fortner. "I don't know this man, ..never met him. I don't know what his beef was. I hate to talk ill of the dead, but he was a troublemaker. But thanks for backing me up. One never knows what will happen once the lead begins to fly."
Priest wrapped his thin, long arm around Fortner's shoulder, and pulled him away while saying so that everyone could hear, "We gotta get our defense right. Frontier justice is played with a deck full of Jokers. I was a territorial Judge in Dakota country, and the stories I could tell you." Then .. very quietly, "Did you get the papers"?
Franklin Fortner simply nodded yes.
Priest turned to the crowd. "Has anybody got a tablecloth or a sheer or something to lay over this poor soul?" He indicated the corpse.
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
Posted September 30, 2021 / Arabella Mudd
Arabella had screamed at the shot and only Caroline's protective grip had stopped her running over before the gun smoke had even cleared. By the time she had freed herself, she was joining a crowd of others, the bums and rounders from the far end of the bar, who stared down at Grimes' grim form.
"Oh, poor Mr. Grimes!" she said, kneeling down at the dead man's side. She remembered how she had closed her poor dead Pappy's eyes and kissed his forehead out on the plains and did the same now to the ne'er do well drifter. Gosh, he looked peaceful now.
"Hey Reb, go through his pockets and see if he's got any money and give it to your man Flandry there for safe keepin'!" one of the more grizzled fellows suggested, a man who had some experience of the bad habits of some undertakers not returning all valuables to a dead person's family (although Mr Jolly in Kalispell was accounted above suspicion in suchlike matters).
"Feels kinda wrong, but... well, alright, I suppose..." she felt through his pockets and found just under twenty dollars in coins and notes, a photograph of some woman in the fashions of ten years ago and a scrap of paper with some meaningless scribble upon it. For convenience sake, she shoved the note and the photograph into her apron pocket while she stood up and counted out the money on the bar for all to see, while Priest and Fortner made heavy weather of 'introducing themselves to each other'.
"Nineteen dollars and Seventy Five cents." she announced, but still with a guilty frown on her face. Even though it was well meant, the deed felt like grave robbing, and when Caroline arrived with the Marshall, she guiltily ran up to him to hand over the 'hot' money.
"Oh, Mr Guyer, that man came in and shot Mr Grimes and took his pistol, but we managed to rescue his money to give to his sister! Shall I give it to you for safe keeping!?" she yelped nervously. In her efforts to show her own honesty, she had given a rather inaccurate impression about Fortner's actions in the affair.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
Posted September 30, 2021 / Henry S. Guyer
Gunshots in the afternoon are never good news, or a welcome sound, at least not for the Marshal. Charlie was not on hand, so it was to Speed to respond, and the shots sounded like they came from across the street at the Stardust, so he was on his feet and out the door. Miss Mundee was headed his way, probably to report what had happened.
"Hey, seems there's been a shootin' in the saloon. It's all over though. One jasper dead. No one else hurt," she quickly summarized then fell in with the man to head back to the scene of the shooting.
"Well, Grimes, sort of expected something like this would happen, sooner or later. He wasn't with Caleb Barnes was he?" Speed asked.The two were seldom together, but when they were, sparks tended to fly. Not between them, but between them and whoever happened to be handy.
They walked back to the Stardust and Speed pushed through the bat wings to see the body on the floor. Frank Grimes had met his end, a violent end and one that had been anticipated. "Who shot him?" He looked to Ralph holding what appeared to be Grimes' pistol, holding it with his hand around the action, butt outward.
Posted September 30, 2021 / Ralph Flandry
"Well, Grimes, sort of expected something like this would happen, sooner or later. He wasn't with Caleb Barnes was he?" Speed asked.
Caroline blinked in surprise, "What? How in the hell did you know it was Grimes? I never mentioned any names. I don't know any Caleb Barnes, maybe I seen his face but never got his name."
When Caroline arrived with the Marshall, Arabella ran up to him to hand over the 'hot' money.
"Oh, Mr Guyer, that man came in and shot Mr Grimes and took his pistol, but we managed to rescue his money to give to his sister! Shall I give it to you for safe keeping!?"
Guyer instead focused on Ralph behind the bar and asked of him, "Who shot him?"
"Well, two of em actually. These two gents right here," Ralph pointed out the pair of them.
"They didn't start it though and Grimes went for his gun first. I saw the whole thing," he added calmly.
Caroline piped up, "Ralph's right, I saw it too. Grimes went for his gun but these gents were faster."
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
Posted October 1, 2021 / Henry S. Guyer
"Well, Grimes, sort of expected something like this would happen, sooner or later. He wasn't with Caleb Barnes was he?" Speed asked.
Caroline blinked in surprise, "What? How in the hell did you know it was Grimes? I never mentioned any names. I don't know any Caleb Barnes, maybe I seen his face but never got his name."
"Actually, I didn't, but if there was someone in town likely to get involved where there'd be a shooting, it'd be one, or both of those two." Speed replied. There weren't a lot of men in town inclined to cause trouble, or be involved in trouble, at least not at the current time.
When Caroline arrived with the Marshall, Arabella ran up to him to hand over the 'hot' money.
"Oh, Mr Guyer, that man came in and shot Mr Grimes and took his pistol, but we managed to rescue his money to give to his sister! Shall I give it to you for safe keeping!?"
Guyer instead focused on Ralph behind the bar and asked of him, "Who shot him?"
"Well, two of em actually. These two gents right here," Ralph pointed out the pair of them.
Speed looked to the two men Ralph had pointed out, he was not familiar with either, but then, people were continually moving in and out of Kalispell, it seemed more stayed than not. And, with running his own business, as well as his Marshal duties, he didn't always meet every newcomer right off.
"They didn't start it though and Grimes went for his gun first. I saw the whole thing," he added calmly.
"Thanks Ralph. Always count on you." Speed complimented the man. " 'Spose that's Grimes' gun you got there. Take that and the money for his sister. She can sell it."
He looked back to the pair, "Now, about you gents. I'm Speed Guyer, Town Marshal, and you two would be?"
Address me as Hon. Hiram Priest, esq.
Posted October 2, 2021 / Hiram Priest
Civic confusion began to swirl after the shooting. From outside the saloon, Hiram Priest heard raised, questioning tones, and quickening steps on the boardwalk. It was the same in any town when a news-worthy event disrupted the usually humdrum nature of their daily lives. It climaxed when a lawmen entered and began asking questions.
It irritated Hiram that the piano-playing dolt, apparently heartsick that her beau, or her brother, ... or whatever their relationship was, performed an elaborate drama. She threw herself on the dead man and wailed. "Oh, Mr Guyer, that man came in and shot Mr Grimes and took his pistol, but we managed to rescue his money to give to his sister! Shall I give it to you for safe keeping!?"
"Can someone get her out of here?" Priest barked.
Guyer instead focused on Ralph behind the bar and asked of him, "Who shot him?"
"Well, two of em actually. These two gents right here," Ralph pointed out the pair of them.
Speed looked to the two men Ralph had pointed out, he was not familiar with either, but then, people were continually moving in and out of Kalispell, it seemed more stayed than not. And, with running his own business, as well as his Marshal duties, he didn't always meet every newcomer right off.
Franklin Fortner, standing like an upright citizen, turned his gaze toward the lawman and nodded once. Beside him stood Hiram Priest, looking official in his severe, black suit and crowned by his stovepipe hat.
They didn't start it though and Grimes went for his gun first. I saw the whole thing," he added calmly.
"Thanks Ralph. Always count on you." Speed complimented the man. " 'Spose that's Grimes' gun you got there. Take that and the money for his sister. She can sell it."
He looked back to the pair, "Now, about you gents. I'm Speed Guyer, Town Marshal, and you two would be?"
The "Judge" would do the talking. He looked at Fortner and asked, "Your name?"
Fortner spoke clearly and calmly. "I'm Franklin Fortner, Marshal. I'm hear in Kalispell on business. This gentleman and I had an unfortunate and tragic run-in with ... er .. maybe you'd like to say..," he suggested to Priest.
"I'm Hiram Priest, esquire. --- Judge, Mayor and Lawyer in my past. Ralph there is correct. And I'm sure that any panel of duly sworn jurists would find this a simple case of self-defense. Yes. It's unfortunate that so often too much liquor can lead to promiscuous gun play. I am in town permanently, and I am available to answer any questions and make any official statements that may be required."
Fortner lips rose in a nearly imperceptible smile. Hiram was so damned good at what he did.
"Everybody can feather their nest, but it's not just anybody that can lay an egg!"
Posted October 2, 2021 / Arabella Mudd
After a yelp of "Hey I live here!" in reply to Priest's imprecation for someone to "... get her out of here", Arabella couldn't get a word in edgewise. Adult men were talking... talking earnestly at that. The voice of a woman, and a young one at that, was unimportant and not to be heeded.
In the end, she just sighed and caught Caroline's eye. "I'll go and put this in the cookie jar fer now." she informed her and stomped off to the kitchen, leaving the big important men to their big important conversations, and also to let Mammy Cookie know what the heck this latest rumpus was all about.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
Posted October 2, 2021 / Henry S. Guyer
Fortner spoke clearly and calmly. "I'm Franklin Fortner, Marshal. I'm hear in Kalispell on business. This gentleman and I had an unfortunate and tragic run-in with ... er .. maybe you'd like to say..," he suggested to Priest.
Speed nodded so signify he understood.
"I'm Hiram Priest, esquire. --- Judge, Mayor and Lawyer in my past. Ralph there is correct. And I'm sure that any panel of duly sworn jurists would find this a simple case of self-defense. Yes. It's unfortunate that so often too much liquor can lead to promiscuous gun play. I am in town permanently, and I am available to answer any questions and make any official statements that may be required."
"Not a question of the cause of the shooting, not at all. Mister Priest, actually, not quite sure what to call you with all those positions. Now, unfortunate as it is, we have a dead man. I have Ralph's testimony which is plenty good enough for me or anyone else in town and it was clearly a case of self-defense."
Fortner lips rose in a nearly imperceptible smile. Hiram was so damned good at what he did.
"Hardly what I'd call a welcome to Kalispell, but I guess it'll have to do. You gents are in the clear." Speed stated. Then he turned to look for Arabella and the cash she held that had be Grimes', but she was no longer in the room. He exhaled. "Ralph, maybe let Arabella deliver the money and the gun to the Grimes sister? I dunno unless you'd rather one of us did it?"
Posted October 3, 2021 / Caroline Mundee
The Marshal seemed quite willing to accept his word on what had actually gone down, much to Ralph's satisfaction. Frankly he did not know these men who had shot down Grimes and he had disliked the victim as a troublemaker and blowhard. But he had told it exactly as he saw it. Frank chose to try something stupid (as always seemed to be his way) and the men were faster and more deadly. Well, plus Caroline had backed his story too.
While the men conversed, Arabella just sighed and caught Caroline's eye. "I'll go and put this in the cookie jar fer now."
"Or go give it ta Matilda, she'll put it in the safe if she thinks it's necessary," Caroline suggested though honestly she didn't give a rat's ass what become of it. Grimes was a small loss in her opinion.
Arabella departed for the kitchen then but Caroline hung around to listen.
The marshal did address the issue then turning to the bartender, "Ralph, maybe let Arabella deliver the money and the gun to the Grimes sister? I dunno unless you'd rather one of us did it?"
"Not my call, marshal. Yer the law in town. I will tell ya I think that is the first time the girl actually saw somebody die like that right in front of her eyes," Ralph answered.
"Well she better get used to it," Caroline declared, "I saw my first killing when I was twelve, a jasper got stabbed right in the lungs with Bowie knife and blood all over the place. I had to wash that floor then too. Speakin' of which, shouldn't someone get the undertaker to get..............that .........outta her." She pointed to the corpse.
Once that was settled, Caroline had a question for this latest newcomer, the city slicker looking feller.
"Mr. Fortner...was it? You said yer here in town on business. What sorta business you in?"
Posted October 3, 2021 / Franklin Fortner
This was not the way Frank Fortner had hoped to enter Kalispell. For one thing, he did not want any association with a killing. Things like that can stick to a person and that is not the impression he liked to exude. For another, he didn't know whether the dead man who lay on the saloon floor had any friends or relatives who were as hot-headed as he'd been.
The Marshal, to Frank's relief, issued his assessment.
"Hardly what I'd call a welcome to Kalispell, but I guess it'll have to do. You gents are in the clear."
Thank you, Marshal," Fortner answered politely. It was a potent attribute of his to be polite and genial. It helped him in business and in consensus building.
Priest nodded firmly as he rolled his chaw from one cheek to the other. "A very sad turn of events," he issued in the manner of a politician or minister. "Loose talk, cheap liquor, and a firearm are a bad mixture in a town like this." He looked significantly from the Marshal to Fortner and then Ralph the bartender. After which, he went back to his table and his deck of cards.
Although he never got to enjoy his whiskey, Frank Fortner decided it might be a good idea to secure a room at the hotel.
"Thanks again, Mayor," he said to Priest, turning to leave but before he took a step, a "real looker" came up to him. She was the blonde gal who'd vouched for him.
"Mr. Fortner...was it? You said yer here in town on business. What sorta business you in?"
Frank gripped his coat lapels then glanced askance at her. "You might say I'm an investor, some say a visionary." It was a vague response from the man who elevated obtuseness to a high art. For her, he revealed a bit more. "I'm here to scout out opportunities on behalf of an Eastern consortium."
From across the room, Hiram Priest watched him through experienced eyes.