I took an oath for this job. The oath says bring him in. That's what I'll do.
Charlie had been too busy investigating the scene and talking to Amos that he didn't notice the crowd had started to grow. Some of them had appeared just as Mister Jolly was taking away including, Mary Wigfall.
The idea of McVay not following up with a blazing headline about the murders was preposterous! "The idea that a murderer is running loose on the streets of Kalispell cannot, will not, be tolerated, I assure you. I know that Marshal Guyer has been working on the other two murders, and with this one, he will increase his efforts, but with no clues to go on, it makes it very hard to build a case or even consider anyone as a suspect."
Her hand flew to her chest and she looked like she was about to swoon (Mary Wigfall had never swooned in her life). "Oh! To think, it could be my poor innocent delicate daughter next!!"
A deep sigh escaped from Charlie. Mary Wigfall's hysterics was one of the reasons why he didn't want the newspaper to run an article until there was more clues and evidence. He rather be spending time on trying to find out who was behind the murders and not dealing with Missus Wigfall and those like her.
"Deputy? Ya might wanna have a look at this. Betcha ol' Sally tore this loose as she was dyin'." He surmised, holding the button and cloth in the palm of his outstretched hand as Amos steadied the inebriated so he didn't fall over.
Charlie turned to Ezra and took the button he held in his hand. Looking at it, he could see how he could easily miss it due to the poor light. Since there was now slightly more light due to the lanterns being carried by some people in the ever-growing crowd, it had been easily found by Ezra. No doubt, McVay would say something about in his article.
Since there was nothing much else to do, Charlie nodded, "Thanks for your help, Ezra. I'll take this back to the office where I can have a better look at it. I'm sure Marshal Guyer will be interested in seeing it as well."
@[Flip]
In a strange turn of events, Ezra was thaking the Deputy's hand, not being escorted to the jail, which was the normal situation between the two. "Glad I could help Charlie, for oncet." He added sincerely. not often did anyone thank him.
"Well, thaet was quite the scene there, weren't it?" Amos asked. "I mean, now, it was right out in the street. It being dark an' all, it's not exactly broad daylight."
"Nope, guess not, but maybe that button'll be a clue. Lots'a folks lose a button, but not with the cloth still attached to er!"
"Well, now that's a fact, alright! Best we get on off the street. Show's over, I reckon, least ways fer now." Amos stated, thinking Speed had something to go on now, little as it was, it could be enough. Believe OI'll head up to the newspaper office an' have me a talk with Phin."
"Luck to ya, Amos. Thanks were the kind words an' helpin' me out with this thing we done." Ezra said as he wandered off to wherever he slept, Amos walking toward the Union's office.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Strange as it may seem to some, the idea of the paper putting out the wrong information was something a former bounty hunter was well aware of. The idea that too much, or conversely, too little, information could upset the case that Charlie and Speed were working on.
Amos wanted to know what Phin intended to print, and hopefully prevent something bad from happening, and that might be too much information, the button with the cloth attached to be precise. He stepped up on the boardwalk to the door and opened it, stepping inside. "Sad thing eh, Phin? I mean not ever'one liked Sally, but she had her friends. Like you an' me. Jest don't you be tellin' my daughter about thet."
Phin looked up from hand setting the type. "Not to worry, what I'm about to print will be the barest of facts about Sally's murder. Who found her, you, Charlie, and that there have been three murders now that have a striking resemblance to one another. I will take no liberties with what facts we have, except, nothing about the button and the attached cloth. Hell Amos, I know how important that little shred of evidence could be to Guyer's case. There's a bottle and a couple of glasses in the right-hand bottom drawer, maybe a toast to old Sally?"
"Indeed, Phin, indeed!" Anos replied, stepping over to the desk.
\
"Every town needs a newspaper."
"We got us one cold son of a buck ta deal with here." Amos stated, with knowledge of such people, those who killed just to kill! "Hard part bein' figurin' who was the one what done it."
As he continued setting type for the front page, Phin said, "Clues, none, until this button and the snippet of cloth, but it might be as common a snippet as there are wool coats in this burg, an' that's quite a few. I'd say they mostly all look pretty much the same! That may or may not make it harder, but certainly something that Guyer, Pike, and Wentworth need to keep quiet about, all the same."
"True. I don't figger Charlie ta be runnin' his mouth about what Ezra found. I doubt anyone saw it, after all, Ezra's a person no one pays much attention to." Amos chuckled a little.
"Goes with the territory, being the town drunk," Phin said. "Remember when Dutton Peaboy was the Kaliospell sot? Never did understand how he got the post with Governor Houser, but he was a crackerjack pitbull before the whiskey got him."
"Ruin't many a good man, Phin, many a good man." Amos agreed about the effect of alcohol on some people and what it did to their careers and their families." Was Amos' opinion, "But some make it back. Dang'd few though!" He got up, well, guess I'll get on back down't the hotel an' get ta bed. 'nuff excitement fer one evenin'."
"You take care, and keep your eyes peeled, never know what's out there in the dark anymore," Phin said, as Amos opened the door, giving an over the shoulder wave as he stepped out into the cool of the evening.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
May 4, 1877, dawned cold and partly cloudy.
No precipitation, just a light breeze.
Speed got to the second office of the day, the first being the Wood and Guyer Mining Company office, where he had to get out several purchases of possible mineral sites, among them, both gold and silver, as well as copper and garnets, as well as other gemstones. He had his hands full with the Copper Queen for the moment, but he was looking at a couple of claims that interested him; those he would hold back.
The second office, across the street in the Municipal Building, and the Town Marshal's office. And there on the desk lay the report, the note Charlie Wentworth had slipped under the other office door, advising him of the murder. Another strangulation. Three of them, but with this report was a button, still attached to a piece of wool. The kind that most folks wore in the winter, heavy wool coats that offered some protection from the cold.
He sat back, re-reading the report a third time. A report from Charlie was almost as good as talking to him and hearing it. He had the makings of a fine lawman. His reports were clear, concise, and factual. Easy to read and understand. He would need to go to the undertakers to view the body and talk with Malcolm Jolly to see what he might add. There lay the morning paper with the headline screaming about the murder. He scooped it up and read the article, not a word about the button, the only clue. This was good. Phin was on the ball and realized its importance.
He took out his pocket watch; it was just going on seven o'clock. He would give it an hour or so before going to see Jolly, but Alice would be up and around by now, he could take her to breakfast at the Lickskillet. A capital idea!"
Alice was up and dressed, like any rancher's daughter, except she was staying the night in town. There was a knock on the door, and she just figured it was Speed, because who else would be up at this time of the morning? She walked over and opened the door. "Aren't you the early bird, Mister Guyer?"
"Well, I just thought, why not we go to breakfast at the Lickskillet? "Got a case." He said to her as he stepped into the room. "Confounding me something awful, but that's not why I'm here, just an excuse to ask you to breakfast. and to let you know the cell was quiet and comfortable," He lied, because it wasn't. Jail cells are never comfortable! "And you are the perfect remedy for that kind of headache. So? What do you say, Miss Fletcher?"
"How could I say no to such a beautiful offer as that with the most inelible bachelor in Kalispell?" She responded, looking up at him with big doe eyes. " Well, come on ya big galoot! I'm famished. Then she kissed him and stepped through the open door, toward the staircase leading down to the ground floor.
"It was not like he was really hungry, at least not yet anyway, he just needed to get away from the reports as he tried to clear his head of the matter and then come back to them for a fresh look at them. He was beginning to believe that there was no real motive here; there was no rhyme or reason to the three deaths, people who had no connection to one another, except that Sally Adams ran the house, and Annie Hayden worked for her. Jasper Nichols may have been a client, but how does that triangulate into a motive?
And the button with a shred of material attached? Where does that fit in, with things getting warmer and wool coats not being worn all the time? It would be easy enough to hide it, burn it, maybe even bury it. Or repair it. There could be half a dozen coats of the same material around town, since sometimes the shipments contained several items that were the same, in shirts, pants, and coats.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
"Evidence is surely lacking in this case, and all are linked, not by what they have in common, but by the method used by the killer. He said. "Well, let's get to breakfast and maybe talk about something a bit more pleasant, like the wedding and your plans for it. I know I need to get over to Mister Pettigrew's shop and see about my suits I ordered, especially the one I'm to be married in. And you, I suppose you've been there to see about a gown or a dress for the occasion?"
"I have not, but it was on my list. We can go together today, but once you've seen about your suits, you have to leave. Bad luck for the groom to know of the bride's gown, or to see her in it before the wedding." Alice informed him, "And I mean it, Henry Guyer! No peeking through the windows either."
"If I recall, peeking through his heavy draperies would be nigh impossible. And I would much rather be surprised when you walk down the aisle, shall we go"? He asked.
"Of course. And about the date, perhaps the later part of the month. The alarm calls for wet weather to some degree up until the twenty-first. I want it to be clear, sunny, and bright on our day."
"Well, that sounds good to me, and it will be a bit warmer by then too. So, sure, let's head out then." Speed said, offering his hand. "Gonna be a busy time of it, that's for sure."
"Evidence is surely lacking in this case, and all are linked, not by what they have in common, but by the method used by the killer. He said. "Well, let's get to breakfast and maybe talk about something a bit more pleasant, like the wedding and your plans for it. I know I need to get over to Mister Pettigrew's shop and see about my suits I ordered, especially the one I'm to be married in. And you, I suppose you've been there to see about a gown or a dress for the occasion?"
"I have not, but it was on my list. We can go together today, but once you've seen about your suits, you have to leave. Bad luck for the groom to know of the bride's gown, or to see her in it before the wedding." Alice informed him, "And I mean it, Henry Guyer! No peeking through the windows either."
"If I recall, peeking through his heavy draperies would be nigh impossible. And I would much rather be surprised when you walk down the aisle, shall we go"? He asked.
"Of course. And about the date, perhaps the later part of the month. The almanac calls for wet weather to some degree up until the twenty-first. I want it to be clear, sunny, and bright on our day."
"Well, that sounds good to me, and it will be a bit warmer by then, too. So, sure, let's head out then, be good to get some coffee I didn't make." Speed said, offering his hand. "Gonna be a busy time of it, that's for sure."
"You make good coffee." She said, to which he made a face, "Well, you do. With this case of yours, you'll be burning the midnight oil. But you'll figure it out. Hopefully, before this killer strikes again!"
As he reached the door and turned the nob, he said over his shoulder, "That would be my choice, just not real sure it'll work out the way I want it to."
