"Thank you kindly," Val returned the handshake. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to settle in and get started. I'll talk to Alafair tonight and she can begin looking at available homes. If she finds some good prospects, I can go see them and work on the details with the seller."

It would feel good to get back to work. Despite growing up wealthy and having considerable wealth himself with the sale of the plantation and family inheritance, Valentin had grown up working. It's how his family raised him and not working for his living just did not feel right somehow. And, Alafair did know what they were looking for in a home. They wanted a very small property as close to town as possible. She needed room for her vegetables and medicinal plants, a few chickens, geese, and ducks. Val wanted stabling for the horses and an area he could set up his small forge. Failing room for a forge, Caine could see about leasing some time from the local blacksmith.

So far, it seemed like Kalispell was going to work out for them.

Speed grinned, "Sure. Take the time you need." He advised. "You're on the town payroll now, all of fifteen dollars a week to start, but maybe the Mayor will make an exception with your credentials. You know that most towns out here never saw a degree for the men wearing the badge for them. Be right and proper, I'd say." Speed explained. 

This might be the man who would take over for him. He would have to wait and see how things played out. A man with a child to raise wouldn't want to be facing down a bullet, but then again, maybe he was made up a bit differently than most, including Speed, who had already been shot.

"There are homes for sale, not as many as we'll be needing, but there are some. Ranches and farms as well. Folks either like how the town is growing or they up and move. Just how it is. So, best of luck with the search." He liked this man and was sure they had a good, competent lawman on their hands.

Growing up wealthy or not, over the years, Val had made do on less than fifteen dollars a week in the past. Besides, they would also have Alafair’s modest income too once she established a clientele. She had learned so much about medicinal plants and herbs when growing up in the bayou. While in Europe, she had applied that knowledge to some forward-thinking skin and hair care products and actually made enough money to see her through her escapades after running away and taking ship back to the United States. Alafair had even mentioned looking into a small store where she could open a little shop and perhaps stock lady’s cosmetics and offer her skills as a hair-dresser. If all that came to fruition, it was likely that his daughter would bring in more income than he would unless he could get a forge set up and sell a few knives here and there.

Speed grinned, "Sure. Take the time you need." He advised. "You're on the town payroll now, all of fifteen dollars a week to start, but maybe the Mayor will make an exception with your credentials. You know that most towns out here never saw a degree for the men wearing the badge for them. Be right and proper, I'd say." Speed explained.

“More money is always good,” Val grinned as he answered, “However, I didn’t choose law enforcement to get rich. Honestly, Marshal, I might have the law degree, but beyond using the knowledge in law enforcement, I’ve never actually practiced law as an attorney. I still need to brush up on local and territorial law here in Montana.”

"There are homes for sale, not as many as we'll be needing, but there are some. Ranches and farms as well. Folks either like how the town is growing or they up and move. Just how it is. So, best of luck with the search." He liked this man and was sure they had a good, competent lawman on their hands.

“Sure like the sound of that. Don’t need a huge spread, but if we can find something with a little land, that will be good. Alafair is an avid gardener and I like being able to do my own maintenance on my knives and farm tools. Not that I won’t have plenty of business for the local blacksmith…that goes without saying,” Val told the Marshal. “So, what do you need me to do first, Boss? If you don’t have anything for me needin’ done right off, I can spend some time getting the lay of the town.”

Flip

"I can tell you it's just a fair living here, but as I see it, it's a good living. Now, about what to do, maybe just get yourself settled in, mostly the town is quiet, however, we're working on a string of murders, three people have been strangled, and all we have so far is a button and a scrap of cloth that's attached. The last victim, the whorehouse Madam tore it off as she was dying. Not a lot to go on for now. But something will turn up. It always seems to."

"It's not like this is how things are here, cuz it's not. Kalispell, for all the problems outside of town, we're pretty peaceful here. The last bank robbery was well over a year ago, but outlying ranches had been subject to rustlers, but that's kind of quit, and those we suspected aren't around. Which is good." Speed told him, "You'll hear a lot about Elias Steelgrave of the Evergreen ranch and his feud with Sade Thornton, but so far, that's just simmering below the surface. Something to be aware of going forward."

It was a lot, but without the murders, there did not seem to be anything to worry about. This man, with his background, could easily replace him as Marshal, if not filliing the County job, but with a child to rear, in town would be ideal. Maybe this was his way out.

Valentin listened attentively. If there hostilities amongst some of the ranches, that did bear watching. Feuds could boil over at the drop of a hat for what often seemed totally innocuous reasons. Instead of delving further into that issue, he tabled it for the moment and asked for the file on the murders. That seemed like the most pressing issue as it appeared they where happening within the town limits.

He took the information with him to seat, grabbed a pad of paper and began reading and making notes. Val doubted he could lend much insight on a quick review and without knowing the details on the victims and other folks that knew them and might have reason to wish them harm. He found it interesting and alarming that all three had been strangled and made a note to send to New Orleans and request an old file from there. Val made himself another note as well...ask about similarities and differences. Did they have one, two, or three perpetrators?

If only one individual was responsible for all three homicides...what did the victims have in common other than a killer?