"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
Speed crossed the busy street toward the Stardust. This should be simple enough: find this fellow, that should not be too difficult, ask him to step across the street, and then hear his side of this tale. He had done nothing to warrant arrest, and anything he may have done in California was well outside his jurisdiction. He had no circulars about him anyway.
Speed stepped up onto the ordwalk, pausing as he looked at the horse with an intricate-looking sword and sheath attached to the saddle. Well, there was a sword as described, but far from the owner's hand. That was good. So he pushed through the bat-wing doors and stepped inside. Fairly busy, and to his surprise, there stood Quentin Cantrel, so he started over to where the man was.
"Quentin, good to see you." He greeted, "Say. I've got a couple of questions if you've got a minute, Jimmy Miller had a complaint on the Oriental fellow over there, maybe I can get the straight of it from you."
@Longshot @Wayfarer
(moved from Colurthouse & Municipal Building - "Trouble In Mind"
Quentin looked up as Speed walked over and spoke to him.
"Quentin, good to see you." He greeted, "Say. I've got a couple of questions if you've got a minute, Jimmy Miller had a complaint on the Oriental fellow over there, maybe I can get the straight of it from you."
"Sure thing, Marshal..." Quentin turned to Speed fully so their conversation did not have to be for everyone. "...The oriental fellow is from Japan. Name's Shintaro Takahashi. He was minding his own business. I was sitting at my usual table reading my newspapers and Jimmy decided to be Jimmy. He tripped Frances when she was on her way to the piano to play. He then laughed like a jackass. Mr. Takahashi stepped in to help her before I could but I saw and heard the whole thing. Jimmy tried to show how tough he was and about got his arm broken for his trouble. He was armed and Takahashi was not, so I figure whatever he did to defend himself was justified. Just between you and me, Speed...if Jimmy had gone for his gun I would have killed him right there. He has no grounds for a complaint."
Caroline was just about to take the drinks over to Shintaro when in walked the marshal. Now the marshal did not normally ever come into the Stardust lest he was going about business, law business. So what was going on now? He stopped and began to chat with Quentin Cantrell, the conversation seemed very civil though she could not hear the actual words.
Never the shy one, Caroline left the drinks for the moment and went straight for the two men, lawman and rancher. She was pretty certain the saloon itself had not done anything wrong, even more confident she hadn't. Why he hadn't even arrested her since the dog incident when she had beaten that jasper with an axe handle. He had it coming though for kicking that dog. She would do again in a heartbeat.
"Hey there, Marshal! What brings you inta our fine establishment? Anything we should know about?" she flashed him a big smile.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
After Quentin explained what happened with Jimmy, Speed smiled, "Sort of what I thought. Not about tripping Francis, but about his starting some kind of trouble. "So, I had a complaint that this Takahashi fellow, it seems there's a man here in town, is afraid he has come here to kill him. You know anything about that?"
As he finished the question, a familiar voice called out to him, "Hey there, Marshal! What brings you inta our fine establishment? Anything we should know about?" It was Caroline Mundee, of course, loud enough heads turned, including this Mister Takahashi.
"Nope, just here on business. Nothing that would concern you, Carolikne." He responded. "He doesen't look like he's hunting trouble from here, just what I was told."
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
Frances finished playing her piece and listened in on the conversation between the Marshal and Mr Cantrell
"Sort of what I thought. Not about tripping Frances, but about his starting some kind of trouble. So, I had a complaint that this Takahashi fellow, it seems there's a man here in town, is afraid he has come here to kill him. You know anything about that?"
Frances wondered if the Japanese man felt the same way that she did about being talked about as if they weren't present. People did it to her all the time because she was blind; she wondered if the same happened to him because he somehow looked different to other people - whatever looking different was, she always imagined it as an abstract extension of sounding different or, something she noticed a bit more than other people did, smelling different.
"Why don't you ask him, Mr Guyer? He's sitting right there." Frances suggested, spinning on her piano stool, and pointing in almost the right direction.
A familiar voice called out to him, "Hey there, Marshal! What brings you inta our fine establishment? Anything we should know about?" It was Caroline Mundee, of course, loud enough heads turned.
"Nope, just here on business. Nothing that would concern you, Caroline." He responded.
Frances chuckled a bit to herself, she was pretty sure her friend the saloon singer wouldn't like being told to keep her nose out. Ah, she did miss the strange conversations you heard at at this place, raucous though it could get.
"He doesn't look like he's hunting trouble from here, just what I was told."
"I'm sure you're just waiting for your free beer, aren't you Mister Takahashi? Not waiting to murder anyone. Mr Takahashi was so gallant, Marshal, rescuing me... and most restrained when dealing with Mr Miller" Well, as far as she knew from what she had heard during the incident.
She turned and smiled sweetly at a spot about a foot to the left of Shintaro's head.
@[LydPayne]
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
He turned to face Francis, removing his hat, "Miss Grimes. I'm sorry that Jimmy tripped you, and I would say that I'm glad that Mister Takahasi was able to rescue you. Now, as far as asking Mister Cantrell about the incident, and the second complaint, I have known him to be honest and forthright, so anything he would say I would want to hear." He paused as what was being said was now being heard by everyone.
"I will be asking Mister Takahasi if he would step over to my office, across the street, that we might have a conversation out of the earshot of those here who do not need to hear what I am going to question him about." Then he faced the man and took a step toward the man, "Mister Takahasi, I'll need to come over to the office with me, you are not under arrest, nor would you be as a result of my questions."
@Ldypayne
@Javia
"Hey there, Marshal! What brings you inta our fine establishment? Anything we should know about?"Caroline now inquired with a smile.
"Nope, just here on business. Nothing that would concern you, Caroline." the marshal responded.
"Well, that's what I figured, you bein' here on business, you never come in otherwise," Caroline was a bit annoyed at the man's brushoff.
She hadn't heard what the topic was between Cantrell and the lawman but Frances next words clued her in pretty well.
He doesn't look like he's hunting trouble from here, just what I was told."
"I'm sure you're just waiting for your free beer, aren't you Mister Takahashi? Not waiting to murder anyone. Mr Takahashi was so gallant, Marshal, rescuing me... and most restrained when dealing with Mr Miller," the blind girl declared.
Caroline also rose to the Japaneses man's defense, "Murder? He was sitting there enjoying his stew and drink when Miller started it all and then had to make it worse with his big mouth. Miller deserved what he got and more. Me n' Ralph saw most of it. Frances is correct and I am sure Mr. Cantrell will back this all up."
As he was more focused on listening to the music Francis was playing Shintaro hadn't paid much attention to the man who had entered the saloon and headed for Mr. Cantrell. He was aware of of the man's arrival but saw nothing threatening about him. It was only when he heard Caroline addressing the man did he realize the newcomer was a lawman. Giving the words the lowlife who tried to trip Francis shouted before leaving it wasn't surprising he went crying to nearly lawman.
Exhaling slowly, he found he could no longer focus on the music, turning instead to see if the Marshall was paying him any attention. Just then he heard the music stop, Francis having come to the end of her song and it was clear she had heard far more about what was being said between the Marshall and Mr. Contrell than he heard.
Shintaro grunted an affirmative when Francis guessed all he was doing was waiting for his free beer. In truth, he was starting to doubt he'll ever receive it as it appeared Caroline was easily distracted. Not that he was overly concerned about a free beer, what struck him more was how supportive the women were regarding what had happened in the bar not all that long ago. Being Japanese he experienced far more prejudice than he did kindness which made Kalispell a far different town than others he had passed through in his travels.
"I don't want any trouble, Marshall," he said, rising from his seat and giving a respectful bow towards the Marshall. "I will come with you to your office, I'm sure we can sort this out peacefully."
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
"Mister, that's my hope indeed. Now I mean to say you've committed no crime here, and any trouble with Jimmy Miller was no crime at all, I appreciate your coming along." Speed said, of course, Caroline had seen it necessary to butt into the conversation. So, before he and Takahashi left, he said, "Who said anything about a murder? It certainly wasn't me. I have a second complaint about this gent, and we need to discuss it, and here in public is not the place for that. What I said was that there was a man who thought Takahashi here might be here to do him harm, yes, I said that I did not accuse him of murder. Now, if you'll excuse us." He simply nodded for the man to follow him and started out the door.
He had not intended for the whole place to know what he wanted to talk to Takahasi about, because it was none of their business. There were those moments when he wanted to arrest Caroline just for being a nuisance.
~~~~~~~~~
The trip across the street went without words, hard to have a conversation dodging horses and wagons, but once they reached the municipal Building and were inside the office, Speed opened the conversation, "Have a seat. I do need to ask about the murder of your wife. Now? He held up a hand, I was told, by a man name of William Boyd, that you killed your wife, and that you were here to kill him for it. That was the complaint. Not my jurisdiction, and I have no paper on you, so I'm all ears Mister, let's here your side of this tale."
@LdyPayne
Shintaro frowned when the Marsha mentioned murder and having a second complaint in regards to him. He hadn't talked or had any issue with anybody else while entering the town, just the incident with Miller. He exhaled slowly when it appeared Caroline misunderstood though the final explanation the Marshall gave didn't put him at ease at all. Nothing of his thoughts showed on his face however, he looked the picture of calm while inside he had his suspicions on who filed the other complaint. If he was right, then his revenge may be coming sooner than he could ever hope.
For now he waited till the Marshal finished talking and led the way out of the Saloon. Shintaro followed behind and since their destination was just across the street he left his horse at the hitching rail. He will collect her later once the Marshal was finished with him.
When directed to take a seat, Shintaro nodded and sat. He didn't know for sure what the Marshall would ask him but details about his wife's murder hadn't been on his mind at all. He scowled briefly, wondering what tales have been told regarding the murder of his wife and knew it could very well be an uphill battle to prove he was no murderer. At least the Marshall was willing to hear him out before making any decisions.
The name didn't mean anything to him but Shintaro wasn't overly surprised, but at least now he knew who else complained about him. It also convinced him William Boyd must be the man he was looking for. Either way, the last thing he felt like doing was detailing what happened to his wife yet again but he knew it was necessary.
"My wife was assaulted and brutally murdered," Shintaro began, the anger he felt bubbling up from where he had compartmentalized it till he forcefully pushed it down. Now wasn't the time to let his anger out, only when he found her murderer then he could unleash it. "I found her when I returned from my evening job, she barely had enough life within her to gasp out who attacked her. If this Boyd is the same man as her killer then he does have cause to fear me."