“Thank you. Now, we should get settled. Is there a livery for our stock?”
“Matt Jepson will do that down the street on the right.”
“Rooms and board?”
“Mrs. Halter is a widow with several bedrooms and she lives a block away. She will serve the meals you need if you tell her. I arranged all this so you’d be free to investigate when I was told you were coming to help me. I know you’d want the time spent here shortened as much as possible, so I prepared all I could.”
“You are right. And thank you. Miguel can put the horses up. Jesus and I will start reading your notes.”
Knowles nodded. “I will go with him. We will leave your personal things at Mrs. Halter’s house, and put up the horses. I’ll arrange for lunch here and supper with her tonight.”
“Thanks again.”
“No problem. I want this business solved.”
* * *
Sitting across the desk from each other, Chet handed the case file marked number two to Jesus to read.
He opened file number one.
Forester Family Murder, June 1876
I received my first report about a grisly murder scene out on Pierce Mountain. Hans Peters, a cowboy at the D Bar S ranch, came in and told me the Forester family had been murdered. Axed to death. Him, her, and their two children. It had happened a week or so earlier he thought. I took six posse men and we rode up there.
To enter the house we wore masks because I knew the smell would be bad.
I felt, after several years as a lawman, I would handle it better. I didn’t.
When we got back I asked each man that could write to give me his notes. They are in an envelope marked one in this file.
The killer probably used an ax that belonged to the Forester family. I don’t know in what order he murdered them. The father, Cy, had been decapitated on a stump block, which may have been brought into the kitchen for that purpose. His hands were tied behind his back. I had no idea how many blows the murderer did to sever it.
Both children were beheaded by the same method. One boy was five and the other seven or eight. The mother was naked and I suspect she had been raped. Her hands and feet were tied spread-eagle on top of the bed. The killer slit her throat, I think, when he was done using her body.
Chet closed the file. The killer or killers were some kind of crazy mad people.
“How does that one read?” he asked Jesus.
Jesus had wet eyes when he dropped his file on the desk. “They smashed the baby’s head on a porch post to kill it. The buzzards had consumed most of it laying in the yard. But his dried blood was on the porch post. Inside the house the father had his chest chopped open and his heart had been removed. Three children were cut into pieces. I couldn’t read what he said about the wife’s death. No tracks to follow . . .”
“Let’s go outside and get a breath of air.” Chet stood up and shook his head.
“I don’t know how Knowles is still sane after handling two of these cases?”
Jesus looked pained. “Chet, there are two more here yet to read.”
“I know and reading them is going to be hell.”
Jesus agreed, stretching his arms over his head. It had warmed up outside some and the sun sparkled on the bare cottonwood tree bark.
“We, somehow, must find him before he strikes again.”
“You have any thoughts?”
“No. Knowles knows this land. He knows these people, but he has not found a suspect in the eight or nine months these four horrible crimes happened.”
“You read number three and I’ll read the last one. They can wait. There’s a woman coming with a covered tray. I think she is coming with that for us.”
“You must be the marshals. Deputy Knowles said to bring you two some lunch. He and your man are repairing a packsaddle and will be here when they’re done.”
“Thank you. My name is Chet Byrnes. And that is Jesus Martinez, one of my men.”
“Nice to meet you. My name is Edie Halter. The deputy asked me to board you while you are here since we don’t have a hotel or café.”
“We’re pleased you agreed. Let me have the tray.”
“No. Please, just open the door. I carried it this far. I hope you like it.”
“Hey, after weeks of our own cooking and not so good café food, we will be easy to please.”
“I can see you are a flatterer. I am happy to be your hostess.”
“You ever can come to Preskitt, my wife and I will show you a real good time.”
“Keep talking. I’d love to see your house and the woman you married.”
“Well, you are invited.”
Jesus told her, “He is not joking. He has a great wife, and you will love the mansion.”
“Here is your lunch.” She set it on the table and uncovered blue and white dishes, shiny silverware, and the food, in two pans. It was a hefty load she had carried blocks to them. “The elk steaks were fresh cut, the rice and gravy is mine, and the rolls are still warm. Butter is in that dish. I am sorry I have no coffee.”
“We understand. I bet they don’t even sell it around here,” Chet said, pulling up another chair. “Tell us what people around here think about the crimes.”
“Honest,” the fortyish woman said, still fussing to get things off the tray and set out it on the desk for them. “People around here hardly talk about it. We are God-fearing church people, and these crimes are near impossible to believe they’ve happened here where we live. And the fact no one has been able to find and stop them is scaring us all.”
“Usually, by now, someone has found a culprit to accuse?”
She nodded. “Eat. You will need lots of strength to ever find them. I don’t believe in ghosts or spirits, but they may be here.”
Chewing on a tasty bite of elk, he shook his head. “There are no such things in this world. There is a human behind these attacks. He, or they, may not be human in mind but they are living, breathing beasts. Edie, we are here to find the beast. Me, Jesus, and Miguel.”
“I hope you can. I can speak for everyone in the region. Free us from this curse.”
Finished with lunch, they thanked her. Chet said they’d bring her tray back later but she said she’d take it herself now and have their supper ready at six p.m. if that suited him. She pointed out her house to him and took her tray back.
Miguel and Knowles rejoined them.
“We repaired a packsaddle. It will be all right.”
“Good. You can read any one of these,” Chet told Miguel. Jesus was already into number four—three people murdered. They beheaded the man and their son of twelve, then used the wife’s body and slashed her throat. Just like the Forester one.
Miguel lowered his head, pushed the file away, and admitted, “I am sorry. I can’t do this.”
Chet pulled the file back to himself. “Knowles, were these four families good LDS church members?” He referred to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or Mormons.
He shook his head. “No. None were members.”
“Were these women common law wives?”
“They might have been, why?”
“I want to know what they had in common.”
“They were people who lived on the fringe. You know what I mean?”
“I think the fact they were not Mormons might attract a killer who had a mind-set they were not worth letting live. The common law wife thing could also be a point.”
“No one that went to church would ever do it.”
“I am not accusing anyone. But a mentally upset person could use that for an excuse to do this.”
Knowles shook his head. “I am not defending my church, but I have not seen or heard anyone talk like that.”
“I believe when you get to looking at these four crimes they are all near alike.”
“I have found nothing suspicious about anyone. That is the problem.”
“Let’s look at the location of the murders on your map.”
“I have them marked. They are around the outside edge.”
“Places where you wouldn’t be seen much when traveling there? Could you get a buggy or wagon to all sites?”
“I saw no tracks of them at these places.”
“Maybe they parked off away some, so you would not see them. People do strange things. A man murdered a woman I knew, and she managed to write his name on a bed sheet with her own blood before she died. We found it.”
“Chet, I scoured those sites for any clues, like if a note fell from a pocket or jackknife dropped. I found nothing.”
“The killers must be real careful. That means they are very smart or you’d have found something. So far there have been no slips. ”
“Right.”
“These reports you made are as well done as any I ever read on any crime. I see the problem is these murdered people are outside the normal way of living. They are doing things that might be very sinful in the eyes of zealous ones.”
“I thought they fell victim because they lived off by themselves.”
“I agree with Chet.” Jesus nodded his head. “They want to clean up the—”
“The sinners,” Chet added.
Knowles nodded. “If he was a killer bear I’d bait him. But how?”
“Do you have more living like those murdered?”
“I never really thought about them. There are some more out there, but I have not thought about going out there and checking on them.”
“Let’s split up in pairs and start checking on any possible sinners in the morning. We must note anyone suspicious, maybe leaving town because they are going out to find those fringe people. We have to disregard what a good person they seem to be.”
“Won’t that warn the guilty party we are looking for them?”
“If we knew names we could watch closer,” Jesus said.
Knowles dropped his chin. “Chet, you have me convinced those people were murdered for not living their lives like the killer expected them to.”
“Now we need that person to slip up.”
Knowles added, “And before they murder someone else. I simply hope it works.”
They agreed and Chet’s bunch headed for Edie Halter’s house.
“I never noticed the dates those murders happened. The first was in June.”
“Why would you want to notice that?” Miguel asked.
“Moon phases? Events at the time?”
“That might trigger them to murder?”
Chet nodded. “Hey, I did not want to push you on the file?”
“You didn’t. I did not want to admit I cannot read. Lisa is teaching me and maybe next time I will be able to read what you give me.”
“Miguel, I did not hire you to read. You are a good support to our team and I am glad you are learning reading. That will help you in the rest of your life.”
Miguel smiled as they hung their hats and coats up on the pegs in the back-enclosed porch. Washed, they climbed the inside steps into her home and into the food smelling kitchen.
After the sorry meal the night before back up the roadhouse, this lady’s food was going to be a great change.
It was too early to for him to even suspect anyone in the case, but this was not the first challenge they had to solve with no clues. They would do all they could, and hopefully stop those gruesome murders.
CHAPTER 16
That evening when his men went upstairs to bed, he stayed and spoke to his hostess, Edie.
“May I ask if you had any further thoughts about these crimes?”
“Terrible. I still can’t believe anyone doing such horrible things to other humans.”
“Edie, I believe those people murdered were all sinners in the eyes of this killer or killers, and in their tormented minds, living in sin. If someone had robbed them they might have been shot so the robbers could not be identified, but they would not have been so ritually murdered.”
“Oh, my Lord, then the killer was not a drifter?”
“My theory is that the killer is upset these people were not churchgoers and were not legally married. He was cleansing the earth by doing these ritual-like murders.”
“So he could be a neighbor and thinks he’s doing God’s work?”
Chet nodded. “Will you think of anyone with such a conviction?”
“I will consider it. They would have to have a strong belief about that to murder them.”
“They are too willing to reset the world’s clock.”
“I heard you were a good man coming with answers and now I see it.”
“Not good enough ones so far.”
“Oh, I bet you find them.”
“Please, really think about any individual around here who is so deep in his own convictions to take things into his own hands this way.”
“You want a zealot?”
“That is what the Bible calls them.”
“I will search my mind. I have seen some men shake their fist in anger when they hear or see people they think are not good Christians. I will find you some names to check out but for heaven’s sake don’t tell a soul I did it.”
“I won’t. But you be careful, too. He will be crazy and would hurt you if he even thought you were helping us stop his business of cleansing the land of non-Christians.”
Later in his bed, under the covers, his mind flipped through a hundred names that could be suspects—not one that he knew by face. What a mess? It would not be easy looking through this small population for a clever deceptive person with a mean-purposed killer’s mind.
But the killer had made or would make a slip. Right now he was doing a damn good job of keeping under cover. Tracking him down would be a challenge, but somehow he had to or there would be more horrific killings for him to feed off of. This situation was unlike any one he’d ever taken on, but all criminals make mistakes and he damn sure would find them.
CHAPTER 17
Their hostess fixed a big breakfast spread for the men well before the winter sun came up. No doubt she, at one time, had a family. His curiosity was aroused eating her flapjacks and homemade syrup. He’d have loved a hot cup of coffee, but since the beverage was not allowed by Mormons her well water in a glass had to do.
The men were talking when she came back to the table bringing another stack. “You men going to quit eating on me?”
Jesus spoke up, “No, ma’am, we are taking a break to eat those you have there.”
That produced a smile on her face, then laughter.
“I had a husband once. Frank was a good provider. He left me too early. His heart quit him. We had two sons. Johnny was killed in a logging accident at sixteen. Ira lives in Texas now. He writes me letters, wants me to come to Fort Worth. He has a large mercantile business there. He joined his wife’s Methodist church there. I have two grandchildren—I have never seen them except in pictures.”
“Why don’t you move there?” Chet asked.
“I guess because I am safe here. Or in the past it was safe. I have been a Mormon all my life. I cling to my faith and I fear leaving it. Oh, the elders think I should remarry. But I don’t need another man—I am not child bearing and I had a good man that God will rejoin me with, I hope, in heaven. Enough of that. You all eat.”
“Edie. Thanks. My first wife died in a horse jumping accident. That was her thing, to jump horses, and she was good. But over-achieving took her from me. Elizabeth was a lady who wanted to buy some of my claybank horses. She came by my place in southern Arizona to buy them when she heard I was there. Came in a fancy coach—widowed, she ran a large hacienda in Sonora. We met and soon were married. She is a delightful partner in my life, and if it had not been so cold she would have been here today.”
“Thank you for sharing. You have a wife, Jesus?”
“Yes, it took me a long time to convince Chet’s wife’s maid, Anita, to marry me. But we are married and she is coming out of her shell. It is hard to feel like an equal when you have been a worker and now you are an equal, but sh
e is accepting that.”
“Miguel, tell her about your wife.”
“Edie, we all owe a lot to our boss. He rescued a young lady who was being held by some outlaws and he brought her home to the ranch. The first time I saw her I said, ‘Miguel, you need her.’ I didn’t know her. I was afraid to talk to her in fear that it might turn her away.
“The reason that I came to Preskitt was a woman I loved was killed in Mexico by bad men. I settled that score and was restless, so I went north. I did not want to farm or work in a mine so I got a job as a vaquero at Chet’s ranch. No woman had turned my head since I lost her—five years ago, or longer, until Lisa came there.
“I knew that she had been mistreated, held against her will by bad men. She had an edge to her I had to soften. I asked Raphael, our foreman, for a day off if I could talk her into going on a ride with me. He is a great man. He gave me the time and I asked her. At first she frowned and I told her I was not there to use her—you know what I mean?”
“I can imagine, yes.” Edie smiled as Miguel poured his heart out.
“I picked an easy horse for her to ride. She made lunch. We rode around and went over on the mountain edge to look over the whole Verde Valley far below. She asked me what were my plans? I told her to become a ranch foreman.”
“Not a helper riding with Chet?” she asked.
“Oh, no. He had plenty of helpers. I never expected that to ever happen. I got through Lisa’s shield after several picnics. I asked Raphael if I married her could I still work there and could I get us a casa for us to live there. He said she could probably get one, he didn’t know about me getting one.”
They all laughed.
“He told me that they’d have to build one. You know how you want to be married once you asked her or in your case after he asked you? It required months. I thought it felt like years. The priest was ready to marry us. I was ready to marry her. She was ready to marry me. But the casa was not ready to live in. His wife, Elizabeth, bought her a very expensive gown to get married in. I have a picture of her and me I will show you tonight. Finally everything was ready. We had a weeklong honeymoon at Chet’s apple ranch and came home riding the clouds.”
Deadly Is the Night Page 17
