The Salem Witch Society

by K. N. Shields

  This was where Grey was heading. Inside the station Lean bought a ticket for the Old Orchard Beach train. Out on the platform, the conductor announced last call. Once he saw that it was only a two-car train, Lean made no move to board. Grey would certainly spot him in such close quarters. He turned back and studied the timetables. Another train left for Old Orchard in forty-five minutes. He’d wait and follow on behind so he could observe Grey’s activities in secrecy.

  8

  The late-afternoon sun filtered into the top floor of the three-story brick building on Temple Street that housed the Maine Temperance Union’s headquarters. Simon Gould, in his late forties but still powerfully built and with a soldier’s bearing, lifted a coffeepot from its silver platter. He caught sight of his own marred face, the burned tissue reflecting clearly in the vessel’s gleaming surface.

  “A prostitute was killed last night,” Gould said.

  “One less whore corrupting our streets,” said Colonel Ambrose Blanchard as he held out his fine white porcelain cup. “So foul a life leads to so foul an end. No doubt that the demon alcohol lured her so far from redemption.”

  As Gould filled the colonel’s cup, the curvature of the coffeepot twisted his stern visage, growing the dead, milky orb of his right eye to grotesque proportions. Gould finished pouring and placed the pot down, freeing himself from the uncomfortable sight of his old wound.

  “They found her down at the Portland Company.” Gould retook his seat. “With a pitchfork through her neck.”

  The colonel was silent for a moment. He frowned, and his gray, thistly eyebrows threatened to form a tangled knot above his austere face. “Was there … anything else?”

  “She was laid out like a pentagram. Her right hand was missing.”

  The elder man set his cup down on its saucer with a sharp clank. He cursed as the steaming coffee splashed over the side, scalding his hand. “You think it’s him?”

  “He talked of some such things,” Gould said, “once or twice, when he was in one of his agitated states.”

  “You told me he was gone. That he would not be a concern …”

  “Perhaps he’s come home.” Gould saw the colonel glare at him in response and added, “To Portland, that is.”

  “Why?” Blanchard finally asked. “The hand taken, it’s like …”

  “That book of his,” said Gould.

  “Maybe, but we need to know whether he had anything to do with that whore’s death.” The colonel walked to a bookcase filled with a mix of leather- and cloth-bound volumes. Several picture frames stood on the shelves as well, most showing the colonel with small groups of people, often shaking hands with various municipal or state leaders. “Find out whether he’s been here. And find that book before anyone else does.”

  “The police have no idea. They’re looking for an Indian.”

  “Good, but we must take an active hand in this. None of us are safe now. No one can know who he is.” The colonel set the picture facedown on the shelf. “Or who he ever was.”

  Helen Prescott and her eight-year-old daughter, Delia, arrived at Dr. Steig’s at six thirty. The servant took their coats. Helen wore a stylish walking costume of English serge with double box plaiting and apron drapery in the front. The dark blue material complemented her fair skin and blue eyes. She wore her rich brown hair up in a popular style, knotted and braided but long enough, in her case, to cover the back of her neck. Helen gave a soft rap at the study door, then entered.

  Dr. Steig looked up from his desk, where he was pecking away, mostly left-handed, on his Daugherty Visible typewriter. Delia skipped across the room, doing a twirl to show off her fancy cashmere jersey dress, before giving Dr. Steig a hug.

  “Thank you, sweet child. What a surprise.”

  “You did invite us for dinner,” Helen reminded him.

  “Oh, heavens, forgive me. Just gotten distracted with something. Why don’t we dine out?”

  “Can we?” Delia asked.

  “If you need to get that done first, I could do the typing for you,” Helen said.

  “What? No, this is nothing. I can finish it later.”

  “It’s not a problem, Uncle Virgil. I could have it done for you in no time.” She approached to get a look at the document.

  Dr. Steig released the paper from the typewriter. “Not at all, dear. It’s nothing. A sensitive matter. I need to attend to it personally.” He set the paper atop several pages of notes, then deposited the bunch in the top right drawer of his desk.

  Once Helen was close enough, she noticed the circles beneath her uncle’s eyes. “Are you feeling all right? You look as though you haven’t slept.”

  “I’ll be fine. Get a good night’s rest tonight. It’s just this pressing matter.”

  Helen took a half step back, her nose wrinkling as she puzzled it out. “It’s that awful business in the papers, isn’t it? At the Portland Company.”

  “Not appropriate to discuss in front of Delia.”

  “Yes, Delia,” Helen said. She showed him a sarcastic smile. “Or any other fragile ears.”

  “I’m certainly not going to discuss it while we dine.” He rose and moved toward the coatrack by the door.

  “Then you can tell me all about it later.”

  “Police business, dear. Highly confidential.”

  “That’s never stopped you before,” Helen said with a glance back at Dr. Steig’s desk. “So it must be terribly gruesome.”

  9

  An hour after leaving Union Station, Lean reached the town of Old Orchard Beach and made his transfer. While he rode the narrow-gauge dummy train that shuttled him several miles from that summer resort town to the beachfront depot at Camp Ellis, he read two newspapers he’d bought. The Eastern Argus declared, WOMAN MURDERED AT PORTLAND CO. and HORRIBLY MUTILATED BODY—POLICE SEEK INDIAN SUSPECT. Not to be outdone, the Daily Advertiser screamed, BLOODY MURDER THE WORK OF INDIANS, and RIPPER-STYLE KILLING BY BLOODTHIRSTY RED SAVAGE.

  After reading the stories twice through, Lean turned his attention to the passing scenery as the open-air train rattled along the dunes. It moved through the evangelical summer community of Ocean Park, then past the salt marshes, where Goose Fair Creek emptied into Saco Bay. Lean stared out to his left at the Atlantic. The sun, less than half an hour from setting, lit the beach and the ocean water from behind him. He had managed to telephone his house from the station to explain he wouldn’t be home until late, and now he thought of returning here next weekend to give Emma a well-deserved day of leisure.

  Two miles on, past an empty landscape of dunes and long stretches of scrub pines, the dummy train deposited Lean and a load of fellow travelers at Camp Ellis. The spot was a sandy point capped with a long rock jetty extending straight out into the ocean from the north bank of the slow-moving Saco River. He could hear the festive noises coming up from the show grounds closer to the beach. As the couples and families moved past him, Lean glanced over to where three long wagons were parked under a shady stand of trees. Close to two dozen men loitered about there in small clumps. There was not a single woman or child among them, and Lean noticed several bottles and flasks making the rounds. Apparently he wasn’t the only man who’d been reading the shocking Indian allegations that had flooded every newspaper in the state that afternoon.

  He hurried after the crowd of spectators, wanting to blend in on arrival and avoid being spotted by Grey. The show consisted of several large tents, stages, fenced pens for horsemanship displays, and booths spread out over a few acres of grounds bounded in by the Saco River and the Atlantic Ocean. For the next half hour, Lean searched through the stalls and among the crowds for Grey. As daylight faded, oil lamps hanging from posts all around the grounds were lit. In one great fenced-in area, a small crowd of performers reenacted a battle scene where white settlers, to the rousing cheers of the crowd, fought off a circling party of warriors on horseback. Lean moved on and passed a painted tepee where a kindly faced middle-aged Indian woman by the name of Sister N
eptune told fortunes. She also sold various powders and potions designed to ward off the very evils she foretold.

  Elsewhere a small stage was set aside to entertain young children, whose number had dwindled as the sun went down and some families set off for the return trip on the dummy train. A puppet show told some story involving a giant eagle and Glooskap, the man created from nothing, an Algonquin Indian trickster hero. A riding display included the famous Sable Island Ponies, said to be untamable. Nearby, an attractive Indian woman with long braids and a fringed buckskin suit, decorated with purple and white wampum beads, made trick rifle shots, including an over-the-shoulder target practice performed with a hand held mirror.

  On closer inspection Lean noticed that a superb juggler in full warrior regalia, handling four razor-sharp tomahawks, turned out to be a white man. The fact did little to dampen his appreciation of the man’s skill. He moved on, passing booths where vendors hawked Indian oils, ointments, and syrups. The big seller was the Sagamo Indian Elixir. As Lean approached a raised platform near the entrance to the grounds, he recognized the old Indian he’d seen on the flyer earlier. The man, announced as Chief White Eagle, praised the elixir as a great pain reliever that remedied everything from cold stomach to jaundice, dropsy, and stranguary.

  As Lean approached, he caught sight of Grey staring straight back at him. Grey, dressed in a charcoal frock coat with dark striped pants and holding a fancy steel-gripped walking stick, wandered over as the Indian began his pitch.

  “Finally, Lean. Why on earth didn’t you just take the earlier train?”

  “Enjoying yourself, then?”

  “Not at all. A horribly disappointing display. Half the performers are not even Indians. And I can promise you that if any Mohegan Indians were still alive and here today, they wouldn’t be dressed in these costumes, which have no business anywhere east of the Mississippi.” Grey waved in the direction of a passing performer wearing a full headdress with strands of feathers at the back running all the way to his knees. “It’s a complete fraud and mockery of actual Algonquian Indian culture.”

  “It’s just a show, Grey.”

  “So was throwing Christians to the lions.” Grey gestured toward the nearby medicine display. “It’s not wholly a loss. Old Chief White Eagle is, despite his name, an authentic and very knowledgeable individual.”

  “Knowledgeable about what? Why are you here, Grey?”

  “The same reason as you, I suspect.”

  “I’m investigating you.”

  “I stand corrected.” He gave Lean a bemused look. “I’m attempting to solve Maggie Keene’s murder.”

  “I need to know what you’re hiding from me. Why come all the way here? You could have visited any tobacconist in Portland to learn about the cigarettes you pocketed. It’s Indian tobacco. Grows wild.”

  “The scientific name is lobelia. I brought a sample. Unfortunately, the chief could tell me nothing specific about the blend our killer used.”

  “What, then? Do you suspect that someone from the show is the killer?”

  Grey shook his head. “It was a slim possibility. But all the performers and workers arrived here from New Hampshire only two days ago. Our killer spent a week studying the Portland Company and the watchman. Everyone here was in Portsmouth each night last week, Concord the week before that.”

  Lean regarded him for a long moment. “You’ve never thought the killer’s an Indian at all, have you? Convince me of the same. Otherwise … well, the mayor wants you off this investigation.”

  “I see. I have Indian blood, and you’re convinced the killer is an Indian. I can’t be trusted.”

  Lean shrugged. “Who else would leave an Indian message? Why can’t you admit the obvious?”

  “The evidence hasn’t yet proved the race of the killer,” Grey said.

  “It’s good enough for me.”

  “It appears you’re not alone.”

  There was an angry shout behind Lean, followed by a murmur of panicked excitement that boiled up into a frenzy in mere seconds. When he turned, Lean recognized the group of two dozen men he’d seen near the train depot approaching in a mob, several carrying clubs. One of the men swung his stick as he passed a booth, toppling the wooden support and sending the overhead sign crashing down. A middle-aged man stepped forward from the crowd of peaceful patrons. “Enough of that now! This is a family event. There are women and children about!”

  His objection earned the man a violent shove, and he went sprawling down into the dirt. Other visitors began scurrying out of the way, and parents herded their children off in the direction of the train.

  Lean glanced about, getting his bearings and assessing his options. “They’ve swallowed their fill of liquid courage. There’ll be no reasoning with that lot.”

  “So how do you intend to handle them?”

  “Same as a wild dog. Smack ’em hard in the snout—set ’em running before they know what to make of you.” Lean drew his pistol.

  10

  “What’s all this, then?” The show boss, a portly white man in a top hat, chomping away at a cigar, appeared next to Chief White Eagle. A look of alarm passed over his face as he took stock of the mob.

  Lean identified himself, pistol in hand.

  “That won’t be necessary, Deputy. I know how to handle these people.”

  Grey approached. “Which of your products has the highest portion of alcohol?”

  “What, now? As the sign says, my good man, all of our products are strictly wholesome vegetable products. Not a drop of alcohol in the lot.”

  “Your show and your people are about to be in serious trouble. I need something flammable.”

  The boss smiled and shook his head. “Pardon me, gentlemen. Your concern is appreciated, but I have customers to attend to.” The boss grabbed an empty crate and overturned it to use as a speaking platform.

  Grey turned away to inspect the various bottles. Chief White Eagle reached into a box and drew out two bottles of the Sagamo Elixir. “This’ll burn plenty.”

  Grey thanked the old man, then held out a hand toward Lean. “Lend me your matches. Hold them off for a couple of minutes—I’ll send up an alarm.”

  Lean handed over his matches, and Grey hurried from the scene. The mob had paused its forward motion to watch the show boss. From an inside pocket, the man drew a short white baton, which he waved about as he prepared to address the crowd.

  Voices called out from the mob: “Go back where you came from!” “Take your bloody savages with you!” “They ain’t welcome here!”

  “Gentlemen! Gentlemen!” the boss cried. “How good of you to come. You’re just in time. Tonight is the—”

  A beer bottle flew from the crowd, striking the show boss in the chest. The man went down in a heap. Lean fired one shot into the air, which brought a sudden silence to the rumble of the mob.

  “Deputy Marshal Lean of the Portland police. I order you to disperse immediately!”

  “One of these Indians killed that girl, and he’s going to swing for it!” yelled one man.

  “Turn him over and no one else will get hurt!” shouted another.

  “No one’s turning anyone over. Now, I’m warning you—this is a criminal assembly. Anyone failing to disperse will be arrested.”

  A man who seemed to be a leader of the mob stepped up to Lean and announced, “This ain’t Portland. You’re out of your territory.”

  Lean extended his arm, pressing the pistol against the man’s forehead. He waited a moment, the entire mob and dozens of onlookers all staring at him. Then he released the hammer on his pistol and drew it back slowly from the man’s forehead.

  A nervous smile appeared on the man’s face. “Now, step aside and let us do what’s right.”

  A sudden rage welled in Lean’s gut and rushed up past his chest. His hand flashed forward and rammed the butt of the pistol into the man’s forehead, splitting open a thin, bloody seam. The man buckled and went down. Two other fellows came forth w
ith violence still on their faces, but they only moved to help their comrade off the ground. Lean sensed the steam going out of the mob. Once again he ordered them to disperse and then made the mistake of holstering his pistol.

  With a rumbling growl, a young man from the mob came hurtling forward, arms wheeling. A well-timed left to the man’s face dropped him at Lean’s feet. Two more men rushed him, and Lean tried to square his feet, but the young man on the ground had clasped on to his leg. Lean threw an off-balance punch as the first reached him, then went down as the second assailant tackled him.

  Grey had dashed away, circling around the developing mob scene. He rushed along the sand dunes, his steel-handled walking stick in one hand while his other rested on the bottles in his coat pocket. Grey moved toward the three long wagons where the mob had congregated earlier. He set his walking stick against the shortest wagon in order to free the draft horses and tether them to a nearby tree. In the back were several empty wood casks that the men had used as seats. Grey smashed one of these into kindling on the ground, then doused it with Sagamo Elixir. He broke off a match, struck it, and dropped it onto the wood. Once it lit, he snatched up a thin burning board and turned toward the wagon. He splashed the wooden frame with just enough to cause alarm to the owners, without actually damaging the structure. The point was to startle the mob, not actually cut off their escape. He lit the wagon, and a thin streak of blue-tinged flames spread along the edge.

  “What the hell you think you’re doing?”

  A hand gripped Grey by the shoulder and spun him around. A thickset ogre of a man, well over six feet, with raging, whiskey-soaked eyes, took a wild swing. Grey ducked out of the way as he dropped the fiery brand and the bottle. He seized his walking stick and delivered an over-the-head strike. The man blocked it with a treelike forearm, snapping the stick in half.

  The man shook off the blow and threw a roundhouse that connected with Grey’s ribs, wobbling him. Before Grey could react, the man grabbed him and slammed him to the ground next to the burning wagon. Grey caught sight of the Sagamo Elixir. He crawled under the wagon, snatching the bottle as he went. The man grasped Grey’s left ankle and pulled. Grey tipped the bottle and filled his mouth with what tasted like turpentine spiked with sugar. As the man dragged him from under the wagon, Grey reached for the burning board he had used to light the wagon.