by Julie Weston
“Lots of children do,” the doctor said. “There was a woman lost her baby about six months ago. She might agree to take this one, but I don’t want to do it if there is a chance someone from the family would retrieve her.” Nellie had speculated with the doctor about the possible aunt. “That wouldn’t be fair.”
Neither had mentioned the money. “Let us try to find family or the aunt, then. Will the wet nurse keep her for a while longer?”
“I think I can persuade her to do so,” the doctor said. “She is my daughter.”
Outside the office, Nellie turned to the sheriff. “What a nice man that doctor is. All the doctors I ever met were crusty and often arrogant. This man wasn’t at all.”
“Small town doc,” Charlie said. “Makes a difference.” He could walk better on the crutches with a lighter cast and the practice he had. “Let us go to my office. You can read reports from the doctor and the coroner. A coroner’s jury is set for this afternoon.”
“What is that?”
“It has to decide how the people were killed and whether murder was involved. Mostly, the verdicts come back ‘death by misadventure by person or persons unknown.’ It is the law when someone doesn’t die of natural causes or an accident.”
“What about Max and Trapper? Goldie found Max at the rail warehouse. Do you want me to go talk to him?”
“No, I think I should be doing the police work. You are the photographer, and I do not have any photographs for you to take now. After I contact that little town in the southeast, if I can find anyone to talk to, we can go to the warehouse. You can come with me, but I want to ask the questions.”
Nellie thought the sheriff sounded a little huffy. “All right.”
The town was named Utah City and had a population of around five hundred, hardly a city. There was no sheriff’s office, but there was a town mayor. He said there were no reports of missing persons, but that he knew two people who had left town in the last two weeks, Elder Joshua and Sister Faith, his wife. The mayor didn’t know where they went or what their plans were or even whether they were expected to return. No, he didn’t know how old they were, but Elder Joshua was maybe in his fifties and Sister Faith was perhaps twenty, and, yes, she was a beautiful young woman. When the sheriff asked about multiple marriages, the mayor said he couldn’t comment on that and hung up.
The sheriff called the mayor back, and the woman who answered the telephone said he wasn’t there and wasn’t expected back for several days. Nellie took the telephone and said she was looking for relatives of Sister Faith, and did the person on the other end of the line know of any and could they be reached. The woman seemed more inclined to talk to Nell than to the sheriff, and she said no, that Sister Faith had come from out of town about six months ago. However, she did know that Elder Joshua had relatives—his wife of twenty years. Then she stopped herself, and she, too, hung up. When Nell tried to call back, the telephone rang and rang, and the operator said no one was at that number.
“Guess we better find Max and see if he remembers any jewelry or whether he or Trapper searched Sister Faith’s body.”
“We may get the same reaction from them,” Nell said. “Why don’t you go alone? I will read the reports you said you had.”
Charlie just stood there. “On my crutches?”
“Oh, I forgot. Better yet, why don’t we ask Rosy to go. He knows these men and probably sat next to them in one of the bars from time to time. He is much more likely to get information from them than one of us is.”
Charlie sat down again. “I think you are right. Maybe Rosy is the person I should name deputy while I am bound up in this plaster cast.”
CHAPTER 18
Goldie knocked on Nellie’s door in the boarding house. “I took the boys out to the hot springs two Saturdays ago. I’m going again today with them. Do you want to come? A good dose of mineral waters might do you good.”
Her first inclination was to say no. She wanted to spend the time with the sheriff, going over what they knew, what they didn’t know. On the other hand, it would be good to spend time with the boys. Taking them would keep them out of both Rosy’s and Charlie’s hair. Maybe the two men would sit down and talk. It was way past time.
“All right. I do have a bathing dress. I’m not even sure why I brought it, except I thought if I went to California, I could go to the beach.” She made a face, and Goldie laughed.
“People come in all sorts of costumes to the springs. Some of them have those new-fangled bathing outfits. They look like men’s undershirts on top and men’s shorts on the bottom. Indecent is what I call ’em.” She looked almost startled. “That isn’t what you have, is it?” Her face flushed.
“No, I am definitely not new-fangled. I think my dress dates back to before the war. I’ll be lucky if it even fits me!”
“Nobody won’t care. All the women swim together, and all the men swim nekked in another pool. Campbell will stay with us, and Matt has to go with the men, unless I can change the steward’s mind.” Goldie left the room with a determined look on her face.
Henry’s automobile was available again, so Nellie, Goldie, and the two boys drove from the boarding house, past the shutdown smelter out the Warm Springs Road to Guyer Hot Springs, the roadway following an arch of burnished gold trees. Goldie insisted the boys stay with them in the women’s pool, at least at the outset. Matt begged to go to the men’s pool in case Peter Banks was there, and she relented.
Nellie played ball with Campbell, both of them laughing and soaking each other as it splashed down around them. Goldie sat around the edge and beamed. When the ball flew out of Campbell’s hand and landed across the pool, one of the women it splashed turned to frown and scold the boy. She opened her mouth and then shut it again and turned away. In that moment, Nellie recognized the woman in Jacob’s studio, Effie.
“Let’s stop now, Campbell. Go sit with Goldie and maybe paddle with her back and forth,” Nellie said. She waded chest deep over to the woman.
“Hello again. Didn’t I meet you at Jacob Levine’s studio in Twin Falls?” Nell held out her hand.
Effie looked at Nell’s hand but didn’t raise her own. “Yes, I think we did. What are you doing here? I thought perhaps you lived near the studio.”
“No, I live in Ketchum. I was there to do some photographic work. Jacob’s is the nearest photography studio.” Nellie let her hand drop. “Don’t you live in Twin Falls? I could ask the same thing.” She smiled to seem friendly, although really, she just wanted information, lots of it.
“I have to go now.” The woman waded over to the stairs, climbed out, and disappeared into the dressing room. Her bathing costume was new-fangled, as Goldie called it. That didn’t surprise Nellie. Effie’s prompt disappearance did.
After a moment’s hesitation, she, too, headed for the dressing room, not sure what she would say, but wanting more information. As she neared the door, she heard a man and woman talking behind the screen that marked both the men’s and women’s entrance.
“I don’t want to go yet,” the man said.
“We have to. That snoopy woman I told you about in Twin Falls is here.”
“You go to the room, then. I’ll meet you later.”
“Why are you so anxious to stay? I don’t want to go alone.”
“The mineral water helps my aching bones. Climbing around in those caves didn’t do me any good you know. I can’t help it if I’m not as young as you are.”
Nell thought she heard skin against skin behind the screen but couldn’t see the two. She didn’t want to interrupt them.
“All right. But remember, we are going for a late-night swim. You promised.”
Almost as if she could see it, Nell was certain the man grinned. A late-night swim—in the hot springs. Anyplace else would have been too cold. She’d have to ask Goldie if the springs were open at night. Even if they weren’t, two people could probably sneak down from rooms at the inn and jump in, especially into the men’s side, as it was les
s exposed to the guests at the inn or to people arriving. And who would arrive at night?
Nell decided she would. These two people knew something about what happened at the lava fields, and she was determined to find out.
Once again when Goldie had Matt called out of the men’s pool, he appeared with Peter Banks. Peter introduced himself to Nellie and added: “Ah, the famous photographer. You’re so young and attractive.” He stood straighter and sucked in his stomach. Nellie wasn’t sure what to say. She liked the compliment but stepped back so he wouldn’t touch her. Usually, she would hold out her hand to shake but avoided doing so here.
He preened at Goldie, too. He even asked about the baby. “I tried to get you to take a photograph of the child,” Peter said to Nellie. “I wanted proof that I found it at the church, but Goldie here will vouch for me, won’t you?” Without waiting to hear Goldie’s answer, as if it were a foregone conclusion, he continued. “I hear you’re a crime photographer, Miss Burns.”
“Oh, who told you that?”
He hemmed and hawed but didn’t name anyone. “Word gets around in such a small town. Have you been out photographing crimes?” He leaned toward her, as if sharing a secret.
“As a matter of fact, I have,” Nellie said. “Maybe you’ve heard about what happened at the lava fields?”
Peter’s face turned scarlet, and he began coughing. Matt slapped his back. “Are you okay?”
“Must have swallowed wrong,” the man said. “Thanks, mate. I’m okay now.” He patted Matt on the head and turned to go. “Nice to meet you, Miss Burns. Don’t take any wooden nickels.” He waved and turned tail. And ran, Nellie thought.
“Swallowed what? My eye,” Goldie said. “He didn’t stay long enough to hear what happened, did he?” She rested an arm on Matt’s shoulder, as if reclaiming him.
“I noticed that, too.” Something about Peter Banks made Nellie feel slimy. She was glad he was gone.
“Why? What happened?” Matt asked.
“Did he say he was staying here?” Nellie asked Matt, not wanting to discuss her photos. They were too gruesome for a child.
“He never said much at all,” Matt said. “I asked him, but he didn’t hear me, I guess. It was noisy on the men’s side today.”
Nell drove out to Guyer Hot Springs in the dark. She parked down the road so no one would notice a strange automobile driving up to the front door. Goldie insisted she take Moonshine for protection, although Nell resisted. Moonie wasn’t always silent, especially when Nell needed him to be so. Nevertheless, she agreed and brought a leash for him.
The dark was almost complete except for two or three lighted windows at the inn and a small porch light. Nellie wished she had explored in the daylight, so she knew where to go. Twice she stumbled over rocks and then almost fell over a log marking a parking area where there were no automobiles. “I’m going to tie you up here, Moonshine. Lie down and be quiet.” Moonie circled the spot where he was tied, sank down, and placed his head on his paws. Nell sat next to him on the log and listened. She could hear water bubbling in the pools, a door shutting with a bang inside the inn, and a breeze rattling the dead aspen leaves nearby. A slight smell of sulfur, like rotten eggs, spoiled the image of paradise that the hotel encouraged. She crept around the outside of the two pool areas.
No one was in either pool, she decided. This probably was a wasted trip. She waited a while longer and was ready to untie Moonshine and walk back to the borrowed automobile. Neither Rosy nor Charlie knew she was out. She had sworn Goldie to secrecy. And then she heard bare feet padding near the changing rooms. A giggle, followed by quiet splashing and someone or some two moving around in the men’s pool, the farthest pool. Nellie sneaked as quietly as she could below the women’s pool and tried to find a spot where she could peer into the men’s pool. Grasses, shrubs, and some sagebrush tangled her feet and sounded like an announcement of her presence. Again, she stopped and listened. Two voices, a man’s and a woman’s. It must be Effie and the man she spoke with earlier. So far, Nellie couldn’t hear what they said to each other, and why, she thought, would they even be talking about the lava fields? This clearly was a romantic tryst, not something she felt she should eavesdrop on, but she was curious. Who was the man? She assumed it was Peter Banks, but it didn’t have to be.
A moon slid out from behind clouds and acted as a spotlight, reflecting off the water and lightening up the area where Nell sat, exposing her by casting a shadow onto the women’s pool. She ducked down and waited. No exclamations from the other pool. Just as she decided her trip was a bust and she should leave, the voices in the pool ceased being quiet and their pitch raised so she could hear the words. What had begun as a tryst was turning into an argument, a loud one.
“Don’t you touch me. You’re a two-timing devil.” A woman, obviously unhappy.
“Don’t get high and mighty with me, Miss Screechy. You’re no better.” A man’s lower rumble, but still audible.
“Greedy and selfish. You’re only out for yourself.”
Nellie wasn’t sure who they were, as she didn’t recognize the voices. Perhaps the man was Peter Banks trying to keep his voice low. The woman certainly wasn’t quiet. Where was Effie? She bushwhacked back to the front of the hotel as a fancy automobile pulled up and a man stepped out. Moonshine was still tied near the front steps and had stood when the door opened, but he didn’t bark. The hotel was not a structure he was supposed to guard.
When the porch light fell on the man’s face, Nellie recognized Cable O’Donnell. And then she saw Effie on the porch, apparently waiting for him. This was such an interesting development, Nellie decided to stay a while longer to see if she would learn something more about both of them. Now, if only Moonie didn’t give her away. She crept close, still hidden by shrubbery, to eavesdrop.
O’Donnell seemed to ask questions, and Effie answered, clearly upset. He was whispering, and she was not. He sat on the porch, and Effie walked back and forth, her voice coming and going. Then she stopped, half turned to her inquisitor.
“After I gave Elder Joshua the money, he said I had to go with him while he sought redemption for Hattie. It was the only way I could see to help her. She . . . she was going to have that baby any minute it seemed. Elder said Hattie had to pay for her sin, but that he would ask for God’s forgiveness.”
A low question came from O’Donnell. Nellie couldn’t hear the words, but Effie’s answer told her what it was.
“She wouldn’t say who the father was. At that point, it didn’t matter, did it?” Effie turned and paced again. “That place! It was all monstrous shapes, and we ruined our shoes on the cutting lava. It was all I could do to keep Hattie upright. And then the caves . . .” The sounds Effie made told Nellie the woman was crying. Another whispered comment from O’Donnell. Effie stopped, her back to the man. “It was getting dark, so I insisted we stop and find a place to sleep. I refused to go into any of those caves at night. Anything could have been in them.” She turned. “Elder wanted me to be his wife. He even grabbed at my chest, as if he already owned me!” Her anger seemed to dissipate her tears. “Elder left us. He wanted to sleep in a cave. He wasn’t around in the morning but showed up before we could leave and said, ‘I’ve found an altar to God. Bring Hattie, and we will deliver her from her sin.’ I didn’t argue. I thought if Hattie were ‘cleansed’ according to Elder, we could return to the auto and get Hattie to a hospital.”
For a while both O’Donnell and Effie didn’t talk. Maybe O’Donnell was saying something, and Nellie couldn’t hear. She wanted to crawl closer but was afraid of exposing herself to them.
“I tried. He wouldn’t let me. We went into the cave he found. He brought a torch and the firelight reflected off ice all around, and rainbow colors flashed like a kaleidoscope. It was wondrous and terrible at the same time. Elder insisted that Hattie would have her baby right there. He had dreamed it. ‘The ice will cleanse her,’ he said. He looked half crazy—his hair on end, fire reflection turning his
skin red. He was filthy.” Effie lifted her hands to her ears. “Hattie screamed. I found a flat place she could lie down. I wrapped my cloak over her, lifted up her skirts and pulled her underclothes away. I raised her legs to my shoulders. And there the baby was, between Hattie’s legs!” Effie turned away from O’Donnell. Her shoulders shook. “I took my cloak off Hattie and wrapped the little thing in it. I needed to cut the cord, so I asked Elder for his knife.”
Again, Effie stopped her story. O’Donnell said something. Effie lifted her face from her hands and shouted, “Elder had a sword in his hands, and he plunged it into Hattie, right through her stomach! He wouldn’t stop. I screamed at him again and again!”
Nellie was stunned by the cruelty of what she heard. She wanted to run up the stairs to Effie and hold her close. O’Donnell apparently had no such urge.
“Then Elder said he wanted the child, a wee baby. That the baby was the ‘spawn of the devil,’ and he would kill it, too. I was frantic. That sword must have cut the cord, because the baby was loose. I had to find my way out, get away from him. He was the devil himself!” Effie fell onto her knees. “I managed to get to the entrance, and then, thank God, there was—” O’Donnell stood up and put his arm around Effie, and he looked straight at Nellie in the bushes. Even as he stared at her, he said to Effie, “Elder owes me that money. I want it back. You need to get it for me, Euphemia.” Coldhearted as ever.
It was then the two swimmers appeared on the porch on their way back into the hotel. Nellie didn’t know the woman, who wore a robe around her swimming dress. But Peter was recognizable. He appeared to be chasing the woman, dragging a robe behind him. “Wait, darling . . .” His muscled arms and chest gleamed in the porch light.
