Tombstone.
This afternoon I went to the church in Bisbee and talked with Brother D outside about how I had somehow begun to take care of a child and was nervous about that. He ensured that I would do a good job though I was still feeling anxious about it. Nat had come home with a cast last night and she’d told me that she had fell in the hills but something inside me told me she was lying.
The sermon was about knowing how to pray and asking for things that further God’s kingdom more than our own personal gain. I prayed for wisdom to do my job better as a detective and as a caretaker of a child so that others would be safe and protected. As I sat in church, I realized how long it had been since I’d taken the time to actually listen to a sermon.
While I headed out of the church I stopped Bree and asked, “Bree can I ask you a question? Nat told me you took care of her arm... She’ll be alright? Nothing broken?” I asked and heard Brother D talking with a little girl who said her name was Jane.
“No she fine deep bruising was all. I used cast to keep her still, but...”
“I’m not so sure Nat’s telling me the real reason she hurt her arm.”
“Oh dear. Well Jeffrey was there.”
“Was he? I’ll have to try to get the truth out of him. Thank you for being there for her, Bree.”
“I think so. He was with me when I healed. My pleasure. She just a frisky little girl.”
“That she is... I still think she’s lyin’.”
“Why?”
“I can tell these things, Bree,” I winked.
“Yes I reckon ye can.”
“Well thank ya anyway. Just wanted to say that. Have a good Sunday!”
“You also. Thank you.”
Tombstone.
I walked into Kate’s, grateful to for once have no open cases and be completely caught up with my journals and Pinkerton cards. I noticed a couple sitting at the bar and said, “Howdy folks. Don’t mind me, just gettin’ a drink. Don’t wanna interrupt.” I reached for the whiskey bottle and filled up my flask.
“Not at all. I am Conner and this is my wife Ketarina,” Conner introduced.
“Hello folks. I’m Trin Paige. Nice to meet you both. New to the area?”
“We just arrived on the late stage coach.,” Conner bowed. “Miss Trin.”
“Well if you’re lookin’ for a place to stay there’s a hotel down the street called the Russ Hotel. Or there’s a hotel in Bisbee that’s always free and has plenty of rooms.”
“Good to know!” Conner exclaimed.
“Ya’ll lookin’ for work once ya settle?” I asked.
“Most definitely!” Ketarina said excitedly.
“What kinda work?” I asked, sipping my whiskey.
“I’m very eclectic. I’ve done a lot in my time,” Ketarina explained.
“Lots of options around town. Lots of towns too, for that matter.”
“I would not mind teaching again,” Conner said.
“There’s a great schoolhouse. Might wanna talk to Miss Angi or Miss Nora if ya see ‘em,” I smiled.
“I would not mind being an attorney,” Ketarina said.
“That would be Jimmi Rubble’s department. I’m a lawyer as well,, ma’am. Though I haven’t done a case in ages... Well I’ll let you folks explore. Nice meetin’ ya both!”
“And you have a nice day!” Ketarina said.
“Ma’am,” Conner nodded to me.
I smiled and headed out, sipping my whiskey. I found Adriana and a woman I didn’t recognize talking in front of the hotel and walked over to them.
“Hello Miss Trin!” Adriana greeted me.
“I rented a place just above the Pharmacy,” the woman told Adri.
“I didn’t see you in a while,” Adri told me. “That is wonderful Miss Rebel!” she said to the girl.
“Howdy Ma’am, my name is Rebel, Rebel Dyke,” Rebel introduced herself to me.
“I’ve been a tad.... busy,” I smiled at Adri then looked at Rebel, “Hello ma’am. I’m Trin Paige.”
“Here at Tombstone?” Adri asked Rebel about her new home.
“Yes on the same street just above the pharmacy after the saloon.”
“Ah, just move in Rebel?” I asked her.
“Nice. So you finally settled,” Adri smiled.
“Yes I got a job at Annie’s.”
“Glad to hear it,” I smiled.
“Oh, at Annie’s?” Adri asked.
“Yes Ms Trin just moved in a week ago,” Rebel told me. “Well it should be no surprise considering I dress good but got no smarts in terms of skills to be a doctor or anything,” she said about her job.
“Don’t worry ma’am. I won’t judge you for job at all,” Adri nodded.
“Everybody’s gotta be doin’ somethin’ I guess,” I said.
“And Miss Trin, where have you been hiding? I didn’t see you around for a really long time, Ma’am,” Adri told me.
“Well.... I’ve started to take care of a child actually,” I said. “She keeps me quite busy.”
“Oh how lovely,” Rebel smiled.
“Oh I heard of it. That is wonderful, Ma’am. I am sure you are an idol to her,” Adri said to me.
“Yes, Nat was having a tough time at the orphanage... Didn’t like how she was bein’ treated so we made other arrangements. She came home in a cast yesterday and I still ain’t sure what the real reason is... but I’m sure she’s lyin’ to me.”
“Well I best be going I need to be somewhere at two,” Rebel squinted to see the clock down the street.
“Alright Rebel. Nice to meet you. I better head over and say hi to Aly.”
“Have a good day Ms Trin, you too Adriana,” Rebel nodded and walked down the street.
“Oh ... she maybe was just falling of a tree. Sabi did that,” Adri said to me.
“Can’t be that simple,” I shook my head and headed across the street.
I hung out with Aly at the office and listened while Ben and Aly bantered back and forth between each other while Aly worked on paperwork.
***
This evening I walked down the street and greeted the group by the lemonade stand where Annie was making lemonade for us. She offered me a drink and I took a glass, sipping it back.
“Hey there Chris,” I smiled to Chris Lyric, who I hadn’t seen in a while.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” he said.
“Everything alright?”
Chris handed me a copy of his witness statement and a journal entry and I took them to read. “I knew not having any cases wouldn’t last long,” I muttered and began to read.
“Zan’s horse threw her last week. She has amnesia and has taken to stealing artwork around the territory. I went to Apache country looking for her...” Chris explained. “Spent three days there and kinda got adopted by them, but they hadn’t seen her at all. She has stolen art from Benson and now here in Broken Arrow.”
“Well that’s awfully strange... She stole art?” I asked and he nodded.
“Nothing else. Just paintings.”
“Which paintings are missing? Anyone know?”
“All of them from our home. About eight or so. And the one that belonged to Mayor Wise from that building there. Come look. She leaves a thank you note! Come with me.”
“Sure, Chris. Lead the way.”
We walked into the gallery and looked up above the fireplace on the mantle. I read the note left on the backboard: It was here, now it’s gone. I thank you much as I move on. Signed Z. I blinked and looked at him, “What the... Which picture was there above the fireplace?”
“Why, Tombstone’s founding father, of course! I think his name was Ed Schieffelin.”
“Okay so.... she stole pictures from Tombstone... You said somewhere else as well?”
“Benson. About eight from our home!”
“Where do you live, Chris?”
“She left a note thanking me signed with a Z and big red kissy lips! Poor girl can’t remember me or Leo or our friends at all!”
“Chris, where’s your home?”
“Benson.”
“Oh okay. So from your house and other places in Benson, as well as places here in Tombstone.”
“Yes. No telling where else from.”
“Chris give me a moment. I’m going to lift some of these prints from this signature. I’d like to compare them to the ones in your home and make sure it’s the same person.”
He nodded and I took out my magnifying glass and started to poke around the wood. I took out my equipment and found prints on the wood. I took out my cloth from my pocket and the bag of coal dust I carried. I covered the area where the print was on the wood and the dust fell off, leaving the markings on the cloth. I took the coal bag and put it in my pocket, gathering the cloth.
“Alright, shall we head to your place?” I looked at Chris.
We walked outside and I almost fell over when I saw Clint Houston across the street.
“I coulda swore I just saw her on her horse...” Chris looked up and down the street.
“Geez, the dead really do rise around here,” I muttered and looked to Chris. “Shall we ride to Benson?”
“Oh Trin. Our buckboard was stolen, too. I found it smashed up in Ghanna. I’m sure Zan took it, too.”
“Do you have the pieces still?” I asked, watching Clint but trying to focus still.
“They’re still out there.”
“Alright, well I have no desire to hunt around Ghenna for wood... Why don’t we go to your home and see if we can find Zan’s prints somewhere?”
“I think a rockslide got it.”
“Maybe we can compare these prints to Zan’s prints on a sink or something at your place.”
“Sure.”
“Then we’ll know for sure if it’s her or someone trying to be her or framing her.”
“Ok. Follow me. It’s not far.”
“Lead on.”
Benson.
I followed Chris to the house and he showed me around the living room. “There were about eight paintings in here, I think.. One here.. Others over the mantle...” he indicated. “And one between the windows.”
“Guess we better get to work then. We want to see if she was working alone. Alright, Chris, I’m going to get your prints first so I can compare those to any around where the paintings were. You have some ink around here?”
“Well, in my study, I think I might. In here,” he led the way to his office.
“Alright. We just need some paper, then you put the ink on your finger and we put it on the paper.”
“Yes, here,” he handed me the bottle of ink.
“I can tell from my magnifying glass which ones are similar.” I looked for some paper and set it on the desk, smiling at him. “Go for it.”
He blotted his fingertips with ink and rolled out the prints on the paper.
“Alright fantastic. I’ll keep this on file after we’re done here so I have it if we need it in the future,” I winked. “Let’s get to work, shall we?”
I went to work on the first painting, finding Chris’s prints on the board. “See Chris? This matches your finger here... but this one doesn’t.”
I took out the prints from the picture in the gallery in Tombstone and compared it to the ones on the wall and nodded, “Yep, perfect match. Let’s check the other seven.”
“So it was her, right?”
“Well we don’t know that for sure yet.”
“Seven are missing.”
“Can you find me something that only she would have touched?” I asked as I began to examine the other pictures, finding they all matched the prints on the one from Tombstone.
“This candle holder. She is very fond of it.”
“Perfect. The person who stole the picture in Tombstone definitely stole all of these pictures, Chris. Now we just need to see if they were her.” I went through the process of lifting prints from the candle holder and compared them to Chris’s, finding they didn’t match. I compared them to the prints on the pictures and sighed. “Want the bad news or the bad news?”
“Tell me.”
“It’s her, Chris. The prints are all hers.”
Chris sighed and asked, “You know it’s the amnesia, right?”
“Now we just have to figure out why, and where she is now, and who has convinced her to follow this path. Right. But... I can understand not remembering who you are but... Changing behavior this much?”
“She took quite a blow on her noggin.”
“Yes but... does amnesia alter one’s personality that much? Or is there something else going on here?”
“I have no idea. Doc Jess said it’s hard to figure out brain injuries.”
“I’d like to get a second opinion,” I sighed. “About the symptoms and effects of amnesia. Chris.... Do you know much about her? Before you two met I mean?”
“Well, I know her family was well off.”
“Alright so here’s my plan.. Do people around here know her well? Around Tombstone I mean? Would anyone know what her past was like before ya’ll got married?”
“Well, she hadn’t been here all that long before we got together, so I guess not.”
“Oh.. that’s a shame. Well still she may have reminisced with people ‘round town, right?”
“Oh yes. She was... I mean is well liked. Pet, Doll... Everyone loves Zan.”
“Keep thinking positive, Chris. We’ll figure it out,” I put a hand on his shoulder. “So I’ll try and find anyone who she may have talked about the past to... Pet, Doll...”
“The sheriff is hard to find here in Benson. Maybe the theft in Tombstone should be the one to concentrate on first.”
“Of course. Right now I want to do some background into this and find out a motive or if there is any hope she’ll return to her normal state.”
“Good.”
“Let’s see... What else can I do.. Anything you can find... you kept a journal.... maybe she did?”
“I hadn’t thought of that. I’ll look around.”
“Or pictures perhaps...”
“If I find anything, I’ll let you know.”
“Okay and I’ll talk to Aly and tell her we’ve confirmed Zan did indeed steal the artwork in Tombstone. She’ll need to write up a warrant for her. Chris when did you say you noticed the pictures missing? Today?”
“When I woke. I umm... well. It’s hard to explain. I have been taking her to dinner and such to try to jar her memory. She slept here last night instead of the hotel.”
“And then you woke up in the morning and found them gone but she refused to admit it, and you haven’t seen her since?”
“She was gone, too. I slept on the couch there. damn, she was so quiet I never heard a thing! So....”
“Well looks like we’ve got a lot of work to do. Why don’t you poke around for journals or pictures... I’ll start talking to people. We’ll keep each other posted, alright?”
“Yes ma’am. Thank you Trin.”
“Of course, Chris. I’m sorry that this has happened.”
“Me too.”
“We’ll figure this out,” I said and offered him a hug.
“Thank you,” he hugged me back.
“Of course, hon. You’ve got good people helping you out with this. We’ll get answers,” I promised and Chris led the way to the door. “Keep me posted,” I looked at him sadly as I headed out.
“I need to get back to town.”
“See you tomorrow, Chris.”
“See you later, Trin,” he said and we called for our horses and rode off.
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