Black Sky (A Mystery-Thriller) Read online

  “At least five dollars.”

  I nodded. “We’ll get it if they got it.”

  I walked outta the saloon but not fore glancin’ up ta the second floor up the stairs. The saloon had a chandelier but not a fancy one. It was made outta bull skulls and antlers. I could see through it and saw this face look at me from a door. As soon as I saw, the door closed.

  “Who’s up there, Gunner?”

  “Up where,” he said, starin’ at the mirror.

  “In the room above there.”

  He shrugged. “Don’t know.”

  I walked up the stairs ta the second floor. A winda was there overlookin’ the street below and I saw a few people walkin’ back inta the saloon. I went ta the door I’d seen the face and tried it and it was locked. I knocked several times but no one opened it.

  “Gunner,” I shouted, “get me a key ta this door.”

  He went behind the bar and took out some keys and then came up and met me. He tried a few fore gettin’ the right one and the door opened.

  The room was empty. A bed, a nightstand, a dresser and a washin’ bin. I walked cross the room ta the open winda and looked out. I didn’t see anybody runnin’ away.

  “Who rented this room?”

  “No one, Sheriff. Far as I knew it was empty. Boy who had it checked out hours ago and it ain’t rented yet.”

  I looked down both sides a the street and then stuck my head out the winda. I pulled myself out and put my boots down on the roof and climbed up a ways, ta the top a the buildin’. I looked out in ever’ direction but didn’t see nobody. The wind was blowin’ and it had a cool chill on it.

  I climbed back in the winda and Gunner wasn’t there. I went out and saw him downstairs tendin’ ta the folks that was gettin’ their beers and whiskeys.

  I checked the other rooms and some were occupied and some weren’t. I went back downstairs and stood at the door ta the saloon lookin’ round, certain that I’d just missed somethin’ important.

  CHAPTER 16

  In the next town over, Coalville, was a train station and we got a telegraph today that Roger delivered ta me personally. It said that Alex Haywood was in Coalville and takin’ a coach down ta Cosgrove. Truth be told, I mighta met her down there and picked her up myself but I was busy nuff tryin’ ta keep the town together with the amount a bounty hunters comin’ in.

  And the town was flooded with em. They were on ever’ street corner, takin’ up ever’ room, always gettin’ in fights at the saloon, makin’ trouble with the married women. We didn’t have many whores in Cosgrove so other women became their focus. I also found out the mayor had upped the bounty ta seven hundred dollars. He had no intention a payin’ em, so what did he care?

  I was out settlin’ a dispute tween two a the bounty hunters when I seen a coach come in. I didn’t pay it no mind.

  “He was the first punch, Sheriff,” one a em said. “He threw the first punch and I want him arrested.”

  “That’s horseshit,” the other one said. “I only threw the first punch cause he was comin’ at me. It’s self defense, plain and simple. Man’s allowed ta protect himself even out in the middle a nowheres.”

  “Sheriff?” a young woman said behind me.

  “One moment, ma’am.” I turned ta the men. “You boys kiss and make up. I’m doin’ you a favor and ain’t makin’ you cool off in my cell so make the most a it.” Truth was, I didn’t have no more room in my cell. Andy and I was thinkin’ a makin’ Ned’s barn a makeshift jail just ta hold the drunks and the fighters.

  I turned away, forgettin’ bout the woman that was waitin’ for me. I brushed past her and tipped my hat and she said, “Sheriff, or deputy, sorry, I don’t know. I’m looking for Sheriff Jesse Smith.”

  “And who might you be?”

  “My name is Dr. Alex Haywood, I’m from Harvard University.”

  “Oh.”

  “Do you know where I could find the Sheriff?”

  “Oh, I’m the Sheriff,” I said, takin’ off my hat. “I’m the sheriff.”

  “Nice to meet you in person.”

  “Same, ma’am.”

  “You look surprised.”

  “I am rightly so surprised. With a name like Alex—”

  “You were expecting a man.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Well, you have me. Take it or leave it.”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean no offense by it. I was just surprised.” I held out my hand. “Let’s start over. Jesse Smith.”

  She smiled and shook it. “Alexandra Haywood.” She withdrew and looked round the town. “I have to say, I knew Cosgrove wasn’t the epicenter of the state but I had no idea you were out in the middle of the desert.”

  “Deserts for a hundred miles in ever’ direction. Don’t matter ta the folks here cause most a em never leave. But the youngins, when they come a age, they all go elsewhere. California seems ta be the big draw nowadays.”

  “I’ve been to San Francisco. I very much enjoyed it.” She lifted her bag. “So, where will I be staying?”

  I took the bag from her. “Right over here.”

  We walked down the street till we came ta my house. Truth was, we had no rooms nowhere. That’s why I was taken aback that Alex was a woman: I wasn’t sure how Betty would respond ta a pretty young thing from the big city stayin’ at our home. But when we walked in, Betty was in the kitchen and she came out and they talked and joked and asked bout each other as if they’d been friends since grade school. I let Betty take her up ta her room and I sat on the porch in a rocker and watched Gunner’s.

  Men was goin’ in sober and comin’ out drunk. Like some damnable factory of inebriation. After a few, Alex came down and looked bout.

  “So, my understanding is that the second body was buried a short time ago?”

  “Bout three days ago.”

  “Well I’d like to see it.”

  “See it how?”

  “I’d like it exhumed, Sheriff.”

  I shook my head. “Ain’t no way her father would approve a that. They’re a good Christian family.”

  She sat down in the rocker next ta me. “Sheriff, the man that did this, that we think did this, is a very special type of human being. He can’t stop. In a way, he’s more like an animal than a man. We don’t know how prevalent a man like this is, but he’s rare. Exceptionally rare. And when he’s found a good killing spot, he will stay there. Either until he’s caught, or until there is no one left of his particular tastes.

  “It’s called moral insanity and it’s well documented in many lunacy asylums in the major cities around the world, though I haven’t heard of any cases this far west. These men usually go to population centers, big cities. This is a special case, that’s what interested me. So what you need to ask yourself is how much you value the lives of the young girls in this town. This second victim is already dead. The other girls are still alive.”

  I thought bout what she said a moment. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “The sooner the better.”

  I raised my eyebrows and stood up. “Why the rush?”

  “This type of murderer can only go for so long without killing. I’m afraid I don’t know how long until the next victim is found.”

  I nodded. “Lemme go talk ta her father.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Henry looked at me like I had lost my mind. I stood in front a him at his home. When I came in his wife told me he hadn’t been ta work down at the livery since the funeral.

  “I just buried her and you want ta dig her up?”

  “It’s an odd request, I know.”

  “It’s a damn abomination is what it is.”

  “I wouldn’t ask unless I thought it was necessary.”

  “Necessary?” he scoffed. “Diggin’ up my little girl is necessary?”

  “She ain’t your little girl no more, Henry.” It was a cold thing ta say, but I had ta get cross how important this was.

  “Sheriff, I do believe you can self forni
cate.”

  “What I mean is she’s with the Savior now. This man, this thing, gonna kill more girls. That what this doctor says. He’s gonna kill till we stop him. You can help stop him and watch him hang, Henry.”

  I saw his face change and knew I had him.

  “Put her back properly and be careful with her.”

  I nodded. “I will.”

  Leaving the house quickly, I shut the door behind me. There was nothin’ that said I really need his permission but I wasn’t bout ta dig up his daughter without him knowin’. As I was walkin’ back ta the street I heard a shot. I ducked down instinctively and pulled out my weapon. Another shot. It was comin’ from the east.

  I ran down the street and saw folks runnin’ past me. I turned the corner and saw a man in the center a the street shootin’ at folks. He was drunk and yellin’ bout something. He was too far for me ta shoot and I wondered where Andy was. I ducked behind some houses and started goin’ round behind him. I ran past some chicken coops and over a back porch. I could hear him now.

  “Martin Daniel you sumbitch,” he shouted. “You get out here right now.”

  I circled out behind him. I stayed hidden round the corner but I took aim and had the weapon on him. My heart was beatin’ so fast it was hard ta catch my breath. I swallowed and said, “Drop the pistol.”

  The man spun on me. He lifted the weapon and fired and splinters from the corner I was hidin’ behind flew in my face. I fired and he flew off his feet and onta his back. I stood there, holdin’ my breath, and then walked out ta the center a the street. My pistol pointed at him. I came up on him and saw that the slug had gone through his heart. He was gaspin’ for breath and then he stopped and gazed up at the sky with a blank look. I bent down over him, takin’ off my hat. I said a prayer for him and then rose and replaced my hat. I saw Andy runnin’ up the street.

  He came up and stood over the body but didn’t say nothin’. I nodded ta him and we grabbed the corpse by its ankles and wrists and moved it over ta the side a the street. We’d have ta notify the Doc who was also our undertaker. We walked away toward the Doc’s house. I didn’t look back.

  CHAPTER 18

  We waited until nightfall. Myself, Andy, and Dr. Haywood. We met up at my house and Andy did a quick check a Gunner’s and made sure someone was there takin’ weapons at the door. He told em, under my direction, that Gunner was not ta return weapons ta anyone that was too drunk ta use em properly. He said he would comply.

  Then we rode down on horses ta the cemetery. The night was black and no moon was out so I stopped and got a couple a lanterns. As we rode outta town the only thing you could hear was the clompin’ a the horseshoes gainst dirt. We didn’t speak as we rode and we didn’t go fast.

  Andy said, “So you a real medical doctor?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “So what made you become an, is it called an alienist?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what do alienists do?”

  “My primary function is testifying in court in matters related to the mind.”

  “So people that are slow?”

  “That’s part of it, yes.”

  “And what’s the other part?”

  “Cases like this. Very special cases that few people know about or understand.”

  I said, “It’s comin’ up here.”

  We turned and the cemetery was there. We hitched the horses on a post and dismounted and I pulled out the shovels. I’d hired two men and they were there waitin’ for us, lanterns like yella stars illuminatin’ the darkness a the graves.

  We walked up and the men nodded and began diggin’. Andy helped and I wasn’t goin’ ta on account a tricky back, but I just wanted ta get outta here so I helped too. When we hit the coffin we stopped and the two men began ta pull it up. I stood by and wiped the sweat off my face with the back a my sleeve.

  The desert was fore me. Dark with jagged edges that I could see even by dim starlight cause there weren’t no moon. I saw the dunes nearby and they looked like massive waves a sand comin’ in ta devour the little town that stood in their way. I saw the town then as outta place. Like we was intrudin’ someplace we had no business bein’. This wasn’t a natural place for folks and even the Indians had a hard time with it. I could hear cai-yotes out yonder but I couldn’t see em and it sounded like the sands itself was howlin’ and barkin’ at us.

  The two men had pulled up the coffin and lain it on the ground. I nodded ta em and held a lantern nearby. I saw Dr. Haywood put on some sort a black glasses and some gloves and a rubber apron. She stepped close ta the coffin as the men opened it.

  A stink from hell came up outta there. Warm and wet. I averted my face. The stink dissipated a bit and I turned back and saw Dr. Haywood right up in the coffin, starin’ at all the wounds. She lifted up the arm and examined the gashes. It was hangin’ on by a thread a skin. Dr. Haywood next did somethin’ I will never forget long as I live. She pulled up poor Rebecca’s dress and examined her vagina and anus—both injured—stickin’ her gloved fingers in there. I had ta look away as did the other men. Andy, young and tough, was the only one that had the stomach for it.

  “Is that necessary?” I said. But she didn’t respond.

  Dr. Haywood had a peculiar trait. I thought she was talkin’ ta me and I actually said, “What?” but she kept workin’ away. She was talkin’ ta herself. Full on conversation discussin’ what were possible and what weren’t as the cause a injuries.

  Brachioradialis nearly severed, sartorius cleaved through, enormous trauma to the cervix, possibly caused by sharp object like knife or broken glass. Obvious motivation for the cervix but why the fascination with the arms and musculature of the upper thigh?

  She went on and on like this just talkin’ ta herself. She examined Rebecca’s throat, her lips—which were recoilin’ over her teeth as she was in a state a decay—her eyes, her ears, her back and her hair. She went down her toes and looked at each individual one, pullin’ on em, and did the same for the fingers. She checked each individual tooth. Her tongue had been cut out and the Doctor examined that for a long time. Her breasts were gone as well and she went over the wounds that had been left, runnin’ her finger along the edges and puttin’ em inside the holes in the chest. It was enough ta damn near make me vomit if I hadn’t turned away and walked some in the desert ta get away from it all.

  I decided I would let her finish and just stood there starin’ out in the dark. The wind was blowin’ and I took off my hat and held it in my hand, lettin’ the wind go through my hair and whip my face. I looked up ta the sky and wondered where the moon had hidden.

  This wasn’t where I pictured my life at this age.

  My father had died when he was younger’n me so I never saw an example of how a man supposed ta behave when he got old. Sometimes I felt lost in a sea a life, tryin’ ta act this way or that. Not really knowin’ who I was or what I wanted. Tough business, this bein’ a man.

  “Sheriff?”

  I turned back. Dr. Haywood was removing her gloves and puttin’ em back in the case she had brought with her. She did the same with the apron and the glasses and then took out a canteen and washed her hands and face. She toweled off with a small white towel.

  “This isn’t a wolf attack. Your doctor should be fired.”

  “Considerin’ he’s the only one we’ve ever had I don’t think that’s gonna happen. How are ya so sure?”

  “Any medical student would be able to tell. Where’s the teeth marks? It makes sense that if a human being loses this much flesh a wolf pack would leave markings in the bone. They attempt to bite through bone. In the bones that are exposed, I didn’t see any tooth scrapings. The scrapings there were thin and sharp. Like a knife.”

  I replaced my hat. “You sure?”

  “Sheriff, what you have here is an extremely dangerous man. But when all is said and done, that’s all he is. A man. Though when you see what he’s capable of, you won’t believe it.”

  CHAPTER 19r />
  I took April in and stayed with her at the stables back there. I petted her and held her by the neck. She was simple. Everything had a purpose in her life. She woke up ta eat and ta mate and ta experience pleasure and avoid pain. Every action had an end. Nothin’ was random and unknown ta her, how the Good Lord had intended.

  I walked out and saw Betty through the winda. She was sittin’ at the table starin’ at a photograph in a locket. I knew the locket. I had gotten it for my daughter’s eleventh birthday. It was a photo of her.

  I leaned against the house and stared at the dirt. I kicked it up a bit and watched the dust clouds in the lantern light. Betty always left a lantern on outside the door when I wasn’t back and it was dark. I exhaled and headed for Gunner’s.

  The moon came out a hidin’. It was just pokin’ out from clouds and lit the whole town. I remember in New York the moon seemed dim. Like it was there as decoration for us and we could turn it off and on like a lantern. But out here, it dominated us. Like a watchful eye that determined what it thought we needed and what we didn’t.

  I walked over ta Gunner’s. I was bout ta step inside when I saw a figure out near the edge a town. It was a man on a horse, strollin’ in the dark like it weren’t nothin’. I stayed on the porch at Gunner’s. I took off my badge and put it in my pocket and waited until the man was up close. I kept my head low, so he couldn’t see my eyes underneath my hat. He hitched his horse.

  The man was tall and wore a torn overcoat. He was bearded but I couldn’t see his eyes cause a his hat. He adjusted it and walked up past me on the steps. He went inside through the doors and I waited a beat and then went in after him.

  He was on the far end a the bar and I could see him clear as day now. He had a scar that ran down the length a his face. It went from his ear down ta his chin and I could tell the beard was there ta cover up most a it but hair don’t grow over scars.

  Gunner’s was packed and as the man ordered bourbon someone bumped him and it spilled a little on the counter. The man that had bumped him stood by, expectin’ him ta say somethin’, but he didn’t. He just ordered nother round.