A Bride's Portrait of Dodge City, Kansas by Erica Vetsch

Author:Erica Vetsch [Vetsch, Erica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-60742-548-9
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2011-04-07T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Addie’s camera case bounced against her hip, and she grabbed it up, holding it pressed to her middle as she ran up the street. Plenty of people still milled around the smoldering livery, and at first, she couldn’t find Bat in the gathering dusk.

Finally, after she’d about given up hope and decided to head for the jail, she spotted his bowler. He stood talking with Mayor Kelley and the editor of the Globe. Mindful of Miles’s warning to be discreet, she moved around behind the mayor, caught Bat’s eye, and jerked her head away from the group before strolling to an open space in the crowd.

Thankfully, he excused himself after a couple of agonizingly long minutes. “What can I do for you, Miss Reid?”

She swallowed. “Deputy Carr needs you at the mercantile.” She kept her voice so low he had to bend close. “What happened?”

“Mr. Price has been killed, and the store’s been robbed.”

Bat took a deep breath through his nose, his lips pressed together. Cinders had charred holes in his fine suit, and the odors of smoke and burned straw clung to him, as they had to Miles. He scanned the crowd. “I’ll head right there. Go tap Deputy Spooner on the shoulder and ask him to follow me.”

Addie sidled up to Jonas and whispered her news in his ear, and together they sauntered up the street as if they’d both lost interest in the fire. They weren’t alone, as others, now that the excitement had abated, headed back toward the town dance.

Addie and Jonas found Bat and Miles squatting beside the body. Though Addie had known Wally must be dead, nothing prepared her for the shock of seeing him that way.

Bat braced his hands on his thighs and rose.

Miles handed him a dented can.

“Not much of a murder weapon.” Bat set it on the counter.

A dark red stain marred the label, but not so much that Addie couldn’t make out the picture and words. Pickled beets.

“A crime of opportunity?” Miles studied the shelves and counters. “It looks like whoever did this picked up whatever was handy and bashed him in the head. The place is such a wreck, it’s hard to say if Wally put up any kind of a fight. I was in here just before the fire, and it looked pretty much like this. I guess they had a banner day with customers.”

Bat set the can on the counter and snapped his fingers to Jonas. “You’d better find the town marshal. This is his jurisdiction, but do your best to keep it quiet. The last thing we need is a bunch of gawkers.” He turned to Miles, who stood and dusted off his hands. “Get a pencil and paper and start writing things down. When we catch the killer, we’ll need to keep the evidence straight for the courts.”

Addie frowned, and an idea blossomed in her head. She relaxed her hold on her camera bag, letting it rest against her hip. “Sheriff?”

“Miss Reid? I forgot you were there.

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