Straight Flush to Murder by Ian Taylor & Rosi Taylor

Author:Ian Taylor & Rosi Taylor [Taylor, Ian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Next Chapter

Bonnie led the detectives to the back of the house where a lady in her mid-sixties sat reading on the porch.

"Earl's away on a run up to Minneapolis, so my mom's keeping me company," she announced by way of introduction.

Bonnie's mom, silver-haired and dignified, offered her hand to the detectives and introduced herself as Kathleen Flahavan. The formalities over, Gary and Louisa sat down with the two ladies. They talked about the dry weather and Kathleen confirmed Gary's impression that it was making up for a dust storm "any time now".

Bonnie went to the kitchen and reappeared with a large pot of coffee. She poured drinks for them all. "Earl and me, we were talking the other night about how tough it must be to solve a case like this one when you don't have any history," she explained. "So I thought I'd ask you over to talk to mom."

"That's very kind of you both, I'm sure," Gary began. "Just what was it that you thought we needed to know, Mrs Flahavan?"

Kathleen studied them for a few moments, noting their hopeful expectation. "You need to know what's led up to this mess. Most older folk who remember those years won't want to talk to you. But you need to know, or you'll be wasting your time here."

Gary smiled politely. "We'd be pleased to hear your recollections, ma'am."

Louisa took out her notebook as Kathleen began her tale.

"My folks came over in the cattle boats from Ireland in the eighteen-forties as a result of the great famine and each new generation found itself moving that little bit further west. Everyone was arriving in New York and the place needed feeding. My folks had been farmers in Ireland, so that's what they did. First in Kentucky working for a big landowner. Then they bought a place of their own in the Ozarks. After that we became cowboys on the High Plains. Seems we were always on the move from east to west till we ended up here working on the ranches round Hunters Creek.

"In the 'fifties my daddy got the job of head wrangler for Josiah Booth at Golden Square. For a few years life was good. I learned to ride a horse and went out on the roundups from age twelve through to fourteen. I've never known such a sense of freedom. What it was like riding the open ranges back in the eighteen eighties and 'nineties I can only imagine, but it must have been one of the most uplifting experiences you could ever have.

"Then Emily Doyle, Josiah Booth's wife, got sick with a fever and died in the winter of 'fifty-eight and from that moment everything changed. From then on Emily's son Eli and my daddy ran Golden Square. Eli was only fourteen, the same age as me, but he had no choice but take over 'cause Josiah went crazy. Without Emily to keep a hold on him he would disappear off for days, sometimes weeks at a time.

"Of course

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