Longarm in the Valley of Sin by Tabor Evans

Author:Tabor Evans
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

Chapter 10

Longarm found himself wishing that he had a few minutes to think about this grisly discovery before everything got even more confused, but Emmaline’s screams didn’t give him any chance for that. Oscar came running, pounding through the gardens from the direction of the stable, and as he reached the mineral baths and skidded to a stop on the flagstones, he stared bug-eyed at Ganz’s corpse. Oscar’s gun was in his hand, and Longarm didn’t want his trigger finger getting itchy. “Better put that hogleg away,” he advised.

Oscar glanced down at the Colt he was gripping so tightly, then nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Don’t look like I’ll need it. That fella’s already as dead as he’s ever going to get, ain’t he?”

“That’s right,” said Longarm. “How’d you know?”

“I’ve seen a few dead men in my time,” replied Oscar. He holstered his revolver. His eyes cut over toward Emmaline for an instant, Longarm noted. She was still stark naked, but Oscar was doing a good job of not staring at her. Not every man would have had so much self-control.

Someone shouted, “I say! What’s wrong over there?” Other voices echoed the question. People were coming from the mansion now to see what was wrong, their attention drawn by Emmaline’s screams.

She had fallen silent, but like Longarm and Oscar, she was still staring at Ganz’s waterlogged body. Horror was etched on her features.

“Better go get dressed before a whole passel of folks swarms all over us,” Longarm told her.

For a second, Emmaline didn’t react. Then she nodded numbly and started toward the dressing room where she had left her clothes.

“Wouldn’t mind pulling on a pair of pants myself,” Longarm went on. “Oscar, you mind keeping an eye on this fella?”

“He ain’t going nowhere,” Oscar said dryly. “I reckon I can handle that chore.”

Longarm climbed out of the pool and strode quickly to the dressing room he had used. He didn’t bother trying to dry himself off, just stepped dripping wet into his long underwear and trousers. He took his watch with the attached derringer from the pockets of his vest and stuffed them into his pants pocket so that he wouldn’t be unarmed. Then he stepped back outside to find a crowd gathering around Oscar and Ganz’s corpse.

Sir Alfred Brundage was in the forefront of the group, and Longarm also saw Lady Margaret Wingate and Mark Hanley among the other guests. Most of the women shuddered and looked away at the sight of the dead man, but Lady Margaret studied the corpse with avid eyes, Longarm noted. Death didn’t seem to bother her overmuch. Longarm couldn’t say the same thing for Lady Margaret’s companion. Hanley looked a little green, as if he might be sick at any moment.

“What the devil happened here?” demanded Sir Alfred. “Oscar, I thought you took Dr. Ganz into Trinidad this morning so that he could catch the next train.”

“Yes, sir, I did,” Oscar said as he nodded. “I sure don’t know how he got back here and wound up, well, dead.

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