Part 10

Adam wished that Hop Sing were with him as he maneuvered through the narrow streets. He tried to imitate Hop Sing's attitude-walking aggressively toward his goal, plowing his way through the crowd of people conducting business, not minding the stares of others but Adam wondered if some thug wasn't going to stop him and under the guise of asking him if he needed help, attempt to rob him. After all, here Adam was the interloper; he was on terra incognita.

Finally, after trying to remember at which shops, which stalls, Hop Sing had turned, Adam came upon the little house, better described as a shack, where they had found Plum Jade. Adam knocked authoritatively on the flimsy door and a voice called out to him from the other side but the voice spoke Chinese. Adam assumed that it had asked who it was on the other side and Adam answered by giving his name and asking for Plum Jade. Then he waited, looking around at the old man who sat in front of the next house, smoking a pipe and watching him. Adam smelled the odor of opium wafting from the man. He had become familiar with the scent when he had been out to sea and made calls of port in China.

The door opened and this time Plum Jade peeked out. "Go away, Mistah Adam. Leave Plum Jade alone. I old woman. I know nothing."

"I have business to talk with you," Adam said. "I also have a draft for two hundred for Plum Jade and her family. Look." Adam reached into his pocket, pulled out the draft, unfolded it and showed it to her." She stared, puzzled, and then Adam surmised that she had never seen a draft before or possibly couldn't read English since her written Chinese, according to Hop Sing, wasn't quite clean either. "This says that the money is drawn from the Virginia City bank. This is your name in English. This says two hundred dollars and here it has the amount in numbers."

Plum Jade nodded slightly and then looked at Adam, still puzzled. Adam wished now that he had brought cash but then, had he brought cash, he could have more easily been robbed. "All you have to do is go to the bank here-or any bank in any city or town-and sign your name here." Adam turned the draft over and pointed to the place where she would sign. "When you do, you'll be given the money. You can take your family anywhere you like, anywhere you would feel safe-maybe San Francisco. Anywhere."

Plum Jade looked at him and then, stepping aside, she opened the door and motioned for Adam to come in. Adam wasn't sure what he had expected but the small home was clean despite having a dirt floor. A small furnace in the room kept it warm and off the main room was a small kitchen area. Adam smelled cabbage and onions and garlic, the vegetables most used in cooking, and there was a slight smell of patchouli. There were rolled mats, more than likely where they slept, and a small room also off the main room where Adam guessed the young woman and her husband probably slept for their privacy in marital relations. On the opposite wall was a small altar where two small statues stood-the household gods, and Adam saw that there was a stand for incense-hence the patchouli.

There were two children who stared at him; the boy he had seen before and a small girl, no more than a year old, who dropped onto her rear when Adam entered and then decided to crawl away. The young woman bowed slightly to Adam but wouldn't meet his eye. She told the small boy something and the boy, practically staring over his shoulder the whole time at Adam, went off into the side room. The woman picked up the infant and carried her into the side room as well.

"What Mistah Adam want from me?"

"I want you to come with me to the Sheriff's office. I gave the book, the ledger, to the deputy and I want you to tell him who the Chinese symbols represent."

"Plum Jade afraid. Mistah Adam not know but Missy Dolores, she need money so she start asking more and more money from people. Many people upset because it cost them so much but Missy Dolores only person who help them-who do what they want. Some men-they want bad things but Missy Dolores, she do to them, but cost them more and more. Many argue with her but she just laugh and tell them go somewhere else, try find another-ask their wives. Then she ask if they want her to show their wife what they like. I even throw away her…her…bag that she keep things in. I love Missy Dolores-she good to me. I don't want anyone know what she do because she need money." Plum Jade wrung her hands; it was obvious that she was nervous.

"Why did she need money so badly?" Adam asked.

Jade Plum looked down, considering whether or not to tell him. "Missy Dolores, she have husband and son."

Adam felt as if he had been punched; all this time Dolores had been married and he never knew. "Where are they?" he barely managed to say.

"They in Sonora. She send money to them all the time. That where her money go. She say that they not know where she is and what she do-she have money sent from Genoa to them. Buster, man who stand at back door-he go every two months and send money. But her husband, he find out where she is and he say that she send more money or he tell Miss Tessa about her and that he come to Virginia City and live and tell everyone that she his wife. That why she ask men for more money."

Adam sat and mulled over the information. He considered the information in the book and realized that it may not hold the key to who murdered Dolores at all-it may have been her husband. He may have come in person to collect. Li-Li had said that Dolores was nervous while waiting for Adam and that Dolores had complained that he was late; Adam thought now that Dolores must have had an appointment to meet someone out back after he left. And although Dolores had wanted Adam to leave, she hadn't at the same time. He now realized why he was disturbed after he left her; the ambiguity of her attitude had done it. And then he considered the fact that Dolores had never asked him for more than the usual twenty-five dollars-never; he would have gladly paid her fifty for the pleasure she gave him had she only asked.

"Come with me, Plum Jade," Adam said. "Here's the draft but you have to come with me and tell Clem, the deputy." He handed the paper to her and she stood and stared at it. Then she reached out and practically snatched it from his hand as if she was afraid he was just taunting her.

"I can take to bank in other city? They give Plum Jade the money?" She looked suspiciously at Adam.

"Any bank. I promise you that. They will take the money out of my account and give it to you."

"You have that much money and you give it to me?"

Adam smiled. "Yes, I have that much money and yes, they will give it to you. See, it's on the paper there. It says to pay it to you."

"Plum Jade go with you." Then she called out and the young woman barely came into the room. Plum Jade talked to her, gesturing and the young woman nodded, went back into the room and then returned holding a blue quilted mandarin-collared jacket. Plum Jade handed the bank draft to the young woman who tucked it inside her clothing. Adam then held the jacket while Plum Jade slipped it on and closed the frog fastenings up to her neck. She looked at Adam and he assured her that everything would be fine and the two left the house.

Adam and Plum Jade walked quickly through Chinatown and one woman called out something to her; Plum Jade answered and the other woman nodded. Adam was going to ask what the woman had said but he was too weary to talk; all he wanted was to deliver Plum Jade to Clem and then to go back to his hotel room. And he was glad that she was with him. It was now dark and Adam knew he would probably have become lost in the narrow, winding streets and again he wished that he had never become involved but he was in it up to his neck and couldn't stop now.

They reached the edge of Virginia City proper and Adam felt relief. They walked quickly and there were few people on the street; it was now dark and so the shops were closed and yet it wasn't late enough for the saloons or brothels to pull people in. Most people were home eating.

And as they passed the alley between the haberdasher and the bank, Adam heard someone call his name. He stopped and turned around and Jade Plum did as well; a man walked out of the alley.

"It Mr. Hudson," Plum Jade said, grabbing onto Adam's arm. Adam looked at her, surprised that she knew him.

"Hello, Lucas. Angela know you're out wandering the streets?" Adam thought it was odd that Lucas would be waiting in an alley.

Lucas grinned. "She's used to my late hours. What's going on, Adam?"

"Oh, well, we're just on our way over to see Clem." Adam felt Plum Jade grab his arm tighter and he turned back to look at her. When he turned back around, Lucas stood in front of him, a gun pointed at him.

"What the hell…" Adam's mind didn't seem to work. He just stared and thought it was odd.

"Just take out your gun-with your left hand, if you would, and drop it."

"You can't be serious," Adam said. "This has to be a joke."

"Just do it, Adam. Please. And slowly."

Adam stood for a second before it sank in that Lucas was serious. He realized that Plum Jade had let go of him. He gently loosened the trigger loop and then pulled his gun out of the holster with two fingers of his left hand and let it drop. It made a dull sound on the wooden sidewalk.

"Now you and her, go to the bank door in the alley-back there. C'mon. Both of you" He motioned with his gun and Adam turned and walked into the alley as did Plum Jade, her eyes big. Adam's mind started churning, trying to make sense of everything. "Open the door, Adam. I didn't lock it."

Adam looked back and saw Lucas stoop down and pick up Adam's gun and slip it in his waistband. Adam opened the door and the three walked into the darkness.

"Light that small lamp, Adam, and don't get any ideas." Lucas stood as Adam lit the small lamp and Adam noticed, even in the slight light, that Lucas' hand was slightly shaking. "Now you two get into the vault. By Monday morning you should both be dead-suffocated. I'll just need to find a way to get your bodies out of here but since I'm the only one allowed into the vault, I'm sure I'll find a way."

Adam looked behind him and saw that the door to the vault was partially open. Suffocating in blackness was never what he had envisioned as his death. "What's this all about, Lucas."

"I thought I'd wait for you on your way back to the hotel-I didn't expect you to show up with her." He pointed to Plum Jade. "She knows me, don't you, you yellow-skinned old bag of bones. Every time we came to see that conniving bitch, you saw us and I saw your face, your expression. You don't think I'm much of a man do you? You with your look of superiority and you aren't anything but a servant, washing up and cleaning up all the mess people made in her bed. And you think you're so high and mighty."

Plum Jade backed up and starting talking rapidly in Chinese but even though neither man spoke Chinese it was obvious by her tone and the sneer on her face that she was disdainful of him. Plum Jade had nothing but contempt and scorn for Lucas Hudson. And then she spat. And at that, Lucas fired two shots into her and she fell. She died with a look of surprise on her aged and lined face.

Adam stood, shocked and then he started to go to her as she lay on the floor.

"Don't, Adam. I'll don't want to shoot you here."

Adam looked at Lucas. "So you do plan to shoot me."

"I have to Adam. You leave me no choice now." Lucas was sweating profusely, the rivulets rolling down his cheeks like tears. Lucas was a handsome man and had been married to his wife, Angela, a beautiful woman, for over seven years; they were well-liked and helped form the core of Virginia City society.

"Why, Lucas? Why did you kill Dolores?"

"She wanted more money, Adam. She told me that…that she wouldn't see us anymore if I didn't pay her one hundred a visit. I told her I couldn't afford that. She told me to embezzle from the bank-that I had access to all sorts of money. I begged her and then she started calling me names. I slapped her. She laughed at me and called me a 'steer' and I slapped her again. The she said that she was going to tell everyone-that she didn't want my money, that she was going to tell everyone and they would laugh at us. I couldn't have that, Adam. She was going to tell everyone about us. And so I hit her harder and harder and then…then I took her hair, that long beautiful hair, and I grabbed two, thick hunks and wrapped them around her neck and pulled and pulled until she stopped breathing. She tried to claw at my hands but I held her hair at such at distance that she couldn't. And then she grabbed onto her hair, that hair that she was so proud of. It's a bit of irony, don't you think, Adam?"

"What do you mean by 'us?" Adam had found it odd that Lucas would say, "us." Did he mean himself and Dolores?

"Angela….and me. We went for Angela. I just watched."

Suddenly Adam realized what Lucas meant and he said, actually to himself, "The chicken and the capon." He understood the symbols in the ledger and why Lucas had been so frightened, so desperate to shut Dolores up. She had ventured where she shouldn't have and now, not only Dolores, but Plum Jade had paid with their lives. And Adam was going to have to pay with his life for her folly as well.

"Now let's go, Adam. For a second, I thought of taking you into the vault and shooting you there but I have another idea. Let's go to my house. Just behave as if we're old friends-we are, you know-no one will think anything about it."

"What about her?" Adam asked, pointing to Plum Jade.

"I'll come back and take care of her. I'll figure out what to do with her. But you made it easy on me, Adam. You're the last person seen with her, the last person seen with Dolores and from what I understand, quite a few people saw you talking to Roy Coffee before he was shot. I guess ol' Adam Cartwright just lost his mind, just snapped and went about killing people. And then you were going to kill me. People will buy it." Lucas smiled.

Adam took a deep sigh. He had to admit that Lucas was clever; Adam had innocently set himself up for his own murder as self-defense for Lucas. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"Let's go, Adam."

Adam walked out of the bank and headed for Lucas' house, staying about two steps ahead of him. His mind was trying to find a way out of the situation, trying to decide if he could turn and wrestle the gun away from Lucas. Lucas was strong, not some fat, soft-bellied man who ate too much so Adam would have to be careful to wait for the right moment.

"Adam!" Adam stopped when he heard Hoss' voice call out to him. Lucas froze. "Adam, Pa sent me out to find you." Hoss came striding over wearing his bulky jacket against the cold. Adam said nothing. "What's wrong with you, Adam?"

Lucas turned and Hoss saw the pistol in his hand.

"What the hell?" Hoss stared. He didn't know what to make out of what was happening. Adam was with his friend, Lucas Hudson and Lucas had a gun pulled and pointed at him. Hoss glanced at Adam and noticed that Adam's gun was gone. Adam jerked his head at Lucas and as Hoss moved slightly, Adam knocked down Lucas' wrist with the side of his hand and Lucas cried out and the gun fell onto the sidewalk and spun off to land in the dirt.

Hoss pulled his gun and told Lucas not to try anything. "It's over, Lucas. It's all over now," Adam said as he pulled his gun out of Lucas' waistband and held it on the man who had once been his friend. "Let's go see Clem."

"Adam," Hoss asked, "you gonna explain this to me?'

"Later, Hoss. I don't have it quite clear myself."

There was Tessa, the other girls who worked in the house, Clem, Doctor Martin and Adam along with the rest of the Cartwrights at Dolores' funeral. Her husband stood outside the fence surrounding the graveyard and watched but he never went to the site unless he did so after the others left. It was a short ceremony and although Adam had offered to pay, Miss Tessa said that they took care of their own and refused his offer.

Two weeks later, Ben and Roy were playing checkers on the front porch of the Ponderosa when Clem rode up. It was an unusually warm afternoon and Ben thought that it might cheer up Roy to be outside; he wasn't a good invalid-just became more and more grumpy. The two men stopped playing and looked up from the checker board as Clem dismounted and tied up his horse.

"Well, who's winning?" Clem asked, walking over to them.

"I am. I've won the last three games," Ben said, gloating.

"That's only because I've been shot," Roy said. "If I was full-bodied right now, I'd beat you ."

"Oh, really," Ben said, "I think I remember that you once said that you could beat me on your worst day and with your right arm tied behind your back." Ben said smugly.

"Well, then," Roy said, jutting his chin out, "you must just be cheatin'." Clem and Ben laughed and then Adam stepped out on to the porch.

"Hey, Clem'" Adam said. "I assume you have news about Lucas?"

"Actually, I do. The jurt came back with a not guilty. Despite your testimony about what he said, there wasn't enough evidence to find him guilty of Dolores' murder, or should I say, Dolores Hanson's murder. And there was nothing we could do to prove that he shot Roy although I'm sure he did. And Adam, we found Dolores' husband. Seems that he married Dolores when she was just fourteen and by fifteen, she had a child, a boy. Hanson said that she left him a few months later and never came back. With the child and all, he never had the time to look for her but since the boy turned ten, he tracked down her envelopes-where they came from. And he admitted that he was blackmailing her. You believe that? Blackmailing your own wife."

"Yeah," Adam said, "I do. I'd just about believe anything about anyone anymore. So Lucas gets off?"

"No, no he doesn't. He's gonna be tried for the murder of Plum Jade and I need you to testify about that as well. My hope is that the jury might be a little more sympathetic to her than they were to Dolores. I couldn't help but wonder how many of the men sitting on the jury knew Dolores, you know, in that way."

"I know, Clem," Adam said. "I'll be looking at every man in Virginia City I see and wondering the same thing for a long while."

"I bet the wives will be looking at their husbands and wondering too," Roy said as he jumped one of Ben's pieces. "We'll see who wins this game, Ben. You're letting their conversation distract you from what's important."

Adam gave a chuckle at the two older men playing checkers and then offered Clem some coffee which he accepted as he sat down on the front porch to see who would win the checker game. And as Adam walked to the kitchen for the coffee, he thought about the lock of Dolores' hair that was safely tucked in his bureau drawer and he considered that it was probably time to let go of her, to be rid of it. And in his mind, he told Dolores goodbye.

~Finis~