Chapter 12 – Sharing Information

The plan was for each of those seeking after the whole story behind Matt's poisoning and beating and the attempted abductions of Kitty to arrive separately and casually, yet surreptitiously, make their way upstairs to the third floor. The reasoning was that Caleb was welcome because Julie had watched grow from boy to man. Trainor, whose education Julie had financed, would also reasonably find welcome in her private quarters. Even Captain Gilmore and Sergeant Parker had on occasion been invited upstairs, mostly by way of the back stairs from her office when discussing security for her place. When Julia's help was being sought to bring about a successful charity, it was up the front stairs with Tilda and her mother as well. Thus Gilmore and Parker could also ascend the front stairs without notice. Doc, of course, as a guest and the patient's personal physician was a common sight going up and down those stairs.

Matt Dillon and Caleb Weston leisurely strolled back to Julie Blane's gambling house. The two lawmen, now working undercover, were the last to arrive for the eight o'clock supper with the supposedly bedridden Matt sneaking up the back stairs. He and Matt were also expected, as part of their assignment from Hoyt, to sneak upstairs to spy on the supposedly incapacitated Matt being tended by his loving "wife", the beautiful Kitty that Lieutenant Fallstone lusted after as his private meal ticket since their first meeting. They sat down at the remaining seats, Matt on the end between Kitty and Julie at the head of the table and Caleb to the right of Lauara Trainor. Phil Trainor sat on the other side of his sister opposite Doc, who was next to Kitty. Captain Len Gilmore and Sergeant Tim Parker sat opposite each other with chief bartender Charlie Smoot between them and opposite Matt at the foot. Now that everyone had arrived, they dug into the delicious meal Edna Smoot had prepared before Gilroy asked for each of them to report their findings, starting with his own summary.

While they waited for dessert and coffee, Len related what he'd set in place to curtail the criminal activities on his own staff and at St. Mary's Hospital without arousing suspicion that anything untoward had been discovered. Both Plummer and Fallstone, the only two under arrest, were incommunicado in a special holding cell with only those few officers Gilmore knew to be honest having access. Plummer was charged as an accessory for aiding in the attempted murder of a federal official in town for a professional conference and in the attempted kidnapping of Kitty. Fallstone was charged with attempted murder and two counts of attempted kidnapping. The corruption charges were being held in abeyance until additional evidence independent of the attack on Matt and his observations that led to it was obtained. Meanwhile, those men directly under Fallstone or suspected of being under his influence, including those Plummer had named, were assigned to only routine tasks with the exception of being allowed to continue with any open cases they were handling.

Charlie added what he'd overheard tending bar, Laura what she learned serving drinks at the tables and Kitty from the other gamblers at the poker games. She was having fun dealing again since they needed the information and she felt given the circumstances and being away from Dodge that her promise to Matt that she wouldn't deal anymore wasn't binding while they remained at Julie's place. For her part, Julie learned what she could from the regular customers who'd proven to be trustworthy over the years. When added to Caleb's observations of his fellow officers, the names Plummer provided and discreet probing of the knowledge of those constables not on anyone's list as suspect by Gilroy and Parker led to a more complete and accurate list of those involved. They now had a clearer idea of the depth of the corruption at least within the precinct under Gilroy's command.

The Captain turned to Doc and Trainor for their report on what they'd learned in the lab and from Dr. Leroy Morton, who'd been exploring how many on his staff had been following the medically improper procedures of Dr. Jason Whitaker with a bit too much enthusiasm. The two men had even called on the expertise of Phil Trainor's employer, the Coroner Dr. Bedford, to help Dr. Morton with the autopsies and other medical investigations to learn just how many deaths were hastened by Whitaker and the hospital staff working with him. Neither man mentioned a worry they both shared that some of these deaths might be hazardous to the health of the general public. Meanwhile they'd interviewed everyone working closely with the head doctor for the indigent ward and any other hospital staff that might have had contact with the poor who'd been brought to St. Mary's. They'd also managed to trace the arsenic used to poison Matt thanks to one of those interviewed, a scared orderly.

An obvious pattern was emerging, but was it an accurate one? Parker's findings after looking into the backgrounds of Fallstone and his closest associates in the police force indicated all of them had ties to either the Barbary Coast or the Tenderloin. When he joined the force everyone thought he was turning his back on the criminal life that brought about his father's and older brother's incarceration in favor of his uncle's constant efforts to turn the boys of those neighborhoods away from the lure of a life of crime into pursuits more likely to help the communities where they lived. Doc and Trainor's research served to lend credence to the belief that Fallstone was behind everything. Whitaker had family ties to those areas, as did the most suspicious members of St. Mary's staff. It was obvious how the police lieutenant had recruited his followers.

"Fallstone's powerful, but he's not the leader," Matt interjected. "Caleb and I got Jack Foster, one of the men I saw taking money from Fallstone and who led the attack on me in the alley, to buy our cover story. He led us to the hideout of the real boss, Rafe Hoyt. The other three men responsible for the attack on me, along with Fallstone's sergeant were there. We're to get the instructions for our first loyalty test tonight at midnight after reporting on my state of health."

"I can't let you and Detective Constable Weston break the law, so it's best I get some loyal plainclothesmen to surround the place before you two leave there. Where is it?"

Caleb gave the location. It was already past ten when the meeting broke up. Matt and Caleb left for the young man's parents to let them know what was going on before continuing on to report their findings to Hoyt at his headquarters. Therefore, they missed the excitement.

Charlie and Edna Smoot met Julie and Steve Blane and their young son Lonnie on the ship during the trip west from New Orleans. They'd booked passage in Brownsville so they could reach his dying brother, a forty-niner, the quickest and safest way possible. The vessel had made its way from Louisiana across the Gulf of Mexico to Galveston and then south along the Texas coast, crossing into Mexican territory before discharging the passengers who couldn't spare the time for the ship to travel around the tip of South America and up the Pacific coast. Those passengers, like the Blanes and Smoots, trekked across the narrowest portion of Central America, where Julie lost the baby she was carrying, to meet another ship already waiting for them on the Ocean side of the isthmus. By the time the two couples, reached San Francisco they were fast friends and the Smoots were hired.

Charlie's brother, a widower with a ten-year-old son, didn't last much longer than a week after their arrival. They of course took in their nephew and raised him. The lad grew to manhood, married and raised his own boy, James Smoot, now 18. Since turning 16, James hadn't visited much with the man who was more a grandfather and the woman more a grandmother than his great uncle and aunt, but he showed up on this night just after Matt and Caleb left with an older, burlier friend. Charlie, glad and surprised to see him let the boys go upstairs where Kitty was alone with Julie and Len Gilroy, who was reluctant to leave the women without police protection during the busy part of the evening.

The two newcomers made a grab for Kitty before Charlie realized James hadn't come for a friendly visit. What could only be described as a minor brawl broke out on the normally quiet, except for the occasional infant wail, third floor. The women joined by Len fought the intruders, but it was nearly a disaster anyway as James' companion pulled a knife and seizing a momentary opportunity held it against Kitty's side. He was backing her out of the dining room door when Charlie arrived. The burly boy was met by a punch to his kidneys, causing him to drop the knife and release his hold on Kitty. Two more were now under arrest.