Chapter 9
The Barkley men were pretty tired in the morning when they went into the sheriff's office, but they were ready to keep at trying to get the murders solved and better yet, stopped. The first thing the sheriff said was, "I checked the bullets from Imwald's gun. They match the ones the doc took out of the Kyles boys, every one of them, and out of the Chinamen. Imwald was our killer, and he was the only killer."
"Well, that's something," Jarrod said. "Now all we have to do is make sure nobody replaces him."
"Why in the world would a man that size become a hired killer?" Nick asked. "He stands out like a sore thumb!"
"Maybe his size enabled him to get a lot of what he needed without killing for it," Jarrod said. "I don't know. I wondered the same thing in San Francisco when he was my client. I never found a good answer."
"Whatever it was, he's out of the picture now for good," the sheriff said.
"And we just have to make sure nobody else comes into the picture," Heath said, "or isn't already here."
When Heath said that, Jarrod felt a picture of Claudia Rivers – the woman seen with Mrs. Ashby – flash into his mind. He didn't know why his instincts were irritated at the thought of her, but they were. Maybe the news that she was using the name Ashby in Sacramento was causing his unease.
As if he were reading Jarrod's mind, the sheriff said, "Have you heard anything more from Pinkerton about either Imwald or this Rivers woman?"
Jarrod shook his head. "Not yet. How about Mrs. Ashby and Mrs. Rivers? Have you tracked them down or found out where they've gone?"
The sheriff nodded. "They've both went off to Sacramento on the late train last night. I wired the law up there to keep an eye on them, but there's nothing to stop them from going wherever they want to go. We've got nothing on them that says they're involved in any of this."
"Nothing except the itching in my brain," Jarrod muttered. "I'll wire Pinkerton again and let them know where the women have gone."
"I've sent men out to the Kyles place to keep looking for some kind of book," the sheriff said. "In a way, we're lucky you were attacked last night. We never would have even known about any books if Imwald hadn't leaned on you for them."
"Yeah," Jarrod said, still thinking. He started thinking out loud. "We don't know if Imwald leaned on Mrs. Ashby or Mrs. Rivers for any books. We need to find a way to see if the women had them and took them to Sacramento."
"I don't know how we're gonna do that," the sheriff said. "We've got no evidence at all that they're even involved in any of this. We'd have a hard time getting a search warrant."
"Somebody's behind it," Jarrod said. "Imwald wouldn't have been trying to find any book just for himself. As far as I'm aware, he was never a permanent part of any kind of drug gang or any other gang. He was strictly for hire, in and out."
"You'd better wire Pinkerton again and try for more background information," the sheriff said.
"And talk to Mike Chang again," Jarrod said. "I doubt he'd know more and not tell me about it, but it can't hurt to bring him up to date and see if things make any new connections for him."
"Like maybe where some book might be," Nick said.
"We better get moving, then," Heath said. "Maybe Imwald is gone, and maybe Mrs. Ashby and Mrs. Rivers are gone, but we still might not be the only ones in Stockton looking for that book."
XXXXXXX
Jarrod wired Pinkerton right away with news that Imwald was found and was dead, and that Mrs. Ashby and Mrs. Rivers had left Stockton for Sacramento. He asked for more background information on Imwald and Mrs. Rivers, and from there, the Barkley men headed for Mike Chang's office.
Chang welcomed them, but shook his head when they filled him in on the news and asked if he had any information about any books. "But it does not surprise me that some book exists somewhere," Chang said. "It may be difficult to decipher it once it is found, but an organization as big as Col. Ashby's had to keep track of all its members somehow."
"Do you think the Tong are interested in any books?" Nick asked.
"If you are asking if they are behind any killings, I would still say no, they are not," Chang said. "They would not hire a white man to do any work for them. They would do it themselves. Any books are not likely to be written in Chinese."
"If Korby was keeping them, they'd probably be somewhere out at the Kyles place," Heath mused. "But maybe they didn't have to be."
"I doubt the man kept a safe deposit box," Jarrod said.
"He hung around the depot a lot," Heath said. "Remember? The train engineer knew him on sight."
"We can suggest the sheriff nose around over there, but I doubt Korby would have kept any book stashed that far away from his own place," Nick said.
"He'd only do it if someone else was to have access to it," Jarrod said.
"Maybe Col. Ashby had access to it," Heath said. "If he was the only other one who did, Korby might have stashed books near the depot or somewhere else in town, and since they're both dead that's why somebody else is still looking for them."
Chang said, "I will ask around. Perhaps someone in the Chinese community knows something. In the meantime, the sheriff can search the area around the depot."
"Just be careful, Mike," Jarrod said. "You don't want to step on the wrong toes. Make the Tong nervous about books and there could be more violence, not less."
"This is a very difficult situation," Chang said. "But if it helps any, I've been able to determine that the opium trade in Stockton has shut down somewhat since Col. Ashby was killed. Not only has the supply be interrupted – the distributors are lying low. That won't continue for long, but it is a fact, at least for now."
"I'd like to shut it down permanently, Mike, but there's too much money in it and too many people are addicted by now," Jarrod said. "Yes, this is a very difficult situation."
"We never gave up on anything just because it was difficult before," Nick said.
Jarrod looked up at him. "We never tackled the narcotics trade before."
XXXXX
Asa Harmon, the investigator who had disclosed Col. Ashby's involvement in the drug trade at the trial, arrived in Stockton on the noon train. The Barkleys were getting lunch when the sheriff tracked them down and told them Harmon was there. He asked Jarrod to come with him to talk to the man in his hotel room, but only Jarrod. "He's got some things to say he might want to keep confidential."
Jarrod wiped his mouth and got up from the table. "I'll be all right with the sheriff. You two go play some cards or something, but stick together and stay in town. I might want you in an hour or two."
"Might not be a bad idea to play some cards and see what the noise around town about all this is," Heath said as Jarrod left with the sheriff.
"Yeah, we might pick up something," Nick said.
They finished eating quickly and headed for the Empire Saloon. You could find a card game going on there at almost any time of day, and sure enough, there was a table going in the back. There was only room for one more player though.
Heath said, "You play cards. I'll talk to Harry and whoever else turns up at the bar."
"All right, but look out for yourself and don't leave without me," Nick said and headed for the table.
Heath went to the bar and caught Harry's interested stare. He had overheard Nick's warning. "You boys found the Kyles bunch dead out at their place, I hear," Harry said.
"Yeah, we did," Heath said. "The sheriff knows who killed them, but we don't know why."
Harry pointed to the scrape on Heath's temple that poked out from under his hat. "Who gave you that? The fella that ambushed you last night and got Jarrod's hand in that big bandage?"
"Boy howdy, news does travel fast around here," Heath said. "What else have you heard?"
"A little bit of this, a little bit of that," Harry said. "Not enough to help you figure out why the Kyleses and the Chinamen were killed, I'm afraid."
"Well, why don't you just give me some of that 'this and that' you've heard and we'll see if I can do anything with it," Heath said, and leaned closer.
Harry looked around the room a little bit, as if being sure there wasn't anyone who would overhear. Then he pretended to clean a glass and started quietly talking.