"I thought we had an appointment, Mr. Buttershaw." The plump man squeaked.
"Is this man one of your clients?"
"No, Mr. Higgins, he is not." Robert Buttershaw rose to his feet. His leonine aspect was stern as he faced the intruders. "He is known to me, however. Well, Marston, what is it?"
Elliott Marston opened his mouth but no words came out. He felt the reassuring presence of his lawyer behind him and tried again. "I'm looking for Major Rodney Ashley-Pitt. I thought he was here."
"I have no idea who this major is or why he would be here. Now get out of my office." The corporate lawyer resumed his chair and ostentatiously turned away in dismissal. Higgins sniffed moistly and mimicked the gesture with considerably less grandiloquence.
Melvin Collins grabbed his client's elbow. "Come on, let's get out of here." Marston allowed himself to be tugged to the door and into in the reception area. The clerk at the front desk glared at them with all the outrage his employer had been too dignified to reveal. Collins didn't release his grip until they were back on the sidewalk.
"I can't understand it." Marston glared up at the building, as if suspecting it of sheltering his quarry. "Where else could he be?"
Collins carefully steered him down the street. "Obviously at another lawyer's. So let us do what we should have done in the first place and wait for him at his office."
"Humph." Marston snorted but didn't argue.
Afternoon shoppers filled the sidewalks in front of the shops and the two men were forced to the road on more than one occasion. Every minuscule delay fretted Marston. He accelerated his pace, ignoring the irate glares of the shoppers who were forced to jump out of his way. Collins sighed and did his best to keep up.
"When we get there, I'll go in with you." Marston dodged around a large woman with two children attached to her. "The major will definitely see me."
"You know, Elliott, I have a hard time believing that anyone in the army is behind all this." Collins was not as fortunate in his encounter with the woman. She stared after him with outraged dignity. "I went to the army to get you released from jail in the first place. The officers I talked to were very co-operative. Why would they do that if they wanted you out of the way?"
"I don't know." Marston swept his hand through the air in irritation. "If Ashley-Pitt has a personal issue with me, he might not want the others to know about it. Believe me, Melvin, he's our man."
"Maybe." Collins sounded dubious but he dropped the subject.
**********
Molly Torken stared down at her hands lying in her lap. "I was horrified. Cal is a harsh man.sometimes he can be." She flushed. "Violent. I know that myself."
Sam Marston clenched her fists but forced herself to remain silent.
"But murder! At first I thought she was confused or feverish. But she wasn't. She told me everything." She took a deep shuddering breath. "The aborigines did attack the wagon train but the men drove them off. The Marstons were the only people killed but they were at the back of the wagon train and vulnerable so it wasn't surprising. Mother Kate said that she and the other women took care of their belongings until they got to the army station and could work things out. And then she found out what really happened."
Molly's voice broke. For several seconds she struggled to regain control before continuing. "When they were at the station, Abner bought more supplies. Kate didn't know where he got it from and he wouldn't tell her when she asked. They had some words about it and it came out that Cal had taken it from the Marstons' trunks. She was very upset and confronted him with it. That's when he told her what he did. That when the attack was going on, he went to the back of the train and found their wagon unguarded. He knew they had quite a bit of money and he helped himself. Mrs. Marston found him and he hit her. Real hard. He didn't even think about it, just did it."
Sam thought about a four-year old boy left motherless in the great Australian desert and closed her eyes in pain.
"The fighting made everything confusing for a long time. Mr. Marston came back to the wagon and found his wife dead and Cal there. He didn't believe Cal's story and Cal told his mother that he just had no choice. But this time he used a knife. He told the soldiers at the station that it was one of the aborigines who'd broke through the lines and that he'd driven him off. All the soldiers thought Cal was a real hero." Molly smiled crookedly.
"This must have been a terrible thing for your mother-in-law to carry around with her all those years." Sam reached over and grasped Molly's hands.
"It was. She couldn't believe it. Cal told Abner about it but said it was an accident. Abner believed him. You have to understand, the Torkens were very poor. It had taken almost all they possessed just to get a wagon supplied for the trip. They'd lost their other holdings and their older children were grown and gone. They just couldn't afford to turn back. The way Abner saw it, if they took care of Elliott, then it was alright if they used the Marstons' money."
"They adopted Elliott, didn't they?" Sam kept her voice carefully level.
"Yes. Mother Kate put the Marstons's trunks away for Elliott in their attic and just took him into their family. She knew that Cal was rough on him but he went into the army so that didn't last long. She devoted herself to being a mother to him."
"Elliott spoke of her very fondly, Molly." Sam tried to smile.
"And that's why Cal wants me to see this doctor of his." Molly buried her face in her hands and her shoulders shook. "Since last year, he won't let me see or talk to anyone because I might tell them. He tells people I'm going crazy, having delusions. He couldn't do anything to me on the ranch because we have maids in the house and there are people around but here in town.if a doctor says I have to be put away."
Sam felt suddenly cold. Why would Torken let Molly be alone with her, of all people in the world closest to Elliott? Unless he had plans for her too.
***
"Just got back a few minutes ago. He's in his office but he brought someone with him." The sergeant looked bored but tried to infuse some courtesy into his voice.
"Thanks, we'll just knock and let him know we're here." Marston nodded his thanks as he and Collins started down the hall. The sergeant went back to his newspaper.
Marston could have found his way to the correct door blindfolded; it was a journey he'd made several times over the years. Last door on the left, very end of the hall. He lifted his hand to knock.
And stopped with his fist in mid-air.
Muffled voices could be heard through the thick wood, then a crash as if a piece of furniture had fallen over. A rapid tattoo of heavy beats followed. The two men looked at each other, then Marston tried the door handle. It was locked. They threw themselves against the door, then a second and a third time. Finally it gave with a splintering crack.
The sergeant shouted from his desk but they were already in the room where they found Major Rodney Ashley-Pitt about to lose his struggle with the large man strangling him with his own lariat cord.
"No, Mr. Higgins, he is not." Robert Buttershaw rose to his feet. His leonine aspect was stern as he faced the intruders. "He is known to me, however. Well, Marston, what is it?"
Elliott Marston opened his mouth but no words came out. He felt the reassuring presence of his lawyer behind him and tried again. "I'm looking for Major Rodney Ashley-Pitt. I thought he was here."
"I have no idea who this major is or why he would be here. Now get out of my office." The corporate lawyer resumed his chair and ostentatiously turned away in dismissal. Higgins sniffed moistly and mimicked the gesture with considerably less grandiloquence.
Melvin Collins grabbed his client's elbow. "Come on, let's get out of here." Marston allowed himself to be tugged to the door and into in the reception area. The clerk at the front desk glared at them with all the outrage his employer had been too dignified to reveal. Collins didn't release his grip until they were back on the sidewalk.
"I can't understand it." Marston glared up at the building, as if suspecting it of sheltering his quarry. "Where else could he be?"
Collins carefully steered him down the street. "Obviously at another lawyer's. So let us do what we should have done in the first place and wait for him at his office."
"Humph." Marston snorted but didn't argue.
Afternoon shoppers filled the sidewalks in front of the shops and the two men were forced to the road on more than one occasion. Every minuscule delay fretted Marston. He accelerated his pace, ignoring the irate glares of the shoppers who were forced to jump out of his way. Collins sighed and did his best to keep up.
"When we get there, I'll go in with you." Marston dodged around a large woman with two children attached to her. "The major will definitely see me."
"You know, Elliott, I have a hard time believing that anyone in the army is behind all this." Collins was not as fortunate in his encounter with the woman. She stared after him with outraged dignity. "I went to the army to get you released from jail in the first place. The officers I talked to were very co-operative. Why would they do that if they wanted you out of the way?"
"I don't know." Marston swept his hand through the air in irritation. "If Ashley-Pitt has a personal issue with me, he might not want the others to know about it. Believe me, Melvin, he's our man."
"Maybe." Collins sounded dubious but he dropped the subject.
**********
Molly Torken stared down at her hands lying in her lap. "I was horrified. Cal is a harsh man.sometimes he can be." She flushed. "Violent. I know that myself."
Sam Marston clenched her fists but forced herself to remain silent.
"But murder! At first I thought she was confused or feverish. But she wasn't. She told me everything." She took a deep shuddering breath. "The aborigines did attack the wagon train but the men drove them off. The Marstons were the only people killed but they were at the back of the wagon train and vulnerable so it wasn't surprising. Mother Kate said that she and the other women took care of their belongings until they got to the army station and could work things out. And then she found out what really happened."
Molly's voice broke. For several seconds she struggled to regain control before continuing. "When they were at the station, Abner bought more supplies. Kate didn't know where he got it from and he wouldn't tell her when she asked. They had some words about it and it came out that Cal had taken it from the Marstons' trunks. She was very upset and confronted him with it. That's when he told her what he did. That when the attack was going on, he went to the back of the train and found their wagon unguarded. He knew they had quite a bit of money and he helped himself. Mrs. Marston found him and he hit her. Real hard. He didn't even think about it, just did it."
Sam thought about a four-year old boy left motherless in the great Australian desert and closed her eyes in pain.
"The fighting made everything confusing for a long time. Mr. Marston came back to the wagon and found his wife dead and Cal there. He didn't believe Cal's story and Cal told his mother that he just had no choice. But this time he used a knife. He told the soldiers at the station that it was one of the aborigines who'd broke through the lines and that he'd driven him off. All the soldiers thought Cal was a real hero." Molly smiled crookedly.
"This must have been a terrible thing for your mother-in-law to carry around with her all those years." Sam reached over and grasped Molly's hands.
"It was. She couldn't believe it. Cal told Abner about it but said it was an accident. Abner believed him. You have to understand, the Torkens were very poor. It had taken almost all they possessed just to get a wagon supplied for the trip. They'd lost their other holdings and their older children were grown and gone. They just couldn't afford to turn back. The way Abner saw it, if they took care of Elliott, then it was alright if they used the Marstons' money."
"They adopted Elliott, didn't they?" Sam kept her voice carefully level.
"Yes. Mother Kate put the Marstons's trunks away for Elliott in their attic and just took him into their family. She knew that Cal was rough on him but he went into the army so that didn't last long. She devoted herself to being a mother to him."
"Elliott spoke of her very fondly, Molly." Sam tried to smile.
"And that's why Cal wants me to see this doctor of his." Molly buried her face in her hands and her shoulders shook. "Since last year, he won't let me see or talk to anyone because I might tell them. He tells people I'm going crazy, having delusions. He couldn't do anything to me on the ranch because we have maids in the house and there are people around but here in town.if a doctor says I have to be put away."
Sam felt suddenly cold. Why would Torken let Molly be alone with her, of all people in the world closest to Elliott? Unless he had plans for her too.
***
"Just got back a few minutes ago. He's in his office but he brought someone with him." The sergeant looked bored but tried to infuse some courtesy into his voice.
"Thanks, we'll just knock and let him know we're here." Marston nodded his thanks as he and Collins started down the hall. The sergeant went back to his newspaper.
Marston could have found his way to the correct door blindfolded; it was a journey he'd made several times over the years. Last door on the left, very end of the hall. He lifted his hand to knock.
And stopped with his fist in mid-air.
Muffled voices could be heard through the thick wood, then a crash as if a piece of furniture had fallen over. A rapid tattoo of heavy beats followed. The two men looked at each other, then Marston tried the door handle. It was locked. They threw themselves against the door, then a second and a third time. Finally it gave with a splintering crack.
The sergeant shouted from his desk but they were already in the room where they found Major Rodney Ashley-Pitt about to lose his struggle with the large man strangling him with his own lariat cord.