"You decided not to take the job after all?" I ask my husband. Him and I are outside watching the fireworks from afar.
"Yes, I decided I liked my station, and I wouldn't care much for the politics." William replies.
"Well, that my dear husband, we can both agree on" I reply. He wraps my in his arms and gives me a kiss. A constable bikes up to us. He lets me go.
"There has been a murder, sir." The constable tells us. "There will be a carriage shortly."
The carriage pulls up "I will have to take you to the scene, Juliet." William says.
"That is alright I can head home after. The baby isn't making too much of a fuss." I reply as we get into the carriage.
"Name is Amos Robinson, paid fighter." George says.
"I take it he fought tonight." I say as I am sitting on my knees on the ground beside the body.
"30 rounds. It was Bob Sullivan." George replies
"Powder burns." My husband remarks. "Did you recover the murder weapon?"
"Yes, Sir. A derringer," George replies. "How old in the queen this year?"
"76, I believe." I tell George.
"When my grandmother turned 76, I got her some oranges." George remarks. "What are you measuring, sir?"
"The length and width of the determine the spread of the powder. I am trying to estimate how close the victim was to the perpetrator." William explains.
"How close was he?" I ask
"It's hard to tell. But as close as 18 inches, I believe." William informs me.
"Where is the accused?" I look up at my husband shocked.
"Just down the hall." George tells William "Sir, the front desk clerk found her standing over the body, bun in hand."
"Stop her!" I hear I stand up as quick as I can and follow the men to in the halls. I see it is Higgins. He is holding a dark-skinned woman.
"No! No! I didn't kill him! you have to believe me! No! Ahh!" The woman screams, while struggling against Higgins's hold.
"Sorry, sir" Higgins says. "She's a slippery one."
"I didn't do it! I didn't kill him! You have to believe me!" She says still struggling. Higgins drags her away.
"Fleeing custody to boot. This one is as guilty as they come. Sir." George says.
"She may be guilty of some things, George, but shooting Amos Robinson isn't one of them." William says.
"I do agree with that assessment." I tell the men. They quickly spin around seeing me standing there,
"Juliet! You should not have come out here. You could have been hurt." William says taking my hand and putting his other hand on my back trying to lead me back into the room.
"And miss all that, no thank you." I say. "We should go talk to the man at the front desk. We might get an idea of what the timeline was."
"Alright, you may come for the interview." William agrees.
"I was at my desk when I heard a scream. It was long and intense. It raised the hair on the back of my neck." The front deck clerk tells us, while he is walking towards the front desk.
"And when was this in relation to the shot?" William asks the man pauses and seems to look very shocked. "You heard a scream. You must have heard a shot." William presses.
"I could have mistaken it for a firecracker, I suppose. They've been going off all night." The desk clerk says.
"Thank you," I tell him. "You've been most helpful."
I see William write down gunshot mistaken for firecracker? I'm glad he is questioning that too. I see Julia heading to the room. I quickly go join her.
"Juliet! I didn't know you would be here." Julia says.
"Well, William and I were watching the fireworks a ways away and there was the murder, so I came with him. Hoping I could offer some help.
Julia kneels down to check the body. William comes up behind me. "He's a boxer. Fought this evening." William tells her.
"Yes, I can see that." Julia says "He's quite the physical specimen, isn't he? Look at the size of his arms." I nod completely agreeing.
"What time did the fight end?" I ask.
"Around 8:00" George says.
"And when was her shot?" Julia asks
"Ahh, half past 11"00 or thereabouts." William says "What are you thinking?"
"His nose is broken" Julia says.
"I would expect to see more swelling in the intervening hours." I finish.
"Perhaps, it was broken after the fight?' William says while kneeling down towards the body to get a closer look.
"That would be one explanation" I say.
"Shot at very close range." William says.
"Directly in the heart it would seem. I'll know more when I can open him up." Julia says. "Am I free to take the body?"
"Yes." William says. "George, make sure no one steps in this blood."
"Sir." George replies.
"George, where is the accused now?" William asks.
"Uh, room at the end of the hall, sir." He replies.
"You've done a preliminary interview?"
"Yes, sir. Here are my notes." He hands William his notes and William takes a quick look at them.
"Sir you still haven't told me why you think Mrs. Robinson is innocent." George says.
"Newton's third law of motion, George." I say as I walk out of the room, towards the room where they are holding the accused. My husband follows very closely behind me. He steps in front of me. He walks in leaving the door open. He makes sure to keep me behind him. There is a constable watching her.
"Are you going to run again?" William asks. She looks down ashamed. "Thank you, Constable. You can step out." the Constable leaves the room. "Mrs. Robinson, I need you help." He tells her. I just stand quietly listening.
"My help?" She says.
"I'm trying to find your husbands killer."
"Aren't you looking at her."
"I don't know. Am I?"
"What does it matter? They're going to hang me anyway."
"Maybe you're right. Personally, I have somewhat of an obsession for the truth. However, if it's of no consequence. Good luck to you." William says turning and walking away. He takes mt hand and starts to walk out.
"What? Hey, Hey!" She says we both stop. "You're just going to walk away?"
He turns around sharply letting go of my hand. He walks back. "I have a murder to solve. If you are unwilling to help me-"
"I didn't say that." She interrupts. "But a police officer helping a colored woman. That hasn't been my experience."
"Have a seat" William says getting two chairs from under a sheet and pulling one towards her and the other towards me. I sit down, happy to have the weight of the baby off my feet. "You say that you left the boxing match in the company of your husband, Amos, his manager, Ozzie Beers, and you went to the Mockingbird Tavern on Queen Street in the company of an unknown man and his wife." William says reading off of George's notes.
"Ozzie knew them. I didn't" she says.
"You then left the bar with Ozzie Beers. Why not your husband?" William asks.
"He was busy."
"Doing what?"
"Drinking. Running around."
"So you returned to the hotel. What happened then?"
"Ozzie went to his room, and I went to mine. A little while later, the fireworks started going off down by the harbor, so I went to the roof to look. It was like the fourth of July."
"You then returned to your room at half past 11:00, where upon you found the body. What did you do?"
"I screamed. At least I think I screamed. And then I got down on my knees to see in he was alive."
"Is that how you got blood on your dress?"
"I guess so. And then I saw the gun lying there, so I picked it up."
"And that's when the front desk clerk saw you."
"Looks bad, doesn't it?"
"That all depends"
"On?" She questions.
"Your dress. I'll need you to remove it." William says
"Of course, where do you want me?" She stands up and starts to remove her dress.
I quickly stand "Mrs. Robinson!" I exclaim.
"What are you doing?" William says that the same time as me. "Please! Put that back on." I rush over to help her rebutton her dress. "Mrs. Robinson, I simply meant that I need your dress as evidence."
"Oh." She says.
"One of the constables will take you down to the station, and we'll get you another dress." William says.
He walks towards the exit. He takes my hand and we both exit the room.
"I will come home with you tonight. There isn't anything else I can do here, tonight." He says to me "Constable do you mind getting a carriage that can take my wife and I home?"
The Constable goes to do just that, and William and I get in the carriage. We arrive home and head up to our room. I change and fall asleep almost instantly. A little while later I feel William crawl into bed behind me.
I go down the Morgue in the afternoon the next day. I finished up at the hospital and thought I would give hand to Julia if she needs it.
"Hello, Jules."
"Hi, Juliet" She said "What brings you here today?"
"I thought you might need some help."
"Oh good, your husband is supposed to come to get the post-mortem report shortly."
"How wonderful." I say as William walks in.
"He was shot in the hear. The bullet entered the right ventricle and lodged in the left atrium." Julia says to William I know he told her he was on a timeframe.
"He died quickly." I say. "Before he hit the ground, I imagine."
"It amazes me how something so large and vigorous can be brought down by something so small." Julia says "I've recovered the bullet, is you'd like to see it."
"Yes, I would, thank you." William says. Julia grabs the container with the bullet and hands in to him. "Is that why woman are so attracted to him?"
"How do you mean?" Julia asks
"Is brute strength so compelling?" He asks
"To some woman" I reply. "Mr. Darwin calls it sexual selection. Large males able to defeat other males have more reproductive success. Therefore, woman find them appealing."
"And what of peaceable types who live in their mind? How do they fare in this great Darwinian struggle?" William continues to ask.
"Some women are attracted to intelligence. Others prefer a combination." Julia says.
"An intelligent thug." William says with a smile.
"A somewhat intriguing concept, don't you think?" Julia says. Handing William, a magnifying glass to look at the bullet closer.
"We have a problem?" He says. "It's called a light load." He walks out with just that.
Julia looks at me. "You married him. What is he talking about?"
"I believe from what he has told me it means that they take out the slug empty out most of the powder then replace the slug. The sound is significantly dampened. But the bullet can be just as deadly at close range." I explain to her. I then head back to the hospital for a while to check on my children.
After that I head to the station and see Mrs. Robinson and William standing out front. I walk over.
"I thought Ozzie might have feelings for me." She says. "But he sure had a funny way of showing it."
"Where will you go?" I ask her.
"I don't know. I don't have anything now. Except for my life, thank to you." She says to William.
"It seems Amos had bought these tickets." William says handing her an envelope with two train tickets in them.
"San Francisco. But how?" She asks pulling them out of the envelope.
"He bet on himself in the fight." She gasps "His gift to you. That should be enough to start a new life." William says, handing her another envelope filled with cash.
"But how could i? It just won't seem the same without him." She says.
"I think he would want you to." I tell her.
"Thank you." She says, as she start to walk away.
"Good luck." William says back.
She stops and looks back. "How did you know? You knew right from the start I didn't do it."
"When I saw the dress. I calculated the angle of…. It was intuition." William says.
"Thank you." She says coming back and giving him a hug. She then walks away. We stand there and watch her walk away in a comfortable silence.
