Chapter 10

Harry said, "Did Jarrod ever get out of Korby why he killed Col. Ashby in the first place?"

"No," Heath said. "I don't think Korby said a word after he blurted out what he did in the courtroom. Why? Have you heard something?"

"Probably just talk, but it seems to be settling on something like Korby wasn't getting paid what he thought he ought to be," Harry said.

"That seems logical," Heath said. "A falling out like that in a drug ring would most likely be about money, or about somebody talking and nobody in that ring was talking that I know of."

"There's also talk wondering if Korby was paid to kill the Colonel."

Heath's attention pricked up. "By who?"

Harry shrugged. "It's just rumor right now. Nobody's treating it like anything other than talk, and nobody has names. They're just wondering."

"Yeah, there's bound to be a lot of wondering," Heath said. "People just love to wonder."

"There's also something else I heard, just last night," Harry said. "I've been chewing on it, not sure there's anything to it and not wanting to cause any trouble for Mrs. Ashby."

"Mrs. Ashby?"

Harry nodded. "Some of the talk is that she was part of the ring, right in there with the Colonel."

Heath was not surprised – he and his brothers had wondered that – but now it looked like others were wondering too. "What do you think? Just idle talk, or is there anything behind it?"

"Nothing behind that I know of. That's why I've been wondering whether to mention it to the sheriff. I don't want to make any trouble for the lady if there's no call for it."

"Did you know she left town last night?" Heath asked.

"What?"

"She and that woman she's been seen with, Mrs. Rivers," Heath said. "Mrs. Ashby moved all her money to Sacramento and the two of them took the train up there last night."

"Huh," Harry said. "Maybe there is something to the talk."

"Or maybe she just left because life for her in Stockton was getting too rough, after what came out about her husband," Heath said. "I'll mention what you said to Jarrod, Harry, and we'll take it to the sheriff if he thinks we should, so you don't have to be seen going over there. He'll probably leave it to the law in Sacramento to deal with."

"Nobody else has gotten killed, have they?" Harry asked.

"Just the fella who did all the other killings."

"The fella who ambushed you last night?"

Heath nodded. "Fella named Imwald. He's the one. The bullets from his gun matched the bullets in all the killings. Jarrod said he was a gun for hire."

Harry shook his head. "This just gets nastier and nastier, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but maybe we're getting somewhere on it," Heath said. "Keep your fingers crossed, anyway."

XXXXX

While Heath talked to Harry, Jarrod and the sheriff were talking with Asa Harmon in his hotel room. The investigator was not looking as fresh as he had for the trial. "I've been doing a lot more work," he said.

"We don't need to know anything that doesn't tie in with what's happening here," the sheriff said.

"I'm afraid most of it does," Harmon said. "Things in Col. Ashby's circle have started to shake apart in Sacramento. It looks like there's a power struggle between two people trying to take over the business."

"People," Jarrod said, noticing the word and finding Mrs. Rivers flashing back into his mind. "Not 'men.'"

"People," Harmon repeated. "We've got our eyes on two in particular – a man named Algernon Hobart and a woman you might already be familiar with."

"Claudia Rivers," Jarrod said, nodding to himself. "Or Ashby, as she's apparently using too."

Harmon said, "Claudia Rivers. Her full name is a bit longer – Claudia Ashby Stapleton Rivers."

"Ashby?" the sheriff said. "It's legit?"

"She's a cousin of the Colonel's," Harmon said. "She's younger than the Colonel was and just joined in the drug trade with him about six years ago. Been married and widowed twice, and that latest dead of husband of hers looks like he was a casualty in this battle for power, before it really got started. She sees herself taking over now for both her husband and her cousin, but Hobart sees things differently."

"Who is this Hobart fella?" Jarrod asked.

"He was on the next rung down in the organization," Harmon said, "and we're looking into the possibility that he's the one who coaxed Korby Kyles into killing Col. Ashby."

"What?" Jarrod said, completely surprised now.

"There's a real battle going on up there," Harmon said. "Two of the people involved in the supply organization have come to us secretly and filled us in on what's happening. Hobart wanted the trade for himself, so he paid Kyles to kill the Colonel down here. Mrs. Rivers wanted to take charge of the trade but Hobart has been fighting her on it."

"So this hasn't really been a clean-up operation down here like we thought," Jarrod said. "This has been part of a mob war."

"More like both a clean-up and a mob war," Harmon said.

"So Hobart hired Imwald?" the sheriff asked.

"So it seems," Harmon said. "Imwald was to find some book that contained the records of who was involved down here in the trade, and he was to kill Claudia Rivers too."

"He didn't kill her," Jarrod said. "We killed him last night, my brothers and I." He raised his bandaged hand. "That's how I got this."

"But we're still looking for the book," the sheriff said.

Harmon said, "I didn't know Imwald was dead," but he nodded as if he wasn't surprised to hear it.

"What do you think the chances are that Claudia Rivers found the book before Imwald did and she's got it with her up in Sacramento?" Jarrod asked.

"I'm going to wire my men up there and let them know she's there now and that Imwald is gone, even though they might have already found out both things this morning while I was on the train," Harmon said. "We've been keeping an eye out and keeping in touch with our informants."

"I've had Pinkerton looking into this," Jarrod said. "Shall I call them off?"

"Yes, do that," Harmon said. "Too many people nosing around is going to make too many other people go underground, but if they have anything so far, let me know what it is."

"What about Mrs. Ashby?" the sheriff asked. "Is she involved in this?"

"She knows about it," Harmon said. "I suspect she's known about it for a long time, maybe since the start, but she's not calling any shots."

"She's got some kind of standing though," Jarrod said, "or Claudia Rivers wouldn't be so interested in her."

"I suspect you're right about that," Harmon said. "I don't think family affection has much to do with it."

"What do you think we need to be looking for down here?" the sheriff asked.

"Any books," Harmon said. "If Mrs. Rivers doesn't have them and they are still here somewhere, Hobart will be sending somebody else down, probably today. I can't promise the killing here is done."

"Dammed drugs," Jarrod muttered. He looked up at Harmon. "You're not exactly out of harm's way yourself, you know."

"I know," Harmon said.

"I'll have a deputy hang with you while you're in town," the sheriff said. "Are you gonna stay while we look for the book?"

"At least overnight," Harmon said.

"Do you have any ideas how we might find it or any others?" Jarrod asked. "Any names we might pay a visit to?"

Harmon shook his head. "My informants in Sacramento don't know names down here. The only reason they knew Kyles was because he was brought to trial for killing the Colonel. But if we learn anything new, I'll let you know as soon as I know."

The sheriff looked at Jarrod. "Jarrod, you and your brothers maybe ought to back out of this now. Leave it to the law."

"We will if you order us to, Fred," Jarrod said, "but like I said, I owe you some of my time for making you waste yours when I defended Korby. Nick and Heath and I would like to do whatever we can to help."

The sheriff said to Harmon, "Jarrod is my connection to Mike Chang of the Chinese league, and he's the connection to the Tong."

"I don't think the Tong is in on this power struggle in the supply organization," Harmon said, "but that doesn't mean they might not get pulled in to protect their distribution."

"They probably already were," the sheriff said. "We have two dead Chinese - maybe Tong connection to the suppliers."

"I'll stay connected to Mike," Jarrod said, "and my brothers are out now finding out what the local noise is about all this. They might find something helpful."

"All right then," the sheriff said. "Let's see if we can put the lid on this and throw out the trash - someday."

"How close to the vest do you want us to keep this information, Mr. Harmon?" Jarrod asked.

"Close," Harmon said. "The whole community doesn't need to know, but if you and your brothers are going to keep helping out with this, they can be told. I don't think I'd go sharing it with Mr. Chang or the Tong just yet. The Tong probably already know about the power struggle, but they don't need to know any book is still missing. We don't need them out looking for any books too – even though I'll bet they already are."

"I already told Mike about the book," Jarrod said. "And if another hired gun is sent down here, I want Mike and the Chinese community to know, even if it's through the Tong. They've lost people already too."

Harmon said, "Let's see if anybody turns up. And you keep in touch with the Chinese. Let me know if there's anything I need to know."

Jarrod nodded.

"And both of you keep your heads down," the sheriff said.

"You do the same," Jarrod said.