VII
Adam moved to the edge of his seat – he had hoped the subject had been forgotten - but before he could speak, Archie said to Ben, "Your daughter-in-law saw a murder this morning."
"What?" Ben stared, open-mouthed. "Sibella, you saw a murder?"
Hoss, who preferred to stand over sitting, said, "Whyn't you say somethin' 'bout it, Adam? Who got killed?"
Adam put out his hands, palms toward the others, to diffuse the situation. Fanny Fitzhugh placed one bare hand to her neck and sat straight at the mention of a murder. Sibella noted Fanny must be very upset to forgo her seductive pose.
"Sibella didn't see a murder; she found the body, the milliner's, Madame Adair. We came this evening to hopefully forget about it for a time, to make up for how awful this day has been."
"A murderer on the loose in Virginia City," Fanny Fitzhugh said. "My goodness! One who kills women!" She fanned herself with one hand. "May I impose on you for a drink – a whiskey."
"Of course, Ben said, rushing to the liquor cabinet and pouring a shot for Mrs. Fitzhugh. "Here, Fanny."
Sibella turned to Adam as Fanny Fitzhugh made quick work of the whiskey, tossing it back and not even coughing. Adam smiled wryly and looked at Sibella.
"Does Roy know about it?" Ben asked.
"Of course. Do you think we'd keep it our little secret?" Adam replied. Ben was taken aback; Adam was often sarcastic but never in company. "I'm sorry, Pa. Of course, we told Roy. And…it's no excuse, but my head is killing me." Adam rubbed the back of his neck, moving his head, grimacing.
Fanny Fitzhugh suddenly stood. She paused for a moment and then glided gracefully to where Adam sat on the settee. "Let me see what I can do. I have a way with headaches. My first husband was a doctor and I learned many things from him. Where does the pain originate?"
Sibella wanted to tell Mrs. Fitzhugh to tend to her own husband and his excessive drinking, but found she couldn't speak. She watched as Fanny stood in front of Adam, bending over, displaying her assets, her mass of piled red-gold curls falling over her shoulders. She massaged Adam's temples with her gloveless hands, the gem bracelets lightly clicking against one another with the movements. Sibella wondered if the stones were paste.
"According to my deceased husband, some headaches are caused by the intense pressure of the blood moving through the vessels—pounding and throbbing." With two fingers, she touched a spot behind Adam's left ear. "He would blood-let and the patient would find release. He'd make the cut here, behind the ear - or anywhere the blood vessels were turgid – you know, hard and filled with blood." The room fell into embarrassed silence except for the Colonel who, slurring his words, asked for another brandy.
Adam reached up and gently removed Fanny's hand from his neck. "Thank you for the medical advice, Mrs. Fitzhugh, but I find a good night's sleep usually does the trick."
"Of course," Fanny said. "I too suffer from headaches and find that often, a release of built-up tension resolves the issue." She smiled at Sibella. "But then you have your wife to nurse you, but as my husband says, there's no substitute for experience."
As Fanny Fitzhugh walked back to her chair, all the gentlemen partly rose in acknowledgement, waiting until she sat, to sit back down themselves.
"Well," Hoss said, "speakin' of sleep, I'm callin' it a day. Good night everyone and nice to meet you Mr. Philpot and Archie. And Mr. And Mrs. Fitzhugh, I'll see you at breakfast. Adam, I'll make sure to pick up a copy of the Territorial Enterprise to find out 'bout that killin'." Hoss wanted to stay and hear the details of the woman's murder, but sleep was beckoning more than curiosity. He'd find out soon enough anyway – probably at breakfast where both his appetites would be satisfied. Besides, he had a fear that after her attentions to Adam and Archie, Mrs. Fitzhugh might turn her lovely eyes on him. At least he assumed she had eyes and that they were lovely but he couldn't swear to to it. He realized he hadn't looked any higher than her collarbone all evening.
Ben cleared his throat. "Sibella, you found the body?"
"Well, yes. It was shocking, most shocking!" Finally, she was the center of attention but Adam didn't even look at her; he was bent over, one forearm resting on his knee and kneading his neck muscles with the other hand. "I went to pick up a hat and found her in the back – dead – stabbed in the heart with a hatpin."
Everyone sat, rapt – except Adam. Sibella continued. "I just stood there. I mean I didn't know what to do. All I could think of was to tell Adam, so, I went to his office and Miss Pear almost kept me from seeing him. That's when I met Mr. Hancock and…"
"Archie. Please call me Archie, Mrs. Cartwright. Especially since I may stay in Virginia City a few days longer. Besides, we're not that far apart in age – no need for such formality." Then he turned his attention to Adam; Sibella sat open-mouthed at being dismissed. "Adam, your father was telling me about the newest silver mine on the Ponderosa. I know how valuable silver is now with the Treasury buying it all and printing the money, and I'd like to make an investment in silver mining for myself. I'll be moving from Baltimore to the railroad's headquarters in San Francisco; I feared they were going to send me to New Orleans. Anyway, since I won't be that far from Nevada, I was wondering if you'd take me out to see the mine tomorrow."
Sibella, fumed, frustrated that no one seemed very interested about her horrific experience.
"I couldn't take you tomorrow," Adam said, "but Saturday I could. And if you can't wait that long, Hoss can show you or my father."
"Your father said you're the one with all the mining knowledge. I'd like to see it for myself and the assayer's report."
"All right," Adam said. "But remember, you invest at your own risk. Can't guarantee it'll produce much silver or even if we can reach where it is."
That's fair, "Archie said, smiling. "When we stop by your office tomorrow, we'll set the time to meet – that is if I can get by Miss Pear." He laughed and Adam smiled.
"Speaking of Miss Pear," Mr. Philpot said, "when we were going to breakfast this morning…"
"Breakfast?" Ben said. "The Palace Hotel has one of the best restaurants in town. Why not eat there?"
"We would have," Archie said, "but the bell boy said when I asked, that the best breakfast was to be found at Mrs. McCaffrey's Kitchen."
"Ah, yes. Hoss loves that place and I don't have to mortgage the Ponderosa to pay for his meal." Ben chuckled and the others lightly laughed.
"I know," Mr. Philpot said. "I had a stack of flapjacks, two thick slices of ham and two eggs for 30 cents. And the coffee was strong and hot."
Sibella wanted to bring the subject back around to Miss Pear. "You said you saw Miss Pear when you were going to breakfast?" She could see Adam turn to her but he said nothing. "You hadn't yet met her. What made her memorable?"
"Oh, she ran into us, had her head down and was in quite the hurry. Had a box with her and she dropped it so of course, Archie here, being the lady's man, had to pick it up for her. She thanked us and then hurried on. We made a little joke of it when we met her in the office."
"How early was it that you – had breakfast?" Sibella asked.
"Sibella," Adam said low enough for her to hear but not too loudly. "Enough."
But Mr. Philpot went on. "What would you say, Archie? About 7:30?"
"Sounds about right," Archie replied.
Adam spoke up, "Miss Pear runs the office for us – for me. Buys the coffee, pastries for the clients, and the paper, pencils, ink, tablets, all of it. She runs all those errands before opening the office. I'm always surprised to find out how much she's accomplished before I arrive at 9:00. Makes me feel like a sluggard."
"I was just wondering…" Sibella started, but Adam interrupted her. "I think it's time Sibella and I left." He stood up. "It's getting late."
The men stood except for the Colonel who had dozed off, his head hanging to one side, snoring softly, an empty glass in his hand. Fanny Fitzhugh looked straight at Adam.
"I hope you feel better in the morning, Adam. Perhaps we'll see you again before we leave." Fanny slyly smiled. "I can show you what I know about curing headaches."
Adam merely nodded and offered his thanks for her kindness, and shook hands with the men, telling Philpot and Hancock that he would see them in the morning to sign the contracts. Ben helped Sibella with her cape and excused himself from his guests to walk out with Adam and Sibella. Once outside, Ben helped Sibella up into the buggy while Adam went to check the traces.
"Now you give that grandson of mine a big kiss for me and bring him by this weekend. I didn't have much time with him this morning before I got the message the Fitzhughs were here."
"I will, I promise." Sibella smiled but inside she was raging. Although Fanny Fitzhugh had also given Archie Hancock an inordinate amount of attention, glancing at him and having a few private words, she hadn't touched him the way she had Adam. She also hadn't bent down in front of Archie so that he could look no where but down her cleavage. And Archie was a handsome man – very handsome. His wavy blonde hair and broad shoulders would attract any woman. But then, he was also about 20, maybe 30 years younger than Fanny. Perhaps even she had limitations about how young a man could be before she seduced him.
Ben walked around the buggy to Adam. Sibella tried to hear what they were saying but they kept their voices low. She didn't care anyway. It was probably about the silver mine so she just pulled her cape tighter about her as the night was quite chilly.
"Adam, what about the killing this morning?"
"We don't know that it was in the morning, might have been last night. The front of the shop was unlocked so I assumed it was last night. Also, since rigor had set in, Madam Adair had been dead at least 4 hours. But you and I know that rigor can take longer to set in or even less time than is usual. And she could have unlocked the door to let someone in early."
"Roy have any ideas who did it?"
"No, at least not that he's said. But Sibella has taken a personal interest in it. Roy caught her in the shop this afternoon. She took a tintype and some letters."
"What? She took evidence from the crime scene?"
Adam pursed his lips. "She did."
"What did Roy say?"
"He doesn't know yet. I'm handing everything over tomorrow. But my fear is that it may be a crime of opportunity, someone who just likes killing women and had the chance to do so. Granted, the place was ransacked but that might just be a cover-up of the true motivation – just cold-blooded murder. That's the reason I want Sibella to keep her pretty little nose out of it. But Sibella thinks that nothing bad can happen to her – ever - and that scares me. I'm going to post Chauncey at the house to keep her there."
"And Roy has no idea of who might be responsible."
"If he does, like I said, he hasn't told me. Anyway, I'm hoping he can wrap it up quickly, that someone will confess. In the meantime, I'll have to deal with Sibella's determination to solve this crime herself."
Ben cleared his throat, smiling slightly. "I think you'll have to deal with Sibella about more than that. Fanny Fitzhugh for one. Good luck, son." Ben clapped Adam on the shoulder. "Fanny is a most attractive woman, isn't she?"
"Why, Pa," Adam said grinning. "I can't believe you noticed. A guest in your house and all that."
"I'm not dead, Adam - or blind. But then I don't have to explain anything to anyone. Now, what was it that Roman gladiators said before a match?"
"Morituri te salutant. Those who are about to die, salute you."
"Good luck, son" Ben, chuckling, left Adam to face his wife.