Chapter 3
Jarrod was home, reading in the library, at about four in the afternoon. He'd been alone in there, thinking and reading, thinking and reading, and was in thinking mode on the sofa with his feet up on the coffee table when his mother came in with coffee.
"Jarrod, why is it you boys always have your feet on the coffee tables around here?" Victoria asked as she pushed his feet off the table and put the tray of coffee onto it.
"Because our legs are too long for the furniture," Jarrod said simply. "That coffee smells good."
Jarrod reached for the pot, noticing there were two cups there. He poured two cups full as his mother sat beside him. "Thank you," Victoria said. "Have you had any brainstorms while you've been reading?"
"No," Jarrod said, sipping at his cup. "It would help if I had known Ivy better, but half an hour in my office just wasn't enough."
"Have you tried talking to some of her friends?"
"Not yet. Harry will tell them at the Gold Nugget that her burial is tomorrow. I'll see who shows up."
Victoria sat back on the sofa and sipped her coffee. She had noticed the lines in her son's face. They were from more than fatigue, and besides, she knew him very well. "These kinds of cases always got to you when you were a prosecutor – young women alone, killed. It must be worse when it's one of your own clients. You need to be careful, Jarrod. I don't mean just take care if the person who killed her comes after you. I mean take care you don't crucify yourself needlessly."
Jarrod set his cup down and rubbed his forehead. "This girl wasn't much older than Audra. But who was there to care about whether she lived or died? Doesn't seem like much of anyone cared."
"That doesn't mean you need to take the burden of caring onto yourself."
Jarrod gave her a smile. "I'll be careful, Mother, but I don't feel like I can let this go just yet. There are answers out there."
"Maybe you'll learn more at her services."
"I hope so. I feel like I failed her somehow, letting her go too easily when she came to my office."
"What did she come see you about?"
Jarrod sighed. The first thing a lawyer always thinks about when someone asks him that question is his oath to keep his client's confidences, but that promise ends when the client dies. Still, he always thought hard about saying too much. "She was wanted in Kansas and a bounty hunter was after her. Extortion charge, she said, but when I wired the authorities in Kansas, I discovered she was charged with murder as well. I never got the chance to talk to her more about it and find out what was really going on."
"And now you'll never know."
"And now I'll never know," Jarrod said, picked up his coffee again but stared into it a bit before he sipped again. "Nor do I know who the bounty hunter is," he continued.
"Do you think he killed her?"
"No, that's just it. A bounty hunter would have never left her body there in the alley if he had killed her. This was flat out murder. A bounty hunter would at least have made it look like he was shooting at her as she was trying to get away or something, and he'd have never let go of the body."
"Unless you were coming on them too fast, and the bounty hunter ran to avoid a murder charge."
Jarrod shook his head. "No. This just doesn't smell like a bounty hunter. This smells like a deliberate murder for some reason I just don't know yet."
"Are there really that many reasons for a deliberate murder?"
"Yes, there are. Revenge, jealousy, enjoyment even. Or money, or even just the mistake of killing the wrong person. There are many different kinds of murder. Many things that could cause a man to murder."
Victoria put her cup down and touched her son's hand. "I shouldn't have gotten you back into thinking about this, I'm sorry. Better ideas will come if you quit thinking about it."
Jarrod said, "I'll take a walk around the yard after dinner. I will have to go to town in the morning. I have another client coming in. Then I'll stay for the burial, and probably go to the Gold Nugget after that."
"Will you be home later or sleeping in your office again?" Victoria asked.
Jarrod chuckled. "Hard to say. If the client in the morning is complicated, or if I learn something worth learning at the Nugget, you may not see me tomorrow."
"Just remember to eat," Victoria said, picking up her coffee again. "You know how grouchy you get."
"Yes, Mother," Jarrod said with a smile.
XXXXXXXX
Jarrod's secretary let him know when he arrived in the morning that the client he was expecting had already stopped by and said he would be back in ten minutes, which was anytime now. No sooner had she gotten the words out than the man came in.
"Hello," Jarrod said to the stranger, holding out his hand. "I'm Jarrod Barkley."
"Tom McKee," the man said.
"Won't you come into my office? Would you like some coffee?"
"No, thank you," the man said and went into Jarrod's inner office.
Jarrod followed him, sizing him up as he took his gunbelt and hat off and hung them on the hat tree behind his desk. The man had sat down in front of the desk. He was an older man, rough around the edges. Jarrod had never met him before. "What is it I can do for you Mr. McKee?"
The man held his hat in his hands and said quietly, "I'm from Kansas. Been looking for my niece, but I heard yesterday when I got into town that she'd been murdered."
Jarrod perked up.
"I heard you found her," the man said. "I want to claim her body, but I'm told you already arranged for burial."
"Yes, assuming it's the same young woman," Jarrod said. "I didn't know she had any relatives. You say she's your niece?"
The man nodded. "I come to take her home to Kansas. I didn't know she was dead."
Jarrod suddenly felt an itch in the back of his mind. He looked hard at the man. He was older, but he could have been the bounty hunter. Jarrod thought that maybe he had his thinking all wrong. Maybe it really was the bounty hunter who killed her and ran. Maybe he was looking at Ivy's killer.
"Mr. McKee, her body is in the custody of the law now," Jarrod said. "Before it can be turned over to you, you'll have to prove you are her uncle, as you say. Shall we go over and talk to the sheriff?"
McKee quickly shook his head. "I got no way of proving anything. I can show you my identification, but that won't prove I'm her uncle. How can I prove that?"
"Well, let's go talk to the sheriff and figure that out."
McKee stood up. "No. I'm gonna go to the telegraph office and send a wire back to Topeka. I can send for proof that way, but in the meantime, I don't want you burying my niece."
"Are her parents still alive, Mr. McKee?" Jarrod asked.
McKee shook his head again. "No. She had no family at all. There ain't nobody but me."
"Are you aware she was wanted in Topeka for extortion and murder?"
"Yes, I know that."
"And you were taking her home to face that?"
"She didn't do anything. She'd have proved that."
Jarrod stood up. "Mr. McKee, are you really her uncle, or are you a bounty hunter who's been following her?"
McKee glared as he too stood up. "I'm her uncle, and I'll send for the proof."
"You do that," Jarrod said. "And you take it to the sheriff, and we'll see how we handle this then."
McKee abruptly turned and walked out. Jarrod quickly strapped on his gun and grabbed his hat. He went straight through his outer office, telling his secretary he was going to the undertaker's, and he hurried out into the street.
McKee had already disappeared into the morning crowd. Jarrod forgot about him for the time being and hurried to the undertaker's. When he got there, he found the undertaker standing near a conservative but nice coffin.
"Ah, Jarrod, good to see you," he said. "Is this coffin suitable?"
Jarrod nodded, but then said, "We're gonna have to hold off for a bit, Jack. Got a man in town claiming to be her uncle."
The undertaker looked unhappy. "Hold off for how long?"
"I don't know. Until we get this cleared up, but I don't know how long it's gonna take," Jarrod said.
"I'll have to embalm her or keep her cool."
"I know. Keep her cool. I'm hoping to get this cleared up in time for burial this afternoon, but I don't know if we can. Just don't go accepting anybody's claim for the body. If anybody comes for her, send them to the sheriff."
"All right," the undertaker said.
Jarrod hustled out of the undertaker's and down to the sheriff's office. He found the sheriff talking with a stranger, a man about Jarrod's age. "Oh, Jarrod, come in," the sheriff said. "This is Rafe Samson. Says he's Ivy Erin's brother."
Jarrod straightened. Now he was certain something very shady was going on around here. "Brother, huh?" Jarrod said.
Rafe Samson offered his hand and Jarrod took it.
"I come from Kansas to fetch her home, but I had no idea she was dead," Samson said.
Jarrod said, "Harry, I just spoke to a man in my office who claimed he was Ivy Erin's uncle and that Ivy had no other living relatives."
"Well, now," the sheriff said, looking at Samson. "How do you explain that, Samson?"
"I don't," the man said, and looked suspiciously nervous. "I don't know who this fella is, but we don't have no uncles."
"What's the man's name, Jarrod?" Sheriff Lyman asked.
"Tom McKee," Jarrod said. "Said he was going to wire back to Kansas for some proof he was Ivy's uncle."
The sheriff heaved a sigh and looked at Jarrod. They were thinking the same thing. Yesterday, they had no suspects in Ivy Erin's killing. Now they had two.
Jarrod said, "I've talked to the undertaker. He won't release Ivy's body to anyone, and we're delaying the burial until we straighten things out."
"Now, wait a minute," Samson said. "I'm her brother, and I'm gonna go claim her body."
"Not without a court order, you're not," the sheriff said. "We've got competing claims. It's gonna take a judge to sort it out."
"I'll draw the motions up and get them over to the court," Jarrod said. "If you're Ivy's brother, I suggest you come up with some identification and proof that you're her brother and do it fast. You're gonna have to convince a judge."
Samson huffed and went out the door. The sheriff just kept looking at Jarrod and finally said, "Ain't this a fine kettle of fish?"
"Harry," Jarrod said, "I'm getting the feeling that neither one of these characters is related to Ivy Erin at all."
"And that one of them killed her," Sheriff Lyman said.
Jarrod nodded. "And one of them – or maybe both of them – killed her."
