Chapter 8

A Saxhorn. Archer's alibi for the time the attack on Henderson's daughter was supposed to have occurred was that he was home playing the Saxhorn. Jarrod left Quinn's office knowing he was going to have to track down someone who heard him playing the Saxhorn at the time of the attack. First, Jarrod was going to have to figure out what a Saxhorn was and what it sounded like, because he sure didn't remember, and Quinn's description - "sounds like a dying cow" - just wasn't all that helpful.

Jarrod went back to the jail, and in a few minutes, he was having Archer sign a paper that Quinn had drawn up, stating that Jarrod was Archer's attorney and he had permission from Archer to ask questions and go through Archer's home. As soon as Archer had signed and Jarrod pocketed the paper and taken back the sheriff's pen and ink, Jarrod said to Archer, "Michael Quinn tells me that you say you were home at the time the attack took place, and that you were playing the Saxhorn. The first thing you're going to have to help me out with is the Saxhorn. What is it, and what does it sound like?"

"It's like a tuba, but the bell isn't as big," Archer said. "Makes it easier to carry in a marching band."

Jarrod didn't even remember what a tuba or a marching band was, but he could figure it out just by the words. "What does it sound like?"

"Deep, brass sound."

"And you were at home?"

Archer nodded.

"Where do you live?"

"A side road off the main road toward Placerville."

"Your house is the only one out there?"

Archer nodded again.

That wasn't going to help. Who would have heard him playing a Saxhorn if no one lived around him? On the other hand, who would want to live around him if he liked playing the Saxhorn? "Did anyone come by? Did you hear anybody on the road?"

Archer shook his head.

"All right," Jarrod said. "Did anyone see you head home near that time? Or come back in?"

"Not that I know of. I'd gone home for lunch," Archer said, thinking back. "It's not that far, and I go home every day. I play the Saxhorn to ease the stress of the day while I'm there."

"So your staff would at least have seen you head off in that direction."

"Yes, but they wouldn't have seen me get to my house."

"We'll have to take what we can get and see what it builds up to. How do I get to your house and to your office?"

"My office is in the courthouse. To get to my house, take the first side road to the left after you leave the livery stable on the Placerville Road. The side road is about a mile out. My house is the first one you come to, about half a mile down the side road."

Jarrod thought about something that was tickling the edges of his mind. "You live alone, right?"

Archer nodded.

"Do you have any animals that need to be fed – chickens, a dog, horses, anything like that?"

"Two dogs. A cat that can fend for itself. Chickens scratch for themselves too. My horse is at the livery."

"Who's feeding the dogs?"

"My clerk goes out on his lunch hour."

Jarrod sighed. Too bad it wasn't a neighbor, but he asked anyway. "Is there any chance a neighbor might hear it when you play the Saxhorn?"

"The nearest neighbor is a farmer, half a mile further down the side road. If anybody there hears me, I'd be surprised."

"I'll check it out anyway," Jarrod said. "And something else I need from you – I need to get into your house and get a look at that Saxhorn. And is there anything else you can think of I might come across that might help you?"

Archer took a deep breath, thinking. "Nothing I can think of."

"Do I have your permission to enter your house and look around?"

Archer looked unhappy about that prospect.

"If I'm going to help you, you're going to have to trust me with everything in your life," Jarrod said. "I might find something you haven't thought about."

"All right," Archer said with a sigh. "The key is under a flower pot on the ground to the left of the steps as you face the door."

Jarrod nodded. "I'll let you know what I find," he said, and he banged on the cell block door to be let out.

XXXXXXX

Jarrod went to Archer's office and tracked down his clerk, a young man named Trundall. It took only a few sentences for Jarrod to figure out that Trundall did not like Archer very much (did anyone?). Jarrod stayed away from Trundall's dislike for the man as much as he could, at least for now, and focused on what he did and saw when he went to Archer's house to feed the dogs while Archer was in jail.

It turned out that Trundall didn't see much when he went out there, and all he did was feed the dogs and come back. "I don't really like doing much while I'm out there. You never know what Mr. Archer is going to complain about when he gets free. He might have a fit if one flower pot is out of place, you know what I mean?"

Jarrod nodded. "If you think of anything else, let me know, all right?"

Trundall nodded, and Jarrod left him.

When he got out onto the street, Jarrod noticed that the light was beginning to fade and he checked his watch. It was time to pack things in for the day and head home. Maybe he really needed some time to think everything through before he jumped back into this tomorrow.

The sun was down and the sky was getting dark when he got home. He left his horse with Ciego and went into the house, where his family was already gathering before dinner. "Forgive me for being late," he said. "I'll be right down."

He went upstairs, cleaned up and changed into clean clothes. When he came down and poured himself some scotch, Victoria said, "I take it you talked to Mr. Archer."

Jarrod nodded and sat down in his thinking chair. "He hired me."

"Hired you?" Audra said. "But you're not practicing law."

"That's not what he hired me for," Jarrod said. "Michael Quinn is his lawyer, but Quinn doesn't have an investigator. Apparently I had a reputation as a good investigator as well as a good lawyer. Archer hired me to find the facts behind his case."

"What's his case about?" Heath asked.

"He's been arrested for attacking the daughter of a man named Henderson. He says he didn't do it."

"And you believe him?" Nick said. "Look, Jarrod, you don't remember Archer. You don't know what a snake he is. He prosecuted Heath on a murder charge without checking everything out. You're the one who got Heath free."

"And that's why Archer's hired me," Jarrod said. "You're right. I don't remember the man, so whatever history we have is beside the point. He wants me to check his story out, and he'll pay me my attorney's fee to do it. So I'll do it. By the way, does anybody know what a Saxhorn is?"

"Archer plays the Saxhorn," Heath said. "It's some brass instrument, real low tone."

"How loud is it?" Jarrod asked.

"I saw one in a marching band once," Heath said. "It can get pretty loud."

"Would you hear it over a half mile distance if someone was playing it indoors?"

"I don't know about that. Why is it important to your case?"

"It's Archer's alibi. He was home playing the Saxhorn."

"Oh, brother," Nick said. "You better find him some better alibi than that."

"I'll work on it," Jarrod said.

"He is a snake, Jarrod," Nick said. "It could just be that he really attacked that girl."

Jarrod nodded. "If he did, I'll find it out. I'm not just looking for evidence to exonerate him. I'm looking for the truth."

Victoria took on a smile that seemed a little sad to Jarrod.

"What?" he asked her. "Why do you look so unhappy?"

"Oh, I don't mean to," Victoria said. "It's just for a moment there you sounded like a lawyer again."

Jarrod smiled a little. "Comes from talking with Quinn. When you hang around lawyers, you start talking like them, whether you want to or not."

"Well, there's an admission I thought I'd never hear," Nick said. "Lawyers and their lingo."

"Their fancy talk," Heath said, pursed his lips a little and shook his head. "It gets contagious."

"Like the croup," Nick finished.

"All right, all right," Jarrod said, laughing. "No fair abusing me for something I used to be when I can't remember how to fight back."

The rest of the family laughed with him, and he realized this was one of the few times he could laugh about his amnesia. It actually felt kind of good. Now, if it could really serve him well in dealing with Archer, it might be worth having.