Chapter Four
All four Barkley brothers were present at the dredging of the River Monarch. They pulled out their cigars and sat on the ledge by the river bank for a birds-eye view.
Jock would come back and forth—-laughing and filling them in on the progress.
"Funny, it's miles from where your Father said it should have been. Anson and Tom both testified it should have been five miles north. I reread their statements again last night.
Jarrod frowned for a second, "I didn't realize there was a discrepancy. I was in the war at the time,"
"Yep, we pulled all the original testimonies. Lots of questions looking at it years later. But with a civil war going on and a nation in tatters, it probably didn't get as much attention as it would now. Most union folks was just tired, plain tired of tragedy. Southerners are still bitter today." Jock observed.
Jarrod and Nick started comparing notes of details they had picked up over the years. They had been at war when it happened and their father rarely talked about the death of his friends and employees. Mother had filled them in best she could the night before last.
"Hey, Cap. Found something!"
Jock sauntered over to the muddy bank and waded in a few feet.
The Barkleys followed him to the bank.
The engineer frowned at them, "The boiler?"
Jarrod and Nick immediately looked at each other.
"It's completely intact. Whole." The engineer looked at them with suspicion and concern.
Jock inspected it, "Not a whole just rust and seam rot from the water. Weren't no boiler explosion."
The Barkley brothers took a turn looking, too.
The brothers agreed that the boiler had not exploded and caused the sinking.
Jarrod asked Jock, "Where did the details of the boiler explosion make it into the record?"
"Cyrus DeLand's statement. Said it had been giving them fits."
"If it weren't a boiler—what then. Found bodies miles downstream, torn up. Never found all of them. Just parts."
The engineering teams spent several more hours pulling up parts of the ship.
"There's nothing left of the cargo hold."
The laughter and discussions of earlier had devolved into concern and questions.
"Hey Jock, over here."
The brothers followed him again.
The chains brought up a significant amount of the hull, severed from the rest of the ship. It was almost intact. A metal door was melded shut on a compartment. Heat damage appeared to the naked eye.
Several men took crowbars and pried open the lock and melted metal hinges. Seven skeletons fell out upon the men. They jumped back in fright.
The Barkleys ran into the shallow water and helped recover the bodies with the soldiers. The BF livery was still attached to several oilcloth jackets. They pulled them to the shore.
Heath exchanged looks with his brothers. They nodded that they were thinking the same thing.
Jock put their suspicions into words, "This is a crime. A travesty. These men were locked up and sent to their death. Someone took this ship down on purpose."
Eugene touched one of the skulls and picked it up gently. He continued and looked at each one. He laid out the bones and examined them on the bank. He respectfully and meticulously checked each remain.
"Sir, each of these skulls has been crushed or cracked. These men were likely killed and then locked up here."
"These bones still have rope fragments in the bone splinters—-likely tied up."
The soldiers and Jock confirmed the young medical student's hypothesis.
"You are right, boy." Jock slapped him on the back.
The brothers didn't make a sound. The implications were overwhelming.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in a morbid quiet until the lock boxes were heaved up from the river bottom.
The men pried them open.
"Pig iron. No gold in any of them." Six boxes on the sand. Heavy and chained—-and no gold.
The men yelled as they pried them open.
The brothers inspected each box, shaking their heads.
The men left the water and packed up the bones in tarps for burial.
Jock took out a cigar, "Well, we have a crime."
"Yes we do," added Jarrod with a frown.
—&—
The brothers rode home quietly, each lost in the implication of twenty-three deaths and a million dollars of missing gold from their Father's freight line.
Jock and his men caught up with them in a gallop.
"Nick, under the circumstances I will be moving to town with my men. I have to be neutral in my investigation."
"What the hell, Jock? What are you saying?"
Jarrod reached out his arm, "Nick, he is right. It's better this way."
Nick put his spurs in and nudged Coco into a gallop. He left a trail of dust in his wake.
"Jock, I would appreciate you letting me know what our family needs to do to cooperate in this investigation."
"Will do, Jarrod."
One of his young recruits spat, "Give the money back?" under his breath.
He never knew what hit him. Heath hit him straight in the mouth.
"Don't talk about my family—boy unless you got the bollocks to back it up."
The men all put their hands on their weapons.
Jock looked around as the young man staggered to get up with blood coming from his mouth.
The commander held his hand up, "He's right, boy. We will make sure we back up any accusations. And we will follow them wherever and whoever they lead to—-"
Jarrod nodded as Heath and Eugene spurred their horses toward the ranch.
Jarrod met his look coldly, "Make sure you can back it up. I know I can back my family. Without a doubt—"