Chapter Nine 9/12
"The inquest calls Doolin née Melanie DeLand."
Melanie came up front and sat in the chair before them.
"Do you have an attorney?"
"I don't need one unless you think I do."
Dutiful Sammy sat alone on the bench behind her.
"No, not at this time." as they swore her in.
She looked tranquil and calm in her black lace dress. Sammy wore the same suit he did to the funeral.
They read her deposition, she agreed to its contents and she signed it.
"A few questions, please."
"Of course."
"Did you see Rory and Eugenie Smith at your home the day before you reported your husband missing?"
"Yes I watched them arrive, her husband stayed in the rig and she visited with my husband in his study. She left."
"Was this a regular occurrence?"
"Yes, she or her husband delivered messages or reports to him?"
"Do you know what was in the correspondence?"
"Yes. Reports on the Barkleys. I got rid of it after he died. It was shameful."
They nodded.
"He had numerous sources in Stockton and Sacramento and even San Francisco and Modesto. Servants he said are the best sources of information. They blend into walls and no one recognizes their worth. Kind of like a wife—"
The men recognized her play on words.
"Of other families or just the Barkleys?"
"Everyone. Many political enemies and such. There was a rich man in San Francisco he corresponded with regularly. He paid Peter cash for the information. He had dealings with Mexican revolutionaries he favored too. The Barkleys were just the most prominent in his papers."
"You reported him missing the day after he did not come home. Why not that very day?"
"Peter worked odd hours. It was not unusual for him to stay all day and night working to get a story out."
"Yes, his workers confirmed that. They stated you sent him a supper basket the night in question."
"Yes, it is the duty of a wife to make sure her husband has sustenance."
They looked over their case notes again and began another tact.
"Have you ever used arsenic?"
"Of course. Have you seen the rats on the wharf? Like small cats."
"Have you ever purchased it?"
"No, the chandlery carries it. Rivermen and shipyards buy it in bulk."
They made some notes.
"Do you use it at home?"
"No, Sammy and our maid keep our home spotless. But I wouldn't hesitate to kill off vermin wherever I see it."
They pulled out the maid's story which confirmed Melanie's.
"We have to ask, did you put it in your husband's food?"
"Of course not. I was in the first year of marriage and as Godey's writes, still melding my life into my husband's. Subjugation was my desire and I unfortunately had not obtained the lofty heights of womanhood—but I was trying."
The panel exchanged looks of sympathy for the witness.
They asked questions about the missing person report and Doolin's behavior the week before he went missing.
"He was agitated. I feared it was me. I tried to create a haven for him. I fear I failed,"
They asked her about her father's last days. She showed more emotion talking about her father than her husband.
"He was a wonderful father and I am thankful he is in the arms of Jesus with my mother. He went with a clear conscience. He admitted his part in taking the gold for the Confederacy. We obviously did not have it. We were poor as church mice as were the Gregorys."
"Did he implicate Tom Barkley?"
"Not at all."
"I now understand how much the Barkleys did for my family. I was led to believe it was guilt; I now understand compassion."
"Who led you to the assumption?"
"I take that responsibility myself."
"Do you believe your husband had something to do with the gold?"
"Yes. I believe he sent it to Mexico by a conversation I heard. He favored their cause,"
She recounted a conversation with a courier at their home before his trip to the border.
They nodded and made sure the clerk had the testimony straight.
"May I have some water?"
"Of course." and the clerk poured some.
"Since my husband's grisly demise, I haven't been myself."
"That's understandable."
"How would you describe your marriage?"
"Surprising. I was a maid, an old maid of sorts. I had much to learn. Peter was very generous with me."
"Do you have any assets in your name?"
"The chandlery when it sells and my jewelry, I guess. My household pin money. My home will be; I am his heir.
"Did your husband have any other bank accounts that you know of?"
"The Bank of Stockton account has a thousand dollars in it."
She drew a sigh of relief thinking of the safe deposit box key Sammy had given her for San Francisco. And the estate account in the same city with the Mexican Embassy deposits.
"Will you sign a statement about the bank accounts?"
"Of course."
Safety deposit boxes are not bank accounts nor my father's estate account—-
"Please stay in town if we have any further questions."
"Of course."
They called Sammy to the stand. He shuffled and kept his head down, not making eye contact with the panel—-taking the traditional stance of a house slave.
They read him his statement and he signed it.
"Mr. Lincoln, how long were you in Mr. Doolin's employ?"
"Since 1865. End of war. I was hungry and he hired me."
"Was he a fair employer?"
"Fair? That depends on his mood."
"How did he treat you?"
"Good enough"
"What did you observe about his marriage with Mrs. Doolin?
"She is the finest lady I ever knew and he didn't appreciate what he had. Shame it was." with a surprise burst of emotion.
Melanie dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief and smiled at her butler.
They asked him about the household routine, business dealings, and the new maids. He answered in great detail. The panel observed his mind was quicker than his servant's demeanor let on.
"Did you use arsenic on rats in your house?"
"No sir. Prefers cats. Had a dog die eating the stuff. Don't like it."
"And did you put arsenic in the food or water of Peter Doolin?"
"I swears I did not," thinking of the liquor bottles shattered by him and Miz Melanie in a million pieces in the river. They took a hammer to the fine ruby crystal, bagged it in burlap, and slung it out into the river.
The panel felt he had answered honestly in their notes.
"You are released. Please do not leave town in case we have further questions."
"Yes sir," and they stood up when she did. She nodded and took Sammy's arm out of the courtroom.