Murder in Dogleg City Read Free Page A

available at Asa’s, or—more
discreetly—in one of the dozen shacks that were scattered out back,
where the women slept after hours.
    Quint glanced at the closed door of
Asa’s as they walked past. It was dark behind the filth-streaked
glass. The Red Chamber, an opium den directly across the street,
was closed as well. The Red Chamber was owned by Tsu Chiao, another
Chinese—everyone pronounced his name “Soo Chow.” Quint wondered if
Li Wong and Soo Chow had a misunderstanding. Fortunately, Soo Chow
spoke English fluently, so maybe they could get to the bottom of
this quickly. Li Wong, however, walked on past the Red Chamber. He
turned beside Asa’s Saloon and headed to the back, toward the whore
shacks of Cribtown. As soon as Li Wong reached the back corner of
Asa’s, he began speaking excitedly in Chinese and
pointing.
    A man was crumpled on the ground. He
lay on his back, open but sightless eyes fixed on the sky. He was
dressed in cowboy garb—denim pants, cotton shirt and a cowhide
vest. The fly of his pants was open and the end of his pecker,
though shriveled, was visible; the whole front of the pants was
piss stained. Quint dropped to one knee and touched the back of his
hand to the man’s neck. It was cold, too cold to have been chilled
by the night air alone. He lifted the man’s shoulder and looked at
his back. He had been shot between the shoulder blades. The heart
must have stopped right away as there was not a lot of blood. Quint
lowered the body. There was no obvious exit wound. The man had most
likely been shot with a pistol, and the ball was lodged somewhere
inside. A rifle bullet would have gone clean through.
    Quint searched the man’s pockets and
found $122.00 in bills and a few coins, all of which he stuffed
into his own shirt pocket for accounting. He looked for any papers
that might indicate who the victim was, but found nothing. The man
had a .36 caliber Navy Colt still in its holster. It was fully
loaded and unfired. Quint stuck it in his belt. It looked as if the
man was most likely taking a leak when someone shot him in the
back.
    Quint stood and studied the
surrounding area, then turned to face Li Wong,
    “ I suppose you found him
while you were making your rounds to pick up some dirty
laundry?”
    Li Wong nodded. “Miss Haddie say pick
up clothes outside early.” The Miss Haddie in question, Quint knew,
lived and whored in one of the shacks nearby.
    Quint knew that Sam would assign him
all the investigating leg work, particularly since the killing had
taken place in Dogleg City—Quint’s unofficially assigned territory.
Sam was most likely still in his quarters; the marshal liked to be
most visible during the evening gambling hours. It would be up to
Quint to notify Elijah Gravely the undertaker to pick up the body,
then contact Doctor Munro for his assessment.
    Quint pointed toward the street and
The Red Chamber. “We could walk over and talk a bit with Soo Chow,
see if he has anything to add to this.”
    Li Wong bristled visibly. Quint knew
there was a rift between the two Chinese men—Li Wong disapproved of
Tsu Chiao’s abusive opium trade at The Red Chamber, and disapproved
even more of his unwanted attentions towards Li Wong’s
sixteen-year-old daughter. Tsu Chiao no doubt figured the nubile
young girl would make a prized addition to the wing of his
establishment he called “the Jade Chamber.”
    “ You can take your cart
and go on back to the laundry, Li Wong, I’ll speak with Soo Chow
later on,” Quint said. The relief was evident in Li Wong’s face.
“You can save me a trip if you would stop by Gravely’s Funeral Home
and tell Elijah that I need him to come down and pick the body up,
I’d appreciate it.” Li Wong nodded, then wasted no time in
leaving.
    Quint turned back to the body to study
it for clues. He noticed the man’s boots were not new, but were
well cared for and recently blacked. The tops of the toes were not
worn or scored by stirrups as a