Mountain Woman Snake River Blizzard (5 page)

Engledow suddenly bolted for the door and raced out.  Kate walked to the door and shouted, “I could drop you right there, but I won’t.  If I ever hear of you bothering Lucille again, I’ll take you into town wearing cuffs or stretched face down over your saddle.”

Engledow spurred his horse into a run as he looked back, expecting her to shoot.

Kate went back inside and found Lucille huddled in a corner of the cabin.  “It’s over,” Kate said in a calming tone of voice.

“What if he comes back when you’re not here?” she whimpered.

“We’re going to watch your home,” Kate said.

It
wasn’t long until Man,
Roy
and Dan arrived
.  Man was leading Red Bird and the two boys were on the mule.  They instantly jumped down and ran into the house
.

Man tied Arabian and Red Bird
then
followed them in.  He found Luci
le and Kate seated at the table.  T
he two boys were on either side of their mother hugging her
.

Kate stood,
picked up her rifle
,
and
met Man.  “She can tell her son
s what happened.  They need time alone now.”

She went by Man and he closed the door soft
ly.  She stepped up on Red Bird
and slid the rifle in the scabbard.  Man urged Arabian to her side and they
set the
horses
off at a walk. 
When they passed Engledow’s house, Kate and Man
watched
closely.  The horse was gone and the barn was empty.

“I expect he went to work after he ran out of Lucille’
s house,” Kate said.

“Care to share what happened?” Man said.

“Of course, but please wait until we get to the police station.  I want to relay what happened to Chief
Coy Kincaid.   You can hear it at the same time.”

They found Chief
Kincaid in his office reading a report.  He look
ed up and gestured for the two m
arshals to sit.  Two chairs were in front of his cluttered desk.

“We have stumbled onto a situation here in Coeur d’Alene,” Kate said.  “I want to make an official report to you and send a copy to Chief Marshal Joe Meek.”

“It must be serious,” Coy said.

“It has t
he potential to be very serious.  I
n fact, I suspect a murder has been committed.  Blackmail and rape are also a possibility.”

This brought Police Chief Kincaid to the front of his chair.  “If you would,
” he said,
“
please wait until I get
my
assistant c
hief in here to hear this.”  He stood
,
went out the door
,
and came back with a man wearing a uniform.
  “Captain
Daughtry
Dunlap,” Chief Kincaid said.  Man and Kate stood.  “Daught
r
y, this is United States Marshal Manchester and his wife, Deputy Marshal Kate.”

Kate and Man shook the offered hand of Captain Dunlap.  “Kate has a report she wants to make that I fel
t you should hear firsthand. 
Kate would you tell give us the facts?”

Kate started at the beginning and conti
nued through the events of the day
.  “I would have been justified in putting Bob Engledow down when he r
an, but chose not to until we go
t more facts on the case.”

“I saw the bogus loan document
with the fraudulent signature,” she said, “
but Engledow grabbed it from my hand and threw it in the fire.  Lucille Shobert told me that Engledow came to her
home, produced the loan document,
and demanded sex with her or he would foreclose and take their cabin.  I saw marks and bruises on her body
.  S
he said he
hit and slapped her when she didn’t comply.
 
In addition, I have a strong suspicion he murdered his wife.  However, without a witness, it would be impossible to prove at this late date.”

“We had that same feeling when we investigated,” Chief Kincaid said.  “But like you said, without proof, our hands were tied.  The body was at the base of the cliff and after the fall, there was no way to tell if the abrasions on her face and body came from a beating or were caused by the fall.”

“As of now, the rape allegation would be his word again
st hers,” Kate said.  “Her two son
s
,
Roy
and Dan
,
have seen the marks on her, but have never witnessed Engledow take her forcefully.  He always comes to her home when he knows the two boys are away working.”

“How do you want to handle this?” Chief Kincaid asked.

“I would like to have more proof before bringing him in
,” she said
. 
“
Could you have policeman patrol that road on
a regular basis for a few days?
  E
specially
,
from about two or three o’clock in the afternoon until the boys get home.  Bob
Engledow
is a night watchman at a mine and gets off at daylight.  Lucille said he sleeps until mid-afternoon before going to her home.  She s
ays he is very abusive and she’
s afraid of him
.
”

Chief Kincaid turned to Captain Dunlap.  “Put that out to our
people.  H
ave them ride down that road.
  Knock on her door if she or Engledow are not in sight.”

“Will do,” Captain Dunlap said.

“Roy and Dan ride an old mule,” Kate said.  “If your men see a horse at her home, investigate.”

Dunlap nodded.

“May I use a table or empty desk to write up an official report?” Kate asked.  “I would like it to be a matter of record here and at Chi
ef Meek’s headquarters should fu
rther development
s
occur.
  I have a feeling this situation if not over.”

“Of course.
Captain Dunlap wil
l show you to a desk and there is
writing material there.”

Man visited with Chief Kincaid and Captain Dunlap wh
ile Kate wrote the report.  The two police officers
wanted to hear more about their trip to Texas and the apprehension of the Bright women.

Kate came back and handed
her report to Chief Kincaid. 
“I’ll send the same report to our headquarters,” she said.

The next day, Captain Dunlap decided to visit Lucille’s home first and have
police officers
follow up every couple of hours for a few days to establish the fact that she was being protected.

He spotted Engledow peeking out the window and stopped.  The face disappeared from the window, but he knocked loudly on the door.

“What do you want?” Engledow shouted through the closed door.

“Just to l
et you know that we’
ll be patrolling this road and keeping a close watch on Lucille Shobert.   If we see you farther down this road toward her home, you’ll be taken into custody.”

“On what grounds?” Bob
cursed.

“On one or more charges and none of them you’ll enjoy
.  We have no
sympathy
for a man takin
g advantage of a widow woman.”

Captain Dunlap turned,
went back to his horse
,
and went on down the road to the
Shobert cabin
.

He tapped on her door and said, “Captain Dunlap, Coeur d’Alene police.  We’re patrolling this road.  Are you okay?”

She opened the door a crack and peeked out.  “I’m fine, thank you.  That nice lady, Deputy Marshal Kate
,
said Bob wouldn’t bother me anymore.”

“We’
re going to have patrolmen ride down your road several times a day.  Should you need anything or if Mr. Engledow bothers you in any way, tell them.”

“Yes
,
sir,” Lucille said.  “And thank you.”

On Saturd
ay at noon, Man brought
Roy
and Dan
inside the house to eat.  As soon as they finished, Man handed each boy six dollars.  “Go home and take your mother into town shopping.  You have money now
to buy things you need.  There’
s no need to save money to pay Mr. Engledow.  That has been resolved.”

Roy
looked at the money in his hand.  “This is too much.  On Monday, it was well into the
morning when we started and it’
s only noon now.  We put in
a full day’s work for our pay
.”

“You have put in enough hours for a week’s work.  You two never use the hour at noon and never take a break in the morn
ing or afternoon.  I figure we’
re even.”

“Take the money you earned and do as Man said,” Kate added.  “Buy her two or three more lamps and oil for them.  She’s ruining her eyes sewing in the dark.  Buy food and anything else she needs.”

Man stood and gestured toward the door.  “I’ll see you Monday morning.  If the snow holds off, I have a couple more projects in mind.”

“Yes
,
sir,” Roy
said and the two boys hurried out the door.

“Darn nice young men,” Kate said.
  “They remind me of Jeb.”

Chapter 3

Monday morning, Roy and Dan
were at work soon after sunrise.  Man started the boys cutting poles to build a shed over the firewood and a walkway from the house to the barn.

He saw a rider coming at a lope and as soon as he was close enough to see, the man was wearing a
police officer’s
uniform.

He pulled up and jumped down. 
“
Chief Kincaid asked me to advise you there w
as a robbery and murder at the g
em mine.”

Kate heard him an
d ran to change into her work
clothes.  Man came in and she tossed his clothes on the bed as she pulled on her skins.

The
police officer
was waiting when Man and Kate came out wearing their twin Walker Colts on their hips and hurried to the barn to saddle Arabian and Red Bird.

They rode by where Dan an
d Roy were working and Man said
, “
A case.  W
e’ll be back when we can.  You know what I want.”

“Yes
,
sir,” Roy
said.

They found several horses in front of the office
building
at
the mine.  They dismoun
ted and the police officer took the reins for the horses.

Chief Kincaid was standing inside the room with several men around him.  He saw Kate
and Man and said, “Excuse me,” to the men
and hurried to the door to meet them.

“What do we have?” Man asked.

“Robbery.  A
nd
the accountant
was
murdered.   He did other jobs
,
as well
,
like
purchases and
payroll. 
Four others
work here.  They found the body when they came to work.”

“Where is the body?” Kate asked.

“It’s in his office.  I have it sealed off until you got here.  Kate, it’s a mess.  He was apparently tortured
before he was killed
.”

“After seeing what Bu
ll Blevins did to his victims,
I can take it,” Kate said.  “I don’t like seeing mutilated bodies, but I can handle it.”

Kincaid led the way to a
door, opened it,
and let
the marshal
s enter first.  He closed the door and waited for them to inspect the body.

He was in a chair with his hands tied behind his back.  “Who is he?” Man asked.

“Wilburn Highsmith.  H
e
’s
been
with
Gem Mine
for fifteen years,
”
Kincaid said.
  He gestured towar
d a smal
l safe that was open.  Another,
massive
,
safe was on the back wall. 
“
From the marks on it, somebody a
ttempted to open it with sledge
hammers.  They were not successful.”