Chapter 10 - What Ruth Remembered
Silas Crowe entered first.
He was younger than Martha expected.
Perhaps forty-five.
Elegant coat.
Expensive gloves.
A calm face built for business meetings rather than threats.
Dr. Voss followed.
“Martha,” he said.
“Doctor.”
“You’ve become troublesome.”
“I hear that often.”
Silas looked at the bottle in her hand.
“That belongs to Dr. Voss.”
“Interesting choice of words.”
“It is medical property.”
“It was given to Ruth Callaway.”
“And stolen.”
Edith flinched.
Martha noticed.
Silas did too.
He turned toward the housekeeper.
“You were told to destroy it.”
The room became silent.
Voss closed his eyes briefly.
Silas realized his mistake.
Martha smiled without warmth.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For saying that in front of witnesses.”
Silas glanced toward Elias.
The older Callaway stood near the door.
“You.”
Elias’s expression hardened.
“Yes.”
“I thought debts taught loyalty.”
“They taught regret.”
Silas’s tone changed.
“You owe Blackridge.”
“Not anymore.”
“Your son—”
“I have no son.”
“Your property.”
“I sold it.”
“You have nothing.”
Elias looked at Martha.
“Apparently I have a witness.”
Silas stepped closer.
“You have no idea what you’re interfering with.”
Martha held the bottle behind her.
“I understand an elderly woman became ill after your doctor supplied something added to her meals.”
“Allegedly.”
“I understand her land is valuable to your company.”
“Business is not murder.”
“No.”
“Careful with that word.”
“I didn’t use it.”
Silas’s eyes narrowed.
Voss stepped forward.
“This has gone far enough. Ruth is sick because she is old.”
“She improved when your treatment stopped.”
“Temporary fluctuations.”
“You told Edith stopping would kill her.”
Voss glanced sharply at Mrs. Pierce.
“She misunderstood.”
“She understood enough to keep a bottle.”
He looked at Martha.
“You think having that makes you clever?”
“No.”
Martha smiled faintly.
“I think letting you know I have it makes you nervous.”
Voss’s jaw tightened.
Outside, another sound.
Horses.
Many.
Ethan.
Martha knew before the door opened.
He entered with Caleb and two ranch hands.
His eyes immediately found Martha.
Then the bottle.
Then Voss.
“What happened?”
Martha said, “Our doctor came to recover his property.”
Ethan stepped inside.
“Well. He’s leaving without it.”
Silas looked amused.
“You’re making a mistake, Callaway.”
“I’ve made several.”
Ethan’s gaze moved to Voss.
“Trusting you was one.”
No one stopped Voss and Crowe from leaving.
Ethan wanted to.
Martha insisted otherwise.
“We need the law,” she said afterward.
“The sheriff in Blackridge drinks with Crowe.”
“Then territorial authorities.”
“That takes time.”
“We have Ruth.”
That changed him.
Everything returned to Ruth.
They brought Edith to the ranch.
For the first time she told everything.
Dr. Voss had begun delivering packets three months earlier.
At first Edith believed they were nutritional powders.
Then Ruth declined.
Edith questioned him.
He frightened her.
Silas threatened Jacob’s mining job and said the Callaways would blame her if Ruth died.
So she continued.
Not every meal.
Only the ones Voss instructed.
That explained Ruth’s uneven symptoms.
“What was he trying to do?” Ethan asked.
Edith shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Ruth did.
That evening she was strong enough to sit up.
When Ethan told her Edith had confessed, Ruth closed her eyes.
“I should have spoken earlier.”
“About what?”
“Lucian asked me to sign papers.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“What papers?”
“To allow Blackridge temporary access to the north ridge.”
“You refused.”
“Yes.”
“He became angry?”
“No.”
Ruth looked at Martha.
“He smiled.”
Somehow that was worse.
“He said I was tired and should let someone else manage the ranch.”
“Voss?”
“Elias.”
Elias lowered his head.
“I never knew.”
“I know now.”
Ruth reached for Ethan.
“I began writing down everything after that.”
“Where?”
She looked toward the bedside table.
Martha checked the drawer.
Empty.
“No journal.”
Ruth frowned.
“It was there.”
Someone had taken it.
“What did you write?” Martha asked.
“Dates. Medicine. Visits.”
“Anything about your symptoms?”
“Yes.”
That journal would have connected Voss directly to the pattern.
Gone.
“Who knew you were writing it?”
“Lucian saw me once.”
Ethan cursed under his breath.
Ruth looked at him.
“You still swear like your father.”
“Sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
“No.”
She smiled.
Then suddenly her expression changed.
“There’s another thing.”
“What?”
“Lucian wasn’t alone when he first brought the powder.”
Ethan leaned closer.
“Silas?”
“No.”
“Edith?”
“No.”
Ruth looked at Elias.
“You.”
Elias stepped back.
“What?”
“You were here.”
“No.”
Ruth’s eyes narrowed.
“January eighth.”
“I was in Denver.”
“Were you?”
“Yes.”
Ethan looked between them.
“Can you prove it?”
Elias stared at his nephew.
“You think I poisoned Ruth?”
“I think everyone lies.”
The words hurt Elias.
Martha understood Ethan’s problem.
Nothing was simple anymore.
“I have hotel receipts,” Elias said. “People saw me.”
“We’ll verify.”
Elias nodded stiffly.
Then Ruth whispered, “Not Elias.”
Everyone stopped.
“You said—”
“I thought it was Elias.”
“What do you mean?”
“Same face.”
Ethan frowned.
“Who looks like Uncle Elias?”
Ruth’s eyes moved toward him.
“You.”
Ethan stared.
“Ma?”
“Not now.”
Her voice trembled.
“When he was young.”
A family resemblance.
Someone who resembled a younger Elias.
Ethan suddenly understood.
So did Elias.
“No,” Elias whispered.
Martha looked between them.
“Who?”
Elias sat down heavily.
“My son.”
Ethan’s face went blank.
“You said you had no son.”
“I said that because…”
“Because what?”
“He doesn’t use my name.”
“What name does he use?”
Elias closed his eyes.
“Caleb Rusk.”
The ranch hand Ethan trusted most was not simply an employee.
Caleb was Elias Callaway’s illegitimate son.
May you like
And he had been inside Callaway Lodge every day Ruth became sick.
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