Chapter 5

7 October 2029

Sàmhach was driven from the hospital to the Magistrate’s Court for a formal inquest.

The Court Advocate began the proceedings by questioning Detective Sergeant Frazier.

Frazier began, “Constables were summoned to the Maison Chamond boarding house by the proprietor, Heloise Chamond, at 9:22 on the evening of the 5th of October. Madame Chamond told the constables that she had heard three gunshots from the parlor. She was afraid to enter, so summoned help.

“Upon entering, the constables found three adults dead, one woman and two men, and one male juvenile wounded. The juvenile was taken to the River City Hospital for treatment. The constables summoned the crime scene technicians and Coroner Doctor Seumas Randall, who supervised the investigation of the bodies.”

Dr Randall testified, “The dead woman is Sorcha NicAngus. She was born on the 12th of January, 2005, making her twenty five years old at the time of her death.”

“Miss NicAngus was killed by a gunshot to the head from a revolving pistol firing balls of seventy five to the pound (Author’s note: .40 caliber).

“When her belongings were inventoried, she was found to be carrying three Gold Thalers, sixteen Silver Thalers and forty Pfennig in her pouch.

“During my postmortem forensic examination, I found that Miss NicAngus had on her left shoulder blade a clan token for Clan McKerr which had been marked to show that she had been expelled from the clan.

“The first dead male is Tàmhas MacSorley. His name and record are well known to this court. He has appeared before the court numerous times as a gambler and duelist. He was killed by a gunshot to the head from the same pistol that was used to kill Miss NicAngus.

“He was found in possession of a notebook recording the wagers that he had made, winnings collected and losses paid. The last entry was a wager on the youth class fencing match for the national championship at the River City Games on the 30th of September. It was for fifty Silver Thalers by Ewan MacDonell, who wagered that the championship would be won by his nephew, Gordon MacDonell. Those of us who follow the sport will be aware that the championship was won instead by his opponent, Sàmhach MacSorcha. He is the son of the dead woman and was the juvenile wounded at the scene.

“When MacSorley’s possessions were inventoried, he was found to be carrying two Gold Thalers, thirty six Silver Thalers and one hundred four Pfennig.

“The killer was the second dead man at the scene, Ewan MacDonell of Clan MacDonell of Kentuck. He was killed by a sgian achlais which entered through his left eye and penetrated his brain.

“He was holding a MacAdams and Blackadder five shot revolving pistol bored for seventy five balls to the pound. Three chambers had been discharged. Two of the shots killed the murder victims. The third wounded the young man, grazing his head. The ball was recovered from the wall of the parlor. MacDonell was found to have thirty two Silver Thalers and five Pfennig in his possession.