Chapter 11

November 20, 1849

I looked at the sheriff in shock. Had he just told me my wives were missing? How could they have just vanished?

The Sheriff gave me a look like I've given people facing the unthinkable before, "You're off duty as soon as you turn these people over to me. I'll give you a letter to give the sheriff in Oregon City explaining you're there in an official capacity and requesting that he give you as much cooperation as possible."

The talk mentioning the people to be turned over tripped something in my mind and I began to tell him about the conversation between the lookout and I and the facts I had gotten. He frowned when he heard about there being several parties kidnapping women around Oregon. When he heard about why, his face grew as dark with rage as mine had been the day before.

"I'm glad you told me about that. I'm going to be writing several letters to take with you. I want you to wait and leave tomorrow. I need time to write the letters and you need to get ready for your trip. I need to get the military involved with this and the US Marshal as well. Find someplace where we can interrogate the man you talked to before. I want to talk to him to see if I can find out something."

"Let's do the good cop bad cop routine", I suggested. He'd never heard about this and I explained that I would be the mean cop who would sooner kill him slowly as look at him while he would be the one trying to control me and protect the suspect. He decided that he would try that and see what would happen. If it didn't work he said that he had other methods he could use. I could think of a few myself, but I didn't want to corrupt the police of this time period any more than I had to.

I suggested that we use the cabin of the woman suspect as we would have to search it to find any evidence of the crime anyway. Willy could keep the others outside and out of voice range so they couldn't hear what went on inside. I had gagged the men before they started marching to keep them from talking to each other. I didn't want to give them an opportunity to make up coordinating stories.

We discussed what would be the best way to act toward the suspects and I told him that since I had the lookout convinced I wanted to kill him that I continue to act that way and play with my knife around his neck. I told the sheriff to wait and got a chicken from the pen. Cutting its throat I let it bleed out around a straight back chair and on the front of the seat. I got some thick rope and tied it to the front legs and the back of the chair and let some blood get on it as well. Spotting some women's clothes in the cabin I flicked some blood on them as if it had landed there from a blow. The sheriff had wondered what I was doing and finally he realized what it was. He grinned and told me that I needed to get some rope and put it on the wall hanging from some pegs. He got out a riding crop and placed some blood on the quirt end of it. This he placed on a table where it was visible from the chair.

We waited until I saw Willy and had him bring the men to our location. I sent the girls to wait with some of the women from the 'group' whom I recognized and brought in the lookout. His eyes practically fell out of his head when he saw the chair and the scene we had so carefully prepared. I tied him to the chair legs and tied a rope around his chest pinning him to the chair. The sheriff started the questioning, "My deputy tells me you've been kidnapping girls for a brothel in Macau. He wants to just kill you now and dispose of your body, but I've persuaded him to wait to see if you give us more information. The more information we get from you the safer you are."

I walked up to him and pulled out my knife. Holding it in my hand I picked up a whetstone and began to sharpen it slowly and methodically, giving him the occasional glance. Looking at the knife, I spoke to the lookout, "The sheriff wants you to stand trial, but if you don't have any more information I would rather just kill you now. I still have to take you to Salem and that's a long way." I admired the shine the blade had as I moved it back and forth before his eyes. I reached out and took some of his beard in my hand and used the knife blade to cut it off. This was my own blade and it was able to hold an edge I'd used for shaving before. I started waving it before his eyes again and gave him a hungry look. He looked at me like a mouse did at a cat waiting to pounce.

The sheriff interrupted me, "That's enough Deputy! Wait over there until I get finished questioning him." I pretended to do so reluctantly. He spoke to the suspect just loud enough for me to hear him," He will be taking you to Salem if you can't give me a reason to keep you with me." The lookout fastened his eyes on the sheriff like he was his hope of salvation. "Let me take out that gag and ask some questions. I promise he won't come near you."

As soon as the gag came out the man started talking. We learned his name, Robert Samuels, his rank, Able Seaman, how long he'd been serving with Captain Morely, 5 years; Gradually the sheriff began uncovering the details of the plan for taking the women from here to Macau. They were to round up as many women as they could by any means possible. The women were being kept in the hold of the Huntly until the voyage, when they would be placed in irons and kept that way until they arrived in Macau. They were to meet the Huntly around Astoria in seven or ten days with as many younger girls that they could steal or buy. The brothel was willing to pay a premium for virgins and they were to look for as many as possible. He continued talking. Every time he began to slow down I'd smile and he'd begin talking again.

When he began to repeat himself, the sheriff looked at me. I came forward and refastened the gag in his mouth then put him in a strangle hold and put him out. Taking some of the chicken blood we had placed in a cup, I splashed it on his shirt. Pulling my pistol I fired it. Then we took the prisoner outside with the Sheriff berating me loudly for killing the man. We carried him behind the cabin and tied him to the back of it. Going out to the other prisoners, the sheriff glared at me and said, "I want your gun outside this time. I can't keep hiding the bodies of prisoners 'escaping'."

Picking out the man who had told me where the key was we returned to the cabin. My mind had started working again and I wondered if my wives might have kidnapped. Leaning forward I grabbed his shoulder with a nerve pinch and pulled him forward, "Sheriff I was sure he was going to grab that quirt. I just acted to prevent the prisoner escaping."

The sheriff looked at me as if I was insane, "With his hands in irons? I don't think so."

Getting behind the man I grabbed his arms and used some nerve points on them to move him along, "Sheriff, I don't like slavers and as far as I'm concerned, the sooner they're dead the better." Here I was telling the truth and it must have been evident as the man tried to escape for real. I just squeezed harder and he kept moving. We finally got him in the cabin and his reaction was even more horrified than the first man. He struggled until I put him in a choke hold and managed to get him in the chair and tied down. When he woke up I was in back of him sharpening my knife again. The constant rasp of the knife going over the stone was disturbing him, and he looked at the sheriff for safety.

Giving me a look of distaste, the sheriff started to reach for the bandanna gagging the prisoner. Before he could reach it I cut the ends and it fell down the front of the prisoner. He spit out the gag and started talking to the sheriff, "He's crazy! Are you just going to let him kill people in front of you?"

The sheriff gave me a disgusted look again, "Until he gets caught by someone besides me yes! I don't like it but he always manages to get away with it. Could you put that damn stone down and go outside for a while? I want to talk to him without you waiting for an excuse to kill him."

I went out and saw Willy. Pulling him away from the last prisoner I explained what the sheriff and I were doing and why. Pulling my throwing knife out of the back sheath, I began to throw it into the wall of the cabin. After about 20 minutes the sheriff came out and motioned me to him, "He's starting to avoid answering me. Is there some way you can scare him again?" I thought for a while and asked the sheriff if he minded the man screaming if I didn't do any visible injury to him. He gave a moue of distaste but agreed that as long as nothing was visible he wouldn't say anything.

I entered the cabin and took out a needle I had seen in a cushion on the table. Approaching the prisoner I began to speak, "You know that I'm also the town doctor? It's strange how much pain can be caused by such little things". Grabbing one of his hands I pushed the needle under his nail. With a loud scream that rang in my ears he showed how much it hurt. Leaving the needle under his nail, I touched his face, "You are going to answer the sheriff's questions completely or I will be back. I know as many ways to cause pain as well as heal it." I pushed the pin in a little further and then pulled it out. I pushed the pin in the table by the quirt. I went out again. Now I had both the sheriff and Willy giving me looks. (Great, just what I needed, a reputation as a torturer).