– !?
Max took off his shoes and drew his sword, saying:
– Do you know what it means to die without anyone knowing?
Dori dori.
– I’ll show you now.
‘I’ll kill them all.’
If I miss even one, how can I sleep soundly?
They are meticulous and careful, so they will come back with a perfect plan at any time.
The first target is the one stuck to the back wall of the house.
Max, completely absorbed in the darkness, descended the hill with a Bowie knife in his mouth.
End of detective play
The gentle sound of the Kansas River.
The moonlight hidden by the clouds casts dark shadows.
A figure suddenly popped out from within.
‘!’
Phew.
While covering his mouth, slowly insert the Bowie knife from under his chin.
The blood vessels in his bulging eyes burst.
Max stabbed the tip of his 9-inch (23 cm) hunting knife, then laid down and retrieved the knife naturally.
Meanwhile, the guy in the barn was making all kinds of noises to lure the people inside the house.
It was a generally unpleasant noise, but fortunately his wife and daughters seemed to have no intention of coming out.
Joe Jim said.
– When you live in a remote place for decades, there are things you naturally learn. You should cover your ears and not be curious about sounds at night.
The sound heard at night is the requiem of death.
It means not necessarily confirming fear and terror.
Max, who had already determined the location, attempted a stealthy approach to the second target.
A pile of Timothy hay, knee-deep, stacked high. The crouching creature behind it waited for someone to come out of the house.
But as time passed and there was no response, he seemed to feel anxious, or rather bored.
The bastard repeatedly cut into pieces with one hand and stabbed the tip of his sword into the ground with the other.
Sigh. Sigh.
And the end of this action. It was only when the heat that prickled my throat was transmitted that it finally ended.
From right to left, blood flowed down the tip of the Bowie knife that had pierced his neck.
It wasn’t hard to clean. I just took out the knife and rubbed it on the bastard’s body. That was enough.
Meanwhile, Peach and the Indian rich man were watching Max’s every move from above.
The sight of him running through the darkness like a black cat and dealing with the two in an instant was truly admirable.
If there ever was a perfect assassin, it would be Max.
Joe Jim’s son, Junior, thought it was time to let go of the Indian warriors he had been carrying in his heart for so long. And he decided to fill that void with Max.
Peach also had a realization.
‘I have to be careful when I joke.’
There was a great sense of dissonance between seeing the corpses of the Border Ruffians disguised as outlaws last time and watching the process of forming the corpses.
Humility is learned with the heart, not the head.
Peach stroked his goosebump-inducing arm and watched Max wipe the knife on the now corpse’s clothes.
*
‘Now there’s only one left.’
If they missed even one, wouldn’t their sleep be in turmoil? That’s how careful they were.
Of course, there are some stupid parts.
Even though they seemed to be meticulous, they were too blind to the night.
‘If it were me.’
They would have raided the house during the day, not at night.
It would have made the lowly people bold, and they would have appeared without fear even at the slightest noise in the barn.
But the cowards who were only evil in their heads loved the night too much.
Max, who had killed two men, laughed and stared at the barn where his last target was.
The bastard is still scratching at the barn wall.
There was no sign of impatience in the sound. Rather, judging from the way he was following the rhythm, it was clear that he was enjoying the situation.
There are psychopaths in every era.
‘This guy is going to be difficult to deal with.’
First of all, I don’t know where the guy is in the barn. I don’t know because of the scratching sound on the wall.
It is difficult to judge the location.
Because they might have used a long pitchfork.
Max, who was pondering for a moment, noticed a long iron fork standing next to the hay.
The trident-shaped, curved pitchfork appeared to be used to lower high stacks of hay.
Max, with the pitchfork in his hand, crawled low to the outer wall of the barn.
Then he picked up the iron pick and scraped the wall.
Squeak.
The sound is sharp as it is scraped against an iron skewer.
Knock knock.
Squeak.
Dr···.
The bastard broke the chorus in the barn wall.
Max, one corner of his mouth raised, continued to scratch at the wall.
At this moment, a low growling voice is heard beyond the barn wall.
– Are you kidding me, you idiot?
Knock knock.
– Fall behind.
Knock knock. Squeak.
– ……
The killer in the barn, Curtin’s mind became complicated.
‘No one came out of the house···.’
Who is that scratching the wall right now?
Even if I had no sense, my friends wouldn’t do this. But I didn’t hear anything so I can’t say I was hurt.
Curtin whispered his friend’s name.
– Roy.
Soon a voice responded.
– why.
‘Fuck!’
A shiver ran down Curtin’s spine.
– Who are you?
– The person you killed.
Something in Curtin’s brain, which had been broken to begin with, snapped. Instead of reason, fear, terror, and rage exploded, and he pulled out his gun.
“이, 이 개새끼야!”
Curtin pulled out his gun and pulled the trigger, aiming at the source of the voice. Of course, Max had already left his position.
Bang bang bang!
Hood thud.
The quiet Kansas River was awakened by a loud gunshot. Birds flew into the sky, and a woman’s short scream leaked out from inside the house.
The muzzle light flashed like a flash grenade.
Max, who had assessed the location inside the barn, fired six rounds at each location with his revolver.
Bang bang bang!
He then threw his Bowie knife at the hollowed tree.
Dismissal.
The sound of a tree splitting and then a thrown knife piercing into flesh and bone was heard.
“Ugh.”
Staggering steps. Flapping arms dropped the extensions to the floor.
And after a while.
With a thud, Curtin’s body also fell to the floor.
Curtin, who was trying to pull out the knife stuck in his chest, vomited blood and soon turned his head toward the barn door.
‘Never go alone.’
He trembled all over, pulled the revolver up with difficulty, and turned the muzzle toward the barn.
The guy who thought the situation was over will definitely show up. Then.
‘Just one step is enough.’
Because I still had the strength to pull the trigger.
Of course, things didn’t go as Curtin had hoped.
Outside the barn. Max, leaning back against the haystack, stared into the barn.
“……Isn’t it all over?”
Joe Jim asked cautiously.
Max shook his head.
“I don’t know exactly where it hit, and I couldn’t see it with my own eyes. If I go in without thinking, I might get hurt. Even if I die, who knows if I’ll still have the strength to pull the trigger?”
‘Fuck···.’
Curtin’s consciousness, which had been sustained by anger, gradually faded. Nevertheless, he could hear sounds coming from outside. To Peach, these were words of wisdom, but to Curtin, they were words that brought despair.
“Whether it’s excessive bleeding or organ damage. If you’re not sure, you should just wait and see. What’s the rush? But you should guard the entrance so they can’t escape.”
Ultimately, Max’s advice was to never let your guard down until your breath was cut off.
“Jim, now it’s time to reassure your wife and daughters.”
“All right!”
Instead of going inside the house, Joe Jim called out his wife’s name. After a while, the door opened and his wife and daughters appeared.
The family, who had been suffering from anxiety and fear, embraced each other and had a touching reunion. Peach opened her arms to Max.
Then he flinched and relaxed his posture.
“Sorry, I decided not to do that.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Anyway, what should I do now?”
“You have to wait.”
It was ten minutes later that Max entered the barn. Peach, who had entered with him, let out a short exclamation.
The corpse’s two eyes were facing out of the barn, and the muzzle of the revolver in his hand was also pointed outward.
Peach stuck out her tongue at Max.
His prediction turned out to be exactly right.
And Max, who had predicted this, was secretly surprised.
‘This kid was really like this.’
Max calmly approached and examined the body’s gunshot wounds. Three of the six shots had hit the target.
The most lethal of these was the Bowie knife lodged in his chest.
Swish.
As Max drew his sword, Joe Jim’s family came rushing into the barn.
“Your wife and daughters want to thank you. I want to thank you as well. If it weren’t for you, Sheriff, I shudder to think what would have happened today. I’m so grateful that you came all the way from Lawrence to join us.”
“It was Peach who figured out their plan. I just used my body.”
“uh?”
“I said I was taking detective lessons, but who said I should become a real detective? Anyway, today was good.”
Joe Jim’s family expresses their gratitude to Peach, who is blinking.
She felt strange and looked at Max with a bewildered expression.
‘I’m a detective?’
Max nodded, as if he had been told to read minds. Peach, feeling a thrill in her heart, muttered the name of the detective softly.
And I reflected on today.
While Peach was crouching in the corner, thinking, Joe Jim’s wife came into the house with her daughters, saying she would prepare food even though it was late.
And Joe Jim and his son Junior gathered the bodies together in one of the barns.
*
Joe Jim’s wife and daughter brought out a stew made with potatoes, peppers, and cheese, and a dish made with meat skewered on a branch.
Joe Jim’s wife is the daughter of a Kawa chief who lives in the Kansas area.
Unlike her husband, she looked elegant and shy in her loose Indian clothing.
Joe Jim interpreted what his wife, who spoke poor English, said, mostly saying, “Thank you,” and “Thank you.” The daughters, aged 15 and 13, also took after their mother and only glanced at Max without saying a word.
“My grandmother was an Osage who lived in Vernon County, Missouri. And my grandfather was a merchant who came over from France.”
The only talkative one in the family is Joe Jim.
As the situation cleared and tensions eased, the horses began to unpack their bundles.
“Do you know why Topeka is called Topeka?”
“I think it has something to do with potatoes, is that right?”
Joe Jim smiled and nodded.
“I heard it from Mr. Holiday. I told you about it. It means ‘a good place to grow potatoes’ in Osage language. But it’s not the potatoes you usually know, it’s a turnip that grows on the prairie called Timsula.”
“Oh, so that’s what it meant.”
Max thought about adding some appropriate exclamations.
Living apart from the Indians is not a problem of mixed blood.
He said that he was just a cheerful and talkative person, so he became a guide and interpreter.
“But, Sheriff, what are you going to do with those bodies?”
“We need to take them to Lawrence Village and see if they’re connected to any other incidents.”
‘Another incident?’
Peach’s eyes sparkled. Her head, which had been still, began to move actively again.
It was late, but Max decided to go back to Lawrence. The space was cramped, and the blood-soaked clothes were just disgusting.
Joe Jim hitched the wagon in the barn to the horses Max and Peach had ridden. He placed the body on it and tied it with rope to keep it from falling.
The wife and daughters fell asleep, and Max and Peach headed to Lawrence, escorted by Joe Jim and Junior.
The clouds had cleared away, and the moonlight illuminated the path clearly.
On a slowly moving horse, Peach puffed air into her cheek and moved her mouth back and forth.
It seemed like he had a lot on his mind.
And when the wind went out of her cheek, she spoke.
“But, are you serious about what you said earlier? That I’m like a detective?”
“Am I the kind of person who would talk in vain?”
“no.”
Peach continued speaking, looking up at the sky.
“Actually, you told me, planned, and handled everything today.”
“Peachy, you followed them, collected evidence, analyzed it, and then came all the way here to save the Indian family.”
“Still, I didn’t really do much there. I just acted like a detective.”
Max glanced at Peach and said.
“I guess you get depressed when you see moonlight. Let’s talk during the day.”
Peach shook her head, saying it wasn’t true.
And what he says is.
“Honestly, I was thinking of going to Illinois.”
Chicago in Illinois.
This is where Pinkerton’s office is.
