Saturday, May 16, 2015

Opening: Day 12

Word Count: 72,006

Summary of Events:
Chapter 23:
Mr. and Mrs. Wylie arrived in Coyoteville and Keiller learned more that pointed at Geoffrey's guilt; most notably that he'd actually been embezzling the logging company and had taken over a thousand dollars.
Chapter 24:
Sophia found out why Mr. Bartlett was constantly carrying things for her. Keiller talked to Geoffrey's cousin, the schoolteacher Mr. Archibald, and then ended up being detained to play a billiards game at the saloon.

Excerpt of the Day:
""Now what were you wanting?" Mr. Archibald asked.
"Well," Keiller replied. "I'd like to talk to you about your cousin."
Mr. Archibald nodded, looking rather uncomfortable. "Come in, sit down," he said.
Keiller stepped inside and took a seat at the small dining table.
"Would you like some coffee?" Mr. Archibald asked.
"No thank you, I'll be fine without anything," Keiller replied.
Mr. Archibald nodded and sat down.
"I've noticed mention of your cousin makes you uncomfortable," Keiller said. "May I ask why?"
Mr. Archibald looked at the centre of the table, where a sugar bowl sat, discomfort in his expression and position. Then he relaxed and sighed, looking up at Keiller.
"I guess there's no harm in you knowing, you don't seem to feed the gossip fires by saying anything," Mr. Archibald said. "You only feed it by doing things."
"Inessential talk like that is a bore," Keiller said.
"Geoffrey isn't my cousin," Mr. Archibald said.
Keiller's eyebrows jumped, but he wasn't entirely surprised, with the way Mr. Archibald had been acting.
"Geoffrey is my half brother," Mr. Archibald said. "We both had the same mother, but our fathers were cousins who both loved her. My father succeeded in marrying her, but not before my mother was carrying Geoffrey. Geoffrey's father then married another woman and had more children with her. Geoffrey doesn't even know he's my half brother, but my mother told me."
Keiller nodded. "I can see why you wouldn't want to talk about it."
Mr. Archibald shuddered. "I'm glad my parents moved far away from Geoffrey's family — not that we didn't end up visiting them," he said. "Was that what you came to ask?"
"No," Keiller replied. "But it is useful knowledge. I think I'll start by asking you to describe Geoffrey to me and go from there."
"Alright," Mr. Archibald said. "Geoffrey is very much like his father, rather selfish, and honestly in an inordinate hurry. He wants to be a millionaire someday — like his father hasn't succeeded in being — but he wants it to be as fast as possible; which causes me to be surprised that he's remained at this job in this rather dead town for more than five years."
"I think I might have an idea why," Keiller said. "But I'll let you continue."
"I don't know that there really is anything else," Mr. Archibald said.
"How far do you think Geoffrey would go to get rich quickly?" Keiller asked.
Mr. Archibald put his fingers on is chin and began to stroke it; his eyes eventually turned their gaze toward the ceil as he thought. His fingers stopped stroking after awhile and he just stared upward. Finally he brought his gaze down to look Keiller in the eye, his face stony with seriousness.
"I think he would kill," Mr. Archibald replied."

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