Sipping Whiskey in a Shallow Grave by Mark Mitten

violin, none of the strings made it over the chatter. It was snowing outside, and the shawl covering Julianna’s head was flecked with white powder. She pulled off the damp weave and ran her fingers through her long chestnut hair. It was much warmer inside the building than it was outside in the chilly air.
    â€œI’ve found gossips and crows,” Julianna announced lightly. Besides Josephine, there were two other women at the table. “Josephine. Vera, Hazel,” she counted aloud. “Ella is absent.”
    â€œCorralling a young maverick,” Josephine said.
    â€œSpinning the wedding ring,” Hazel added with her quirky smile, twirling her finger around in a circular pattern — she was miming a trick roper’s loop.
    Julianna sat down in a chair they had saved for her. It hadn’t been easy to save the chair, either. Many people in the big room were standing, it was so crowded. Sipping coffees and teas, the ladies were enjoying the overall bustle of the restaurant when Julianna arrived.
    â€œIf anyone can take the snarls out of a rope,” Hazel went on, “she is as sportsmanlike a woman as any of the cowboys on the range.”
    Vera shook her head and muttered, “Cutting more than she can brand.”
    Julianna just smiled. These were all friends here, even if they chided one another.
    â€œLook over there,” Josephine said, nodding toward the far corner.
    The Miser’s Brewery was one of the few two-story buildings in town. The eatery was upstairs, which afforded a view. A large picture window filled up half the south wall and overlooked the wooded mountain valley. White blots of snow dropped past the glass.
    â€œWhat should govern my attention?” Julianna asked, her eyes searching the crowd.
    â€œCorner table.”
    With a smile and touch of curiosity, Julianna shifted forward in her seat to see better. Vera and Hazel leaned apart so she could see past them.
    â€œI see a solitary man,” she observed. “Platinum blonde hair. Leonine mustache.”
    The man she spotted was dining alone and dressed immaculately. He looked pretty gaunt. She noticed his dark eyes were very direct, and he was quietly measuring everyone around him as he ate. He had not yet noticed the ladies watching him, or if he had he was ignoring them.
    â€œThin frame. A very fine-looking suit,” she went on. “And the gentleman likes his whiskey.”
    He lifted a kerchief to his mouth and started coughing violently. They could hear the fit, even over all the noise. Julianna still couldn’t hear the band, but she could hear the sandy cough.
    â€œAnd the gentleman is wracked with consumption,” Hazel pointed out in a hushed tone. She was obviously excited.
    â€œMust I trace it out plainly?” Josephine said impatiently. “John…Henry…”
    Julianna turned to her sharply.
    â€œHolliday?”
    The women all shushed her at the same time — their collective hush drew several sidelong looks. But Julianna only giggled. She knew they were trying to be coy, and she was deliberately being louder than she needed to be. It was fun.
    â€œA dentist in Ward! How novel.”
    Julianna’s voice was playful, but Josephine’s face went red.
    â€œThat’s really him. I’m not mistaken!”
    Somewhere outside, a dull explosion echoed through the mountains. Ward was one of the many mining towns in the backcountry of Colorado — and detonations were so commonplace no one noticed.
    â€œMaybe these miners need dental exams,” Julianna said with a spritely look around her. “Hygienists they are not.”
    â€œSomething tells me he’s not pulling teeth these days,” Vera muttered, darkly. Vera was a mutterer. She twisted around in her seat, frowning at Holliday.
    Julianna sighed. They were all obsessed with this subject. In fact, the ladies seemed to be in an unalterably serious mood. Julianna didn’t want to