Chapter 3: The Case of the Faceless Millionaire

We arrived in New Orleans at about half past seven that evening. By eight o'clock we were sitting down to dinner in the Place D'Armes hotel in the French Quarter. We had chosen this district so that we could explore it the following morning. Our train was not until five to noon, so we managed to have a good look round.

Nearly twenty four hours later the train pulled into Sanderson station. I had contacted the Texas Ranger there before we left New Orleans. He was waiting for us when we disembarked the train. He was an older man who looked us over somewhat critically. He looked as though he was suffering from the brilliant sunshine as he mopped his brow. After exchanging greetings he took us outside the station to where he had four mounts waiting. We rode west for about half mile to the Outback Oasis Inn. Once we settled in we assembled in the garden where there was a slight breeze.

"How far have you got with the case, Ranger MacKenzie?" I asked him."

"Well, I'll recap what you probably already know. The Saxons are an extremely wealthy family. The victim is James Saxon. His grandfather built up the family business in the middle of the last century. His father built it up even further. James, however, was not very comfortable with how the business exploited people, especially the poorer citizens of New France. The family has probably the biggest house in Sanderson, but to them it's just the country cottage.

James' father died last month and their lawyer arranged for him to return to New England to take up the reins of the business. The surviving members of the family were here to meet with him and to bring him up-to-date with what was happening in the company. There were rumors that he was going to do something drastic. Some thought he was going to dismantle the company, while others said he was going to give it away to the workers."

"Was he the sole owner?" asked John.

"No, but he owned justover ninety per cent, I believe."

"What other family is there?" Sarah asked.

"There's a sister, Eileen, and an uncle, Charles. There may be others, but if there are, they don't count for much."

"Right." I said, "Now tell us what happened."

"As I understand it, James was coming here to tell them his plans for the company. He turned up early. As his uncle was about to greet him on the patio, James was gunned down. The assassin took off the whole of the front of his face."

"How did you identify him?"

"His uncle Charles identified him."

"I asked you: How did you identify him?"

"Well. In the first place, I took his uncle's identification. In the second, he was wearing James' clothes. There were name tags. Thirdly, he had items on him that identified him as James Saxon."

"Sorry, but we need to be exact. What we know then is that a man, dressed as James Saxon, with some items of James on him and identified by James' uncle as James was killed by an assassin. Where were the sister and their lawyer while shooting was going on?"

"The sister was upstairs in her room and the lawyer was on the other side of the house enjoying an after dinner cigar."

"Can anyone else corroborate any of this?"

"The maid. She was clearing away the dinner table, heard the shots and rushed to the window. She saw the shot man as he fell to the ground. That was followed by the lawyer coming into sight as he ran round the side of the house."