The River We Remember

It is Memorial Day 1953 in Jewel, a small rural town in southwestern Minnesota. It is primarily an agricultural community, and it takes holidays seriously. There is a large parade every year on Memorial Day featuring decorated veterans from various conflicts dating back to the Battle of Wounded Knee. The sheriff, Brody Dern, is one such veteran, but he prefers to remain on duty rather than marching. He is in the local jail playing checkers with a prisoner, Felix Klein, and his dog, Hector, when Herman Ostberg rushes in to tell him that catfish have eaten the body of the recently deceased Jimmy Quinn.

Sam Wicklow, publisher and editor of the twice-weekly newspaper The Black Earth County Clarion, asks for clarification about who died and what ate him. Herman explains that while fishing, he had found the almost entirely catfish-eaten body of Jimmy Quinn in the river. The men—including, Felix who argues that he cannot be left alone in the jail in case of fire—set off to investigate.

When the men arrive at the river, they are immediately able to identify Jimmy Quinn. Although the body has already been severely damaged by the catfish, Jimmy was a large, muscular man with flaming red hair, and there is no mistaking the body for anyone else. Brody asks Herman to head back into town, apprise Deputy Asa Fielding of the situation, and send Doc Porter, the coroner, out to the crime scene. He is fairly certain that Jimmy did not drown: Drowning victims typically sink because their lungs fill with water, and Jimmy has been floating on the surface of the water.

Asa Fielding and Doc Porter return to officially declare Jimmy dead and transport the body to Brown’s funeral home. There, Brody is stunned to see the body of Ruth Coffee, the beloved English teacher in whose classroom each child of the town of Jewel had learned to love literature. Brody is momentarily stricken: Jimmy had been a difficult, unkind man, but he had adored Ruth Coffee. Back at the jail, he locks up Felix again, arranges for the man’s evening meal, and leaves. He has to tell Jimmy’s wife Marta about his death, and the task weighs heavily on his mind.

Jimmy Quinn had inherited a sizeable holding of land from his father and had added to it over the years, becoming the largest landowner in the county. He was widely feared by his tenants and had not been a popular man. Jimmy had married twice. The first marriage had produced two children, each of whom had left Jewel. The second marriage had produced three children, who remained in the area to help their father manage his acreage.

When Brody arrives at Jimmy’s farm, his 14-year-old daughter Colleen is outside, and he asks to speak to her mother. He notices a large painting of Jimmy on the wall, looking regal. Unlike the other farmers in the area, Jimmy never wore worn or dirty clothing into town, and he claimed to have been descended from Irish kings. He breaks the news to Marta, who though relatively young is seriously ill and nearly bedridden. Jimmy’s son J.P., who enters wearing dirty clothing and mud-caked boots, is not at all sorry to hear of his father’s death, nor is anyone else in the family. Brody questions hired workers Able Grange and Tyler Creasy. Noah Bluestone, the third hired hand—and the only Indigenous man of the three—is not present. Brody finds out that he had been recently fired for being, in Jimmy’s words, “uppity.” Brody also finds out that Jimmy had supposedly gone fishing the night before. Because he so often disappeared to go out drinking alone, no one had thought much when he had not returned home the following morning.

Brody returns to the jail to find Gordon Landis there. Brody dislikes Gordon. He now runs his family’s business, the Alabaster Inn, though he had once been a police officer in St. Paul and was rumored to have been overly rough in his treatment of offenders. He has heard about Jimmy’s death and wants to know more. Chagrined that the incident is already public knowledge, Brody declines to share further details. His sister-in-law Garnet stops by to scold him for skipping her picnic, but he explains (with as little detail as possible) about the death. The funeral director calls and informs him that, although the doctor has yet to make a final ruling, it appears that Jimmy Quinn died from a shotgun wound. Brody decides to call Connie, the town’s former sheriff, for additional help on the case.

Brody is out looking for Jimmy Quinn’s truck. Connie, the town’s previous sheriff, meets him at the river, as does Asa Fielding. After a brief search, they locate the vehicle. Brody is still unconvinced that Jimmy had truly been fishing, but they do locate fishing gear between the truck and the water. Based on the location of the truck and the river’s current, it seems plausible that Jimmy’s body had gone into the river next to his vehicle and ended up in the small fishing pool downstream. He radios his deputies about the discoveries. Because it is getting dark, the men all agree to return the next morning to photograph everything in the vicinity of the truck, and Brody stays behind to guard the scene. Carefully, he wipes down all the surfaces he can find: the truck handle, the steering wheel, and the tackle box. He locates a bloody bottle of Jim Beam and, cursing to himself, hurls it into the river.

Brody is at the spot on the river, called Inkpaduta Bend, where Jimmy Quinn’s truck remains parked. The spot is rumored to have once been the resting site of a famous Wahpekute (a Dakota band) raiding party and is thought to be haunted. Hector growls and Brody notices a car approaching. It is his sister-in-law, Garnet. She has brought him food and asks to spend the night on his blanket with him. He does not protest, and after she removes her clothing, the two have sex. Afterwards, they sit talking. Garnet is his brother Tom’s wife and had been engaged to Tom even when she and Brody began their romantic entanglement before he went to the war. Although she and Tom are not happily married, she is Catholic and will not leave him.

Brody wakes up sore from sleeping on the ground. Connie brings him breakfast and the two discuss the facts of the case so far. Sam Wicklow arrives later and begins photographing the scene. Connie and Brody discuss the possibilities, and although Connie initially thinks that it could have been suicide, the two are not sure that the man would have killed himself. They find a sedative in the pocket of his pants and a small ring that looks to be sapphire. Connie suggests dusting the truck for prints, but Brody posits that so many people used the vehicle that it would be a waste of time.

Connie heads to Noah Bluestone’s farm to question him. Noah is not there, and his wife Kyoko explains that he is at the Quinn place. They have re-hired him. Kyoko is Japanese, and many in the area, with the memory of World War II still so fresh in their minds, harbor prejudice against her. She is planting Amaranth, a crop that Connie has never heard of. Kyoko explains that Noah taught her that amaranth is an ancient grain that flourished in the region for thousands of years. Connie thanks her for the information and leaves.

Brody is at Brown’s Funeral Home waiting for the Quinns. Carl Brown had been Braun before the war but had changed his last name due to anti-German sentiment. The Quinns arrive, formally dressed, to identify the body. Marta faints at the grisly sight, but when she comes to, Brody questions her and J.P. He finds out that Jimmy had tried to commit suicide once before, but had been interrupted by J.P. Neither of them can identify the ring found in Jimmy’s pocket.