Grooms with Honor Series, Books 1-3

by Linda K. Hubalek

  Mack nonchalantly wandered over to Angus and Cullen as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Hey fellers, I need help with my luggage. You got a minute?”

  “What are you up to, Mack? I saw you and Daisy here a minute ago.” Angus asked under his breath as he wrestled another crate into the open door of the baggage car.

  “Daisy recognized Mr. Murfitt and the robbers and went to get the marshal. I ran back home and strapped on my holster and revolver. I brought a couple more in this carpet bag. Want one?”

  “Uh, that might be a little obvious if we stop to strap on holsters, Mack,” Cullen replied.

  “I didn’t bother with the holsters, just brought you loaded revolvers.”

  “For some reason I don’t feel safe around you right now, Mack. You can throw a hammer and hit a target better than shooting something with a gun.”

  “Or I could slug or squeeze someone if that helps you out.”

  “That’s a better plan. Let me shut the baggage door so the train can leave when it’s ready. Cullen, you pretend you’re going back to the post office, but go meet up with Marshal Wilerson. I’m sure you two can persuade those three men to visit the jailhouse for a while until I get over there. Mack, you walk in with me like you’re a passenger needing a ticket. We’re going to have a frank talk with Mr. Murfitt.”

  “Heads up, Angus. The welcoming posse is already here.” Mack nodded in the direction Cullen had just taken.

  Angus turned to look back down the street. Oh Deuteronomy. Marshal Wilerson, Da, and Daisy were walking toward the depot, with Cullen catching up behind them.

  “Guess we help with these three first, and hope Harvey is okay inside with Murfitt?” Mack nodded his head at the three men who were now looking down the street at the fast walkers.

  “Best plan at the moment. Let the marshal speak first.”

  “Afternoon, gentleman. Welcome to Clear Creek.” Marshal Wilerson greeted the men while looking them over.

  The men nodded, nervously looking at both sets of people walking up to them. The marshal noticed one man reach under his coat, looked him in the eye and said “Don’t do anything rash, we just want to talk to you.”

  “And what about? We’re here with our boss on railroad business.” One man asked bluntly.

  “I’d like you to join me down in my office while you wait is all.”

  “Again, why?”

  “Hello. Remember me?” Daisy moved up to stand beside the marshal. “I met you three on a train ride through the Colorado mountains earlier this fall. Unfortunately, when robbers stopped the train, I was in the washroom and knocked unconscious against the sink. When I woke up I was at the bottom of a hill with the train nowhere in sight. How did you escape and survive the ordeal?”

  Recognition landed on all the men’s faces as they stared at Daisy, but they didn’t speak.

  “I’m afraid you have us mixed up with someone else, Ma’am.”

  “Oh, your names aren’t Remington, Weston and Murphy?”

  “No, ma’am, we’re—”

  “Misters Nelson, Smith, and Johnson?”

  One man’s eyes narrowed at Daisy, knowing she knew exactly who they were.

  “Men, let’s walk over to my office so we don’t disturb anyone here at the depot or on the street. Then, when your boss is done talking with the railroad agent, he can come over to verify you work for him.”

  “No, I’m not—” one of the men started to say as he reached underneath his jacket, but then stopped when he realized Mack already had a revolver pointed at them from their left sides.

  “Come on. The preacher and I were just having coffee when we got interrupted so you can join us. Got a fresh hot pot on the stove,” the marshal waved them to walk in front of them.

  “Angus, can you bring Mr. Murfitt over when you’re done talking to him?”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll do that.” Angus sighed with relief. The train robbery might be solved after all due to the fluke of these men stopping in Clear Creek.

  Daisy moved around the men to stand by Angus. “I’m coming with you, Angus. I want to see Mr. Murfitt’s reaction to the news his men are having coffee in the jailhouse.”

  “Daisy, this could get ugly real fast, and I don’t want you in the line of fire, so to speak.”

  “I held my own with Mr. Murfitt before and I can do it again.” Daisy held out her hand to Angus. “He might be deciding our future together, so I want to be part of the conversation.”

  Angus addressed Mr. Daniels first when he stopped inside the depot office door. “Train’s passengers, baggage, freight and mail all taken care of, sir. Sorry it took a little longer than usual, but I had to stop and help Marshal Wilerson for a few minutes.”

  Mr. Murfitt’s crossed arms and frown showed his displeasure. “If you were working for the railroad, you don’t stop for other trivial matters in a little town like this.”

  “Oh, I can assure you it was railroad business, Mr. Murfitt,” Daisy said from the doorway after Angus stepped inside the room.

  “Hello, Daisy. Something I can help you with?” Mr. Daniels politely turned his attention to her.

  “I heard Mr. Murfitt was here, so I wanted to talk to him.”

  “I don’t believe I know you, Miss—?”

  “Miss Daisy Clancy. Picture me in the sheriff’s office in Bailey, Colorado...with a bloody broken nose, two black eyes, and wearing a dead man’s coat over my ruined blue dress.”

  Mr. Murfitt narrowed his eyes and sighed. “You were on the train which was robbed in Colorado.”

  “Yes, I was. Have you found my stolen belongings or the robbers yet?”

  “No, I’m afraid I haven’t, Ma’am.”

  “And how have you been trying to solve the case?”

  “I hired a team of detectives to find the culprits and bring them to justice. The robbers cost the railroad and mines a lot of money, let alone your reimbursement costs in Bailey.” Mr. Murfitt announced with a touch of arrogance and spite.

  “Do this ‘team’ happen to be the three men who are traveling with you today?” Angus asked.

  “Yes, but why should I talk to you about it? It’s no longer your business since I fired you.”

  Angus ignored him a second to turn toward Daisy. “This could be our ‘for better, for worse’, Daisy. What do you say?”

  “I’m in with you, Angus.”

  “I recognized the three immediately as they stepped off the train today,” Angus continued to Mr. Murfitt.

  “So? They told me they have worked on railroads before. You probably saw them sometime while you were riding in Colorado.”

  “Actually, I sat with the three of them when I was on the train ride through the mountains,” Daisy interjected. “We had a nice visit—until the robbery—of course.”

  “They never mentioned they were on that train. You must have been mistaking them for someone else.”

  “They introduced themselves as Smith, Nelson and Johnson. Is that correct?”

  Daisy was taking a gamble saying their names, because they could be using different ones by now.

  “Yes, you are correct.” The man looked genuinely puzzled.

  “The man wearing the black flat top hat, now and during the robbery, was the man who pushed me into the washroom as I was talking to Daisy, right before the train hit the barricade.”

  “Surely you’re wrong,” Mr. Murfitt shook his head as if trying to clear off a bad memory.

  “Now that I see the men again, I’m positive I saw Mr. Smith push Angus toward me as I started to step out of the washroom.”

  “And why didn’t you report this to the Bailey sheriff?”

  “We did,” Angus retorted back. “But you were so angry, you fired me instead of listening to our accounts.”

  “So you’re saying the men with me, might be the train robbers?”

  “Oh, I’m so positive the town marshal has them over in the jailhouse right now.” Angus pointed toward the building. “The question
is if you should be turned in as the ring leader, or if you’re an innocent employer?”

  “I had no part in the train robbery! And unless you can prove my men are thieves, they are innocent too.”

  “Mr. Murfitt, did I read there were rewards if the train robbers were caught?” Daisy asked.

  “Yes, the mining company offered a five hundred dollar reward for the arrest and conviction of each robber.”

  “And if the stolen payroll is recovered?”

  “There’s a separate one thousand dollar award if the payroll is recovered.”

  “If we can prove your detectives were part of the robbery, I’d like you to promise me two things.”

  “Go on.” Murfitt knew Daisy would have the last word, no matter what anyone else said.

  “If Mr. Daniels recommends Angus Reagan as his replacement, you will hire him.”

  Angus felt his face redden. He didn’t like the idea of Daisy obtaining this job for him.

  “Of course I recommend Angus. Been grooming him for this job since he was a boy!” Mr. Daniels interrupted them.

  “Good. And second, I want the robber and payroll rewards to be split between the families of the train crew who died.”

  “We paid for their burials—” Mr. Murfitt interrupted her.

  “But, did you help the widows and children who lost their spouses’ future income?” Daisy prodded.

  Mr. Murfitt looked away when he quietly answered, “No.”

  “Well, I am going to write all this out, Mr. Murfitt will sign it, and I will witness it,” Mr. Daniels concluded as he pulled official railroad stationery from his desk drawer. “In fact, I’d like to add to this promissory note that Mr. Reagan and Miss Clancy will split the fifteen hundred reward money for the three men in question at the Clear Creek jail, if they were part of the train robbery.”

  “Fine. Write it up. I bet my detectives had nothing to do with it, so then I won’t have to hire Reagan, nor pay any reward money out.”

  Angus couldn’t help lean towards Daisy and softly whisper. “For richer, for poorer?”

  “I’m betting on the former, Angus. I’m going to go get my grandparents and we will meet you outside the jailhouse.”

  “Why?”

  “They are going to point out one of the robbers for us.”

  Chapter 12

  “Gramps and Grandma, this is Mr. Murfitt, the railroad representative who is hiring Angus to take over for Mr. Daniels at the depot. Mr. Murfitt, this is Dan and Edna Clancy, my grandparents.”

  Mr. Murfitt gave her a long look, probably wanting to dispute her claim, but he didn’t say anything but “nice to meet you” after finally shaking her grandfather’s hand.

  “Why are we here to meet this man, Daisy? You didn’t explain why we had to come to the jailhouse,” Her grandfather asked, confused since she hadn’t told them yet.

  “Actually I want you to study the three young men we’re meeting inside. I see something and I want you to confirm it.”

  “See what?” Edna asked.

  “I won’t say so Mr. Murfitt knows I haven’t told you anything. Just look the men over as we talk to them, okay?”

  “What’s this about, Daisy? I’m just as confused as your grandparents are,” Angus asked.

  “If my grandparents notice ‘something’, then it proves the men know ‘something’ about the train robbery. Let’s go in and see what happens.”

  “Your riddle is a waste of my time, Miss Clancy and—”

  “But you’ll give us a minute to figure this out, because my granddaughter thinks it is important,” her grandfather finished Mr. Murfitt’s sentence.

  Angus opened the door and called, “Marshal, is it safe to bring in the elder Mr. and Mrs. Clancy?”

  “Sure, they can join us while we visit.”

  Daisy heard boots and chairs scraping the wooden floor as the men stood up as she escorted her grandmother into the marshal’s office. Angus steadied her grandfather over the threshold next, then Mr. Murfitt and Mr. Daniels followed and closed the door.

  “Jailhouse just got a little crowded. What can we do for you, Mr. and Mrs. Clancy?” Marshal Wilerson asked instead of introducing the three men already standing in the room.

  Daisy waved at the strangers, but spoke to her grandparents. “Is there anything familiar you notice on these three men? They were on the same train as Angus and I were when it was robbed in Colorado.”

  “What do you mean? We’ve never met them, have we, Dan?” Daisy’s grandmother asked.

  “No. Never seen them come into our café, or around town. Why are we looking at them?” He looked at his wife, then Daisy, and then the marshal.

  “Beats me, Dan. I have no clue why Daisy brought you here,” Marshal Wilerson shrugged his shoulders.

  Her grandfather shuffled up to the first man and held out his hand.

  “I’m Dan Clancy. Who are you?”

  “John Johnson, sir.”

  They shook hands and her grandfather shuffled a few steps and held out his hand to the next man.

  “And you?”

  “Neil Nelson.” Gramps moved to the next man, with Grandma right beside him.

  “And you?”

  “Sam Smith.”

  But Gramps didn’t move away after dropping Smith’s hand. He stood there staring at the man’s chest.

  “Edna?”

  Her grandmother moved closer to her husband and looked at the same spot. “Yes, I agree.”

  Daisy’s grandparents linked arms and stepped back, closer to the marshal.

  Everyone looked at Smith when he slapped his hand over the stick pin in his tie, proving to Daisy what she’d known and her grandparents confirmed.

  “Mr. Smith, if you’d kindly remove the stick pin from your tie, and give it to Mr. Murfitt,” Daisy asked while watching all three men closely.

  The man reluctantly did so, but not without glaring at Daisy.

  “Mr. Murfitt, what’s the initials on the pin?”

  He turned it side to side in the light from the window to read it. “D E C.”

  “And Mr. Smith’s initials are?”

  “Not these obviously, why?”

  “Grandma? Want to tell the history of the pin?”

  All eyes turned to the frail woman in the room.

  “I gave that pin to my husband, Daniel Edwin Clancy, on our wedding day. If you turn it over, you may still be able to see a faint ‘E E’ on the back. My maiden name was Edna Elliot.”

  “So? This makes no sense as to why it pertains to my detectives,” Mr. Murfitt was still being arrogant and rude about the whole matter.

  Marshal Wilerson walked over to Mr. Murfitt with his palm extended until the man put the pin in the marshal’s hand.

  He studied and turned the pin in the light a few seconds. “Yep. E E is on the back. So why would you have this pin, Smith?”

  “It’s a family piece.” Smith shot back, but his face was pale and his eyes kept shifting to the door.

  “Yes, it is a family piece, as I passed it on to my son on his wedding day. His name was the same as mine,” her grandfather shouted.

  Daisy put up her hand to calm her grandfather. “And after my father was killed—while building the railroad through Kansas—they gave the pin to me instead of my brother Nolan, because my name is Daisy Edna Clancy, D E C. That pin, along with my other jewelry, was in my carpet bag which was stolen during the train robbery.”

  Mr. Murfitt’s stone face turned to his detectives, then to the carpet bags each had near their feet.

  “Marshal, please lock up these men while I search their bags.”

  Chaos erupted when all three men bolted for the front door. Daisy moved to protect her grandmother from getting knocked over, almost losing her balance in the process.

  Angus and the marshal each grabbed a man, fighting to keep them from leaving the building while moving them toward an open cell. Smith pushed through Murfitt and Daniels to get out the front door.

  �
��Mack! Get him!” Pastor Reagan yelled as he helped her grandfather down on a chair. The worry and excitement was too much for her grandfather as his legs started to buckle under him.

  “Will do!” Mack’s big body hurled out the door after the third man sprinted out the door.

  Daisy heard a thud and “oof!” when Mack must have tackled the man on the boardwalk.

  Seconds later Mack was dragging the man back inside with his burly arms banded around the man’s middle.

  After the three men were locked in a cell, Mr. Murfitt set Smith’s bag on the marshal’s desk. “I’ll let you do the search so I’m not involved, Marshal,” Mr. Murfitt resigned voice said it all. He’d been in the presence of the train robbers this whole time.

  “Something heavy in the middle of the clothing,” the marshal said before pulling out a leather pouch and opening it. “Ammunition.”

  He dumped the clothing onto the desk and felt around the insides of the bag. “Something hard and lumpy under the bottom liner.”

  “Rip it open then,” Mr. Murfitt sighed.

  The marshal held the bag open to look inside it better. “Just a basted seam holding the liner down.” He opened a blade on his pocket knife and flicked a few threads to open the seam.

  “Another pouch.” He opened the draw string on the bag and poured the contents on his desk.

  “My watch! Several of my brooches too, but not all of the jewelry is mine,” Daisy exclaimed as she reached for the watch.

  “Identify it, Daisy,” Angus interrupted her.

  “Inside the back lid it says ‘For your 16th birthday. Love, your family’.” Daisy’s voice cracked thinking of the day her grandparents gave her the gift. She’d worn it every day since then, until it was stolen from her reticule.

  “There’s also a large amount of bills in the lining. I believe Mr. Smith will be staying in the jail until a federal marshal comes to collect him. Let me search the other bags.”

  Johnson and Nelson’s bags contained no jewelry but large quantities of money too, although together the three amounts didn’t add up to the missing payroll.

  “Where’s your bag, Murfitt? Let’s make the search complete.”