by Gail Meath
“Okay, you be the lookout,” he chuckled, and he pulled out his pocketknife.
“You’re going to break in?”
“I’m sure Ashworth keeps it locked.”
She reached over, turned the knob and the door swung open.
“Huh.”
“Just hurry up,” she snapped at him.
Jax glanced around the room. To be truthful, he didn’t like being here any more than she did. Even if he found something, he couldn’t legally remove it without getting into a whole lot of trouble himself. Still, he was too curious to go back now. Inside the room, there was an oak rolltop desk and chair, a small meeting table with three more wooden chairs, and a single drawer file cabinet.
As quickly as he could, he searched the file cabinet first. Each folder inside was neatly labeled and either stuffed with financial reports or expense receipts. If he’d had more time, he would have loved to look more closely at the financials, but right now, they were irrelevant. When he was satisfied that it didn’t hold a copy of the manuscript, he shifted his attention to the rolltop desk. He began opening the larger drawers. Yet, they were all empty except for one that merely contained a few office utensils.
Jax shoved the rolltop open next. He found a ledger and flipped through it, but it dealt with employee hours and payroll. He focused on the cubbies and small drawers along the inside of the desk. There were several unopened envelopes stacked in the slots on the top right side, and they were all company-related bills and such. He opened the first of two small drawers on the upper left side, and he knew right off he’d hit the jackpot.
There was a man’s gold ring inside. He yanked the drawer out, grabbed the handkerchief from his pocket, and used it to look at the ring. It was solid gold with a pattern of etchings and an inlay of seven tiny diamonds. When he turned it around, he saw the engraving, SMS.
Laura tapped on the door, startling him. He quickly replaced the ring, shoved the drawer back into the slot, and joined her in the hallway. She whispered that a few of the maintenance crew had begun cleaning the floors just below them.
“Follow me,” she said, and she opened the first door they had passed which led to a back stairway.
“I never realized how big these theaters were,” he told her as they hurried down the steps.
“You haven’t seen the half of it. On the other side of the crossover, there’s another office and stairway just like this, plus several hidden catwalks. Below the stage, there are at least a dozen storage rooms on the lower level, along with the trap room. And even more storage and equipment rooms in the basement, which is where these stairs end up. But there is also a street exit down there that leads to the back alley. So, did you find anything in his office?”
“A gold mine, literally. I’ll tell you about it once you find our way out of here.”
At the bottom of the stairwell, she pushed the door open to the basement, and they rushed through the room to a hallway. “A few stairwells lead to the basement, but the only other exit is at the opposite end of the theater. After I was hired, Mister Kratz showed me around the entire theater. When he brought me down here, and we started going through this maze of corridors, I told him that I would get lost and never find my out.”
But the hallway ended. “Which way?” Jax asked.
“We take a right. I’ll get us out of here,” Laura assured him as they hurried down another hallway. “Each hallway splits in both directions at the end, so it’s very confusing. Mister Kratz explained that there was a little trick to finding your way through. At the end of the first hallway, turning left leads to a storage room, and turning right leads you down another hallway. Then, you need to reverse it. The next right turn takes you to another room, a left turn takes you down a hallway. So, it’s a right, left, right kind of pattern.”
“Feels like a jumbled-up mess to me,” Jax muttered. “I hope you’re keeping track.”
Laura kept leading the way through several more hallways until they finally reached the stairwell. “See? It worked.”
Jax opened the door to the alley and they headed back to his car. “We’re going to the precinct now. I need Murph to get a court order right away to search that office legally, and before Ashworth gets wind of it.”
“What did you find?” she asked.
“Sam Sanders’ gold ring.” And he couldn’t be more thrilled to finally have some substantial evidence against Robert Ashworth. “I knew Sanders was wearing a ring the night he was killed. There was an indent of one on his middle finger, but I couldn’t find it in the apartment. Patricia Sanders confirmed that he always wore a gold ring.”
“How can you be sure it’s Mister Sanders’ ring?”
Jax started laughing. “You’d think crooks would be smart enough not to steal anything that has the victim’s initials on it.”
19
The Lily Pond
It was shortly after ten-thirty when Jax escorted Laura into the station house with Ace following behind them. As they walked down one of the aisles with desks on either side, some officers greeted them, others hooted softly, and a few whistled at Laura after they passed.
“Careful, boys!” Jax announced loudly as they went. “Ace will rip your arm off if you treat her with disrespect.”
Laura stifled a giggle when all the officers fell silent and sat down.
They found Tim at his desk. Jax explained how he happened upon the ring, and Tim furiously started lecturing him about forced entries and illegal searches, but Jax cut him off. “I didn’t take the ring, Murph. It’s still in his rolltop desk. You need to get a search warrant right away, and make sure no one alerts Robert Ashworth, or that ring will disappear before you get there.”
Tim settled down and agreed with him. “Let me talk with Lieutenant Simmons about it. Maybe we can skirt around Captain Ryan for now since he seems sympathetic with the Ashworths. Once we have it in our possession, we’ll report everything to him. We found the woman who was Kitty Cooper’s maid. I just finished talking with her. She said that Kitty’s initials were definitely on the gold locket.”
“Did you find out where Mister Beacham is?” Laura asked anxiously.
“So far, his name hasn’t been on any railroad ticket rosters that we’ve seen. But we have no idea when he left town, except it was probably between last Thursday and Monday morning. It’ll take a while to check all the departures.”
“Thank you, Tim. Here is my copy of the manuscript,” she said as she pulled it from her handbag. “Jax said it would be safer in your hands than ours.”
“I agree with him,” Tim replied.
“We’re going back to Laura’s apartment now, Murph. It’ll take us a while to clean up the mess, so give me a call there as soon as you get that warrant.”
“Be careful and stay out of trouble. Both of you,” Tim added.
Jax brought Ace upstairs with them after they arrived at Laura’s apartment. Laura grew emotional again when she saw the destruction inside. Yet, she forced herself to concentrate on getting everything back in order. She started sweeping up the broken plates and glasses in the kitchen while Jax went into the living room to straighten the overturned furniture and replace the cushions.
They weren’t there more than ten minutes when someone knocked on the door. Jax told Laura to stay in the kitchen while he answered it with Ace by his side. He only opened the door a crack and recognized Jeanie.
“Well, hello again,” she greeted with a smile.
“Nice to see you, Jeanie.”
“Laura hasn’t answered her phone. Now I know why,” she snickered as she struggled to peek inside the apartment.
“She’s busy in the kitchen right now. Can I have her...”
“I won’t stay but a minute.” She pushed on the door, so Jax finally opened it. Jeanie’s hands flew over her mouth when she gasped. “Oh, no! What happened? Laura!” She swept by Jax, but just before reaching the kitchen, she yelped again and froze seeing Ace standing there. “Does he bite?”
“Don’t listen to him, Jeanie. Ace is a sweetheart,” Laura laughed. And she explained that someone had broken into her apartment last night when she wasn’t home.
“How wretched! No place is safe in the city anymore. This is awful, Laura. Why on earth would someone do this? You can’t possibly stay here. Not until those horrible scoundrels are caught. Let me fetch Margie, and we’ll both help you clean up. We’ll pack a few of your belongings, and you can stay with us for a few days. It’ll be fun. Like those sleepovers we used to have when we were kids.”
Laura stared at Jax, not knowing what to say.
“We’ve already settled it, Jeanie,” he told her. “Laura is staying with my younger sister, Lucinda. She has a nice apartment not far from here with a spare bedroom.” He shrugged his shoulders at Laura while Jeanie’s head swiveled back and forth between them. “Lucinda is more than happy to help out.”
“Oh. That’s nice, I guess,” Jeanie said. “But Margie and I will still help you clean up. I’ll fetch her and be back in a flash.” And she scooted out the door.
Laura let out the breath she was holding. “That was quick thinking, Jax. Do you really have a sister named Lucinda?”
“Sure do, let’s see. I think she’s the second youngest girl in our family.”
“I still find it amazing that you have eleven siblings. Do any of them live in the city?”
“No, they’re all homebodies. Some still live with my parents upstate and the others are scattered around close to them.” And he headed back into the living room.
“If I know Jeanie, she’ll ask for your sister’s telephone number and address.”
“I’ll give her mine,” he said. “That’s the best I could up with under pressure. Besides, if she does stop by, she won’t be surprised to see me there, too.”
“Well, it’s better than telling her the truth,” Laura laughed.
When Jeanie returned, she said that Margie had just gotten out of bed. “She didn’t get home until the wee hours of the morning. She told me that practice ran late at the theater last night, but I think she had a date that she’s keeping under wraps. Has she said anything to you, Laura? She’s gone more than she’s home lately.”
Laura felt bad lying to her again. “No, not a word.”
“She offered to help after she got dressed, but then I told her about him.” Jeanie pointed at Ace. “She’s allergic to dogs. Who knew?”
For the next few hours, the three of them worked diligently to clean up each room. Then, Jeanie and Laura went back into the bedroom to pack some of her clothes. Jax was waiting for them in the living room when the telephone rang, and he quickly answered it. But as he listened to what Tim had to say, he slowly turned around towards the bedroom door. Laura was standing there, so he kept his responses short. When he finally hung up, he remained silent for a moment, not knowing how to tell her.
“That was Tim on the phone, wasn’t it?” she asked.
“Yeah. He got the search warrant, and his men are at the theater right now.”
“What else did he say, Jax? I can tell by the look on your face that something is wrong.”
He hesitated again. “We need to take a ride to Fort Greene Park.”
“The Park?”
He saw the fear in her eyes and felt it, himself. “The police found something there.” She didn’t respond, so he went over to her. “We need to leave. Tell Jeanie that we’re done here for now, and you’ll call her later.”
She nodded and disappeared into the bedroom. Within seconds, the two of them emerged. Jeanie kept talking to Laura about something trivial while she carried her leather bag and hangers with dresses, skirts, and blouses. She forced a smile and kept nodding to her friend. Jax took the bag and clothes from her, cut Jeanie off by explaining that his sister was waiting for them, and they finally left the building.
The short drive to the park was quiet and painful for both of them. Without saying a word, Jax knew Laura was well aware that this had to do with Horace Beacham, but he just couldn’t bring himself to say it aloud. And he dreaded the moment she saw for herself.
He parked the car along the side of the road. There were several police cars lined up across the street directly in front of the park, along with a Model-T ambulance. Jax got out of the car and went around to open the door for her, but he bent down and took a deep breath. “They found a body in the pond, Laura.”
She was trembling, and her voice quivered as she spoke. “It’s Mister Beacham, isn’t it?”
“Murph said they’re pretty sure, but they need someone to identify him. If you don’t want to do this, I’ll take you to my apartment right now, and call someone else at the theater or the manager at his apartment.”
“No, I don’t want anyone else to see him this way.”
“And I don’t want you to. I hate putting you through this.”
She sat there. “Jax, I think this would be the perfect time for one of your wisecracks.”
“I wish I could think of one, Laura.”
She got out of the car and clung to him as they walked into the park. There was a crowd of people by the pond. As they grew closer, several police officers were grouped together. Tim saw them and broke away from the others.
“I am sorry, Laura,” he told her.
When she saw the covered body on the ground, her knees nearly gave way, but Jax tightened his grip, and Ace leaned against her leg on the other side. Then, she looked up at Jax with tears in her eyes.
“The coroner isn’t sure how long he’s been in the water with the pond temperature being so cool this time of year,” he said quietly. “Still, he won’t look the same as you remember him. They just need you to take a quick peek at him, enough to identify him. I’ll tell you now, it’s going to be an image that will stick with you for a long time. So please, Laura, make sure you’re up to doing this. There is nothing cowardly about walking away right now.”
“Just stay with me, both of you,” she said, glancing at Ace.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Jax assured her.
They walked forward. Murph pulled the sheet down, just far enough to uncover his face, then he covered it back up again.
Tears streamed down Laura’s cheeks now as she nodded. “Yes, it’s Mister Beacham.”
Tim stood up. He told the coroner’s men to take the body to the ambulance that awaited, and he approached them. “I’ll let you know what we find at the theater. If that ring is still there, Lieutenant Simmons said that he would speak with Captain Ryan and insist upon arresting Robert Ashworth.” After Jax thanked him, Tim turned to Laura. “Do you want me to ask Carla to stop by? She’s very supportive in situations like this.”
“No, Tim. That’s very kind of you, but please don’t trouble her. I’m all right. I knew something bad had happened to him. Not this, but close to it. I appreciate everything you’ve done.”
“Well, if there’s anything else you need, you know where to find me. I’ll stay in touch with both of you.”
Jax and Ace walked her back to the car.
“This is so sad,” she said as they drove to the apartment. “Mister Beacham was such a sweet man. He and his wife had lived through so much heartache. Horrors that we cannot even imagine. And without any other family, it’s as though he never existed.”
“You’ll never forget him, Laura, and I’m sure there are others at the theater who feel the same. Even the manager of his apartment and his wife thought very highly of him.”
She fell silent as a thought struck her. She leaned forward, gripped the dashboard, and turned to Jax. “When we were at Tim’s house, you said that you found a white lily at Kitty Cooper’s and another one in Mister Sanders’ apartment, connecting the two murders. The pond was full of water lilies, Jax.”
“I know.”
“Robert Ashworth did this, didn’t he?” she cried. “All for that stupid manuscript. I don’t care how much
it’s worth. I hope you put him in jail for the rest of his life!”
“We will, Laura, trust me.” He knew her thoughts and emotions were bouncing all over the place right now, and it would take time before they started settling down.
“The pond,” she blurted out in panic. “Oh, Jax, we walked around that pond last Sunday before we went on the ferry.”
“Laura, please don’t do this to yourself.”
Her breaths were coming quick as she gripped the dashboard tighter. “But Mister Beacham could have been in the pond while we were strolling around. What if he was still alive? We could have...”
Ace suddenly darted forward and started licking her hair and face. Instantly, he distracted her, and she began to calm down. She hugged him tightly and whispered her thanks. And Jax thanked him, too.
20
An Arrest
Jax hated to leave Laura at the apartment, but Tim had called, and he didn’t want to miss the satisfaction of watching them arrest Robert Ashworth. Thankfully, Laura had laid down on the bed to rest, and Ace was with her. And Murph was sending over two police officers to stand guard by his front door and keep an eye on things while he was gone.
According to Tim, they had found Sam Sanders’ ring in the desk at the theater, and Captain Ryan had not only been informed of the events, but he insisted upon making the arrest himself. So, Jax drove to Fifth Avenue, parked his car, and nearly laughed out loud seeing all the hullabaloo. He knew then that the captain had regretted allowing Ashworth to walk away unscathed after Kitty Cooper’s murder. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so much fanfare right now.
While the ring may have been proof enough to convict Ashworth but finding Horace Beacham murdered guaranteed it. Obviously, Ashworth had the gold locket placed at Beacham’s apartment in a feeble attempt to trick the police.
In his mind, Patricia Sanders was off the hook. When he questioned the woman at her apartment before the funeral, she spoke freely about her husband’s ring and adamantly requested that it be returned to her. If she had been an accomplice and knew that her lover had the ring in his possession, she wouldn’t even have mentioned it. Outside of that, it didn’t seem she had anything to do with Kitty Cooper, except she started seeing Robert Ashworth after the woman’s death.
