“Wah!” the group yelled as the body popped through the door much more quickly than anticipated. David fell to the ground with the litter behind him, the handles anchoring on the floor like a pole vault. Cassidy, Jebediah, and Walter all fell into the litter, and Hitchcock's body, tightly wrapped in the tarp, pivoted over on his head and flopped like a giant sack of fish on top of David, knocking the wind out of him.
Claire gasped. “No!”
“David! David! Are you alright!” yelled Jebediah.
“Ohhhh god! Get it off me! Get it off!” David yelled from underneath Hitchcock.
“Shit, shit, shit!” yelled Cassidy. “Gideon! GIDEON! Get in here!”
Gideon ran in from the street. “What?! Oh jeezus!” Gideon yelled as he ran over.
“Get the litter back on the floor! Quick!” yelled Jebediah. The group placed the litter on the floor and then grouped together on the side of the body and pushed hard, rolling it over and off of David, who didn't move initially. Jebediah shook him, jostling the young man into full consciousness. He lurched up, breathing in halting, labored breaths, looking utterly shell-shocked.
“I... I...” David began, before stopping, a look of utter fear on his face. He reached into his mouth, his hand shaking, and pulled out a still-wriggling maggot. He just stared at it, his face slowly contorting as a manifestation of the psychological damage that had just been caused. Cassidy leaned in to look at the bug.
“Urp,” Cassidy belched.
“Oh god...” David said, dropping the maggot, as he desperately held in his vomit and ran out the door.
“Well, he's never gonna' be right again,” said Cassidy.
“No time to worry about him. Cassidy, can you handle the litter with Walter? The front stairs will be tricky, and we absolutely cannot let his body fall out.”
“Oh yeah. Once he's up, it's not too bad,” Cassidy replied.
“Good. Let's move.” With Cassidy in the front and Walter in the back, they heaved Hitchcock up yet again and began to walk slowly toward the large front door. At the bottom of the stone stairs was the covered carriage with its back open, ready to accept the body.
“Do you want to trade places before the stairs?” asked Walter.
“No. I've got it,” replied Cassidy.
Cassidy and Walter successfully maneuvered, step by step, down the stairs, looking to the side briefly to see David still vomiting in the small alleyway beside the building. “Lordie lordie, you State Department boys have iron stomachs on you,” said Cassidy between grunts.
Having successfully loaded the carriage and closed the door, Jebediah spoke to the driver while Cassidy, Gideon, David, and Walter gathered at the bottom of the step.
“Good lord, woman. You are strong as an ox,” said Walter between breaths.
“You're pretty strapping, yourself,” replied Cassidy with a smile.
The carriage pulled away and Jebediah joined them. “There,” he said. “We kept that as secret as we probably could have hoped to.”
“Oh yeah” replied Cassidy. “I'm sure everyone just assumes we were moving Hitchcock's body-shaped sofa for him.”
Jebediah looked wearily at Cassidy. “We did our best. Now we can concentrate on other things. Cassidy, would you mind talking to Claire. While you're not exactly the compassionate type, I hope that speaking to another woman will make it easier for her.”
“Anything to move this along,” Cassidy replied. “I mean, we're here, this is it. We've got to find something.”
The group walked back inside, David, Gideon, and Walter walked into Hitchcock's office and Cassidy and Jebediah walked up to Claire, who was sitting on a small office chair.
“Miss Day, I was hoping that you could talk to Cassidy here, tell her more about what happened.” Claire nodded. “Thank you. I'm going to be in the office, if you need anything, please, come and get me.”
“Thank you, Mister Ames. Thank you for understanding. Thank you very much,” she replied. Jebediah left and Cassidy pulled up a chair and sat across from Claire.
“Howdy,” Cassidy said in an exaggerated way. Claire smiled.
“You're quite the character, aren't you?” Claire said.
“Yes, I suppose so. I'm not one to hide or abide by society's rules. I like to think that I follow my own drummer.”
Claire was still sniffling but was at ease with Cassidy. “You'd fit right in around here. We get a lot of crazy people coming in and out.”
“Well, you've got a bit of craziness in you, too,” replied Cassidy.
“How so?”
“Well, you thought that you could successfully hide a four-hundred pound dead guy with piles of plants and, I don't know, frankincense and myrrh? What the hell was all that?”
Claire laughed and cried. “I was a fool, wasn't I?”
“No. You weren't a fool. It was... alright, well, yes, you were a fool,” Cassidy said, smiling. “But, that's unimportant. What happened?”
Claire looked down, fondling her handkerchief. “As I told Mister Ames, I came in one day a couple of weeks ago, and he had died there. I needed to keep the business running, though. I knew how to do everything, so I did. People sometimes asked about the smell, but I kept it in check with all the plants and incense. I just told them that something had died in the alleyway. It happens all the time.” Claire sighed. “And I need this job. There aren't many around. And I don't have a man at home, so this is it for me.”
“I'm sorry,” said Cassidy. “Is there any way for you to start again? Just take this business?”
“I... I think so. There's a lot of work, and I will probably lose clients, but it's better than nothing. Since I wasn't an actual partner, the city will take most of his valuables... and leave me with nothing. But I have some money and connections. I'm not lost.”
Cassidy nodded. “I'm very sorry to jump to this, but it's important for me. I have two friends who have been kidnapped, business secrets stolen, a train robbed, and our only lead lead to Hitchcock.”
“Oh lord,” Claire gasped. “Kidnapped? Why? Who?”
“We don't know. All we know is that Hitchcock was involved in acquiring workers for them.”
“I, I, I don't believe that. I can't. Bill would have never been involved with something like that. He helped people.”
“I'm not saying that he did anything wrong. All I know is that he was involved in some way. He may have just been doing his job, but regardless, he may have some other clue that will lead us to where we need to go. And... and you don't think that I had something to do with it, do you?!”
Cassidy smiled. “No. I don't think that. There's, uh... there's just something about you that doesn't exactly scream criminal mastermind.”
Claire's face went through an array of emotions. “Ok... Because I never... I have never...”
“I know,” said Cassidy.
Claire nodded and swallowed loudly.
“So, now, I need you to think. Is there anything, anything, that has happened in the past few years that seemed out of the ordinary. Anything at all.”
“No,” said Claire. “Nothing. It was all... it was all normal. People coming in for work. Employers coming in. You get the picture, I'm sure.”
“Were there any clients that stood out. Clients that didn't want to talk about themselves for example.”
Claire shook her head. “Half of our clients are like that. Many of the jobs people do aren't entirely proper. Nothing violent or bad, just not quite legal, so they want to keep things quiet. That's normal.”
Cassidy leaned back in her chair, rocking a bit as she thought.
“There was one...” began Claire.
“Yes?” inquired Cassidy, her attention again piqued.
“There was one client that was a bit more odd than the others. Or maybe just different? He was an impeccably-dressed man with a very fine cane. Whenever he came in, Bill would close his office. He would sometimes close his office, but this was the only client we had frequently where his off
ice was always closed and I never had any news as to what was happening.”
“What kind of work did the man require?” asked Jebediah.
“I don't know,” said Claire. “I was never privy to those files. That was common, though. Many employers in the area trusted only Bob.”
Cassidy's eyes darted off into the distance for a moment before returning. “When does this man usually arrive?”
“Oh, he hasn't been here in well over a year. I assumed that we were no longer working with him. Up until now, I had actually forgotten about him.”
“Shit,” Cassidy whispered to herself. “Do you know where he would have kept the files for this client?”
Claire thought for a moment. “There is one cabinet that he always kept locked. I never went into it. I never asked, either, but it's the only cabinet that was always, without question, locked.”
“That's good enough for me, where is it?” Cassidy asked, getting up.
“I'm sure there is nothing bad in it,” said Claire, rising from her chair.
“I'm sure as well,” Cassidy said with a faint smile.
The duo walked into the office and found the agents looking through the cabinets. “Oh, please, I beg of you, keep things organized. This information is very valuable,” said Claire.
Jebediah walked over. “Miss, I promise you, we will leave everything as we found it except for evidence that may be of use on our quest.”
“Found anything?” asked Cassidy.
“No. It's all just information on employment contracts. Nothing more.”
“And that's all you will find,” said Claire. “I have access and control over every cabinet. I know what's in here. If you have names, I can look them up.”
Jebediah sighed. “I fear that we will simply have to go through every name in this office. In the hope that we find something.”
“Before we do that,” said Cassidy. “Claire, the cabinet?”
Jebediah looked to Claire with an optimistic expression. “Yes,” Claire said. “Through this door, into the basement.”
Clair, Cassidy, and Jebediah walked through a wide door leading to the basement. Claire turned the valve on the wall and illuminated the lamps. Before them was a massive basement with cabinets against every wall and running across the room in four rows, more than quintupling the number of cabinets upstairs.
“Oh... god,” said Jebediah as he looked out over the expanse of cabinets.
“Bob's father started this work back in the 40's. After the war, work was plentiful and the business just grew and grew.” Claire said as she walked to the far end of the basement, dim sunlight coming in through basement windows. She picked up a lantern along the way from a short table. She lit the lantern with a match and stood in front of the cabinet, placing the lantern on top.
“Can you open it?” asked Cassidy.
“Yes. I've had the key for the past year,” Claire replied, reaching into her pocket.
“Why haven't you opened it?” asked Cassidy in a tone implying she would have opened it immediately upon receiving the key.
Claire stared at the key in her palm. “Because this was his. And whatever he wanted to keep hidden, I wanted him to keep hidden. He trusted me. He trusted no one completely, but he trusted me.” Cassidy's eyes fell with some degree of sorrow. Claire turned to Cassidy and Jebediah. “I don't care whatever is in here. Whatever it says about him or his actions. I knew him. And I knew a good man.”
Cassidy and Jebediah nodded and she unlocked the cabinet, opening the top drawer. Pulling it open, sitting there in the lamp light, was a pile of small, gift-wrapped packages. Claire furrowed her brow in confusion. She pulled out one of the boxes and found that it was labeled To: Claire. She turned to Jebediah and Cassidy who offered similar confusion with their eyes.
“I don't understand,” said Claire.
She than opened the remaining drawers, finding sparse papers, a few more small gifts, and a pair of fine shoes. Claire's face was starting to reveal her realization as to what this was. She slowly stepped back, away from the cabinet, pain cracking through her visage, as she opened the small box. Under the delicate wrapping was a jewelry box, and inside that, was a beautiful, diamond necklace, twinkling yellow and white in the lamp light. Tears started to pour from Claire's eyes. Jebediah was reading a parchment he had pulled from the top drawer.
“Miss Day,” said Jebediah. “This appears to be a will.” He handed it to Claire who looked at it.
“God dammit, Bill,” she said quietly, tears falling onto the paper.
“What?” asked Cassidy.
“...He left everything to me. I own everything.” Cassidy placed her hand on Claire's shoulder. “Why didn't he tell me? Why didn't he... why didn't he... why, why?!” she demanded as she started to cry.
Jebediah pulled out more papers, including large amounts of stationary with heavily edited, hand-written writings on them. He glanced over as his face hung in sadness. He then held them out. “I'm sorry, Miss. I had to read it, but I will read no more. This is obviously private.”
Claire stared at the handful of papers, afraid to take them, before she finally mustered the courage to reach out and take. Slowly, unsure, she held them into the light and began to read. As she read, her face twisted and cracked, as deep sorrow, the sorrow that only comes from the loss of something that she didn't know she had or even wanted. The sorrow of understanding only when it's too late. Sobs erupted from her as tears began to pour down her cheeks. Cassidy tried to make eye contact as Claire let the letters fall to her side.
“They're speeches. He was... he was trying to find a way to ask me to marry him.” She collapsed against the wall and Cassidy caught her, holding her tight. She began to sob into Cassidy's shoulder. “Why, Bill!? Why!?” She screamed.
“Come on,” said Cassidy. “Let's go outside. Let's get some air.” Cassidy looked at Jebediah who nodded and picked up the papers as the two women walked upstairs.
---
Cassidy and Claire stood on the riverfront. Out over the Mississippi ran an endless stream of steam ships, boats, barges, ducks, swans, and geese. Cassidy leaned on the rail as the light wind tossed her fiery hair around her face. Claire stood beside her, upright, her arms tightly crossed around her chest, wisps of otherwise tightly-restrained hair flowing in the wind.
“How do you feel?” asked Cassidy.
“Numb,” said Claire, still having a hard time speaking. “It's been nearly two weeks since he died. I kept that crazy scheme going the entire time. And now this. I don't... I don't... I think I loved him. I don't know. I never thought about it. You know, when you are courted and romanced, when things go as they would in stories, you know you love someone because you understand how it all works. This wasn't... But maybe it doesn't matter.”
“You're all set, now, at least. No concerns. You own everything. The business can continue exactly as you wanted it.”
Claire looked out over the river, not speaking.
“Will you have a funeral for him?”
Claire nodded her head slightly. “Yes. He had no family, but he had people who called him a friend.”
“Called him?”
Claire smiled slightly. “Yes. He didn't have anyone that he called a friend. He didn't trust anyone. He wasn't mean or cranky, he just didn't trust people. I don't know what happened when he was younger. He wouldn't talk about it. I didn't ask. One of the little secrets that I kept for him was that he so disliked other people and didn't trust them. There were people he thought were harmless enough, but no one he trusted.”
“Except for you,” Cassidy added.
“Except for me,” she said, her lips quivering. “Why didn't he tell me? Why didn't he just say something?”
“You're asking this about a man who didn't trust anyone,” replied Cassidy. “I don't think he knew how to say those things.”
Claire nodded. “Perhaps.”
“And, honestly, I don't think he trusted you completely either.”
“Why,” Claire replied, confused.
“Because, I think he was hoping that you would sneak a peek in that cabinet. That was his way of asking.”
“That sounds like Bill. He had a way of doing things... stupid,” Claire said, smiling before it turned into a frown that threatened to become a sob. “That son of a bitch... Now I wish that I had... wish that I had gone in there. Lord knows, I wanted to! I wanted to look! He had to have known that! Why didn't he... I don't know... leave it open one night! Now I hate myself for not looking!”
“Don't!” Cassidy ordered. “Do not feel bad. For one thing, it would have forced you to answer the question. And that would have been a very hard situation. It was... a bit foolish of him to hope that his secretary would just stumble upon a marriage proposal.”
Claire didn't respond.
Cassidy stared up at her. “What?” Cassidy asked delicately.
“Well, Mr. Hitchcock was... a sad case. A very kind man, but... well. He had absolutely no one else.”
“Yeah,” replied Cassidy. “But don't disregard yourself and your own desires. He was going to basically try to become something more with you. And, well, let's face it, he, uh... yeah.”
Claire's eyes fell to the ground beneath her feet. “We were more...” she said.
“More?” asked Cassidy.
We weren't a couple, mind you. We were friends, certainly.” Claire tapped her foot a bit on the floor. “And... I... um...” she looked at Cassidy.
Cassidy looked back, waiting for her to finish, before her eyes widened with realization. “No!”
“Yes,” replied Claire.
“My... how?!”
“I don't know... I managed,” replied Claire.
“No, I mean, how did you find it?!”
“Stop it!” Claire said with a smile. “... Like I said, I managed.”
Cassidy nodded and then made to say something, but stopped herself. “I'm going to be quiet, now. I'd rather not insult anyone.”
“No.. no. It's alright,” said Claire, her smile fading. “I'm not... I was never attracted to him. Not really.” Claire furrowed her brow in thought. “He was losing weight,” she whispered to herself.
Cassidy St. Claire and The Fountain of Youth Parts I, II, & III Page 54
