“I did it and stayed decent too, although I’m sure most of Daltonville thought I’d come to a bad end.”
“It seems like you married well.” When Charlotte begged for her attention, Carol lifted the girl to her lap.
“Timothy was good to me, and when it seemed I couldn’t have love and money both, I chose the money. That might not have been the best choice, but I haven’t had cause to regret it. . .yet.” With the shadow hanging over Arrowwood, she wondered if she still might rue the day she’d married Timothy. “But that’s enough about me. What about your family? After the way we fought with Sid, it’s hard for me to imagine he’s your husband.”
“Oh, he isn’t as obnoxious as he was as a ten year old. He dotes on Charlotte, and we hope to have other children.” Carol frowned, and her hold tightened around her daughter.
“We’re happy, but there’s something on Sid’s mind that he won’t share with me. I wish he hadn’t taken this deputy’s job. I suspect they’re investigating some big deal, and I’m afraid for him. You know we had some violent things happen around Daltonville in our youth, and conditions haven’t improved much.”
“Besides what happened to Dad, we grew up with all that union trouble at the mine. I still wonder what happened to those Italian strikebreakers.”
“I never hear it mentioned nowadays, but it does seem strange that so many people would just disappear. It was rumored that Sid’s father had something to do with their disappearance. I asked Sid about it once, and I’ve never seen him so upset. I thought he was going to hit me, so I’ve never mentioned it again.”
Carol hugged Charlotte and sat her again on the carpeted floor.
“Fannie tells me there’s a lot of bootlegging going on, but that’s hardly news. We’ve always had moonshiners around Daltonville.”
“But it’s not penny-ante stuff like it used to be. There’s talk about large trucks loaded with liquor driving out of the hills at night. It worries me, especially with Sid being in the sheriff’s office.”
“Unfortunately, prohibition hasn’t been successful. In Cleveland, it’s no trouble at all to find liquor, and in places like Detroit and Chicago, the racketeers have made life miserable for ordinary citizens. I’d hoped rural areas like this had escaped the mobsters.”
“I’ve hoped so too, but I wonder.”
When Charlotte curled up on the floor and started sucking her thumb, Carol rose to leave. “It’s nap time, so I’d better take her home. I’ve enjoyed the visit, Ellen. On the outside, you seem to have changed, but inwardly, you’re still the kind, sensitive person you’ve always been.”
Ellen walked down the hallway with her, and Carol hesitated at the door, saying, “Lane Dalton is back in town.”
She hadn’t kept many secrets from Carol, so Ellen didn’t have to pretend. “Yes, I was fortunate enough, or unfortunate enough, depending on how one looks at it, to meet him in town. We took a drive, and I figured everyone in Daltonville would know we’d seen each other.”
“When I saw him a few days ago, he said he’s never been married.”
“I found that out.”
“Do you think things will work out between you now? After all, his parents were what kept you apart, and they’re gone. I’d like to see you happy, and I don’t think you’ve ever been.”
“You’re sweet to think of it, Carol. Lane and I have changed in nine years, and it’s hard to put away past bitterness.”
Ellen reached for Charlotte and held the child close for a few moments before handing her back to Carol.
“Money won’t buy motherhood, Carol, so you’re more fortunate than I am. I’d trade all of this—” her waving hand indicated the impressive mansion “—to be as happy as you are. Come visit again. I’ll be here most of the summer.”
Henderson was trimming the grass near the porch and after Carol drove away, he approached Ellen.
“Why’d you have the locks changed on the doors?” he demanded belligerently.
“Really, Mr. Henderson! I don’t have to ask your permission to make some changes in this house.”
“Are you going to give me a key?”
“Not until I go back to the city. Since I have domestic help, there won’t be any reason for you to be in the house as long as we’re here. And I have a gardener, so your duties will be less extensive this summer.”
“If you don’t trust me, I might as well leave.” He puffed angrily on his pipe.
“I hardly know whom to trust. But if you don’t like my management, you’re free to go.”
He marched haughtily down the lane toward his quarters, and Ellen wondered if he would leave. She was now confident that Henderson was determined to gain entrance to the house for some nefarious purpose of his own. Did he have something hidden in the house he was trying to retrieve? That was the only reasonable idea she could think of for their break-ins.
As she left the dining room the next morning, Harold Thompson approached Ellen.
“A word with you, please, Mrs. Hern.”
She followed him out on the lawn.
“Just wanted to be sure we weren’t overhead,” he said. “I’m going to notify Warren to pick up Ercell for questioning.”
“Have you seen anything to make you suspicious?”
“He acts like a man with something to hide, or else he’s scared of somebody. You noticed how he ducked when the sheriff’s car drove up two days ago. I have the room across the hall from his, and I’ve been watching him. He locks the door every night, and when he leaves his room, he looks to the right and left before he ventures out.”
“I agree that he knows something, but it doesn’t sound reasonable that, even if he did murder Timothy, he’d risk killing himself in that wreck.”
“The accident may have turned out to be worse than he intended, or maybe he knows who did kill Mr. Hern, and he’s afraid he’ll be the next victim. Arresting him might be a favor to Ercell.”
“Do what you think best. I assume that’s why Mr. Warren put you on this case.”
Remembering what Warren had said about Arrowwood holding the secret to the murder, Ellen had wanted to look through Timothy’s desk, but she hadn’t been able to find a key. Thompson didn’t want to contact the marshal’s office from a local phone, so after he left for the county seat, Ellen asked Fannie to find a screwdriver, and the two of them tackled the lock on the desk in the room Fannie occupied.It took the better part of an hour to break the lock on the rolltop desk because they tried to be as careful as possible; then they had little reward for their efforts. Ellen found the plan for the house renovation and many invoices for work at Arrowwood, but she didn’t notice anything questionable except that the blueprints for the house renovation were incomplete. The first five pages were intact, but three sheets had obviously been torn from the prints.
When she looked at copies of several letters that Timothy had written to his stock market customers, she wrinkled her forehead at some of the dates. How often had Timothy been to Arrowwood? She’d been under the impression that he’d come here only a few times in the past year, but these letters indicated he’d been a frequent visitor to Arrowwood.
Ellen slowly returned the papers to the desk, wishing she had asked Timothy more about his periodic absences. She had taken them for granted as a necessary part of his business, but what had his business been? Was she better off not to know?
Ellen looked closely at a small black book with numbers in it that she couldn’t understand. The groups of figures didn’t make any sense to her, but thinking it might be a code of some kind, she dropped the book in her pocket to have Thompson take a look at it.
She wandered around the house with the blueprints in her hand, trying to decide what portion of the plans were missing. To the best of her knowledge, only the plans for the basement renovation were gone.
“Oh, well,” she mused to Fannie, “probably the contractor tore them out while he was working and didn’t return them to Timothy. No need for me to worry about t
hese.” She returned the blueprints to the desk.
On Tuesday morning, John Warren and another marshal arrived to take Ercell for questioning. He went calmly enough, seemingly relieved to leave Arrowwood.
“I want to thank you, Mrs. Hern, for your kindness to me, and I hope I haven’t caused you any difficulty,” he said as Warren led him away.
Early the next morning, Marshal Warren telephoned. Ellen detected his excitement as soon as Bentley summoned her to the telephone.
“Mrs. Hern, it’s imperative for you to come to Cleveland right away. There’s a new development in the case. Have Thompson bring you to main headquarters. He’ll know where it is.”
“Can’t you tell me what’s wrong?”
“No, not on those party lines you have there. Get here as soon as possible.”
Thompson was mowing the grass around the flower beds, and Ellen took the message to him. He stopped work immediately, stating, “Let’s get started. Warren wouldn’t have made such a request unless it was urgent.”
“Shall we go in the Cadillac or my little car?”
“The Cadillac. I want to get there in a hurry.”
Ellen wasn’t in so much of a hurry that she would leave without contacting Lane. She couldn’t tell him why she was leaving, but since she didn’t know how long she’d be gone, she had to make an effort to see him.
Praying she would find him at the island, she said to Thompson, “Give me an hour. Take the car into Daltonville and have the oil checked and fill it with gas. I’ll try to be ready when you get back.”
“We can fill it with gas on our way—no need to make two trips. Warren said to hurry.”
“And I said I wouldn’t be ready for at least an hour. We’ll save time if you do what I say.”
She turned her back on him and rushed upstairs to pack a few personal items. She’d left plenty of clothes in Cleveland, so she didn’t have to take much.
When she heard the automobile pull away from the house, she knew Thompson would be gone long enough for her to try to see Lane. If all else failed, she would write him a letter and mail it in Daltonville as they left. She hurried down the trail, praying that she could see Lane.
Five
Several men were working on a level spot above the archaelogists’ camp. She couldn’t tell if Lane was one of them, but she stepped out on the sandbar and called his name. When he stood up, she motioned for him to come to her. He hurried down the bank, stepped into a boat, and crossed the channel quickly.
“Anything wrong?” he asked anxiously, taking both of her hands. For a moment, she was tempted to pour out the whole story, but he’d be better off not to know.
“No, but I have to go back to Cleveland for a few days—something connected with Timothy’s business—and I wanted you to know I’ll be away.”
She tried to speak calmly, but she wasn’t sure she’d succeeded, for he said, “If you have a problem, I want to share it. Don’t shut me out of your life, Ellen.”
“I’m not shutting you out. I received a call that I was needed in Cleveland, and I’m going this morning.”
“Alone?”
“No. One of the workers at the house will drive me. I must hurry, Lane. I’ll let you know when I get back. How often do you check your mail? I could mail you a note when I need you.”
“That’s pretty slow if you need me quickly. But some of us check the mail every day. I know you’re keeping something from me, but I don’t have the right to pry into your affairs. Just be careful.”
She stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “My reason for going to Cleveland has nothing to do with us. Trust me?”
He lifted her left hand and kissed her wrist. “I’ve always trusted you. Contact me as soon as you can.”
She started up the trail but turned once and looked backward. Lane’s face was clouded with uneasiness, but he waved his hand slowly. She wondered what would happen to her before she saw him again.
Ellen had more trouble with Fannie than she’d had with Lane. When she told Fannie where she was going, and with whom, Fannie said, “You don’t even know that man!”
Ellen hadn’t shared Thompson’s profession with Fannie, and she didn’t intend to now. Once convinced that Ellen was determined to go, Fannie said, “I’m going with you.”
“One of us has to stay here. I don’t want these rooms left unattended.”
Fannie shuddered. “I won’t sleep here by myself.”
“Then I’ll tell Annie to sleep in my room. You see to changing the linens for her. I’ll return as soon as I can, but I don’t know when.”
❧
At five o’clock Thompson and Ellen arrived in Cleveland, and Ellen said, “Whew!” when Thompson slowed for the city’s traffic. “Warren said to get here quickly, but he didn’t say to fly!”
Thompson grinned, but his gaze didn’t waver from the street. “I’ve never had my hands on a vehicle like this. I wanted to see what it could do.”
“I guess we both found out.”
When they entered Warren’s office, he looked up in surprise. “Must have made a quick trip,” he observed.
“Quicker than I like,” Ellen said wryly.
Thompson’s shoulders must have been stiff from bending over the steering wheel for hours, and he flexed his muscles. “That Cad is quite an auto, Chief. I hope you never try to outrun a bootlegger who’s driving a car that powerful.”
“What’s the problem, Mr. Warren?” Ellen questioned as she drew a chair close to the marshal’s desk, and Thompson leaned against the radiator at the window.
“When we arrested Ercell yesterday, he seemed docile enough. He stayed like that all the way to Cleveland, acting as if we were on a pleasure trip. We put him in jail overnight, and this morning when we brought him to this office for questioning, we didn’t handcuff him. As we walked down the hallway, he suddenly broke away from the deputy, ran to an open window, and jumped out. We’re up ten floors here, so you know the end of the story.”
“You mean he’s dead?” Ellen gasped.
“That’s right. He landed headfirst on the concrete, and he was dead before we could reach him.”
“Isn’t that a sign he killed Timothy Hern?” Thompson asked.
“I’m of the opinion that he didn’t kill Hern, but he knew who did, and he was afraid to tell.”
“This is terrible,” Ellen said. “I feel responsible for his death. I should have dismissed him when Timothy died. I don’t need a chauffeur.”
Warren shrugged his massive shoulders. “It’s too late to worry about that now. What are we going to do with his body? Do you know if he had any relatives?”
“I have no idea. Perhaps the servants may know something about him. Of course, I’ll take care of the burial expenses.”
“We’re going to step up investigation into your husband’s activities. I can move more quickly if I have authorization from you to check bank records and talk to his lawyers.”
“You have my permission to do whatever you think best. I want to know if Timothy was breaking the law.”
Warren’s steady gaze bored into hers, and she didn’t like the speculation she saw there. “You’re taking all this calmly, Mrs. Hern,” he said.
That’s because you can’t feel how fast my heart is beating, she thought, offering an expressive wave.
“Timothy and I got along every well, but if he was involved in criminal activities, I don’t see any need to conceal it. If I knew anything I’d tell you, but I wasn’t interested in Timothy’s business, and he seldom discussed his affairs with me. His son and daughter may object, but they obviously can’t block your investigation. His son, Bruce, might know quite a lot about his father.”
“Have you had any more incidents at Arrowwood?”
“No, except that I discovered this book in Timothy’s desk.” She took the black book from her handbag. “Does that mean anything to you?”
Thompson hovered over Warren’s shoulder, and he said excitedly, “Why didn’t
you tell me about this?”
“I’d forgotten about it until I was packing this morning.”
Thompson reached eagerly toward the book, but Warren said, “I’ll lock this in the safe until I finish investigating Ercell’s suicide. The book may not have any bearing on this case at all, but I’ll have one of our code experts try to figure it out.”
“After I make arrangements for Ercell’s funeral, is there any reason for me to stay here? I’m uneasy about being away from Arrowwood.”
“You can return whenever you want to, but do be careful. If Mr. Hern was involved in criminal activities, his enemies may not feel kindly toward his wife. I’ll be down in a few days, and I may hang around awhile.”
Two days later, Ellen went to the brief funeral service for Ercell, attended only by a few of the Hern servants. Ercell had been a loner, and none of her other employees knew anything of his background. Thompson waited in the Cadillac, and when Ellen left the funeral parlor, she sat in the passenger seat beside the deputy marshal.
“Shed any tears for the deceased, Mrs. Hern?” Thompson asked as they started toward Daltonville.
“I haven’t done much crying since I was a child, when I learned that tears won’t solve problems. I wouldn’t have cried over Ercell anyway, for I’m angry with him. If he had to kill himself, why couldn’t he have told what he knew before he died? We have two deaths on our hands now, and there’s seemingly no reason for either of them.”
Thompson didn’t drive as fast on their return, and Ellen tried to relax.
“We might as well become acquainted, Mr. Thompson. It’s going to be a tiring drive. When did you become a marshal?”
“Just a few years ago, but I’ve had lots of experience with crime one way or another.”
“Married?”
“No, not now. My only attempt at marriage ended in divorce about five years ago, but lately I’ve been considering it again.”
“Oh, do you have your eye on the lucky person?”
He looked directly at her. “I don’t mind saying that I do.”
“Gracious! You do move fast. Let’s change the subject, shall we?”
Love Almost Lost Page 5
