From his long-legged stride and hunched shoulders, I deduced that Will was very upset about something. If I was a betting woman, I would have wagered that it had something to do with his sister. My partner was very laid back about most things. Even our cases caused him little more than moderate excitement. The only time I could get a rise out of him was when I teased him about Paula Dennis. His family was his one trigger.
Of course, now that I thought about it, perhaps it was something about Paula that had him out of sorts. I remembered the strange look on his face the night before when she’d left with Jimmy Wilson.
“I visited Jane’s house yesterday before going to the Dennis’,” he began once he deemed us far enough out of earshot.
“I see,” I said, hurrying to keep up. “What happened? And why didn’t you say anything last night?”
Will shrugged and shoved tucked his hands under his arms. “We needed to focus on our case. I knew this could wait.” He shook his head worriedly. “Things are worse than I thought. They’ve sold almost everything of value, Rose. The walls were nearly bare. They’ve let go of most of their servants and sold their coach and horses.”
I felt my heart growing heavy again. Poor, poor Jane. I couldn’t imagine the heartache she felt as she watched her home being taken apart piece by piece. How difficult it must be to choose to stay loyal to the man who was ruining her family.
“I took Jane aside and she told me everything.” Will turned hurting eyes to me. “She said she’d told it all to you. Why didn’t you come to me? Jane’s my sister! Don’t you think I should know what she’s going through?”
I gulped, hating the accusation. “Will, I wanted to tell you, but Jane swore me to secrecy.”
“I thought we were friends,” he said, disgusted.
Instantly irritated, I grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. “That’s ridiculous. I’m sorry this hurt you, but Jane had every right to choose when and to whom she would tell her secrets. I did the right thing by keeping her secret when she asked me to. Don’t you dare suggest that you are the injured party. Jane is the one who matters most.”
Annoyance and frustration flashed over Will’s face before he looked down and let out a loud huff. “You’re right, Rose. I’m sorry.”
“I accept your apology. Let’s forget about it and turn our attention to how we can help.” If I sounded a bit sanctimonious, I couldn’t help it. I swallowed my superiority and tried to focus on Jane.
We turned back to our walking, though at a much calmer pace now. A slightly-uncomfortable silence blanketed us for the next half mile. I decided to draw Will’s attention away from his helplessness by telling him about Cal’s discovery of the casino. However, it quickly became apparent that my attempt to distract my friend was an utter failure. Will’s unhappy expression deepened, his brow furrowing further and his stride lengthening again.
“That sounds like the sort of place that Ned would frequent,” he growled. “I’d bet anything that he knows all about it.”
It was entirely insignificant if Ned did. I couldn’t begin to fathom where Will was headed with this train of thought.
Suddenly, my lanky friend snapped his fingers, his face lighting with excitement. “I’m going to ask around and see if I can find the next casino location. If Ned won’t tell me, I’m sure I can find someone who will. There’s likely a secret password of some sort. I’ll track it down.”
I groaned. “Why would you do that, Will? Please tell me that you aren’t thinking about taking some sort of revenge on your brother-in-law.”
“I’d like to see his face when I appear across the poker table from him. He’ll be so ashamed he’ll probably stop going.” Will stopped short of giving a villainous chuckle, but only barely. He was absolutely quivering with anticipation.
I reached out and grabbed his arm again. “This is a terrible idea. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“What do you mean?” The look Will threw me was genuinely confused.
“The police know about the casino now. If they raid the place while you’re there, you could be charged. Any information you might learn should be handed over to Mr. Lloyd, not acted upon by yourself.”
A brief sneer passed over him at the mention of Cal. Will said, “If Ned’s arrested, it would destroy Jane. I’m not going to give that detective of yours anything. He can track it down on his own.”
“He’s not my detective,” I insisted. “Besides, even if you go to the casino, there’s no guarantee that Ned will be there. You might be risking a great deal for nothing.”
My partner waved that away. “You’re curious, too, Rose, admit it. I know you too well. A little part of you is dying to find out what the casino is like. If we can get in, we might learn something that would benefit the police and help my sister.”
He wasn’t wrong. I was terribly curious. I’d never had the opportunity to visit an illegal casino before and might never have the chance again. It would be very exciting. My grandmother had made certain to raise me as a proper young lady, yet there was a part of me that couldn’t seem to be tamed. Perhaps Cal had seen this in me and that’s why he worried so much that I would get myself into a dangerous situation.
“This is all hypothetical anyway,” I sighed. “You’d have to get the location and password before we would even need to make a decision. That might not be as simple as you hope.”
Will shrugged and said that he agreed, though I spotted the telltale spark in his eye that told me the truth: he wasn’t going to let it go.
Therefore, I wasn’t entirely surprised to see him striding into our dining room the next evening as Father and I were finishing our supper. From Will’s jaunty walk and haughty expression, I knew that he’d found exactly what he’d been looking for.
“Good evening, Mr. Lunceford,” Will greeted. “I was wondering if you’d allow me to escort Rose to the theater tonight? I was able to procure tickets for the concert at the last minute. Rose didn’t think I could do it so quickly, but I believe I even impressed myself in my cleverness.”
He tossed me a knowing look and I rolled my eyes. I understood the double meaning in his words and needed none of this too-obvious prompting to try and decipher them. In addition, I was annoyed that Will had been so clever as to find a way to get Father to agree to my going out without asking my permission. If Father agreed that I could go, I would have no way to refuse without making up some lie about having a headache.
“That’s wonderful, of course Rose may attend with you. Do you need to borrow our carriage?” Father offered magnanimously.
“I hired one for the evening,” Will answered.
He’d thought of everything. If the casino was too far for us to walk, a nondescript vehicle would be far preferable to arriving in the police chief’s personal carriage.
“What time does the concert begin?” Father asked.
“Eight o’clock,” my friend replied smoothly.
I pursed my lips and promised myself that I would give him a tongue lashing once we were alone. There were disadvantages to living in a less fashionable place than St. Louis, but the ability to travel without a chaperone was not one of them. Father would have no qualms about allowing Will to escort me and I would have plenty of time to tell him what a lowdown, dirty snake he was.
“You’d better go and change your dress, then,” Father urged me. “You’ll need to leave soon.”
Trying not to show it, I burned with annoyance all the way up to my bedroom. That Will Edwards was more trouble than he was worth. Heaven help him if we got arrested for this!
Chapter Twelve
I put on one of my better church gowns as though it would serve as protection against the sinful vice into which I was about to be immersed. June fixed my hair in an elaborate style and I grumbled and groused the entire time. She knew me well enough by now to take no offense. I did, however, receive a number of knowing looks in the mirror, which I ignored roundly. If the outing had been less secretive, I would have exp
lained my grumpy mood to her.
As it was, I simply said, “That Will Edwards is far too full of himself.”
“He is handsome, don’t you think?” June asked. I watched her ears turn pink and sighed to myself. Will had enough girls blushing over him as it was. He didn’t need to add my maid to his bevy of admirers.
“I don’t know what being handsome has to do with anything. I take that back; yes, I do. He has far too many girls doing whatever he says. It’s given him entirely too big an opinion of himself. He thinks he can run over anyone who gets in his way.”
“That’s true. Of course, Detective Lloyd is just as handsome and he doesn’t have any notion about it.” June raised a sly eyebrow.
I pursed my lips and straightened my shoulders. “Do you think he’s handsome? I’ve never given it much thought.”
June snorted and put the last pin into place. I was able to put my gloves on studiously and pretend that she wasn’t extremely observant. That was the trouble with good maids; they knew far more than one often wanted them to. I decided that it was altogether better if we gave that particular topic a wide berth.
Since it was an evening event, I forgo choosing a hat and settled for a fur wrap instead. Then I sailed down the stairs and said goodnight to Father, making a point not to let my eyes even drift in Will’s direction. In fact, it wasn’t until we were sitting in the carriage, rumbling down the street before I even deigned to acknowledge him.
“Who gave you the password?” I asked haughtily.
Will smirked, which was all the more obnoxious. “I have friends who know things.”
“Is it someone at all reputable? I don’t want to put ourselves in any more danger than absolutely necessary.” I could envision burly thugs removing us forcibly to a dark alleyway, to be given a physical reminder never to return. Having never seen my partner in a fight, I didn’t have much confidence in his ability to protect himself. And, since I was a lady and barely five feet tall to boot, I knew that I would be of absolutely ho help in a physical confrontation.
“Trust me. I have everything well in hand.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. It was hardly a ringing endorsement.
Will sighed and said, “Our friend from last night proved valuable.”
“What friend from last night?” I asked sharply.
“Mrs. Norris’s brother, Ed.” Will looked smug. “Before I brought him to the front of the house, I asked him if he knew anything about an illegal casino.”
I frowned. “Why would you ask him that? That case had nothing to do with gambling in any way.”
“That’s what was particularly brilliant of me. I knew he was involved in something underhanded at the Dennis’. Therefore, I thought he might have information about the casino. As it turned out, I wasn’t wrong.” Will sat back in his seat and put his hands behind his head.
“Surely Ed didn’t tell you the location of the casino,” I scoffed.
“Well, no, he didn’t say anything outright. However, he did suggest that there was someone who might know at a pub downtown. There’s a man named Gil there who might point me in the right direction.”
“Ah, so Ed didn’t actually have information about the casino itself.”
Will brought his hand around and examined his fingernails nonchalantly. “No, but he’d heard rumors and passed them on to me. It was simple then to ask one of my associates to make contact with this Gil and get the location and password to the casino.”
I snorted. I didn’t think much of Will’s “associates.” They seemed an untrustworthy lot to me.
Still, the carriage stopped in front of a warehouse on the outskirts of town that appeared to be long abandoned. There were no lights showing and few signs of life. I was about to repeat my interrogation when Will climbed out of the carriage and confidently strode to the door where he knocked five times in some sort of meaningful pattern. I was close at his heels and watched with wide eyes as a small slot slid open and a face appeared in the shadows on the other side. Will gave the password and the door swung open.
My head turned every which way as we entered the long corridor. The interior of the warehouse was not at all what I expected after first making acquaintance with its exterior. I’d anticipated a large open space, but we walked through a hallway not six feet wide. There were lanterns positioned along the walls, but their flickering light gave only a dim view of the rough walls and floor. After walking only a few dozen feet, we came to another door which similarly required the same password and special knocking sequence. However, this door betrayed the lights and sounds from inside and for the first time I knew that we were in the right place.
The door swung open and we entered the casino. Before we arrived, I’d wondered how anyone could have a hidden casino. Now, I realized that it took a combination of clever sneakiness and low standards. The casino owners had built a room inside the warehouse, keeping in all the light and sound. There were no windows in this room and the walls looked as though they’d been slapped together in a hurry and with little care.
This made no difference to the crowd clustering around the tables. They sported their Sunday best without regard to the dirty floor and rickety tables. Will and I took a turn around the room and he whispered explanations of the various games in my ear. I was getting a real education, one I knew that Cal would think I didn’t need.
“What should we do?” I asked once we’d circled the makeshift room. “I don’t think we should actually place any bets.”
Will opened his mouth to reply, but his attention was taken by someone not far off and the words froze before he could speak them. I turned and craned my neck in the direction he was gaping. As I feared, Ned’s profile appeared through the crowd.
I grabbed Will’s arm. “Don’t do anything rash. We don’t need to draw attention to ourselves.” Goons in plaid suits loitered along the walls, watching for the slightest sign of trouble.
“I just want to let him know I’ve seen him,” Will protested. “He and I need to have a talk and he’ll make sure that happens if he knows I’m here.” His eyes flickered to my face and he added, “I’ll be careful. You could try and learn where the next time and location will be. Cal would appreciate that.”
Nodding, I turned and tried to melt into the crowd surrounding a dice game.
“Rose?” A voice at my elbow drew my attention. I turned and saw that Paula Dennis had elbowed her way to my side.
I was shocked to see my friend here. “Paula! What are you doing in a place like this?”
Paula dimpled as she said, “Jimmy Wilson asked me to go for a drive with him and we came here. It’s very exciting, don’t you think?”
“Did you know that this is an illegal casino?” I demanded, pulling her to the quietest spot I could find. “If the police raid it, we could all go to jail.”
My friend’s face twisted with guilt. “I know. Don’t be angry, Rose. I was so flattered when Jimmy asked me to accompany him. I’m sure it will all turn out for the best.”
I sighed. I wanted to order her to find her date and leave immediately. But I also knew how little Paula thought of her chances to find a husband. She had a darker complexion than was strictly fashionable and was very broad. I thought her very pretty, but she wasn’t the thin, athletic Gibson Girl that was all the rage. After the party the night before, I knew that she was very capable at interacting with men, but that wasn’t the same as being courted.
“Be careful, Paula, please. If there’s any sign of trouble, find Jimmy and run for the door.”
She nodded earnestly.
“Say,” I said slowly, a thought occurring to me. “Where is Jimmy? I need to figure out how everyone knows when these events will be held.”
Cheers erupted from a nearby table and Paula squeezed my hand before going in search of her escort. I spent the time waiting for her to return mulling over the merits of telling Jimmy that he was an idiot for bringing Paula here. I couldn’t decide if the satisfaction I’d feel ou
tweighed losing the chance to wheedle the necessary information out of him.
By the time the two threaded their way back to us, I’d decided that it would be wiser to wait before I told him what I thought of him for putting my dear friend in danger.
When I asked how he’d learned about the casino, Jimmy scratched the back of his neck and shrugged. “I heard about this place from my brother’s friend. It sounded like a good time, so I invited Paula to come with me.”
Lucky for him, Paula looped her arm through his and drew him away before I could cut him down to size. There was no sign of Will, so I began to look for someone who might tell me what I needed to know. A young man looking to impress a fawning girl might tell all. I would have to bat my eyelashes and laugh at his silly jokes, but I felt confident that I could play the part well enough.
I was about to choose my prey when I spotted Lillian Finney playing cards at a table in the corner. I stopped in my tracks and cocked my head at her. She was not at all the sort of woman I expected to see here. Of course, from the widely-varied group I’d seen so far, I don’t know why I was so surprised by her presence. I knew her husband advocated for legalizing gambling, but I hadn’t guessed that she would participate.
Using the milling crowd as cover, I slowly made my way over to their table, trying to look as though I was simply interested in the other games going on around me. A wide man in a fraying suit provided the perfect hiding spot as he carefully observed a nearby table. I stood on his other side and was able to both see and hear the progress of Lillian’s game quite clearly.
I quickly recognized Melvin Finney, her husband, sitting next to her. The pair were intent on the game and neither was shy about bidding aggressively. In the matter of ten minutes, they lost close to a hundred dollars, never making back more than twenty before promptly losing it.
It was quickly becoming apparent to me why the two might be selling Mrs. Finney’s property. If they were gamblers, they might have gone through their own money already. Hadn’t they moved in with her within the past few years? Their motive for stealing was blooming in my mind. This was becoming an entirely different situation. It would be one thing if they were taking Mrs. Finney’s valuables in order to get cash to purchase real estate or invest in a new business venture. It was entirely a different story if they were throwing money away hand over fist at the gambling tables. Mrs. Finney might decide to press charges after all.
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