“Lordy, young man. You don’t needs to call me miss. Just plain Lulu will do fine.”
He grinned. “All right, Lulu. Maybe you can help us out.”
“If you didn’t come out here to run me off, I might try.”
“We don’t want to run you off, do we Lydia?”
“Not at all. In fact, I’m glad to know somebody’s here to look after Pa.”
Lulu eyed her. “Is you the one who married the cow man?”
“No. That was my sister.”
“So you ain’t coming back here to live?”
“No, I’m not, and neither is my sister.”
“Now that we have that straight, could we come in and have that coffee you mentioned? I can always talk better with a good cup of coffee.”
Lulu returned his grin. “Then foller me, folks.”
Chapter 8
The next morning, Jarrett went back to his hotel room after having breakfast in the hotel dining room. He put his hat on the table, took off his coat, and adjusted the gun in the shoulder holster—something he was never without. He then sat at the desk and picked up the pen. Before he did anything else today, he wanted to draft a letter to Aaron Wilcox. Now that he was ready to write, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say.
Could he believe anything Lulu had said yesterday about Burl Hamilton, or was she addled in the head? Yet, she seemed convinced the man talked in his sleep. Did he really admit to her there had been an arrangement between his wife and her sister concerning Hannah’s future? If so, what was that agreement, and would Lulu keep her promise to try to find out? Maybe he should’ve given her more than five dollars as an incentive to try to find out for them; but he hadn’t, and now it was too late.
Whatever, he knew he had to continue what he had planned and the first thing on his list this morning was to write that letter to Wilcox.
He placed the pen in the inkwell and began to write. As of yet, I haven’t discovered the entire truth about Hannah Hamilton’s plight, but I do think I’m getting close. I have seen the young lady on two separate occasions and I can assure you that she is not being physically mistreated. She is fed regularly and her room, though sparse, is clean and seems to be comfortable. Let me explain how I managed to see her room.
Jarrett wrote about the time he’d carried Hannah to her room over the protest of her aunt. He then went on to explain how he’d found comrades in Tobias Johnson and Lydia. Going on, he told how he’d visited the Hamilton farm on his own, and with Lydia. He said he felt he was getting close to answers at the farm.
He then wrote, Let me say that without knowing so, Verbena Hamilton is also a help. She seems to like me, and has invited me into her home as a friend whenever I show up. I intend to keep her thinking I’m only interested in being friends as long as I’m in Savannah on business. I have a feeling she will tell me more than she wants to without knowing she’s doing it.
He ended the letter with, Tell your wife that her sister misses her and is looking forward to a letter from her. I will have more news soon, and if things start to happen fast, I’ll send a wire.
He closed the letter and sat back. He hoped Aaron would be pleased with the progress and would permit him to stay on the job. He chuckled. I don’t guess it really matters whether he wants to keep paying me or not. I don’t intend to leave this town until I get to the bottom of this mess. I want to see Hannah out of that house and somewhere she’ll be happy. She’s too young and beautiful to waste away shut up in that sparse upstairs bedroom of hers.
Though he’d been denying it to himself, Jarrett also knew he was attracted to this woman. He had to get over that. After all, he was still immersed in the affair with Felicia Newell. She had been so grateful when he and Everett had finished the job he did for her that the two of them had even bickered about who would win her grateful affections. At this point in the relationship, he was sure he had the advantage over his brother, but things could have changed since he’d been in Georgia. He wouldn’t put it past Everett to grace the woman’s bed if given the opportunity.
Realizing this, he decided he needed to hurry and finish up this case and get back to Flagstaff. If he didn’t, he was sure Everett would make a play for the beautiful raven-haired Felicia, and frankly, though Jarrett had no intention of becoming anything more than a lover to her, he wasn’t ready to end the affair.
Standing, he reached for his coat. He intended to go to the court house and see if he could find anything that would tell him there had been an agreement in writing between the Mrs. Wedington and her sister. If so, that could wrap up things here in a hurry. He could then get back to Flagstaff and see if Felicia was still his or if Everett had won her affections while his twin was away working this confusing case.
♥♥♥
Lulu sat a bowl of watery stew on the table in front of Burl and put one for herself across the table from him.
He glared at the bowl. “This all we got to eat tonight?”
“You can’t cook something out of nothing. If you want something better, you need sell enough of your brew to buy some supplies, or at least go hunting for a rabbit or a squirrel to stew.”
“You ain’t worth…”
“Don’t start that with me. What do you think you’re worth?” She looked at him. “Nothing, that’s what. You laze around here and drink yer brew till you pass out. No wonder your daughters don’t have nothing to do with you.”
“Lydia’s the only one who’s ever been worth a damn. That was, till she married that old gambler.”
“I heard the other one took good care of you till she run off to somewhere in the west.”
“She was a fool. Won’t be long till that cowboy sends her back here. Then, I won’t need you no more, and you’ll have to move out, old woman.”
“I ain’t worried. From what her sister said the other day, she’s happy with her gambler and her sister’s happy with her cowboy. Ain’t neither of them never coming back here, so you might as well shut up and eat.”
He slurped some of the stew and frowned. “Tastes like dishwater.”
“How’d you know? You ever eat dishwater?”
“Maybe.”
Her black face wrinkled with a smile. “Yeah, I bet. What about your other daughter? The crippled one? Do you think she’ll ever come back here?”
“No! She better not ever try to come here. I don’t count her as a daughter.”
“Why? She’s your child.”
“I said I don’t claim her. Her aunt takes care of her.”
“Why?”
“She just does, that’s all.”
Lulu tried again to get him to tell her more. “But there’s got to be a reason. It ain’t normal for a man to give one of his young’uns away.”
“I didn’t want her cause she couldn’t do nothing. I couldn’t take care of her if’n I’d wanted to, ’cause she couldn’t walk.”
“But why did her aunt want her?”
“She didn’t.”
Lulu frowned. “Then why’s she got her?”
“’Cause that’s what her mama wanted.”
“Why’d her mama have anything to do with it?”
Burl hit his fist on the table. “I ain’t talking about my young’uns no longer. Now, shut up so I can eat the rest of this slop, or I’m gonna back hand you across your mouth to shut it for you.”
Lulu decided she’d better drop the subject for now. Maybe she could get him to talk about it again, but she wouldn’t press her luck today. She wondered if that MacMichael fellow would think what he paid her was worth her finding out that the girls’ mama was somehow involved in all of this. She sure hoped he would. She didn’t want to give the money back, because she needed to get a few supplies. She knew Burl didn’t have the money to buy any now. He hadn’t sold any of his homemade brew in several weeks.
♥♥♥
After dropping off his letter at the mail and telegraph office, Jarrett decided to walk to the Wedington house instead of renting or hiring
a carriage. It was a nice day and Savannah was a pretty town to walk around in. Besides, walking helped him organize his thoughts. He’d certainly paced the wooden sidewalks of Flagstaff when he needed to think things through on a hard-to-solve case or, at times, his personal life. Sometimes, when Felicia Newell was pushing him to think about marriage, he’d walk for hours trying to decide how to tell her men didn’t marry women like her, and he was no exception. He knew he would never marry her. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Felicia. He did. It was just that Jarrett was not ready to settle down with any one woman, especially one with the loose morals of Miss Newell.
Today, he told himself his visit to the Wedington house had nothing to do with women. It was all business, though in spite of himself, he hoped to get a glimpse of the beautiful Hannah while he was finding out what he wanted to know about Mr. Reginald Phillips, a name that had crept into the conversation from time to time. He was sure he could find out about the man from Mrs. Wedington. He decided he’d also ask her about Hannah, but if the young woman wasn’t downstairs, he knew he couldn’t press the issue. Tobias had made it clear that Hannah Hamilton was only allowed to spend time in the lower section of the house when her aunt wanted or permitted her to. If he didn’t see her this time, he’d make sure he did on his next visit. He certainly wasn’t going to go long without coming face-to-face with the beautiful girl.
Heading up the walkway, Jarrett studied the stately Wedington mansion and saw some things he hadn’t noticed before. The house needed some work. It looked like the support of one of the balconies on the second floor was rotting around the edge that held up the porch. A brick was missing in the foundation where the front steps were located, and there were a couple of windows with cracked panes. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed these things before and decided it was because he usually came by horse and went inside without a good look at the house.
Still, he couldn’t help frowning. As particular as Verbena Wedington was with the inside of her house, how could she let the outside deteriorate in this way? He wasn’t going to ask her about it today, but he knew he probably would eventually have to. There was something going on here that wasn’t right, and he intended to get to the bottom of it before he left Savannah.
Tobias answered the knock on the door and showed Jarrett into the formal parlor. “I’ll get Miz Wedington fer you.”
As soon as he thanked the butler, he whispered, “Is Hannah downstairs?”
Tobias shook his head and left the room.
In minutes, Verbena entered. “What a surprise, Mr. MacMichael. I had no idea you’d come by this morning.”
“Please forgive the intrusion, and I promise not to stay long. I need some advice, and I felt you were the one person I could trust not to steer me wrong.”
She smiled. “In that case, do you have time for coffee, Mr. MacMichael?”
He returned her smile. “I’ll take the time. The coffee at the hotel doesn’t compare to what you serve.”
“I’ll have Minerva make some fresh. Please, have a seat and I’ll be right back.” She hurried out of the room.
Jarrett took a seat and using his detective eyes, he looked around the room. Not at the expensive furnishings, but at the little things that most people would never notice. The heavy maroon-colored velvet curtains were trimmed in a thick gold braid, and almost completely hidden were several places where the braid had unraveled and been sewn back together.
He glanced at the marble topped table at the end of the settee and saw a chipped corner on the back, though it was discreetly turned toward the wall. And the Oriental rug facing the fireplace had a damask topped stool sitting on the edge near the hearth. He figured it hid some kind of flaw.
Verbena came back into the room. “The coffee will be here shortly.”
He nodded. “Thank you. As I said when I came in, I’m sorry to intrude so early in the day, but I did want to consult you on something, because I have respect for your opinion.”
“What a nice thing to say. I’m flattered you would think of me in such a way.”
“As a businessman, I think I have an insight into people and what makes them tick. I knew when I first met you that you were an astute woman and you had a lot of admiration and respect in the community.”
Verbena actually blushed. “Why, Mr. MacMichael, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say a thing. I only have a couple of questions.”
“Aren’t your business associates able to help you?”
“Oh, yes, but,” he paused and lowered his voice. “I’m a little concerned about one of them.”
“Oh, my. Really?”
“When I mentioned that I wanted to transfer some of the money I plan to invest in Savannah to a bank here so I could get my hands on it quickly, he acted overeager to get his hands on my money.”
“What do you mean?”
“He dropped all plans for the hotel and began telling me about all the great things his bank could do for me.”
“I’m so sorry, but sometimes you have to work with greedy people.”
“You’re so right.”
“But how do you think I can help you, Mr. MacMichael?”
“I was sure you’d know a banker and a bank I could trust. Maybe the one who handles your accounts.”
Minerva interrupted by bringing in a tray with coffee and a small plate of cakes. She sat it on the table beside her mistress, then left.
Verbena didn’t speak until the maid was out of the room. She then poured coffee for them. “If I knew which bank you wanted avoid, I’d not recommend that one.”
Jarrett was prepared for that question. “I’m sorry, but we have a confidential agreement and I can’t give out anyone’s name. But if you mention this bank, I will tell you that I can’t use that one.”
She nodded. “I certainly understand keeping something to oneself. I know a bank that I think you might like. A friend of mine is the owner and works as the manager there. It’s the R. Phillips Bank.”
“That puts my mind at ease because that’s not the one my associate works for. I don’t know how to thank you, Mrs. Wedington. You’ve been very helpful.” He drank his coffee and put the cup on the tray. “I’ll go see Mr. Phillips right away.”
“Would you like me to write a letter of introduction to Mr. Phillips?”
“I wouldn’t think of asking you to do such a thing, Mrs. Wedington. I don’t want to be any bother to you.”
“It’s no bother, Mr. MacMichael. I’d be delighted to do it for you.”
“Then I’ll owe you, my dear. How about I take you and Miss Hamilton out to supper tonight?”
“I thought I told you Hannah doesn’t go out to eat, and I think I explained why.”
“I’m so sorry. You did. But I must do something. Do you have any suggestions?”
“Why don’t you come back and have supper with us?” She stood.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I want to find out how you liked R. Phillips Bank and Mr. Reginald Phillips, personally.”
He wasn’t going to have to ask where Hannah was. He’d see her tonight for sure. “Then, I’ll be happy to come for supper. Thank you for inviting me.”
Leaving the Wedington house, he decided he’d rent a horse, after all. He wanted to go to the bank, and then probably back to the saloon to report to Lydia. Besides, he was tired of using a horse and buggy. He wanted to be in the saddle again.
Chapter 9
“Well, well. Tobias, what in the world are you doing coming to my saloon in the middle of the day?”
“Miz Wedington sent me, Miz Lydia.”
Lydia looked disgusted. “What does the old bird want now?”
“She said to give you this.” He handed her a sealed note.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know, ma’am. I can’t read, and I wouldn’t read your mail if I could.”
“I know that, and I’m not mad at you. I’m just stunned that she’d
send you to me with a note.” Lydia ripped open the envelope. Her face registered anger as she read. Glancing up at Tobias, she almost shouted, “I can’t believe this.”
He looked alarmed. “I just brought the note, Miz Lydia.”
She shook her head. “As I said, I’m not angry with you, Tobias. I just can’t believe the nerve of this woman. She wants me to send her some money because she says Hannah’s expenses have amounted to more than she can allot for her this month. What extra has she done for my sister, is what I’d like to know.”
Tobias didn’t say anything and after thinking a minute, Lydia called, “Ramon.”
The big man appeared. “Yes, ma’am.”
“See that Mr. Tobias, here, gets whatever he wants to drink on the house, then go get my horse and buggy ready.” She turned to the butler. “I’m going to my office for a few minutes, then we’ll go back to Aunt Verbena’s together. I need to talk to that woman about this.”
She turned and headed up the stairs.
Ramon turned to Tobias and waved toward the bar. “This way, sir. What would you care for this afternoon?”
“Does you think I could have a beer?”
“Yes, sir. Since you’re a friend of Miz Patterson, I’ll make sure you get one of the good brand.”
By the time Lydia came downstairs and ushered Tobias to her buggy, she’d calmed down. “I’m sorry if I alarmed you, Tobias, but sometimes Aunt Verbena makes me so mad I could scream. I’m bad to overreact when she irks me.”
“She can be trying at times.”
“Tell me, Tobias. Have there been any unexpected expenses concerning my sister lately?”
“I wouldn’t know about that, Miz Lydia.”
“Oh, I think you would. You and Minerva are the only people who can see what’s really going on in that house.” He didn’t answer and she went on. “You would tell me if Aunt Verbena was abusing Hannah, wouldn’t you?”
“She don’t hit her, if that’s what you mean, ma’am.”
“I’m glad of that, but she doesn’t treat her kindly, does she?”
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