The Man on the Train

by Clara Benson

  ‘Goodness!’ exclaimed Flora. ‘I had no idea she was so devious.’

  ‘Oh, she was. She’s extraordinarily good at playing a double game. I’m quite sure it was she who suggested to Emmett that William had taken the money—and even after she’d betrayed William by refusing to stand up for him, he still continued to believe in her honesty. He thought she had cut him out of fear of her husband, when of course nothing could have been further from the truth. She wanted him to be arrested and so stayed silent.’

  ‘Oh, poor William. He must be feeling awfully upset. Have they released him yet?’

  ‘There are some formalities to complete, but the lawyer is there now, dealing with them,’ said Angela. ‘I expect he’ll be out by this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest. I think I shall give the lawyer’s card to Pearl Maywood. I gather she’s standing by Ham. I expect they’ll try and claim it was all Daisy’s fault—easy enough, since Daisy’s not here to defend herself.’

  ‘I wonder if they’ll catch her,’ said Flora.

  ‘She certainly skipped fast enough as soon as she realized it was all up. She’s a clever girl, and very good at getting people to do what she wants. I shouldn’t be surprised if she gave some passing motorist a hard-luck story and persuaded him to take her a long way away from Wynnsville.’

  ‘Well, all I know is that we’re going to have to rearrange the whole show yet again,’ said Flora with a sigh. ‘We’ve had to add last year’s samba to our routine. It’s a little tired, but we haven’t had time to work up anything new.’ She brightened. ‘Still, this is our opportunity to shake things up and introduce some new dances. You never know when there might be a scout in the audience, and I shouldn’t mind a chance in Hollywood myself. Will you come and see us again this evening? I know you came yesterday, but you’re going away tomorrow and it would be nice to have a chance to say goodbye. Do say you’ll come.’

  ‘I shouldn’t miss it for the world,’ said Angela with a smile.

  ‘So you have decided to retire from the stage,’ said Angela. The rain had finally stopped, leaving flood-waters across half the state to subside gradually over the winter. Angela had given up any hope that the trains would start running again before November, and was waiting to speak to the man at the desk to ask about hiring a car. William had come to thank her and say goodbye to his friends in the company, and they were standing together in the lobby.

  ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘I can’t go back now. It wouldn’t be the same, not after what’s happened.’

  ‘I’m sorry about Daisy. I expect it must have come as rather a shock.’

  ‘You might say that,’ he said grimly. ‘Latest is she already had a husband out West and ran off with his money a year and a half ago, so it looks like I wasn’t the only one she made a fool of.’

  ‘Goodness!’ said Angela. ‘Perhaps I ought to reserve some sympathy for Mr. Owens, too, then.’

  ‘No need for that. He’ll get over it. And it doesn’t make him any better a person.’

  ‘I suppose not. But what shall you do now?’

  ‘Look for a job, I guess. I don’t have the money to set up in business yet, but maybe there’ll be something in Chicago I can do in the mechanic way.’

  Angela said then, without having at all intended to:

  ‘How should you like to work for me instead?’

  ‘What?’ said William.

  Suddenly it seemed the perfect solution.

  ‘Why, yes. I’ve been looking for a driver for a little while now as my last one didn’t suit. You can drive, can’t you?’

  ‘I’ll say,’ he said. He was looking at her as though uncertain as to whether or not she were joking.

  ‘Should you like that sort of thing, do you think?’ said Angela. ‘I live in New York, rather a long way away. You shouldn’t mind working in a private household, should you? It’s mostly just me—and occasionally my husband, when he’s at home. I’m a business-woman, so I travel about rather a lot. I’m perfectly capable of driving myself, of course, but it’s not always convenient, so I need someone to do the driving for me who won’t let me down.’

  ‘I won’t do that, ma’am.’ A grin was starting to spread across his face.

  ‘Good. I pay very nicely, so you can start saving towards that business of yours if you like. Try it. If we hate each other we’ll say goodbye with no hard feelings.’

  ‘All right,’ he said, with sudden enthusiasm. ‘You’re on!’

  ‘Splendid,’ said Angela, and they shook hands on it, smiling. ‘Very well, your first job as my chauffeur is to go and hire us a car. We’ll go to Chicago and take the train from there.’

  ‘Right away, ma’am,’ said William. He turned to go out, then stopped and threw her an uncertain look. ‘Well, this is a new adventure, I guess.’

  ‘Hardly an adventure,’ said Angela with a laugh. ‘I’m a very ordinary sort of person, really. As a matter of fact, I dare say you’ll find it all rather dull.’

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  New to Angela? Read more about her in the Angela Marchmont mysteries.