The Detective Bride

by Sylvia Damsell

  “We could make pastry,” Larry said.

  “You could, darling. Do you want to help, Dan and Becky?”

  They did, they replied, and Susannah said she would go and open her parcels. “When they’ve finished with the pastry send them home. It’s getting rather late.”

  “I will,” Hazel said, walking Susannah to the door while she still held Amos.

  Noah picked up the parcels and followed Susannah. “I’ll just carry your things and then I’ll go,” he said.

  He followed her from the house. “You don’t have to go,” Susannah said. “At least have a drink.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure. You can come whenever you want. I wonder who sent the parcels. You could help me open them.”

  “The writing is the same on both letter and parcels,” he said.

  “I know, and they’re all from Albert.”

  “Not Clark?”

  “He asked me to call him Albert. I bet he’s got something for me to do.”

  Noah frowned. “Not if it’s dangerous.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you’re too....” He paused.

  “Scatty?”

  “You’re not scatty. You hurtle into danger too easily.”

  She smiled. “Well, I don’t choose that but not everything a detective does is dangerous.” She unlocked the door, went into the kitchen and put on a pan with some water in it. “Would you like some cake with your drink?”

  He followed her after putting the parcels in the living room. “We just ate.”

  “Over an hour ago and I want some. I made a few yesterday so I’ll take a couple to the lunch tomorrow.”

  “I could catch some fish in the morning and cook it,” he said.

  “That would be nice. If you also cook some potatoes you can mix it with the fish in a sort of pie. You’ll have to fillet them though and if you put some cheese on top of the potato it will be good.”

  “I know how to fillet fish,” he said. “Shall I make the drinks?”

  “Thank you. Hot milk for me. You do what you like.”

  “I’m not happy about Clark giving you another assignment. He’s not fussy about how much danger he puts you in.”

  “I’m a detective. To keep my job I have to do anything a man would do. I wonder how Blair is getting on.”

  “Blair.” She did not notice Noah’s frown as he turned away.

  “Yes. It’s three weeks since he left and Jonathon is coming back on Monday. Blair is not exactly forthcoming with information. It would be wonderful if he brings the children’s mother with him.

  “Wonderful.” Noah’s tone was entirely lacking in enthusiasm but Susannah did not notice as she went into the larder to fetch a couple of cakes.

  “I do hope the children’s mother is alive. They’re happy here and settled but they have to be missing her.”

  “Children are very resilient,” Noah said.

  “Yes.” Susannah walked in front of him into the living room and put the cakes on the table before sitting on the sofa and reaching for a parcel. “Now, let’s see what this is.”

  He sat in an armchair and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “You haven’t read the letter yet.”

  “I want to guess what the assignment is. You could guess too and we’ll see who’s right. We could even lay bets on it.”

  His expression was tender as he looked at her but her head was bent over the parcel. “How much?”

  “Ten cents.” She walked to a bureau which was situated near one of the walls and took some money from it. Laying it on the table she sat near the parcels once more. “There you are. You put your money on the table also.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  He took the money from his pocket and put it down beside hers. She ripped open the first parcel and stood with a dress to hold it up, her nose screwed as she looked at it.

  “It’s appalling. I’m not wearing that.”

  “Try the next parcel.”

  “It’s got the same feel so it’s another gown. The man is an idiot. Surely he knows someone who has better taste than that. He could have asked her what to buy.”

  “He probably got her to buy them.”

  He grinned as she opened the parcel. Another dowdy gown but anything would look good on Susannah, he knew. She opened another one and in it were two pairs of spectacles and three wigs, plus a fair amount of different types of ladies makeup.

  “Maybe he wants you to pose as an older lady,” he said.

  “Very astute. Why?”

  “To investigate someone, maybe?”

  “What someone?”

  “Could be anyone. Maybe as a nanny. Maybe in a bank where a member of staff is pilfering funds. Maybe a shop where someone is doing the same.”

  Susannah slit open the letter and took out a few sheets of paper. She read quietly, looked up and threw one of the wigs at Noah.

  “You know what it is,” she said. “And you’re not having my ten cents because that’s cheating. I’m ashamed of you. What are you going to be? A bodyguard in the bank?”

  He pulled the wig onto his head and she dissolved into giggles. “Would you like one of the dresses too?” she asked.

  “You’d have to make some alterations. Would you then be the bodyguard?”

  “I’m not so bad at defending myself,” she said.

  “I know.” He threw the wig back. “Put it on and let’s see what you’ll look like when you’re about twenty years older.”

  “Thirty years at least. My mother’s hair isn’t like this and she hasn’t a line on her face.”

  “That will be nice for your husband.”

  She bent unnecessarily over one of the dresses. “Why? Would a man not want his wife anymore if she had hair this colour and looked old?”

  “He would love her to bits and he’d be older too.” Noah walked over to kneel in front of Susannah. “Susannah.”

  “We’re here.” Dan and Becky ran in holding a little cake in each hand. “Hazel said these are for all of us.”

  Susannah swept the contents of the parcel behind her. “They look nice. Shall we eat them and then you go to bed? We’ve got a lunch to attend tomorrow after church and we’ve had a long day.”

  “Twenty four hours altogether.” Dan giggled as Susannah ruffled his hair before hugging him. “I want to pray at church that mama will come here soon.”

  “We can pray here too,” Susannah said. “Do you want us to do that now?”

  “Yes.” His face lit up, they prayed and afterwards the children went to bed, healthily tired and soon asleep. Susannah came back into the living room from tucking them in and Noah had folded the paper and the clothes.

  “We can’t tell anyone,” he said. “Well, maybe Bruce and Hazel but they’ll keep it to themselves.”

  “Did you get a letter also?” Susannah asked.

  “Yes. They suspect the manager but it could be someone else.”

  “My character comes highly recommended by another bank. I need to be good at what I do but otherwise appear to be as dumb as many men think women are.”

  Noah frowned. “Women aren’t dumb and I don’t think men in general think they are.”

  “Then why am I only one of two women detectives and Rachel one of a very few female surgeons? She said more women are qualifying but it’s difficult for them to find posts. Hazel is one of the few lady lawyers.”

  “Maybe men feel threatened. I don’t know.”

  “They don’t have to feel that way. Jude is very happy with Rachel and she certainly doesn’t appear to throw her weight around even though she is so clever. Bruce and Hazel have a good relationship.”

  “Yes. Would you like to marry?”

  “Not in general. Maybe one day.”

  “To what kind of man?”

  “The kind wouldn’t matter. I would just need to love him.”

  “Yes.” Noah stood. “I’d better be going. I’ll see you at church tomor
row.”

  Susannah stood as well then walked with him to the door. “I look forward to your fish dish.”

  “I wouldn’t get too excited about it.” He bent to kiss her lightly on the cheek. “Goodnight, Susannah.”

  “Goodnight, Noah.”

  He strode away then began to jog. Susannah watched his dim figure until he disappeared out of sight before shutting the door, her expression pensive. Obviously he hadn’t fallen in love with anyone to date and that made her feel a bit bleak though why it should do she didn’t know.

  Except that she did really and had known for sure since they were in the mine together. It wasn’t his strength that had convinced her. It was his vulnerability. It wasn’t the bravery he showed even when he was afraid. It wasn’t anything really. It was just him.

  But he only regarded her as a colleague and he didn’t even try to steal a kiss in the way he did when they first met. He had kissed her this evening though it was the kiss of a friend, nothing more.

  But loving him wasn’t good, anyway, because she wanted to pursue her career as a detective. Hazel pursued her career as a lawyer, of course, but that was different. It didn’t involve the danger Susannah had experienced and probably would face in the future. It involved brain power but not physical danger.

  And what would this forthcoming assignment be like? Would there be danger in that? Was she right to put herself in danger in view of Dan and Becky? Blair might find their mother but then he might not, in which case Susannah would be responsible for them. Well, Blair would be really but he hadn’t been so good as a father thus far, even though he had improved a bit.

  Which was because he never wanted to be one. He had just used the young people as a prop. Susannah went into the living room, scooped up everything and made her way upstairs. It was no good going over these things, and particularly where Noah was concerned. She would just get on with the career she had chosen and do what was expected of her where Dan and Becky were concerned.

  Chapter 22

  “How are you settling in, Miss Curtis?” The manager of the bank walked over to the desk where Susannah sat.

  She pushed her spectacles up her nose a bit as she replied in a Californian accent. “I’m becoming familiar with my surroundings and my work,” she said as primly as she could.

  “Good. The doors will be closing in ten minutes and you need to record the takings of the day and the outgoings.”

  “I’m up-to-date with that,” she said. “I just need the transactions of the last hour.”

  “You are very efficient. You came highly recommended but I didn’t envisage how good you would be. Our last clerk wasn’t very good and we had to discharge him. He kept saying there were irregularities in the accounts but it was his shoddy work.”

  “I have seen no irregularities but then I’ve only been here a few days.” Was it wrong to lie now she was a Christian, but how could she not as a detective? Of course there were irregularities between what she saw happening and what was recorded in the books, but she could not admit that she saw them or she would never get anywhere. She just hoped God understood.

  “And you will find none,” the manager said. “We are very careful in the way we work.”

  “What irregularities?” she asked. She knew what they were but maybe he would give her more information without realising what he was doing.

  “He said not every transaction was recorded. He worked on the tills sometimes in the way you have done.”

  “Did he produce any proof of what he claimed was happening?”

  “No. It was what he said he saw.”

  “Was he accusing any particular person?”

  “No. He said he kept an eye on what came in. It wasn’t individuals he was checking on. We could find no proof of what he said which is why we asked him to leave. Have you noticed any irregularities?”

  “No. I can’t say I have.”

  Why was the manager telling her this, she thought when she left the bank forty five minutes later. Surely if he was involved he wouldn’t mention it at all. Except that maybe he realised people would talk and she had been told about this by the staff. Each one was really a suspect, she felt, not just the manager, but the person who did it may have stopped for the moment because of the worker’s dismissal.

  She made her way down the road to where they had parked the wagon, knowing Noah would meet her there in about thirty minutes. It was a comfort seeing him wandering around the bank each day, knowing he would be there if there was any trouble. Another guard took over from him when he left because he was not employed to work at night.

  She would go to the mercantile first, she thought. Not as herself because she wouldn’t change in the wagon until they were en route to Middle Pine, but as Sally Curtis which was her name for the assignment. She had been to the store a few times since she started at the bank and met a few people. They were all very friendly which made her feel rather bad at her deception.

  Which seemed to be the pattern of things so far because she was always deceiving. It was part of her job and she had to admit she had enjoyed being a singer. She even enjoyed what she was in Lower Pine though it had its complications.

  She bought a few items of food, started towards the wagon and Noah ran down the road. “I overheard a conversation,” he said.

  “Oh?”

  She glanced at him and thought, in the way she always did, how wonderful he looked. As security guard he had a uniform but he always changed before he left, not wanting the people in Lower Pine to know what both he and Susannah were doing. Today he looked the part of a real cowboy, she felt, in his blue denim pants with a shirt to match. He even wore a cowboy hat to go with the outfit.

  “I was out of sight of the two men who were talking,” he said. “They’re planning a bank robbery. Evidently they feel they can’t pilfer funds anymore because of that man who did your job. He might have been told to leave but it cast a doubt. Anyway, one of them said, they weren’t going to get rich very fast siphoning off funds. It was too slow a process. They are also going to be paid for what they plan to do.”

  “By the manager?”

  “They just said the boss.”

  “When is the robbery?”

  “Tonight at one. I’ll come back about eleven to make sure I’m in good time.”

  “YOU’LL come back?”

  “I’m not allowing you to be in the middle of such danger.”

  “Not allowing!” She virtually spluttered.

  “Not allowing.”

  If he noticed her indignation he did not show it by word or deed, but she was sure he had noticed. “You have an over estimation of your rights with me,” she said.

  “Marry me then so you have to do what I say.”

  Susannah giggled. “Marry you. Do you seriously think that if I was married I would do what my husband told me to do?”

  “The marriage vows include obey.”

  “You’re deluded.” She climbed into the back of the wagon. “Totally deluded.” She moved back a bit in order to be out of sight of anyone who might be passing. “Get on the front and drive.”

  “So you can boss me but I can’t boss you?”

  “We’re not married and I’m higher in the pecking order. I’m a detective and you’re a bodyguard.”

  “That’s not very tactful.” His tone was a bit sullen as he untied the horses and attached them to the wagon. “Why don’t you just add the claustrophobia?”

  “I’m not being appeased by that remark,” she said, pulling off her dress as he got on the front and quickly putting on another one after removing her spectacles and wig. She climbed on the front with him and put her hand through his arm. “Nor am I rising to your bait. You’re sulking.”

  “I’m not!” The tone of his voice turned to indignation. She giggled and he turned his head to smile slowly at her. His face straightened into a more serious expression. “It could be dangerous, Susannah.”

  “On our own but we have to tell Benjamin.”
>
  “If any sheriffs are seen they won’t do it.”

  “They won’t be seen. We’ll work out a strategy together. Let’s go and see him as soon as we get back to Lower Pine.”

  “If he helps you don’t have to come.”

  She removed her hand. “I’m coming. This is my case and I’m seeing it through. You wouldn’t want to deny me the pleasure of that, would you?”

  “More accurately, I couldn’t deny you the pleasure of doing that because you’re stubborn.” He stressed the couldn’t.

  “Then be pleased that you’re not married to me.”

  She virtually held her breath as she waited for his reply. Married to him but he never showed any indication that he would want that. If he did life would become more complicated, anyway.

  He looked at her sideways but she was looking at the scenery in the opposite direction. The muscles of his mouth contracted and his eyes were a bit tortured as he screwed his face. His tone, however, was light.

  “It would be like a prison sentence.”

  “I thought so. Where is there to hide so we won’t be seen?”

  “I would imagine upstairs in a shop opposite. Maybe a couple of stores. The mercantile is very close. There would also need to be people at the back of the building in case they go in that way. They’ll have to somehow get hold of a key because it would be noisy if they bash in a window.”

  “Yes. It’s you who will have cracked this case because you’re the one with the information.”

  “Does that matter?”

  She turned her head to smile at him. “No, of course it doesn’t. We’re a team. However.” She paused.

  “However what?”

  “They’re not the only ones who have been pilfering funds.”

  “Oh? Who else?”

  “The manager.”

  “How do you know that and can you prove it?”

  “He’s been on the till a few times and I know he hasn’t recorded some transactions. I have each theft recorded and I know where he keeps the money.”

  “Where?”

  “In the post office. It’s not very clever really doing that but then people who do such things aren’t thinking straight. I know what amounts he took so when it comes to trial they can be compared with what he put into the post office.”