Instead of Charlotte uttering a polite “thank you” as Kate expected, she gave Benjamin a generous hug, amazing everyone, especially Benjamin, judging by the look on his face.
“Where are you going, Kate? That’s the way to Main Street. I’ve already questioned everyone there. We’re supposed to be covering Higgins Patch and the Mattson Colliery. Remember?”
“I’m taking a detour.” Kate continued walking toward town. She was disappointed that Joshua had paired himself with her because if it was anyone else, she could bully her way through this without much of an explanation. Now, she’d have a fight on her hands, and she dreaded it.
“Kate . . . stop.”
“I’m going to Main Street. You can go on to the patch if you want.”
“Why? Why are you going?” Joshua barred her way. “Please don’t tell me it’s for the reason I’m thinking.”
“And how am I to know what you are thinking? But if you must know, I’m going to have a talk with Martin Roach.”
“Didn’t you promise me you’d tell me first before doing anything rash?”
“That was before Virginia’s disappearance. The rules have changed.”
“Kate, you can’t do this!” He shook her shoulders. “Stop and think! You’re not a child. You can’t go around doing whatever you like!”
“I must see Martin Roach, Joshua. If he hired someone to scare us, to make us stop our investigation of him, then he’ll know where Virginia is.”
“You’re not making sense. If he did this, do you think he’d tell you? What are you trying to prove? That you can intimidate your way in and out of situations? You can’t treat people like this, Kate. You can’t always do everything your way.” He sighed and shook his head. “All right, go. But I’ll not go with you. I’ll not watch you make a fool of yourself.”
The look on Joshua’s face showed his utter contempt for her plan, and though she tried to stop them, tears filled her eyes. “Oh, Joshua, don’t you see? If it was Martin’s thugs who kidnapped Virginia, they made a terrible mistake. I’m the one they were after. I’m the one who should have been taken. And if anything happens to Virginia, how am I to live with that? I couldn’t do anything for Father, but maybe I can do something to help Virginia.”
For a long time Joshua just stood looking at her. Finally, he drew her into his arms. “I know you want to help your sister and I know you feel guilty, thinking this is all your fault.”
“It is. It is my fault. Oh, Joshua, I don’t want to hate anyone. I’m tired of feeling angry and bitter. I don’t care about revenge. It’s already cost so much and brought my family nothing but misery. I want to be done with it. I don’t want to hurt Martin Roach, anymore. I don’t want to hurt anyone in Sweet Air. I nearly lost my family from all my browbeating and stirring things up. And I don’t want to lose you. But the thing I want most right now is to find Virginia. To bring her home.”
They held each other for a long time, then Kate prayed, right there in Joshua’s arms, for God to forgive her and heal her heart of all bitterness, and when she finished, Joshua bent and kissed her.
“Come,” he whispered, “we’ll go see Martin Roach together.”
Kate’s heart plummeted when she entered the dry goods store and saw it crowded with shoppers. Her meeting with Martin Roach was sure to be unpleasant and she had hoped there would be few to observe it. But men, women, and even a few children hovered around counters and shelves, and filled the air with their chatter. Hester stood behind the counter, cutting green baize from a bolt and looking harried, while her husband was on the other side of the store demonstrating the wick mechanism of a prescut lamp for a customer.
When Martin Roach saw Kate, his mouth dropped, and soon everyone turned to look. When they did, Joshua stepped in front of Kate like a shield.
After ridding himself of the lamp, Martin headed for the door. “You’re not welcome here! You best leave now!” He looked passed Joshua and directly at Kate. “Go on, now!” He made shooing motions with his hands, then tried forcing Kate out the door but Joshua stopped him.
“Keep calm, Mr. Roach. You’re alarming your customers.” Joshua gripped the shopkeeper’s shoulder, holding him in place. Even in his rumpled clothes and disheveled hair, Joshua exuded a quiet authority. “We don’t wish to make a scene. Is there somewhere we can talk? Our business is personal, nothing you’ll want anyone to hear.”
“I . . . suppose we could go to the stockroom. But she’s not to come.” Martin pointed at Kate. “She can wait outside. I won’t have her in my shop!”
Kate ignored his outburst. What did it matter where she waited as long as Joshua learned of Virginia’s whereabouts? That was the only thing that mattered now. But just as she was about to leave, Joshua gripped her arm and held her in place.
“She will be privy to our conversation. If need be, we’ll conduct it right here.” When Martin neither responded nor showed any sign of relenting, Joshua nodded. “As you wish. The purpose of my visit is to inform you that I’ve begun an official investigation and have sent a detailed letter to Mr. Franklin B. Gowen telling him . . . .”
“Stop!” Martin Roach threw up one hand, his face as red as a radish. “Just stop! It will be as you wish. We’ll go to the stockroom. All of us. And talk there.” He signaled, by a flick of his head, for them to follow him, then smiled, a frozen kind of smile, at all the customers he passed.
Kate trailed behind with Joshua, ignoring the startled looks or smirks or how people put their heads together and whispered. But before Kate reached the stockroom, Hester scooted from behind the counter and barred her way.
“You have some nerve coming here! You’re not welcome! You better leave before . . . .”
“Hester, go attend to the customers!” Martin barked, retracing his steps, his frozen smile melting into a frown.
“But Martin, you said she was never to come here again and . . . .”
“I’ll handle this. Now go.” When Hester didn’t move, Martin pushed her in the direction of the counter. “I said, go. Leave this to me.”
As Kate continued to follow Martin Roach, she couldn’t help feeling sorry for Hester. She had nothing against her. The woman probably didn’t even know about Martin’s shady dealings. But Hester wouldn’t be the first wife to suffer because of an errant husband. And it was out of Kate’s hands now. Virginia’s disappearance and Joshua’s report to Franklin B. Gowen had seen to that.
Finally, Martin Roach stopped beside a small desk and wooden chair at the rear of the stockroom then turned to face Joshua. His face was fierce, with eyebrows raised and his bottom lip forming a thin line beneath his bushy mustache. All pretense of the former congeniality he had displayed for his customers had vanished.
“Now, what’s all this about you contacting Mr. Gowen? What would a no-account like you have to say, anyway? Nothing that could possibly interest him. So any attempt to slander me will fail. I am, after all, a highly respected businessman who has helped Mr. Gowen and the railroad in the past, while you . . . ,” Martin’s lips curled in distain, “while you are just a country bumpkin no one is going to take seriously.”
“I’m actually from Philadelphia, and in the employ of the Pinkerton Detective Agency.”
“What? You’re a . . . Pinkerton?” Martin Roach dropped into the nearby chair.
“I am. Mr. Pinkerton has been hired by Mr. Gowen to investigate certain issues concerning the railroad’s mining operations. And he’ll indeed be interested in anything I have to say. As a Pinkerton agent, I was able to gain access to your colliery contracts. In my report to Mr. Gowen I highlighted the discrepancies in seven of them, and advised him to initiate a full investigation into those remaining. I’m afraid, Mr. Roach, you’ve been found out.”
Martin’s mouth dropped, and though his lips moved as if trying to form words, nothing came out.
“It goes without sayin
g, sir, that you are in a great deal of trouble. However, if you cooperate, tell us everything we want to know, perhaps I’ll be willing to put in a good word for you.”
Sweat poured down Martin’s face as he nodded. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want to know where your thugs have taken Virginia Farrell.”
“My thugs . . . what . . . what are you talking about? What have I to do with Miss Virginia?”
“She’s been abducted.”
“What? So . . . that’s why you were here earlier this morning asking questions . . . but I never dreamed . . . are you sure she’s been kidnapped?”
“Quite certain.”
“But . . . you don’t think . . . you can’t think that I had anything to do with it?”
“Didn’t you? You knew Kate and I were investigating you. What better way of stopping our investigation? After all, you’ve done it before.” When Martin attempted to rise from his chair, Joshua pushed down on his shoulder. “Don’t deny it. We can produce a witness who will swear you hired two men to scare Roger Blakely into selling his colliery. We know it was to make it appear that Kate’s father had resorted to violence.”
Martin covered his ashen face with one hand. “Yes . . . but only because I wanted something on him, something I could use to stop him from . . . .”
“To stop him from what? Trying to check into your contracts like I did?”
Martin’s head dropped to his chest as he nodded.
“And to use it as blackmail if he didn’t?”
Again Martin nodded.
“And what were these thugs supposed to do to Mr. Blakely? Rough him up a bit; hurt him enough to scare him? So he, too, would stop looking into your activities? But your thugs got out of hand, didn’t they? They went too far and ending up killing Mr. Blakely.”
At this, Martin jumped to his feet in spite of Joshua’s firm hand. “No, it didn’t happen that way, I swear! They never did the job. Before they could, someone killed the old man.” He glanced at Kate. “Like everyone else in town, I thought it was your father. All the evidence pointed to him, and there were no other suspects. I had nothing against him. I always liked him, Kate. But I thought he was guilty.”
Kate felt Joshua’s hand on her back as if steadying her. With his other hand he pushed Martin back down onto the chair.
“You’ve just admitted you hired thugs to hurt Mr. Blakely in order to keep your double dealings a secret. So why should we believe you didn’t do it again, by having Virginia kidnapped? Or was Kate the real target, and your men botched the job?”
Martin Roach shook his head. “No, no. You must believe me! I know nothing about Virginia or what happened to her. And I never hired anyone to go after Kate.”
Tears mingle with the perspiration on Martin’s face and Kate wondered if they were tears of remorse or because he was now visualizing his world collapsing around him?
“Come on, Kate, we’re finished here.”
“Does this mean you believe me?” Martin straightened in his chair.
“Yes.”
“And I cooperated, so you’ll put in a good word, right?”
“You told us nothing.”
“But I had nothing to tell!” Martin rose to his feet, his hands outstretched like an imploring child. “You’ll speak to Mr. Gowen for me? Won’t you?”
Without answering, Joshua led Kate past the tall shelves of merchandise, out the stockroom, through the store, then out the front door. “You did well, Kate,” he said when their feet touched the sturdy planked sidewalk. And though his face was grave, the shimmer in his eyes told Kate he was pleased.
“So did you.” She took his hand and squeezed it. “But talk about being reckless, you shouldn’t have blown your cover like that. Oh, why did you do it, Joshua? You should have used another approach. This will not sit well with your superiors and may even compromise your standing with the agency.”
“It might.”
“If you lose your job I don’t know what I’ll . . . .” She sighed. “How can I ever thank you?”
“How about we discuss it for the next forty or fifty years?”
She slipped her arm through his, brushing her cheek against his shoulder. “Why not make it sixty or seventy?”
“I’d like that. But for now, we’re back to where we started. It’s obvious Martin doesn’t know anything.”
“So what are we to do?”
“Head for Higgins Patch and the Mattson Colliery as planned.”
It didn’t take Kate long to find someone in Higgins Patch who had seen Virginia.
“She was on her way to the Mattson, all right,” said an elderly woman Kate had seen several times at the colliery but didn’t know by name. “Yes, sir, headin’ for the Mattson and lookin’ like she was on a mission. Nearly dark, it was, too. But I saw that red hair of hers and how she walked as if someone was chasin’ her, like a chicken before you’re fixin’ to make a pot of soup.” The woman smiled a toothless grin as though amused by her own joke. “But that’s all I can say. Don’t know any more.” She returned to weeding the small herb garden by her feet, indicating the conversation was over.
Kate thanked her, then she and Joshua headed for the colliery. But here, Kate wasn’t as fortunate. She and Joshua questioned more than a dozen outside laborers before finding a young man who claimed to have seen her.
“A red head, right?” he asked with a mild brogue, his own tangled blond hair matting his forehead. “About so high?” One coal dust-covered hand hit the top of his shoulder. “And very pretty?”
Kate nodded. “Yes, yes, that sounds like her. But what was she doing?”
The young man grinned as if visualizing Virginia. “She came just before the breaker whistle blew. I noticed her right off. I’d never seen her before. I mean, you don’t forget a girl like that. Didn’t look like no miner’s wife I’d ever seen, if you get my meanin’.” He chuckled. “My friends all tell me I have a real eye for the ladies.”
“Yes, but what was she doing?” Kate repeated.
The young man rubbed his upper arm as though massaging a muscle. “Well, I had just tipped one of them full cars onto the top of the breaker chute and was returnin’ it to the shaft for reloadin’ when I saw her standin’ by the head frame, and I asked myself that very question. ‘Now what would such a fine lookin’ lass be doin’ here all alone?’ Then, after thinkin’ a moment, I came to the unhappy conclusion she was waitin’ for her man.”
“Waiting for her man?”
“Sure. And wasn’t I right, too? Soon as he come up from the shaft they were huggin’ and kissin’, and it wasn’t a casual ‘hello’ kiss, you can be certain of that. And I thought to myself, what a lucky bloke. Then when the kissin’ stopped, they said a few words, and she left.”
“The man—was he Patrick O’Brien?” Kate asked.
“The very one. It’s hard to believe Patrick could get a girl like that, but don’t go tellin’ him I said so. He’s not someone you want to be insultin’.”
Kate waved his remark aside. “You said she left, but you didn’t say if she left alone.”
“Oh, she left alone, all right. And it didn’t please Patrick none. I could tell by the expression on his face.” He grinned and leaned closer to Kate. “Don’t suppose you’re lookin’ for a man, now, are you, lass?” When he glanced at Joshua and saw the frown on his face, his grin deepened and he shrugged. “No, suppose not. Well, I best be gettin’ back to tippin’ cars.” He winked at Kate, then sauntered off.
“At least we know she was here.” Kate turned to Joshua. “Now we need to talk to Patrick and find out why. And we need to find out where she was headed. The breaker whistle won’t sound for hours. I only pray that all this waiting won’t mean more danger for Virginia.”
“We’re not going to wait. I’ll ask the superintendent to send someone for Patrick.�
�
“Will he do that? Just on your say-so?”
“He will if I show him my credentials.”
“Joshua, you can’t! It will finish you for sure with Mr. Pinkerton.”
“Let me worry about that, Kate. Right now, finding Virginia is what matters.”
Kate’s heart sank as she watched Joshua disappear into a small grimy looking building. So far, she had done a good job of nearly ruining the life of everyone she loved. Would she ruin his, too? She was still thinking about it when a man, wearing glasses, a white shirt and dark trousers held by suspenders, stepped into the wooden elevator. At once, the overhead pulley creaked as the cage was lowered into the shaft.
“Acting Superintendent Winston was most obliging and has sent his man into the mine,” Joshua said, suddenly appearing beside her. “Now, let’s hope Patrick has something useful to tell us.”
It seemed to Kate that the cage was never going to return to the surface when at last the large circular sheaves with their grooved rims began to turn in the huge frame, pulling the thick heavy cable upward in fits and starts as if straining with its load. Then came the bonnet—the heavy sheet of metal that covered the top of the cage to protect those inside from falling debris—followed by the cage itself. When it stopped, out stepped two men: one covered in coal dust, the other, spotless in his white shirt and suspenders. Both walked toward Kate and Joshua without saying a word.
“Here he is, Mr. Adams,” the tidy man said, adjusting his glasses. “If you need anything else, let me know.” Then he disappeared, leaving Patrick O’Brien standing in front of them, his large hands dangling like mitts by his side.
“Must be important for the Super to bring me up like this.” He glanced at Kate, then at Joshua Adams. “And your faces don’t look none too happy, neither. Best be comin’ out with it and tell me what’s wrong.”
“We understand Virginia came yesterday to see you, and we’d like to know why,” Kate answered.
The Daughters of Jim Farrell Page 22