Love in Disguise (24 page)

Acting on that gloomy thought, she lifted her parasol from the rack near the door and reached for her reticule on a nearby table. The stage wasn’t scheduled to arrive for forty-five minutes, but waiting at the station, where she might stumble upon a clue, seemed wiser than waiting in solitude at home. Locking the front door behind her, she drew a fortifying breath and set forth to meet her new cousin.

Just as she turned onto Grant, she remembered a slim volume of poems she planned to loan Myra. She hesitated, wondering if she should wait to do it another time. But if things didn’t go well with “Cousin Ted,” she might not get another chance to see the woman. With a weary sigh, she turned around and trudged back to her house.

The moment her feet crossed the threshold, she once again sensed something amiss. A quick glance at the desk and its misaligned drawers confirmed her suspicions. Billy Taylor had struck again.

How? She remembered locking the front door only minutes before. A quick check assured her all the windows were locked. The back door, however, wasn’t latched. That solved the mystery of how Billy had entered, but how could she have overlooked something so important?

The thought nagged at her as she grabbed the book, locked both doors, and turned down Second Street once again. If she couldn’t remember such simple precautions, maybe she had no business remaining in the Pinkertons’ employ.

A flash of movement caught her eye, and she saw Billy slipping around a corner in his best Junior Pinkerton mode.

“Stop right there, Billy Taylor!”

The boy skidded to a halt and trotted toward her with a bright smile. His sunny look faded when he saw her expression. “What’s the matter? Wasn’t I bein’ sneaky enough?”

“I think you’ve been entirely too sneaky. Didn’t you give me your word you wouldn’t go in my house without permission again?”

Billy’s eyes rounded. “Yes’m. And I haven’t.”

Ellie crossed her arms and glared down at him. “Don’t go spinning any of your yarns, young man. Someone was in my house just a few minutes ago, going through my desk, and we both know who that was.”

The boy opened his mouth to protest, but Ellie cut him off. “I’ve been patient with you, Billy. But any more of your mischief, and I’ll have to take stronger action. Understand?” Without waiting for him to reply, she pivoted and went on her way.

After delivering the book to Donald, who promised to pass it along to his wife, Ellie turned her steps toward the stage depot. On the opposite side of the street, she spotted a figure in a slouch hat. She took a second look and caught her breath.

She hadn’t been mistaken—it was the man who had acted in such a surly manner at the hotel. The man who’d dropped that mysterious note. She watched as he approached the bakery and almost let out a whoop when he repeated his earlier actions of looking over his shoulder before ducking into the adjacent alleyway.

Ellie tried not to let her excitement show as she crossed the street, paused in front of the bakery as though looking for something in her reticule, and ventured a glance around the corner of the building.

Sure enough, there he was, in the very act of slipping a note into the secret hiding place. She waited until he went out the other end of the alley and hastened to the crack in the wall.

Slipping her fingers inside, she held back a cry of triumph when her fingers encountered a scrap of paper. Pulling it out, she unfolded it with trembling hands and read the brief message:

Seven o’clock tonight. Behind Pickford Hall.

A slow smile curved Ellie’s lips. Finally, a real lead and a chance to prove her worth to the Pinkertons!

She tucked the paper back into its hiding place and returned to the boardwalk, trying to control her elation. Maybe this would be her opportunity to see the hidden face behind the silver thefts at last.

Ellie fidgeted outside the depot. How would she know this alleged cousin when she saw him? Fleming and Gates could hardly have given a description in their telegram, but it would have been nice to know who she was supposed to be meeting. Unable to stand still, she paced the width of the boardwalk and hoped her show of nervous energy looked more like anticipation rather than the agitation she felt.

For the dozenth time, she adjusted her sleeves, tugged at her gloves, and pushed her spectacles back into place. She had chosen to dress as Lavinia for this little family reunion, reasoning that Gates and Fleming had only seen her in this disguise and wouldn’t have known how to describe Jessie. Assuming they believed “Jessie” was actually there in Pickford.

A dusty cowboy stepped down, followed by a young couple who looked to have come straight from the East and a jaunty-looking man in a bowler hat. The man turned a slow circle on the boardwalk, and his face lit up when he spotted Ellie.

“Cousin Lavinia!” He spread his arms wide and approached her with a broad smile.

“Dear Theodore!” Ellie stepped into the circle of his embrace and returned his hug. “How long has it been?”

“It seems like forever. I can’t remember the last time I saw you.” The twinkle in his eye would have put Ellie at ease if not for the suspicion that he was there to drive her into the ranks of the unemployed. “Where is this cozy little cottage Henry told me about?”

Ellie picked up on the cue. “Just a few blocks away. It’s an easy walk, even for me.”

“Let me deal with my luggage first. I plan to take a room at the hotel, since Henry says there’s only enough sleeping space for you and Jessie at your house.” He gave Ellie a penetrating look she chose to ignore.

“That’s very thoughtful of you. I’m sure the station agent would be glad to keep an eye on it for you.” She waited while he made arrangements, grateful for his tact in not trying to foist his presence on her overnight.

When he was ready, she tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, and they set off toward Second Street. “I hope your travels have given you a hearty appetite. I have a pot of stew simmering on the stove, made just the way you always liked it. How is dear Matilda? Has she recovered from that bout of pleurisy?”

The spurious Cousin Ted spoke gravely, although Ellie detected the flicker of a smile. “She’s doing splendidly. Back to her usual robust health, I’m glad to say.”

Ellie prattled away about other imaginary relatives all the way to her house. Ted fielded her questions with ease, seeming to enjoy the improvisation.

As they neared the corner of Second, Ted tilted his head toward her. “And how is Jessie adapting to life in the Wild West?”

Ellie’s step faltered enough to pull them both slightly off balance. “Jessie? She’s . . . well, she’s . . .”

“Never mind.” Ted patted her hand and they continued on. “I’ll ask her myself.”

Ellie caught a glimpse of Billy Taylor and his cronies skulking behind a rain barrel as she led Ted up the front steps. Raising her voice slightly, she replied, “She’s been looking forward to seeing you. You’re the first relative to visit us in our new home.”

Ted followed her gaze and gave an almost imperceptible nod. “It isn’t every day I get a jump on the rest of the family like this. They’re all eager to hear the news of your adventures out here.”

Ellie fumbled for her key, inserted it into the lock, let them inside, and closed the door. Out of the public view, she abandoned Lavinia’s round-shouldered stoop and pulled her shoulders back, eyeing Ted warily. Now what?

He removed his bowler hat, revealing salt-and-pepper hair thinning on the top. He hung the hat with care on the coatrack near the door. “So, Miss Moore, what’s going on?”

Ellie reminded herself to breathe. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

Ted turned to face her, all traces of the genial visitor gone. “Your wires have created quite a stir back at headquarters. We know Norma Brooks never came out here. It’s obvious that no one with any experience is running this investigation. So that leads to my next question: Who is out here with you?”

“No one.”

His bushy gray eyebrows drew together. “Come, Miss Moore. You wired the office to say that Jessie had arrived, yet now you insist you’re acting on your own. It’s little wonder the home office pulled me off my own investigation in Denver and sent me here to find out what is going on.” He took two steps toward her, and his eyebrows lowered. “I’m asking you one more time—who are you working with?”

Ellie pressed her lips together to stop their trembling. Now that the time had come to confess, words failed her. How could she explain an idea that seemed so simple at its inception but had turned into a quagmire of confusion?

She waved her arm toward the armchair. “Would you wait here, please? I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Ted raised one eyebrow but did as she asked. She noticed that he moved the chair so it put him in a direct line between her and the front door, presumably in case she decided to make a break for it.

Feeling a little like a suspect herself, Ellie walked into her bedroom with as much dignity as she could muster. Once inside, she moved like a whirlwind, pulling off Lavinia’s charcoal gray dress and tossing it on the bed. Off came the gray wig, the spectacles, and the leg wraps, and out came the plumpers.

Yanking Jessie’s sapphire blue princess dress from the wardrobe, she pulled it on, utilizing every quick-change technique she had learned working backstage. Next she wiped “Lavinia” from her face with cold cream and with a few deft strokes applied Jessie’s makeup. Finally, she lifted the red wig from its stand and pulled it on over her own drab locks.

She took a last look at the image in her mirror and adjusted the curls in her bangs. Smoothing the skirt of the dress with her hands, she walked toward the parlor, ready to give the performance of her life.

And Ellie couldn’t have hoped for a more satisfactory reaction from her visitor. The moment she stepped into the parlor, Ted’s mouth fell open, and he started bolt upright.

“Norma? But I thought . . .”

Ellie shook her head and allowed a small smile to play across her lips.

He bent forward and eyed her closely. “All right, you aren’t Norma, but you look remarkably like her. Who are you?”

Ellie allowed her shoulders to droop and walked over to him using Lavinia’s stiff gait. “Why, Cousin Theodore, have I changed so much in such a short time?”

Ted’s mouth worked, but no words came forth. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket without taking his eyes off Ellie and used it to mop his forehead. “My stars! They told me you had some theatrical experience, but I never dreamed . . .”

“The stew is ready. Shall I dish it up?” Without waiting for an answer, Ellie straightened again and sashayed toward the kitchen, adding a Jessie-esque swish to her walk. Best to keep him off balance as much as possible.

In spite of her attempts to appear casual, Ellie spoke little during dinner, asking only if Ted would like her to refill his bowl with more of the savory stew. He accepted her offer without hesitation, but she couldn’t tell whether his quick agreement boded well for her or not.

When he’d spooned up the last bit of the rich liquid, Ted pushed his chair back from the table and sat regarding Ellie thoughtfully. “Would you care to explain to me what’s going on?”

The moment of truth had arrived. Ellie blotted her lips with her napkin and faced him squarely. “It isn’t hard to explain what started it all. . . . I needed this job. Without it, I would have starved to death on the streets of Chicago. It’s as simple as that.”

She eyed him closely but couldn’t discern what thoughts were running through his mind. “I went to Kansas City as directed, but then I met Norma and found out she’d gotten married and had no intention of taking on this case.

“I didn’t know what else to do, so I decided to come out here as planned and conduct the investigation on my own. I didn’t intend to mislead anyone with those telegrams.” Remembering Pastor Blaylock’s favorite topic, she swallowed and offered a clarification. “Not much, anyway. I just wanted to have time to get my bearings and decide what to do next. I really couldn’t go into much detail, since anything I sent to the home office would be repeated around Pickford before nightfall.”

She waited for some response from Ted, but he remained silent. “Then I realized I needed Norma’s character in addition to Lavinia. Sending that wire saying Jessie had arrived was more to let the people in town know to expect a new arrival than to deceive anyone in Chicago.”