The Virtuous Woman (19 page)

The policeman only tightened his grip as he dragged her out to a waiting squad car. “Watch your mouth, sister, or you’ll be in worse trouble. You can’t hit twenty million dollars over the head like that and get away with it!”

****

Phil was standing beside the sergeant’s desk when the jailer brought Grace out. She had not been ill treated but was relieved to see her father. At the same time she knew she had done it again—disgraced the family.

“It’s all right, Grace. I paid your fine. We can go home now.”

She followed him out to the car silently, and even when he started the engine and drove away, she did not speak. He did not speak either, which made her nervous. “I’ve disgraced the Winslow name again, Dad, but I have to tell you I’d do it again. That big ape!”

“I guess the fellow deserved it from what I hear. If he weren’t a millionaire, he would’ve been the one arrested.”

“What will happen now?”

“Nothing. He could press charges, but I’ve got a good lawyer lined up. I don’t think he’ll want the publicity.”

“I hate it for your sake and Mom’s.”

“Don’t worry about us,” Phil said. “It’s Paige I’m worried about.”

As soon as they got home and entered the house, they heard Paige’s voice. “She’s pretty upset,” Phil said quietly. “She and John had a big row with his parents and they had to break their engagement.”

“I guess that was his folks’ idea, huh?”

“I expect so. To tell the truth, I’m not upset about it. I
don’t think he’s the man for Paige. But she doesn’t feel that way, of course, so get ready for some hard words.”

Hard words were exactly what Grace got. Paige was distraught, weeping, and screaming, “You’ve ruined my life! Why don’t you just go back to the gutter where you came from!”

Grace silently listened to this and worse before Cara finally led Paige off to bed.

When Grace and her father were alone again, she said, “I’m sorry for her, Dad.”

“It’ll be all right. Why don’t you go on to bed too.”

When Cara returned to the drawing room, Phil asked, “How is she?”

“Devastated. What are we going to do, Phil?”

“We’re not going to do anything. Craig Matthews won’t make any trouble about it. If he does, I think I can make some for him.”

“You think I ought to go talk to Grace?”

“Leave it until morning. It’s been a pretty rough night. Come on. I doubt if either of us will sleep, but we’ve got to try.”

****

When Phil sat down to breakfast, neither Grace nor Paige had come down yet.

“Do you think we should go see about them?” Cara asked.

“No, let them sleep as long as they please. It’s going to be a rough day.”

They finished breakfast, and an hour later Cara interrupted Phil in his study, a troubled look on her face. “What is it, Cara?”

“It’s Grace. She’s gone.”

“Gone? Gone where?”

“She left a note.” She handed him a sheet of paper.

Phil took it and read the note:

****

Finding Grace, however, was not going to be easy. Phil considered calling the police, but after the trouble Grace had already had, this did not seem wise. She had left no clues as to where she might have gone, so he and Cara were not sure even where to begin. “She’ll write to us,” Phil said, “and when she does, we’ll go to her.”

This did not satisfy either one of them, but it was all he could think of.

Kevin had no ideas when they told him, and Brian shook his head. “I knew it would come to this. It might be better in the long run.”

The next morning Phil came into the kitchen and said to Cara, “More trouble, I’m afraid.”

“What is it?”

“It’s Kev.” He handed her a note, and she read it aloud:

“Oh, Phil, our world’s falling apart!”

Phil took the note and read it again. “Well, this situation has done at least one thing. It’s brought Kev out of his cave here. He can’t hide if he goes looking for his sister.”

“Do you think he’ll find her?”

“You know, Kev’s pretty close to God. If God told him to do it, then he’ll find her.” He reached out and pulled Cara close, and the two embraced silently.

Finally she whispered, “Yes, I think you’re right. He
will
find her.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

In the Slammer

Francis Key carefully broke an egg into the hot skillet, waited until the yolk was just right, then flipped the egg over. He salted and peppered it, then scooped it out onto a plate next to the bacon he had already fried. Pulling some toast out of the toaster, he sat down at his work table and contemplated his breakfast with satisfaction. He bowed his head and breathed a quick thanks. No sooner had he taken a mouthful than he heard a knock on the door. Startled, he rose, muttering, “Who could that be this early in the morning?”

He started to open the door, then hesitated, remembering his days as a detective when unsavory characters sometimes showed up unexpectedly. Still, he could not imagine any possibility of this now, so he opened the door and found Kevin Winslow standing there.

“Why, hello, Kevin.”

“I’m sorry to bother you so early, Mr. Key, but I had to see you.”

“Come on in and sit down. I’m just having breakfast. Let me fry you an egg.”

“No, you go ahead and eat.”

“At least let me get you some coffee, then.” He poured Kevin a cup of coffee. “I’m surprised to see you out and about.”

“I came to ask for help, Mr. Key.”

“Just call me Francis. What kind of help?”

“It’s Grace. She’s run away.”

“Run away? Why?”

“Well,” Kevin said hesitantly, “it was inevitable. She’s had a pretty rough time of it since coming to live with us.”

“I didn’t think it would be easy. Too much of a change for her all at once.”

“I tried to help her all I could, but she just hasn’t been able to adjust.”

“Tell me more. What happened?”

Francis listened as Kevin related various embarrassing incidents. When Kevin told about how she broke a wine bottle over Craig Matthews’ head, Francis grinned. “That sounds like the old Ruby Zale. Did Matthews press charges?”

“Dad says he doesn’t think he will. Doesn’t want the publicity.”

“I don’t think any publicity could hurt him, but it’s just as well.” Francis spread jelly on his final morsel of toast and popped it into his mouth. “And let me guess. You want me to help you find her.”

“I don’t have the vaguest idea how to go about such a thing. Dad says that’s your specialty.”

“Did you tell him you were coming here?”

“No. I left him a note. I’ve got to find her on my own.”

“I don’t think it’ll work, Kev. There are just too many things going against her.”

“You don’t understand, Francis. I think God told me to do this.” He expected to see disbelief in Key’s expression but saw only interest. “Do you think that happens?”

“Certainly it happens. Tell me about it. Everything.” He listened carefully as Kevin explained how God had used the Scripture in the book of Esther and ended by saying, “I think God has put it on my heart to find her.”

“Why do you want her to come back, Kevin?”

“I just want her to be happy.”

“She wasn’t happy when she was there. What makes you think she will be if you find her?”

“I don’t think God would have sent me to find her if there wasn’t a reason for it.”

“I don’t think she’ll come back. You don’t know her, Kev.”

“We’ll find a way to get her back if you can help me find her first.”

“Even if I could, you couldn’t help her.”

“Why not?”

Key hesitated. “Because you’ve hidden away from the world so long. You’ll have to go public—leave your safe little ivory tower.”

“Well, I’m here, aren’t I?” he said defensively. “I’ve thought all this out, Francis. God wants me to find her, and I think He led me here. I’ve got a little money and an old truck we can use to run around in. I’ve also brought Grace’s motorcycle.”

Key studied the man in front of him.
I just don’t know how much help he’s going to be,
he thought.
The first time he gets out in a real tough spot and somebody laughs at his disfigurement, he’ll turn tail and run back home.
He did not voice his thoughts aloud, however, but said, “All right, I’ll see what I can do. But I have to tell you that it’s not a sure thing.” He put his fork down on his empty plate and carried his dishes to the sink. “Did she say where she was going?”

“No. Dad’s hoping she’ll write, but I don’t think she will.”

“I don’t think so either. So we just have to go out there and find her.”

“How will we do that?”

“I imagine we could start with the folks I used to work with at Rader and see if they’ve heard anything about a new girl on the streets. Listen, why don’t you come back tomorrow morning—let me finish this chapter of my book—and then we’ll get started.”

At that moment Miriam screeched, “Repent! Repent!” and came sailing down to rest on Key’s shoulder.

“What did he say?” Kevin asked, staring wide-eyed at the bird.

“This is Miriam—a she, not a he. She said to repent.”

“You taught her that?”

“Sure—but she knows some cussing too that will curl your hair.”

Kevin grinned. “I’ve always wanted curly hair.”

****

The search for Grace proved to be more difficult than Francis had imagined. The next day he and Kevin went to the detective agency he worked for off and on and enlisted the help of the owner, Matthew Stoner.

“We’ll do all we can, Francis,” Stoner promised him. “Any thoughts of coming back to work for us?”

“You know I’ll be back eventually, Mr. Stoner, but right now I’ve got to concentrate on my novel. I’m making good progress. But thanks for asking. And thanks for your help.”

The two also went to the police station, where Francis had good contacts. Kevin stayed right by his side as they talked with various officers, and Francis watched his behavior carefully. He saw that however painful it was for the young man to be out in public, he was determined to follow through with the search. This pleased Francis, and he thought,
At least one good thing will come out of this. Once this is over, Kevin won’t have to go back to being a hermit again.

Two days went by without a clue, although Francis worked every angle he could think of. As they drove back to Francis’s apartment on the second afternoon, Kevin asked him, “How can a woman just disappear? She has to be
somewhere.
”

“There’s a thousand places she could be. She could have gone back to California, or even left the country. Do you know how much money she had?”

“No, I just know she left behind all the clothes and jewelry our family bought for her.”

“Well, it’s pretty hard to trace people who don’t want to be found, but I’ll keep trying.”

****

“We’ve got a lead, Kev.”

Kevin jumped to his feet with excitement in his eyes. “What is it?”

“I think I’ve found her,” Francis said with satisfaction. “I had the police check the arrests in all the smaller towns within a hundred-mile radius of New York. There’s a one-horse place in Pennsylvania called Eddington. They arrested a young woman there by the name of Grace Winslow. It’s probably her.”

“What’s she charged with?” Kevin asked.

“That’s not such good news. She’s charged with soliciting.”

“You mean prostitution?”

“That’s right, but don’t make too much of that. When the police pick up a girl who’s out on her own, they usually tack that onto the charges.”

“I hate to think what the other charges will be!”

“We’ll find out soon enough. Come on, let’s see if that truck of yours will hold together for a little trip. Say, do you mind if I take Miriam along? She gets awfully upset if I leave her alone too long.”

“Not a bit. She can help me memorize some Scripture along the way!”

The old truck did fine as the two men headed to Eddington, about eighty miles south of New York City. When they drove down the main street, Francis said, “This may be touchy.”

“Why’s that?”

“Some small towns are pretty insular. They don’t like outsiders coming in. Usually they’re hard-nosed about anybody getting into their business, especially private detectives. You’d better let me do the talking.”

“Where do we start?”

“The police station.”

They found the police station just off the main street, a small one-story brownstone building with two older-model police cars parked out front. When they went in they were
greeted by an overweight policeman with a beefy face. “Help ya?” he grunted.