Chapter 3
“How could we have been so wrong?” Spencer paced his supervisor’s office. Aloysius Gable’s information regarding Eugene Astor had completely turned the investigation on its ear.
“I know this isn’t what you want to hear. It’s not what I wanted either, but at least now we have some certainty in where he’s gone.”
Spencer went to the window and watched snow fall on the buildings outside. “We’ve thought for years we had that certainty. Now you’re telling me it was all a hoax—something Astor made up to keep us guessing for twenty-five years.”
“I’m no happier about it than you. When your father and I were working this case together, we thought it a simple thing to catch Astor. We caught his brothers, after all. We thought we had him in Philadelphia, knowing that was his hometown.”
“But instead, he killed my father.” Spencer ran his hand through his hair and turned to face his friend.
“Al, you’ve been good to me. You stepped up to be a father to me after mine died.
You took me in to live with you when my mother passed.
Finding Eugene Astor has haunted us both, and it’s become my main purpose and goal, despite serving other cases for the Pinkertons.
Now you’re telling me that after all this time, we weren’t even close. ”
The older man sank into his chair. “Astor is a master criminal. He’s led us on a merry chase to be sure. If his mother hadn’t died, we’d still be no wiser. He’s just that good at hiding his whereabouts.”
“So tell me what happened.” Spencer felt a wave of hopelessness drive him to sit.
“As you know, we’ve had our best agents on Astor since he killed your father. We had trusted sources and tracked him around the country as he moved from place to place. We were perplexed by the fact that we couldn’t ever seem to pin him down. Now we have proof that he didn’t move around at all.”
“So where’s he been? Abroad?”
“No. As far as we can tell, he’s been working for the Union Pacific in Wyoming Territory.”
“How did you find this out?”
“Astor’s mother recently passed away. We’ve had her under surveillance since he and his brothers first started their bounty jumper game. The postmaster reported to us when Dorcas Astor received mail. Since she lived in a small area outside of Philadelphia, it wasn’t hard to keep an eye on it.
“When she died two weeks ago, someone cleaned out her house, and we took the letters from Astor as evidence. One of our staff pored through each one to see if we’d missed anything over the years.
It turns out we’d missed everything of importance.
Astor has been sending letters from Cheyenne to various conspirators of his.
Some were located in New York, Texas, and all the other locations we thought Astor had lived.
In those letters, he included one for his mother.
His cohort would mail it from their town, and when it arrived to be delivered to Astor’s mother, our people noted where it had come from, and you went on the hunt. ”
“I know that well enough. I followed those letters around for all these years.”
“Exactly. Now, reading through the contents of the letters his mother had saved, we learned that Astor decided to go west with the Union Pacific almost immediately after the decision was made to move the railroad west. The letters indicate that Astor had friends working for the company, and given his background in accounting and bookkeeping, the railroad found him to be a great asset and hired him on immediately. It would seem he’s lived a quiet life in Cheyenne for the last twenty years. ”
“If that doesn’t beat all.” Spencer could hardly believe what he was hearing.
He had followed a long list of locations, figuring that sooner rather than later he’d pinpoint Astor before he could up and move away.
When in fact, Astor had been fixed in one place.
No doubt it humored the older man to imagine the time and money he’d cost the Pinkertons attempting to follow him around the country.
If he hadn’t stolen so much money from the government, they probably would have given up the search for him and accepted the loss.
“As far as we know, he’s still there. Cheyenne is considerably larger now.
However, it was hardly big enough to be considered much of a town when Astor would have settled there.
We have no idea what name he’s been using or where he actually resides.
None of the letters to his mother made any mention of it.
They commented on money he was sending her, things that were happening in Cheyenne and the area.
He mentioned in several of the letters that he longed to see her and wished he could sneak her out west, but he admonished her not to try to come.
Apparently, she was never healthy enough to attempt the trip.
Plus, I’m sure he knew we’d be watching her every move. ”
“I just don’t understand how we could have been so completely duped.”
“We didn’t expect him to be as good at this as he’s been.
He apparently has more intelligence than we ever gave him credit for.
He’s played this out perfectly. It appears in the few years between fleeing your father’s murder and taking up a job with the Union Pacific, he was able to put this plan in motion.
Of course, the years following the war were ones of great change. ”
“I can’t believe all the time I’ve wasted. I’ve accomplished absolutely nothing.”
“That’s not true, Spence. You’ve worked hard for the agency on other projects as well as this one. You’ve received commendations and high praise for your work, in fact. Your father would be proud of you.” Al smiled, though for Spencer it was bittersweet.
“But the one thing I vowed to do, the only thing that really mattered, I’ve failed at. My father’s killer is no closer to being caught.”
“Look, we know he’s been living in Cheyenne somewhere. You’ll go there and settle in and find him. I’ve already cleared things up here for you. You can leave right away. I’ve sent word to the Union Pacific explaining what we need. When I get that information, I’ll forward it on to you.”
“I need a plan. Cheyenne can’t be all that big yet. Certainly not the size of Chicago or even Denver. If Astor has lived there since it was just a small town, he’s bound to have made friends—folks who would hide him and even lie for him.”
“It’s possible. I’m not suggesting you just storm into the Union Pacific offices and demand to know where they put Eugene Astor to work. Leave that to me.”
“He won’t be using his real name.” Spencer knew the man wasn’t that stupid.
“No, I’m sure he put that aside. Look, he’s gone to a lot of trouble to stay hidden, but the letters gave us a location and even the company he works for. Cheyenne is where we need you and where you can finally arrest Eugene Astor. The man is as old as me. Nobody lives forever.”
“What was the date of the last letter he sent his mother?”
“Christmas last year. As far as we know, Astor doesn’t realize his mother is dead. He’ll probably write her again. We have someone in Philadelphia keeping a watch. Meanwhile, we’ll have you in Cheyenne.”
At this, a thought came to Spencer. Carrie was going home to Cheyenne.
He could travel with her. A plan began to take shape.
“I have a friend who used to live in Cheyenne. She is planning to head home in a few days. Maybe I can travel with her. Her family has been there from the beginning of Cheyenne, or nearly so. They’ll know most everybody from the early days, maybe even know Astor himself. Her father is the chief of police.”
“That’s perfect. As a fellow lawman, you could go to him and confide what you’re doing.”
“It might be best to keep it a secret for a time. Astor could be a dear friend of the family for all I know.”
“Good point.”
“I wouldn’t want to give myself away. I could trust Carrie to keep my identity a secret, however. I know she’d do this for me. She’ll vouch for me too. Maybe I could ask her father for a job.”
“Maybe you could pretend to be married to her. Would she go that far? It would be a perfect cover. No one would question the chief of police’s son-in-law.”
Spencer shrugged. “I don’t know, but it would be worth asking. Give me a day or two. I’ll let you know.”
He got to his feet and grabbed his hat. The sense of frustration and loss was replaced with the hope of a new plan.
Carrie could help him to maintain cover and get him an inside view of the townspeople and the legal system there.
And if she agreed to the things he had in mind, he wouldn’t have to say good-bye to her. At least not yet.
Eugene Astor contemplated the days to come.
Having just returned from Denver, he had hoped to be in a better frame of mind.
Instead, the doctors there confirmed his worst fears.
They believed a tumor was growing in his brain.
A tumor that couldn’t be surgically removed or treated in any way to reverse the damage it had already done.
Nothing would stop it from killing him, and the time left to him was short. It was a sad ending to contemplate.
The first person who came to mind was his aging mother.
She was in her eighties now and no doubt had few years left.
But he had only weeks, maybe months. He would need to put his affairs in order.
He picked up a pen and began to write a list of what he needed to accomplish in whatever time was left to him.
At the top of the page, he wrote a single word: Mother.