Chapter 13
Thinking of something, as Sadie put it, was easier said than done. With the rain pelting the windows and night all around them, dark as pitch out of every window, Dorothy was feeling a good deal less confident.
Finding the transactions and tracking them on paper was one thing. Even finding out who they belonged to was relatively safe. But what would happen after that? Would they have to hurry to New York, hand the evidence over to the police, and hope they would listen?
And what about Pine Hill? Mac had said he didn’t think the town’s problems were over. He seemed to think there was every possibility that Brett would be back.
“Dorothy.” The mention of her name brought her out of her reverie. She blinked at Warren and her aunt. They were sitting at the kitchen table, and there were plates of food in front of them. Oh right, they were having dinner.
“Dorothy, dear,” her aunt chided. “You have to actually put the food in your mouth to get the benefit, you know?”
Dorothy looked at the forkful of broccoli she was holding halfway to her lips.
“Right,” she said and popped it into her mouth.
It was cold but still tasted fine. Chewing, Dorothy tried to think of how to express her worries.
And then the words came to her. “I don’t think we have anyone we can trust in the contracts department.
That’s the problem. They all seem to have no real loyalty. ”
“Mac will know someone,” Sadie said. “He always knows who to send a message to.”
“Yes, that’s usually me,” Dorothy said. “I suppose I can head back to the office in the morning. I can look for the files and bring them back with me.”
“I don’t think you’re going to find a proper file on these accounts,” Warren said. “There might be something on the shelf where the contracts and other information should be, but I think you’ll find that there are things missing.”
“We won’t know until we look at the files,” Dorothy said.
“Let’s tell Mac first in the morning,” Sadie said. “There’s no point in worrying about it now. I think we can guess who owns the contracts anyway. It has to be Harding and Devlin.”
Dorothy nodded. “They’ve been trying to get Mac to sign over his control of the company for ages.
They keep trying to find other ways to either justify it or to make him do it.
It’s a good thing that the more one pushes Douglas McGregor, the more he pushes back.
They’re never going to get him to do it. ”
“No, not at the moment,” Sadie said. “But there is such a thing as pushing him too far. I think before we came here, he was on the edge. Mac was on the brink of becoming paranoid and unhappy. That’s not healthy for him or the company.
” She sighed unhappily. “It’s strange how so many things fell apart at the same time. Just one after another after another.”
“What do you mean?” Warren asked, looking confused.
Sadie put down her knife and fork. “It started with another contract. This was an investment that Mac wanted to make in a company that was manufacturing something. I forget now what it was, but they thought it would be lucrative.
“Well, Mac did the due diligence, and it seemed fine, so he said he would invest. Harding and Devlin disagreed. They wanted to take the money and invest it elsewhere,” Sadie continued.
“Mac was adamant. He put the money into this manufacturing company, and at first, it was all fine. The company was doing well and making a profit. Then suddenly, the money wasn’t enough, and the profits disappeared. ”
“How?” Warren asked.
Sadie shrugged. “I don’t really understand it.
Something about the market changing. Anyway, they lost the money.
It happens. Then came your mine’s trouble.
All of a sudden the cash cow was giving less milk.
It was a problem. You rallied well, but it’s been getting worse.
Mac has been very worried about your town and the hostility and violence you’ve all endured. He wanted to help you ages ago.”
“So, why didn’t he?” Warren asked, looking confused.
“You’ll have to ask him. It seems that something changed with Harding and Devlin,” Sadie said.
Dorothy nodded. “I think Peter Harding is gambling again. I mentioned to Mac that I found a betting slip on Peter’s desk one day, but Mac didn’t want to pursue the matter. He said that what the man does on his own time is his own problem.”
Warren nodded. “Until it causes a problem.”
“He spoke to Peter and apparently it was a one-time thing,” Sadie said.
“Does Mac tell you everything?” Dorothy asked.
Sadie chuckled. “Just about. We’ve always been good sounding boards for each other. We might not be able to live with each other, but it also seems that neither of us is able to live without the other.”
“Does that mean you still have feelings for him?” Dorothy asked.
Sadie looked wistful. “I’m … I guess it does.” She smiled. “It’s not a bad thing. He is a wonderful man. It’s just that obsessive part of his personality that drives me absolutely insane.”
“But then what happened?” Warren asked. “There was the trouble with our mine and Harding’s gambling problem. Then what?”
“Oh, then all of this trouble started here in Pine Hill,” Sadie said.
“Suddenly our childhood home was in peril. Mac still wants to retire here to the hotel. He doesn’t want anything to happen to this town.
Brett and his thugs are not welcome. He wants to get rid of them.
But just when he was starting to work on that issue, he said the hotel developed problems. First it was deliveries.
He couldn’t get anything brought up by the stagecoach.
He fixed that, and then there was a problem with the boats, and once they were repaired it was the rats, and so on.
It’s been a never-ending list of problems lately. ”
“That sounds like more than the usual issues a place can expect to have,” Warren pointed out.
Dorothy stopped eating and froze. “You’re right. It is. Do you think …” She didn’t dare to finish her question. What if this was more than just bad luck? What if the problem wasn’t confined to New York?
“I’m thinking, now that you mentioned all of those other problems, that something else is going on here,” Warren said.
“What?” Dorothy asked. “Someone is cheating Mac out of the money for his firm. We know that much for sure.”
Warren nodded. “Sure. That’s a given, but there’s more to this. From the extra pages you brought that you said were meant to be destroyed, I’ve gathered that there is something far bigger and more sinister going on.”
“What are you talking about?” Sadie asked.
“Well, I think that the corruption goes a lot deeper, but we won’t know how far unless we have access to everything,” Warren said.
“And we won’t have that kind of access unless we head to the firm in New York,” Dorothy said.
Warren nodded. “I’m afraid so. We should both catch a train tomorrow.”
That evening, Dorothy slept in one of the unaired beds in the cabin. It was a narrow bed, and the cabin creaked and cracked during the night in a most alarming way. The sound of the rain on the windows and the lake was louder than it was in the hotel, and she found her dreams to be disturbed.
She just couldn’t relax. If what they suspected was true, then they needed to move fast, and it would take at least the whole morning to get back to New York.
If only there was someone they could send, someone supremely loyal to Mac and yet who wasn’t her or Warren. They couldn’t be two places at once!
Dorothy went to the kitchen and had just lit the fire when Warren came in through the front door.
“Oh, you’re up,” he said.
“Where were you?” Dorothy asked.
Warren smiled. “I walked Sadie up to the trail,” he said. “She has decided to head to New York and go in search of the information we need.”
“But why? We were perfectly happy to do it.”
“She said something about Peter Harding not being able to refuse her,” Warren said with a shrug. “I didn’t even pretend to understand, and frankly, I think she quite enjoyed having me completely clueless.”
“Oh,” Dorothy said, surprised. “So, now what?”
“I think we should head back to the hotel,” Warren said. “We should tell Mac everything we’ve found out. Then at least he’ll be armed with knowledge.”
Dorothy nodded and smiled. Having Sadie head to the office took a load off her shoulders. Dorothy would be questioned and ultimately stopped. Sadie had a strange way of getting what she wanted from people, and it sounded like she had a plan.
“I’ll go and pack up our work,” she said.
“I’ll make us a last cup of coffee if you like. Something to keep us going on the long walk back?” he offered.
“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Dorothy agreed.
Warren went to the range and began to get the coffee going while she went to the table.
They had been working hard, and there were papers and folders everywhere. Some had even landed on the floor. She bent down to pick up a folder and froze.
A creature was walking across the floor. It was black and white and looked like a really ugly, enormous rat. It had a long bald tail, long whiskers, and sharp claws.
“Ah … Warren!” she said slowly. “I … um … We have a possum visiting us.”
“We have a what now?” he asked, turning from the coffee.
“A possum. Surely you’ve encountered one before?” she asked.
Warren walked over to her and stopped, staring. “The most I’ve ever had to deal with was Tim’s raccoon.”
“Who’s Tim, and why does he have a raccoon?” Dorothy asked. She didn’t want to deal with the possum and gave it a wide berth. She’d heard they could be vicious.
“He’s Lizzy’s little brother and … It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you once we get this little fellow out. Do you know how we do that?”
“No, but there’s something about them … Now, what is it?” Dorothy racked her brain, trying to recall what it was about possums she should remember.
“Maybe I can shoo it out?” Warren suggested.