Chapter 6
“They are all resting,” Hilda whispered as she stepped from the living quarters into the Sheriff’s office.
“Thanks for your help supervising the prisoner.”
The woman harrumphed. “Does your mother know what you are up to, Benjamin Chauncy?”
“I’m just doing my job, Hilda! If those were your children and some stranger stole them away, would you be so understanding?”
“Boy, I don’t know what’s wrong with you. It’s clear as the nose on your face that Rosie is those children’s mother. And if that doesn’t shake your faith in what those sidewinders upstairs have been spouting, then your own eyes should make the truth plain.”
Ben deflated. “Don’t you get it, woman? If what Miss Sherman says is true, then there is an ugliness in this world that I can’t quite comprehend.”
Drawing a chair around the side of the desk, Hilda sat and waited for the newly-minted lawman to raise his eyes. “Evil has been stalking about for more years than we know,” she began. “And what happened to sweet little Rosie isn’t anything new. Powerful men? Their audacity knows no bounds.”
“What am I supposed to do, Hilda? Those Pinkertons insist on returning Miss Sherman’s children to their father. And Simon Rassbach is tangled up in this mess somehow. Those men upstairs have been working in the railyard for weeks.”
“Those varmints aren’t going anywhere. They killed Sheriff Danbury in cold blood – and that testimony isn’t biased. The stagecoach driver told you as much,” the angry lady insisted. “As for the railroad representative. Well . . . up your nose with a rubber hose, Rassbach!”
Ben tempered his reaction to Hilda’s outburst and acknowledged the truth of her statements before running his hands through his hair in frustration. “Talk this through with me,” he suggested. “You’ve spent more time with the girl than I have. Tell me your impressions.”
Folding her hands together in her lap, Hilda sat up straight and searched Ben’s face before asking, “Are you sure you want to know what I think?”
The overwhelmed man nodded once and braced himself for a long-winded diatribe.
“Rosie’s barely seventeen, and that man has already sired four children on the girl. And as hateful as that is, the part that really burns my britches is that girl’s mother! The woman willingly and knowingly made Roseanna a brood mare to Mr. Matthews.
“So, if you are looking for someone to lock up, Benjamin, I suggest you start with Mr. Gerald Matthews and his accomplice – Rosie’s mother.”
A geyser of acid spewed up Ben’s windpipe, and he choked on his revulsion. However, he didn’t have the opportunity to formulate a reply before his office door banged open. “Got a telegram here for you, Ben. And the sender wants an immediate response.”
Hilda looked at her husband, Arlo, and scolded, “Close the door. You’re letting the cold in!”
The sheepish man immediately complied, but when he turned around, Arlo Grosspointe stage whispered, “It’s from the Pinkerton Agency in Chicago.”
Pushing back from his desk, Ben hopped up and crossed the office in two long strides. He accepted the envelope and carefully turned it over in his hand.
“Well, for heaven’s sake, boy. What does it say?” Hilda demanded.
Arlo patiently waited for the Sheriff to open the missive, but finally, he burst out, “The Pinkertons wash their hands of those two upstairs. Says, ‘Let justice be served.’”
“Honestly,” Hilda harrumphed. “What else did they think would happen?”
Heaving out a sigh of relief, Ben pulled the slip of paper from the envelope and read the message for himself. Then he opened the center drawer of his desk and pulled out the badge he’d worn just a few days earlier. “This is yours, Hilda,” he said, dropping the bit of metal into the woman’s hand. “You’re officially my deputy in charge of the women prisoners.”
Arlo laughed. “You expecting more?”
“Good Lord, man. Bite your tongue. The one I got is more than enough!”
A compound of warehouses stretched for three blocks along the rail lines extending to the west, and with a busy freight office tucked in behind the largest building, the area was a hubbub of activity.
However, when Ben couldn’t find the railroad representative there, he turned back toward the center of the village. A few years prior, the Great Valley Railway had built up four square blocks to create a business district, and the burgeoning village had blossomed along the main thoroughfare.
Set at the corner of Division Street and Great Valley Road, Rassbach’s office was a mirror image of the Sheriff’s. However, the layout is where the similarities ended. The pretentious man had spared no expense in outfitting the space with the most ornate finishings and furnishings he could find. With his private quarters located on the second level, Rassbach had used a large section of the main floor for his office, leaving his secretary and all of the files squeezed into a small space at the front of the building.
“I’m looking for Rassbach, Pernelia,” Ben said as he marched through the front door.
“Try at the office across the street or at the company store,” the harried woman offered as she shuffled a stack of correspondence into a courier’s pouch.
“Alright. But in the meantime, can you tell me where to find the employee files?”
That slowed the woman’s frantic movements. “Those are private, Deputy. Surely you know that.”
Ben gave a terse nod. “Just like I’m sure you are aware that I’ve been appointed Sheriff.” He waited until the woman pursed her lips and stiffly acknowledged the statement before continuing. “And it might not be common knowledge around Roses Briar that Arnold Danbury’s murderers work for the Great Valley Railway. But I’m positive you also know at least one of the men I have sitting in my jail. Isn’t that right?”
The secretary flushed, and her demeanor went frosty.
He watched as the woman quickly tucked her left hand into the folds of her skirt. “Which way to the files, Pernelia?” he questioned.
Scowling, Pernelia Jacquish jerked her head toward the wall that separated her space from Rassbach’s. “Employee files are in the top two drawers to the far left.”
Offering a tight smile, Ben nodded his understanding. “Oh, and by the way. Congratulations on your engagement.”