Smile Arc
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“You’re going to have a baby,” Sam said. He looked like he was about to cry again, and she wanted to comfort him but didn’t know how. She had never seen anyone in her life give birth before, so it wasn’t surprising that the sight of her belly made him nervous.
“I’m not sure if I am or not.”
He put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to his chest. “The doctor says you are.”
She nodded and pressed her lips together to keep from crying herself. How could this be happening? Was there no way out of this situation? There had to be an answer somewhere.
Sam kissed the top of her head. “It’s okay now. You’ll be all right. We’ll find a way to get through this.”
When he let go of her and walked back into the house, she followed behind with her hands pressed tightly together as though she were holding something precious. When she entered the kitchen, the smell of baking bread and fresh coffee greeted her senses.
It smelled wonderful and brought her some measure of peace. The restlessness inside her eased when she saw Mrs. Johnson’s kind face staring at her with concern.
“What do we need?” Sam asked. His voice sounded calm for once. “How can I help?”
Mrs. Johnson smiled warmly and reached over to touch Sam’s hand. “We’ll take good care of you and your wife. We won’t let anything happen to either one of you.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
She motioned toward the table. “Help yourself to some food and drink while we wait on Mr. Cooper to return.”
They sat down across from each other at the table and waited patiently until they heard the sound of horses coming up the dirt road leading to their ranch. As soon as the wagon rolled up onto the porch and came to a stop, Sam jumped to his feet. “Mr. Cooper!”
The driver stepped down off the wagon seat and gave Sam a slight nod. “Yes sir. What is it?”
“Please tell me where you found these women?”
Cooper glanced at Mrs. Johnson and then back at Sam. “Are you referring to these two young ladies who arrived here last night?”
Sam nodded. “Who else did you bring?”
“A woman named Molly Wainwright.”
Molly! No wonder he hadn’t recognized her. Her hair was dark brown instead of black. And her eyes were gray-green—not blue.
“And the girl?”
“Her name is Emily Jones.”
Emily! Of course. They’d met her in Kansas City. That was why he thought she might be related to Molly. But he hadn’t known for certain until he learned of the death of her parents.
“Is there any chance she’s still alive?” Sam asked. “Could someone have taken her from Kansas City?”
“No,” Cooper said. “Miss Jones died several days ago.”
Sam sank lower into his chair. “Was there ever any hope that she would live?”
“None whatsoever,” Cooper said. “There was nothing we could do for her. Even if we had managed to save her, she probably wouldn’t have survived long enough to make it home to her family.”
Sam shook his head. “That poor child.”
“Now what brings you here today?”
Sam took a deep breath and tried to organize his thoughts. He wanted to say something comforting, but couldn’t figure out what to say. Finally, he shrugged and said, “My wife—”
“Your wife?”
“Yes. Well, actually I guess my wife isn’t my real wife. Not anymore anyway.”
“Do you mean to tell me that you married her without telling her about the baby?”
Sam blinked at the man’s bluntness. “Of course not!”
“But she must’ve been suspicious since she didn’t come with you when you left town.”
“Why should she?” Sam replied. “Doesn’t matter whether she knows or doesn’t know about the baby; we aren’t getting divorced. This marriage will stand forever.”
“Then why don’t you want to divorce her?”
“Because I love her more than anything in the world, and I always will. My father taught us to honor our wives, and we intend to follow his advice.”
“I see.” Cooper cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “Well, I’m glad to hear that.”
As soon as Cooper started walking away, Sam got to his feet and hurried after him. “Wait!”
Cooper turned around and raised his eyebrows. “Did you have another question?”
“Tell me how you found them.”
“You’re not going to believe me.”
“Try me.”
“This morning, Miss Jones called the police station asking for the sheriff.”
“She called the police? Why?”
“I think she may have realized that she wasn’t safe here and knew we had to protect her. She told the officers where to look for the missing woman. One of the officers went to her hotel room and saw the door open so he checked inside.
There were signs of a struggle and blood splatter on the wall. The officer looked through the window and noticed footprints outside. He followed the tracks and found both women lying in a ditch by the side of the road.”
“Where are they now?”
“With us. Both are unconscious.”
Sam swallowed hard. “When did you find them?”
“Early this morning. It was raining pretty hard so we had to wait until the weather cleared before we brought them back here.”
Sam walked over to the railing and leaned against the wooden posts. “It looks like you found them just in time. We only received word yesterday afternoon. Did anyone notice them being carried into your barn?”
“Not that we know of,” Cooper said. “We didn’t get much sleep last night worrying about what might happen next.”
“How did you manage to keep this quiet?” Sam asked. “If people were looking for them, they certainly would’ve seen you bringing them in.”
“One of the girls has a friend in Chicago who made arrangements to hide them in the city until the search ended.”
“What if someone discovers their hiding place?”
“They’ll never find them because they won’t go anywhere near the area where they’re hidden,” Cooper said. “The only person who can take care of them is Mrs. Johnson.”
Mrs. Johnson! Now Sam remembered why he hadn’t recognized her earlier.
He stepped forward and put an arm around each young lady’s shoulder. “Thank God you’re all right.”
Both young ladies nodded, although neither spoke. Then they glanced up at Sam. Their eyes widened. Neither smiled.
“Let’s take them upstairs and examine them,” he said. “Can you help me carry them?”
“Yes. Thank you.” Cooper turned toward the stairs and held out his hand to Emily. She stood motionless beside him, staring down at her shoes.
Sam took one of the other two young ladies under his arm and followed Cooper downstairs. As soon as they reached the kitchen, he handed off one girl to Cooper and then sat down at the table while Cooper carried the second young woman upstairs.
“Are there any rooms available for these two?” Sam asked.
“Only the attic,” Cooper replied. “Otherwise we’d have them stay in the house. But we’re afraid it might be too close to the scene of the crime.”
“Good thinking.” Sam thought about how difficult it would be for either of the girls to return to her family after learning that she had witnessed a murder. “Have you taken fingerprints yet?”
“No, but we plan to do it later today.”
“That’s probably best since you can identify them better than anyone else.”
“There could still be some hope that someone recognizes them from the photos we sent out to newspapers,” Cooper added.
“Maybe,” Sam agreed. “But we shouldn’t count on it.”
After taking a sip of coffee, he pushed his chair back and stared at the ceiling. “In fact, I doubt that any of the three women will ever make it home again.”
Cooper came over to sit across from him. “Why?”
“All three of them are poor country girls with no money or resources. They’re unlikely to survive without the protection of a wealthy family. And even if they managed to escape the murderer, they couldn’t live in a small town for long without arousing suspicion.”
“And once they left, how would we bring them back?”
“By using every trick in my detective repertoire.”
Cooper shook his head. “I don’t understand how you expect to catch this man when you haven’t been able to solve your first case. How can you possibly know where to start looking for him?”
“Because we’ve got more information than we’ve shared with the public,” Sam said quietly. “We already know exactly where he lives—or used to live.”
“Really? Where?”
“Somewhere in Nebraska.”
***
The first thing Sam wanted to check was the condition of the two young ladies. He picked up one of them and laid her on the bed. The girl looked peaceful enough except for the bandage wrapped around her forehead and a bruise on the left side of her face.
Sam noticed several cuts on her arms and hands, which probably occurred during the attack. He touched her wrist lightly, hoping she wouldn’t wake. When nothing happened, he pulled away.
Emily appeared by the doorway. “Did you get a good look at him?” Sam asked.
“His hair was dark brown,” she whispered. “Very short. Like yours. His beard wasn’t very thick either.”
“Anything else?” Sam pressed.
She hesitated. “A scar ran along the outside part of his chin.”
“Where does he work?” Sam asked.
“Probably at a ranch.”
“Does he own a horse?”
“Yes. A big black one.”
“Was he riding it last night?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure if he was leading it or walking alongside it.”
“Could you tell if it belonged to him or someone else?”
“It looked like a horse he rode.”
“You must’ve spent quite a bit of time watching him,” Sam said.
“I did. Why?”
“If we’re going to catch him, we need to know everything possible about him. Did he always ride a black horse?”
“Yes.”
“What color was his clothing?”
“Dark blue jeans. White shirt. Brown boots.”
“Do you remember anything else about him?”
“No. That’s all.”
“When was the last time you saw him?” Sam asked.
“Last week.”
“How many times did you see him?”
“Just twice. On Tuesday and Thursday.”
“Who were the other men who accompanied him?”
“I only saw the one.”
Sam nodded to Cooper. “Go talk to her. See what you can learn.”
“Right. Thanks.”
He went into the hall and found Emily waiting just inside the front door. She smiled when she spotted Sam. “Thank you so much for letting me come along. It was nice meeting you, too.”
“My pleasure. We’ll go ahead and leave now,” he told her.
“I wish I could take you with us,” she said, glancing down at her dirty clothes. “But I guess you wouldn’t want that.”
“Actually, I’d love to have you join our team.”
Her eyes widened. “Me?”
“Of course,” he replied. “Think about it.”
They walked to the carriage together and climbed inside. “Are you ready to leave?” Sam asked Cooper.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
As soon as they drove away from the hotel, Sam called George. “Is there any news yet?”
“Not really.”
“Any word on whether anyone recognized those women?”
“Nothing. No one has contacted us yet.”
“Let’s keep an eye out for a woman named Clara Miller,” Sam suggested.
“That’s right, the waitress. But I doubt that anyone will recognize her because she had dark brown hair. You didn’t say anything about her having a mustache.”
“I think we should wait until we hear something before we try to find her,” Sam explained.
“Good idea. Let me know if anything comes up.”
“Will do.”
Sam glanced at Emily. Her cheeks turned pink. She seemed embarrassed at being seen in such ragged clothing. Maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned that she might join their team. Not unless he intended to hire her.
While they waited for the telegraph office to open, Sam decided to ask Emily some questions about her childhood. “Tell me about your father,” he began.
“Why?”
“There are still so many things about him we don’t know. For instance, how long did you actually live with him?”
“For almost ten years.”
“Were you close to him?”
“Very. At least he was before he died. Before my mother remarried.”
“And your stepfather?”
“Well, he’s not dead, but I haven’t spoken to him in five months.”
“What made you stop talking to him?”
“He tried to marry off my brother without telling me.”
“Your brother?” Sam repeated.
“Benjamin. He’s eight.”
“We’ve been trying to track Benjamin down since he disappeared,” Sam explained.
“You mean he isn’t at home?”
“No. We couldn’t locate him anywhere in Texas. And then this morning we heard about a runaway boy who matches Benjamin’s description. He also worked as a cook at a ranch. So we sent a telegram to the ranch owner asking him to call us if he sees Ben. If you happen to run across him, would you mind calling us?”
“Sure. I’ll do that first thing tomorrow morning.”
The telegraph operator finally came out and opened the window. Sam gave them instructions on sending a message. When he finished, the man handed him three messages. The first two were routine: one to the sheriff regarding the stolen horses and another to the railroad company regarding lost luggage.
“Here is yours,” the operator said.
Sam read it aloud. “This is to inform you that four of your hired hands are wanted by authorities.”
“Four? How many?”
“One, Charlie Grant, was arrested earlier today after he attacked a saloon girl. Another, Jimmie Barnes, is wanted for murdering a stagecoach driver.”
“Was there a third?”
“Yes, Amos McCoy.”
“What happened to him?”
“McCoy got caught stealing cattle and killed the rancher while escaping.”
“Didn’t you arrest him?”
“Only after we learned of the murder.”
“So why am I getting this message?”
“Because the sheriff wants to question him.”
“Do you think the others are coming back here?”
“Probably.”
“How did they get away?”
“A group of men rode out looking for them last night.”
“Could it be the same men who stole the horses?”
“Maybe,” the operator admitted. “It doesn’t matter anyway. They’re probably already halfway to Denver by now. We won’t see them again.”
Sam looked at Emily. “If you happen to run across either Charlie or Jimmie, let me know.”
“Don’t worry. It wouldn’t take much for me to catch up with them.”
The End