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“Coming! I’m coming!” Lucille shouted as the front door to her home rattled on its hinges. She had just finished dusting some items in the living room and wiped her hands on her apron as she made her way down the hall and to the foyer.
She paused momentarily. Whoever was on the other side of that door certainly meant to get her attention. It sounded to her like if she did not soon open it, they might just break it down. The thought unnerved her.
“Who is it?” she asked through the door before opening it, which was something she never did.
“Lucy, it’s Irene. Open up.”
Lucille let out a sigh of relief and unlocked the door. Irene pushed right past her, hurrying into the house before Lucy could even invite her in. She wrung her hands together and paced the long hall, moving from the front door almost to the kitchen and back again.
“What’s the matter?” Lucille asked. Now that Irene was in the house, she could see how pale her face was.
Irene only looked at her. “Is Leonard home?” she asked then shook her head before Lucille could respond. “No, of course he’s not. I just saw him. He couldn’t be at home, could he?” She moved into the parlor then, still wringing her hands together, and Lucy followed.
“What’s the matter with you?” Lucille asked her friend. “Did you and Dr. Harcourt have a fight?”
“No,” Irene said and looked at Lucille with pale eyes and even paler skin. She drew in a deep breath. “Theodore and I are fine. It’s Marshal Decker I’m worried about. He’s here.”
Lucille felt her heart flutter and had to draw in a deep breath of her own. “Marshal Decker? Are you certain?”
Irene nodded, her eyes widening as she said, “I saw him at the sheriff’s station.”
“When?”
“Not more than ten minutes ago.”
Lucille bit her bottom lip and began to wring her own hands together. She took two steps to her left, starting to pace along with Irene, then thought better of it and sat down on a sofa instead. Irene continued standing, bouncing on her feet now instead of pacing the room.
“Are you sure it was him?” Lucille asked. “I mean really sure? He has a plain sort of face; it’s easily mistakable.”
Irene gave her a dubious look. “It was him. I’ve seen his picture in the paper a dozen times, and the last time he came through Elmwood, he spoke to every woman in town. I think he was ready to arrest us all if he thought it would do his case any good.”
Lucille’s head began to ache. The room began to spin. Despite knowing all along that this was a possibility, now that he was here it seemed impossible to her. “What were you doing at the sheriff’s station?” she asked.
“Nothing,” Irene said. Now it was Lucille’s turn to give her a dubious look. Irene expelled a breath. “Fine. I wanted to see whether or not you’d told Leonard anything about your past.”
Lucille’s worry turned to anger. “You went there to question him?” she asked in a loud voice.
“No, only to feel him out.”
What I tell my husband is my decision to make, not yours.”
“I know, but you’ve said nothing on the matter for days, and I was afraid to bring it up to you because I knew you’d react like this.”
“I’ve already told you I would give you fair warning before I said anything to him about the Beauty Bandits, and that even if I did tell him, I would leave your name out of it. I would confess only for myself, no one else.”
“I know,” Irene said with an exasperated sigh.
“And yet you wanted to find out what you could for yourself. You did not believe me. Did you not consider the fact that if you had begun questioning him on the matter, you might inadvertently make him suspicious and give everything away yourself? I’ve not said a thing to him about it. I tried to several times and chickened out each time.”
“I wasn’t going to question him so directly as you’re making it sound. I told you already, I only wanted to feel him out.”
“And how were you planning to do that? What could he have said or done that would indicate to you I’d told him anything?”
“Well, for starters, I thought if I showed up and he arrested me, that would be a pretty clear indication.”
Lucille’s anger doubled. “Do you really think I’d tell him who helped me rob the trains?”
Irene sat in a chair, leaned back against it, and shut her eyes, rubbing her temples. “You’ve been acting so strange lately,” she said. “I didn’t know what to think. I would never have thought you’d confess your own part in the scheme, yet you’ve been thinking about doing just that.”
“Well, I’ve since changed my mind. A woman has a right to do that, don’t you agree?” Irene nodded.
Lucille saw only two choices before her: remain angry and let it make dealing with Decker’s presence that much harder, or forget this argument now and find out what else Irene knew about Decker’s reasons for being in town.
“What was the marshal doing at the station?” she asked after a moment. “Was he looking for me?” She didn’t know why she was asking such an obvious question. Of course he was looking for her.
“I’m sure that’s his main purpose for being in Elmwood, but from what I could tell, nothing in particular passed his lips regarding you. Granted, I was only in there for a moment, but if he’d said anything to Leonard about you specifically, I would have seen it in Leonard’s eyes. I’m certain of it. He’s never been very good at hiding things.”
“That’s true,” Lucille said, feeling a bit better. “But I know Decker’s after me. Why come to Elmwood and say nothing about it to Leonard?”
Irene shrugged. “What does Decker really know about you?”
Lucille hesitated. “Enough. The only thing I’ve got going for me is that I’m fairly certain he believes my hair to be blonde, not red.”
“That’s something, I suppose. How did he get so much information on you anyway? He doesn’t seem to have a clue about any of the rest of us.”
“I don’t know. I must have left something behind at the last robbery which put him on to me, though I can’t imagine what it was.”
“So what are you going to do?” Irene asked.
Lucille bit her bottom lip and shrugged. “I’m going to wait it out, I guess. Decker won’t be here forever, and all I’ve got to do is stay in the house, where I’ll be away from him. If I can manage to hide until he goes, I’ll be all right.”
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