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* * *
Leonard’s head hurt as he sat at the telegraph machine. The longer his morning went on, the more it felt as though his brain might actually explode. He wondered if there had ever been a case of such a thing happening. The next time he saw Dr. Harcourt, he would ask him.
He didn’t know what to make of the conversation he’d overheard between Lucille and Irene. He’d flat out lied and said he’d heard nothing of any interest, but that had been far from the case. He wasn’t about to tell Lucy that though, given how strangely she’d been acting of late.
In truth, Leonard had heard just enough to make him suspicious. Of what, he wasn’t entirely sure. Or maybe it was only that his heart didn’t want to admit what his head was trying to tell him. It had almost sounded as if Irene and Lucille knew who the Beauty Bandits were. A couple of times, it had almost sounded as if they themselves... But no. He pushed that thought away, unwilling to let his mind go there.
There was no way he could talk to Amos about this. He wasn’t even sure he was right. The women had been talking fast; that part had been no lie. If they hadn’t also been talking so loud, he never would have heard anything at all. He wished they’d kept quiet. He wished he could erase all of this from his mind and forget he’d heard anything about that silly women’s gang.
“Leonard?” Amos said his name, and Leonard looked over at him.
“What?” he asked, realizing only now that Amos had been talking to him and he hadn’t heard a word he’d said.
“I asked how the telegraph was coming along.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Leonard said.
Amos narrowed his eyes and tipped his head to the side the way he always did when he was thinking. “Something on your mind today?” Amos had been asking him that a lot lately.
“What? Why? No,” Leonard said and went back to fiddling with the telegraph. It sprang suddenly to life, and Leonard smiled for the first time all morning. It was his first genuine smile of the day. If only he hadn’t forgotten his hat this morning, he wouldn’t have gone back to his house, wouldn’t have heard Irene and Lucille talking, and his brain would not feel like a piece of raw meat that had been put through a grinder.
“Nice job,” Amos said, coming around behind him and slapping him on the back. Amos smiled at the telegraph as if it could smile back at him, then returned to his seat behind his desk.
Leonard grimaced and tried to pretend the friendly slap hadn’t made his head hurt that much more. He leaned back in his chair, happy that at least one thing had gone right for him today. Maybe getting the telegraph working was a sign of better things to come.
“Where’s Curt?” Leonard asked, suddenly realizing the other deputy hadn’t been in all morning.
Amos narrowed his eyes at him, squinting from behind his desk. His lips rubbed together, and his hand rubbed his chin before he set them flat on his desk and said, “Leonard, I know I’m your boss, but I’m also your friend, and I wish you’d talk to me about whatever it is that’s bothering you.”
Leonard blanched. “I don’t know what you mean. I’m just tired, that’s all.”
Amos nodded absently. “I told you not more than an hour ago that Curt was down at the general store talking to Jack Weaver about his break-in last night.”
Leonard’s eyes widened. “Jack Weaver’s shop was broken into? Is he all right?”
“God darn it, Leonard,” Amos said, slapping his knee with his hand. “We went through all of this already. You don’t remember?”
Leonard hesitated then shook his head. There was no point in denying his mind had been wandering all morning.
Amos let out a sigh. “It’s my fault as much as it is yours, I guess. I was pretty sure you weren’t listening to me when all you said was ‘uh huh’ and ‘mmmm.’ I guess I just thought that some of it had sunk in somehow.”
Leonard ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry, Amos,” he said. “Want me to go down there and help Curt out?”
“No, that’s all right. When Jack came in to tell us about it this morning before you got here, he said it looked like nothing much had been stolen. Just some men’s shoes and a hat.”
“A man’s hat?” Leonard asked.
“That’s right.”
“I guess it wasn’t our Beauty Bandits then. Think it might’ve been the same vagrant who broke into the church last week?”
“Could be,” said Amos. “But I doubt it. Whoever broke into the church wouldn’t have wanted to linger around Elmwood; they’re probably on the opposite side of the country by now.”
Leonard nodded, unconvinced, and the two men sat in silence.
Finally, Leonard licked his dry lips and tried to swallow, but his throat was just as dry as his tongue. “Let me ask you something.” Amos lifted an eyebrow waiting for him, and Leonard continued. “If Victoria, the woman you married and swore an oath to before God himself, ever did anything like, oh, I don’t know, break the law... would you turn her in?”
Amos stared long and hard at Leonard. “That’s not an easy question to answer,” he finally said after a minute. “As sheriff, I ought to say yes without even thinking twice about it, but as her husband... how can I?”
“So your wife comes before the law?” he asked, and Amos drummed his nails on the desktop, reminding him of Lucille.
“I suppose it would come down to what sort of crime she’d committed. If no one was hurt, or if it was a sort of accidental crime, like maybe she didn’t realize it was against the law, I’d probably just set her straight on a few things and keep it to myself. Family always comes first, and my wife is my family.”
Leonard nodded, somewhat surprised by Amos’ answer. Amos had always acted as though nothing were more important than the law; it was one of the traits he’d always thought they shared. He wondered what might constitute an “accidental crime.” He would never have thought such a thing existed, but the more he considered it, the more sense it made. Sometimes people did not mean to break the law, they were simply ignorant of it. What if that was the case with Irene and Lucille? Maybe someone had told them something and they did not realize they were required by law to report it?
There could be even more to it than that. What if Lucille only suspected who the Beauty Bandits were and was afraid to say anything for fear of being wrong? What if it was someone she knew, or someone who was threatening her? She might think she had no choice but to keep quiet.
He realized suddenly that Amos was still watching him. Leonard had been sitting silently by for what felt like several minutes without saying a word. Amos’ eyes bore into him like a nail slowly digging its way in. He leaned forward now.
“Is this about Lucille?” Amos asked in a near whisper. “Has she done something that worries you?”
Instinctively, despite everything Amos had just said, Leonard shook his head. “No, nothing like that. I just... I got to thinking about these Beauty Bandits after reading the article in this morning’s paper. What if they’ve got husbands... parents... brothers... Would their family keep their secret if they knew?”
Amos relaxed again and shrugged. “I don’t know, but if it were my sister out committing those crimes, I’d turn her in in a second.”
Leonard almost jumped in his seat. “You would? But you just said—”
“I said I’d keep things to myself if no one was hurt. The Beauty Bandits have killed three men now. I’d turn in my own father if he was a cold-blooded murderer.”
Leonard bit his bottom lip. He felt so mixed-up he didn’t know which way to turn. He wished again that he’d never heard Lucille and Irene talking. He trusted Lucy. He had to, she was his wife. But if she really did know who the Beauty Bandits were, he had to find out.
The door to the station opened just then and Marshal Decker walked in. “I need to search houses,” he said matter-of-factly.
Amos and Leonard looked at him. “Excuse me?” Amos asked.
“Didn’t you hear?” asked Decker, dismayed. “The bandits have struck again, and this time two men are dead. Next time it could be three, or an entire family, even the children.”
Leonard didn’t like the frantic look on the man’s face. “You can’t just search every hose in Elmwood,” he said to Decker.
“Why not?” Decker demanded. “I’m a marshal; I can do whatever I need to get the job done.”
“Our citizens are not gonna like that,” said Amos.
“I don’t give a good damn what the citizens of Elmwood like or don’t like,” Decker snapped. “I need to search the homes in this town from top to bottom if I’m going to find the woman I’m after.”
“Will you know her on sight?” Leonard asked.
“Yes,” said Decker, though Leonard thought the man sounded hesitant. “I’ve got descriptions from the witnesses that I can match up along with some sketches based on those descriptions. Even if the woman’s not blonde, I ought to be able to make out her face. I think.”
“And what makes you think she’s still in Elmwood?” asked Amos. “The train that was robbed last night was fifty miles from here.”
Decker seemed to hesitate on this question. “So what?” he finally said. It sounded like a feeble attempt to get his way; something a child would say.
“So how can the Beauty Bandits be fifty miles away and in Elmwood all at the same time?”
“First of all,” said Decker, “the town was only thirty miles from here, not fifty, which is quite a doable distance under the cover of night, I assure you.”
Leonard looked at him, waiting, his irritation flushing his face red. “And what’s second?” he asked after a couple of minutes had gone by.
“What?” snapped Decker.
“You said ‘first of all,’ which implies you have a second remark to follow,” said Leonard.
Decker blinked then said, “Second of all, the train was stopped before it got more than a mile out of the station. The women robbed it, shot those two men, then made their getaway. It stands to reason they’d return to their home base when it was so nearby.”
“And you think home base is Elmwood?” said Amos.
“I know it is,” said Decker.
“Tell us your mystery woman’s name then,” said Amos. “If she lives in this town, we’ll bring her to you and you can question her yourself, but there’s no way we’re going to let you search every home in this town.”
Leonard felt a sudden surge of pride for his friend and boss for standing up to the marshal. Decker did not look happy.
“I’ll speak to your mayor,” Decker threatened. “The governor as well, if I have to.”
“You go ahead,” said Amos. “The governor’s favorite cousin is among our residents, a woman, you know. I imagine she’ll have a few choice words for the governor should he actually permit you to search her home for no reason.”
Decker let out a sigh. “All right,” he said after his face had swollen with anger. “The woman I’m looking for is named Lucille Gravely.”
Leonard and Amos exchanged a look. At least Leonard understood now why Decker had asked about his Lucy; they had the same first name. “No one by that name lives in Elmwood,” Leonard told him.
Decker let out a sigh. “I was afraid of that. I’ve talked to everyone, and no one’s given me that name or even mentioned it, though I’ve met two Lucille’s living here so far. Every Lucille except your wife...” he said and looked pointedly at Leonard, making his ears burn.
“Are you sure you’ve got the right name?” asked Amos.
“It’s the name one of the witnesses overheard. So either he made a mistake, or she’s using an alias.” He paused and looked at Amos. “You understand now why I need to conduct a search. I need to see if anyone’s hiding in these houses. Perhaps there’s another Lucille living in someone’s root cellar, or maybe a bag of money I can link back to the crime.”
“No,” said Amos. “There will be no searches under my watch.”
“Perhaps there are reasons for that you don’t want to admit to,” Decker said and looked again at Leonard, who was beginning to think Decker might not rest until he spoke to his wife.
The two men stared at each other until finally Decker let out a sigh and crossed his arms over his chest like a child getting ready to throw a tantrum. His face turned red and in another minute he was certain steam would be shooting out of his ears.
If Leonard hadn’t overheard Lucille and Irene’s conversation this morning, he’d never have given another thought to what Decker had said, but now, he couldn’t help it. Lucille Gravely sounded nothing like Lucille Jordan, but still... Lucy knew something. If he wanted to keep her out of trouble, he would have to find out just what it was she knew. Maybe it was nothing. He could simply have misunderstood the entire situation.
He could tell by Decker’s expression that he wasn’t going to stop badgering him about Lucy. Maybe he ought to introduce them and just get it over with. It seemed like a dangerous idea, but it might also be the spark he needed to figure out what Lucille was hiding. In his heart, he didn’t think she’d really committed any crime, but she might very well be covering for someone who had. When Decker finally met her, he could then check her off his list and move on to badgering someone else. And maybe the shock of meeting him would startle Lucy into telling him who she was protecting and why.
“Come to dinner at my house tonight,” Leonard suddenly blurted, shocking Decker almost as much Amos.
“Dinner?” Decker asked, a dumbfounded expression on his face.
“That’s right. We can discuss this further... and you can meet my wife.”
Amos lifted his eyebrows as if asking whether Leonard was sure of what he was doing. He wasn’t.
“Thank you for the invitation,” Decker said after a moment and shot Amos a look. “I’d expected such an invitation from the sheriff, but I can see now who the real man in charge is.”
Amos groaned and rolled his eyes. Leonard gave Decker the address and told him to be over at six.
* * *
