I never got the chance to do that. Juliette requested a transfer on Monday and, by the next week, was sent to a council in South Dakota. I didn't get to thank her for teaching Rex how to dance or for showing me the real mastermind of the counterfeiting Confederate money ring.
Stumpy, Mary Gold, and Eldo were locked up in the county jail for counterfeiting and murder. The sheriff was waiting for the Feds to show up so he could hand the case over to them. Soo Jin's autopsy proved that Standish died from blood loss due to the slashed artery. Even better, Eldo's DNA was all over the victim's clothes and the pant leg I'd found.
The sheriff was still investigating Ralph's involvement. An interesting side note—Branson wasn't investigated. The freezer chest was traced to Mary Gold because her fingerprints were all over it, and her husband told the police that he'd wondered where his wife's freezer had gone. They didn't find anything linking Branson to it, other than the fact that it had been in his tent.
Betty had to give up all of her Confederate cash, as it was impounded as evidence. She was told she could keep the sword after it was released. Ike admitted that he'd been looking for it, as had the guys Eldo hired to search my tent. They told the sheriff that they were gypped because no one told them they would get beat up by a girl. Those two men were still in County while they decided what to do with them.
Kelly never admitted that she'd been flirting with Stumpy the whole time, instead insisting that she had been investigating undercover on Riley's orders.
As we got together a few days later to pack up the clothes and send them back, I realized the girls were giggling hysterically and shooting Kelly and me furtive glances.
"What's up?" I asked.
While it wasn't that rare for me to be out of the loop, there was something about the way they were acting that made me wonder.
I shook my head. "You know, I'll never figure out how Betty got a team of Union soldiers to follow her raids."
Betty feigned an extraordinary interest in the packing tape.
"Oh, that was Embry and his guys," Inez said.
"Embry?" I was puzzled. "But they'd galvanized as Rebels."
"They didn't like that our cannon was given to the Confederates," Lauren said. "So they offered to help get it back."
Kelly cocked her head to one side. "From themselves?"
Ava affirmed. "They still had their Union uniforms. They liked raiding with Betty so much that they agreed to do it for the other two battles."
I asked, "How do you guys know all of this when Betty won't admit to anything?"
"We were all in on the planning." Caterina giggled. "Shooting the officers was my idea."
Lauren piped up, "And Hannah and I came up with the cannon capture."
"What about the drummer boys?" I asked.
The four Kaitlyns just smiled.
"Okay," I said. "But why go so far as to attack them on the battlefield?"
Inez gave me that look that implied I wasn't very bright. "Because it was Kaitlyn's brother who lured you out to the field to scare you away."
Ah. That explained the suggestions to disband my troop and leave town.
"Really, Mrs. Wrath." Ava shook her head. "For an ex-spy, you can be kind of slow."
"But," I wondered aloud, "why did he ask me to drop my investigation?"
Lauren looked at the other girls before she spoke. "It's obvious. That Eldo guy you beat up paid him to do it."
Kaitlyn nodded. "My dumb brother has fifty bucks on his nightstand. He didn't get that from mowing the yard."
These kids were very smart. CIA smart. Detective smart.
"Okay!" I tossed the rest of the clothes on the bed. "Let's take a break. Who wants to throw knives?"
To my surprise, Kelly didn't protest as she followed me out to the backyard, where I had a table set up with real throwing knives and a few ninja stars I'd scrounged from some of my old supplies.
She laughed when she saw the targets I'd made.
"Drummer boys?" she asked.
Betty picked up a ninja star and flung it into the cardboard target's forehead.
"Of course," I said as I ran to the garage, returning with a life-sized target of Major General Alister Smith.
"I made this one just for you."
Kelly smiled as she looked over the knives. Without any training at all, she planted one through his heart.
Oh yeah, I'd make a spy out of her yet.
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