18
“Mr. Novak!”
Clarence cringed. He recognized that nasal voice but kept walking.
“Mr. Novak! Clarence!” Gertrude was relentless. If only he could get that pushy woman off his back.
With practiced ease, he pasted a small smile on and turned around. “Gertrude. How good to see you today, but I must admit, I’m off on a very important errand.”
The heavy woman caught up and gasped for breath. “Errand? In the woods?” She huffed. “That’s a lot of nonsense, and you know it.” She pointed a finger in his face. “We had an agreement, and I’m getting tired of waiting.” The haughty woman lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes.
Like she could do anything at all to intimidate him. Please. The woman was nothing but a nuisance. Useful for a time, but that had worn off like the plating on cheap jewelry. “I truly am on an urgent errand.”
“But you’ve missed our last two appointments. I hate to be a nag”—she leaned in close and dropped her voice to a whisper—“but you have yet to fulfill your end of the bargain. I’ve done my part, now you best follow through or—”
“Or you’ll do what, exactly?” He allowed his gentleman façade to drop. His anger emerged in his hissed words, “Do not attempt to threaten me, Gertrude. Or I will gladly tell the ARRC board and managers exactly what you’ve been up to.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
He stepped very close. “Oh, wouldn’t I? You forget your place. And I’m the one holding all the cards. The colony would hate to find out that one of their own was behind all the thefts. Tsk, tsk. And trying to blame the Indians.” He narrowed his eyes. “You’ll be reimbursed, woman. Now shut up and go home.”
Gwyn steadied herself for the truth. To her surprise, however, Father laughed.
“Rose is pregnant. She’ll be fine.”
“Pregnant? But . . .” Gwyn fell silent and shook her head.
Her father helped her up off her knees. “Indeed, but I’m afraid her sickness is worse than most. When she woke for a few minutes, she admitted that she’s been throwing up quite a bit since the boat trip up here. She thought it was seasickness at first and then thought it was from all the loss she’s endured.”
“No wonder she’s gotten so thin.” Gwyn looked to Sadzi. “And we never once guessed she could be pregnant. What with the baby and her nursing. Well, it didn’t seem possible.”
Gwyn’s father shrugged. “It happens. We’ll need someone to stay with her.”
“Let me stay with her, Dr. Hillerman,” Sadzi piped up. “It’s the least I can do, and I have the time to spare. I can stay with her around the clock and pray with her. Maybe this is how the Lord will help heal her heart.”
“Perhaps. At least now she’ll have something more positive to think on.”
“But what if things go wrong with this baby too?” Gwyn’s question hung on the air for a moment. She didn’t want to seem negative, but the concern was heavy on her mind.
“We won’t borrow trouble,” her father replied. “For now, we’ll rejoice that a new life is given—a gift from the Lord.”
“Yes.” A smile lifted Sadzi’s lips. “A gift of His love for Rose.”
CHICAGO
So Tony Griffin wasn’t really Tony Griffin.
Frank Rhoads studied the paper work in front of him. How had they missed this? The real Tony had been dead for over ten years.
The police hadn’t been a lot of help; they had so many cases on their hands right now. The Depression just made people more desperate. And petty crimes were up.
But Frank needed a break in this case and fast. He knew they were close. He just needed to fit a few more pieces to the puzzle. It was a game he had often played—one he actually took great pleasure in—but there was always a deep sense of frustration when nothing seemed to go right.
He snapped his fingers. Maybe he’d missed something at the bank. Especially now that he knew Tony wasn’t Tony.
It only took a few minutes to drive over to First National. When he entered, the new manager greeted him.
“I just need to see Mr. Griffin’s office again.” Frank didn’t slow his pace.
“Have you touched or moved anything?”
“Not a thing, sir.” The manager straightened his shoulders. “We want this solved as much as you do.” When they reached Griffin’s office, the manager unlocked the door. “I don’t even let the cleaning service in here, so please excuse the dust.”
“Not a problem. Thank you.”
The manager walked out and closed the door.
Now if Frank could just focus on what he was looking for. But he hadn’t a clue. Something was here, his gut told him, but it would have to jump out at him.
Tony, whoever he was, had been immaculate. Everything was in its place. Like he never meant to leave—just disappeared. But that was what it was supposed to look like. Now that Frank knew the truth, he knew it was all an elaborate setup.
“Come on, come on . . .” What was he missing?
Frank opened each drawer of the desk. Files, pencils, paper clips, change, mail, papers. All posed to look like Tony had just been there. Another drawer produced a photo of several well-dressed bank officials. He gave it a cursory glance and placed the framed photograph back in the drawer.
Then it hit him. One of the men in the picture seemed familiar. He picked up the frame again and looked at the less than perfect image. It was a bit fuzzy but clear enough. He studied the man third from the right. It was Tony—the imposter. The man looked rather distracted—almost indignant. Perhaps he resented having his picture taken. Then again, maybe he always looked that way.
Always looked that way?
Frank knew in that moment that he’d seen a similar image somewhere else . . . recently. But where?
In a newspaper. But what newspaper? Where?
Frank searched his memory. Where had he seen that face? It had been in another group shot. Not a business photograph like this one, but rather with a family. He shut his eyes and let the picture take root.
“Of course!” He slammed the desk drawer closed and raced out of the office.
He ran into the manager. “Please lock it up. I’ll be back.”
Traffic was picking up, but Frank still managed to make it back to his office in record time. He pulled his chair up to the desk and began to sift through a stack of newspapers.
“I know it’s in here.” The memory was quite clear now. He could almost detail the placement of the people in the picture. There had been a man and woman—several children.
He rifled through the stack and began to despair. Where was it? His fingers flipped through the pages of newsprint, but the picture wasn’t there.
Worried that he’d somehow imagined it all, Frank threw one paper aside and picked up another from his visit to New York, and bingo. There it was. Front and center.
One William and Suzanne Novak were staring at the camera with a brood of children. The man wasn’t Tony, but he was a dead ringer for him. Could this be a relative? A brother, perhaps, or a nephew?
Frank smiled to himself as he read the article about the Matanuska Colony in the Alaska Territory. It would take some time, but with a few queries, telegrams, and letters, he could have this wrapped up in a couple of months. The end was in sight, and he couldn’t wait to catch this one!
The more he read, the more the same thought came to him over and over.
“What a perfect place to hide.”
Gwyn sat on the floor of Nasnana’s cabin with Sadzi as they untangled a mass of yarn.
“What did you do to this, Grandmother? It’s a mess.”
The older woman laughed. “Well, I was trying to get some fresh air. I’ve been cooped up lately, so I took my knitting outside. I went back inside to get my tea, and next thing I know there’s a bear cub just a-squealing away ’cause he’s all tangled up in the yarn.”
“Oh my.” Gwyn wrapped an untangled portion around her hands. “What did you do?”
“Well, I couldn’t let that little cub tear up my yarn and all my hard work, so I went out there to untangle the little guy. He just squealed some more. And then his mama came looking for him.”
“Grandmother! How did you get all the yarn off? You know better than to mess with a mama bear and her cubs.”
“Oh, the mama bear was still a ways off. Thankfully, the ornery little cub had run a good distance before finding my yarn. But I did lose a couple yards because I had to cut him out.” Nasnana shook her head. “Little guy didn’t even say thank you. He just snorted at me and ran off.”
Her description of the situation made Gwyn laugh. “Oh, Nasnana, I would have loved to see you scold that little bear. But I’m sure his mama did it for you.”
Sadzi looked at Gwyn. “I’m going to leave with Gwyn this afternoon, Grandmother. Dr. Hillerman is going to send Rose home, and I’m going to stay with her until she gets back on her feet.”
“I have some Scriptures and notes for you to take with you. Please read them to Rose when you feel she’s ready.”
“Yes, Grandmother. I will.”
Gwyn treaded lightly. “It would be wonderful for Rose if you would go as well, Nasnana. There are so many who would love to see you.”
“No. No. It’s not time yet.”
Maybe if she pushed a little harder. “But, Nasnana, Gertrude is the only one who still holds a grudge. Everyone else loves you and would enjoy seeing you again.”
“No, Gwyn. It’s not time.” Nasnana continued her knitting and rocked in her chair.
She didn’t want to contradict the woman who’d been so influential in her life all these years, but Gwyn didn’t understand. It wasn’t like her to push for her own way. Maybe it really was best to leave it alone. Nasnana would come around in time. Hopefully before the winter.
They worked in silence for several minutes. Gwyn kept picturing the baby bear tangled up in the yarn she now held. How funny that would have been to watch the scene. But Gwyn knew how dangerous wild animals could be. This was their land too, and people had to respect that. One of the young girls in the colony had defied them all when her father had shot one of the large mama bears, and she took one of the babies to be her pet. It was all fun and games to walk her baby bear around on a rope for now, but once that bear grew, Gwyn feared the young girl wouldn’t be able to control it.
The sound of running footsteps came through the open window.
“Are you expecting someone, Nasnana?”
“No.” She rose from her rocking chair.
Jeremiah burst through the door. “I’m sorry for barging in like this, but we’ve got an emergency.”
Gwyn saw the fear on his face. “What is it?”
“They found Gertrude facedown in her garden. I’m sorry, Nasnana, but she’s dead. And a couple of the colonists are accusing you.”