The Gilded Hour
Page 130
Jack said, “Mrs. Stone, I’m confused. Campbell told us that he was missing just over twelve hundred dollars cash. Where was the money coming from to buy the house? From you?”
That almost got him a smile. “All we have is Henry’s pension, the bit I make mending and sewing, and this little house I was born in, termites and leaky roof and all.”
“Do you know how she paid for the Rhode Island house?” Oscar asked.
In fits and starts the story came together. Mrs. Campbell had indeed had something over a thousand dollars in cash, most of which she had passed to Mrs. Stone when she left with the boys for the cost of travel and provisions, and getting settled in the new house.
It was true that was the only cash, but it wasn’t the only money.
“That’s why she stayed behind when I left with the boys. Or at least, that’s what she said. Here, it’s easier to show you.”
Mrs. Stone took up a large sewing basket, set the lid aside, and began to unpack it. There was a tray of threads and a pincushion, shears, a roll of muslin, patches, a darning egg, knitting needles, a man’s shirt neatly folded, a chemise. When it seemed to be empty she turned it over and thumped the bottom with the heel of one hand. Two solid blows and a false bottom went clattering to the floor, followed by a black pocketbook.
With trembling hands she took out a thick roll of oversized bills. This she handed to Oscar, and he slid a binding string down and off so he could spread the roll flat on his lap.
“Bearer bonds,” he said. “Issued by the State of Massachusetts.”
The bills were elaborately engraved and printed in three colors. Anna had to look twice before she could convince herself that she was seeing correctly.
“Five hundred dollars,” she said. “For each?”
“Forty-six of them,” Mrs. Stone said. “Of the original fifty. That Thursday morning I found her near dead, she gave me the purse with the bonds before the ambulance came. But I’m not keeping it for myself,” she added, new color flooding her face. “The money is to raise the boys, for food and clothes and school fees and the like, and—”
“No one suspects you of plotting to steal the bonds,” Jack said.
Anna wondered if that was strictly true. She could see the Campbell house through the front windows, still dark. If Archer Campbell suspected that Mrs. Stone had the bearer bonds, she didn’t doubt he was looking for a way to get them back.
“Bearer bonds.” Oscar rubbed both hands over his face.
Mrs. Stone said, “All I know is, Janine said he hadn’t come by them honest.”
“It’s not important right now,” Jack said. “But it’s still unclear to me why she didn’t just leave with you and the boys that Wednesday morning.”
Anna said, “She had a doctor’s appointment, didn’t she?”
Mrs. Stone’s head dropped. “That was it. I didn’t figure it out until later, but she went to that doctor who charged so much to fix things.” She rocked a little in place. “She was so worried about another baby, sick, really, in her head and heart both. She went to that doctor right after she saw me off with the boys. She had a ticket for the noon steamer, that’s in the purse still. But it didn’t work out the way she planned.
“She told me when I found her Thursday morning, she knew as soon as she left the doctor’s office that something was wrong. She was in so much pain and bleeding so bad she couldn’t get on a steamer. She could hardly get back here.”
A fresh welling of tears cascaded down her cheeks. “I get so mad at her when I think about it. What’s another baby when there’s hands enough to do the work and money to put food on the table? But she couldn’t bear the idea, and so she went and had the operation and she never lived to see the place she bought, or her boys so happy.”
“When did you decide to go back to the city to look for her?” Jack asked.
“Wednesday evening. She wasn’t on the steamer when she was supposed to be, or the one after that. The plan we made was to meet back here if something went wrong, and it did go wrong. If you can imagine it, Janine had to spend another night with that man, knowing she was sick unto death, thinking she’d be dead within a day and what was going to happen to the boys?
“So I did come back, and thank God. Just before the ambulance came she gave me the purse with the bearer bonds. She said, ‘Mabel, think how much worse it would be if Archer had realized what I took from him. I wouldn’t have anything to give you for the boys. Now you can raise them up right and they’ll be safe.’
“Then the doctor came in and examined her in the bedroom. Not ten minutes later they put her in the ambulance and I never saw her again. It’s a sin and a shame the way she died, but she went easier, knowing I would go back to the boys. That’s all I want, to go back to the boys, me and Henry, but we can’t get away. And I don’t know how much longer Mrs. Barnes can look after them.”
Jack got up and paced the length of the parlor. “You think Campbell suspects?”
“I know he suspects,” she said, almost sharply. “Didn’t he say as much, right to my face? He said, ‘Mabel Stone, remember one thing. I’ll have what’s mine.’ And now he sits there watching us, day and night. Like a spider in a web he watches us. I know he didn’t answer when you pounded on the door, but he’s there. You can see his cigar, it’s like an evil red eye in the dark. I think he’s waiting for us both to be out of the house so he can come in and search.”
She rocked forward and crossed her arms across her chest, weeping silently but for short indrawn breaths. Anna leaned close and put a hand on the bowed back. The kind of touch that might provide a grieving mother some small comfort. Because Mrs. Stone had lost a daughter in Janine Campbell.
They talked for a half hour more, asking questions that Mrs. Stone tried to answer. She didn’t know where or how Archer Campbell had gotten some twenty-five thousand dollars in bearer bonds; she didn’t know where Janine Campbell had gone for the abortion or who had performed it. All she could say for sure was that she had paid the doctor three hundred dollars.
“She thought it was the only way to get it done quick and safe. And truth be told, I think she got some satisfaction out of the idea that it was Archer’s money that paid the doctor. Three hundred dollars, and for that he butchered our girl and now those boys have got nobody. Nobody who knows them and loves them. If we go to them, Campbell will follow. For the bonds, if not the boys.”
Jack said, “Mrs. Stone, does anybody else know about this, the whole story?”
She shook her head. “The only person who knows anything at all is a neighbor from down the street. Mrs. Oglethorp. She stayed with my Henry while I was gone. She thinks I went to my sister, too.”
Anna asked, “How can you be sure Henry didn’t tell Mrs. Oglethorp anything, given his state of mind?”
“I can be sure because Mary doesn’t speak German, and Henry lost every word he ever knew of English on the battlefield at Bull Run.”
Oscar stood up, his expression thoughtful as he walked toward the window where Mr. Stone sat rocking. He crouched down and smiled at both man and dog, held out a hand to be sniffed, and scratched behind Montgomery’s ear.
“Henry,” he said.
Mr. Stone looked at him expectantly, a smile on his face that could almost be called hopeful.
“A fine dog you’ve got here. His name is bigger than he is, though. Why’d you name him Montgomery?”
An uncertain look was all the response he got.
“Henry, where are the little boys from across the street?”
The smile faded. He turned in his seat to look at his wife, his brows raised.
“Schon recht,” she said to him. “Macht nichts.” To Jack she said, “The boys and Henry, what’s to become of them when you take me away?”
Anna had never seen a human being so terribly frightened. Not even the sickest patient with nothing but death to look forward to, not parents with a desperately ill child. Mabel Stone wasn’t frightened for herself but for the people who depended on her. Anna was about to tell Jack and Oscar that some other solution had to be found when Jack spoke up.
“We’re not here to arrest you,” Jack said. “You went with Mrs. Campbell and her sons because you were asked to, and you took the money she gave you to look after the boys. Between us I think we can find a way to get you and Henry back to those boys. Safely.”
“With the bonds,” Oscar added. “Campbell will have stolen them somewhere, that’s something we’ll look into down the road, but you don’t have to worry about it. He’ll never be punished but it’ll eat him alive, the idea that she got the better of him.”
Mrs. Stone looked between them, studying their faces until she seemed satisfied.
“You’d think I’d run out of tears.” She folded her damp handkerchief and pressed it to her eyes. “If you mean it, then God bless you.”
“We mean it,” Jack said.
Anna said, “Can I ask one more question?”
That almost got him a smile. “All we have is Henry’s pension, the bit I make mending and sewing, and this little house I was born in, termites and leaky roof and all.”
“Do you know how she paid for the Rhode Island house?” Oscar asked.
In fits and starts the story came together. Mrs. Campbell had indeed had something over a thousand dollars in cash, most of which she had passed to Mrs. Stone when she left with the boys for the cost of travel and provisions, and getting settled in the new house.
It was true that was the only cash, but it wasn’t the only money.
“That’s why she stayed behind when I left with the boys. Or at least, that’s what she said. Here, it’s easier to show you.”
Mrs. Stone took up a large sewing basket, set the lid aside, and began to unpack it. There was a tray of threads and a pincushion, shears, a roll of muslin, patches, a darning egg, knitting needles, a man’s shirt neatly folded, a chemise. When it seemed to be empty she turned it over and thumped the bottom with the heel of one hand. Two solid blows and a false bottom went clattering to the floor, followed by a black pocketbook.
With trembling hands she took out a thick roll of oversized bills. This she handed to Oscar, and he slid a binding string down and off so he could spread the roll flat on his lap.
“Bearer bonds,” he said. “Issued by the State of Massachusetts.”
The bills were elaborately engraved and printed in three colors. Anna had to look twice before she could convince herself that she was seeing correctly.
“Five hundred dollars,” she said. “For each?”
“Forty-six of them,” Mrs. Stone said. “Of the original fifty. That Thursday morning I found her near dead, she gave me the purse with the bonds before the ambulance came. But I’m not keeping it for myself,” she added, new color flooding her face. “The money is to raise the boys, for food and clothes and school fees and the like, and—”
“No one suspects you of plotting to steal the bonds,” Jack said.
Anna wondered if that was strictly true. She could see the Campbell house through the front windows, still dark. If Archer Campbell suspected that Mrs. Stone had the bearer bonds, she didn’t doubt he was looking for a way to get them back.
“Bearer bonds.” Oscar rubbed both hands over his face.
Mrs. Stone said, “All I know is, Janine said he hadn’t come by them honest.”
“It’s not important right now,” Jack said. “But it’s still unclear to me why she didn’t just leave with you and the boys that Wednesday morning.”
Anna said, “She had a doctor’s appointment, didn’t she?”
Mrs. Stone’s head dropped. “That was it. I didn’t figure it out until later, but she went to that doctor who charged so much to fix things.” She rocked a little in place. “She was so worried about another baby, sick, really, in her head and heart both. She went to that doctor right after she saw me off with the boys. She had a ticket for the noon steamer, that’s in the purse still. But it didn’t work out the way she planned.
“She told me when I found her Thursday morning, she knew as soon as she left the doctor’s office that something was wrong. She was in so much pain and bleeding so bad she couldn’t get on a steamer. She could hardly get back here.”
A fresh welling of tears cascaded down her cheeks. “I get so mad at her when I think about it. What’s another baby when there’s hands enough to do the work and money to put food on the table? But she couldn’t bear the idea, and so she went and had the operation and she never lived to see the place she bought, or her boys so happy.”
“When did you decide to go back to the city to look for her?” Jack asked.
“Wednesday evening. She wasn’t on the steamer when she was supposed to be, or the one after that. The plan we made was to meet back here if something went wrong, and it did go wrong. If you can imagine it, Janine had to spend another night with that man, knowing she was sick unto death, thinking she’d be dead within a day and what was going to happen to the boys?
“So I did come back, and thank God. Just before the ambulance came she gave me the purse with the bearer bonds. She said, ‘Mabel, think how much worse it would be if Archer had realized what I took from him. I wouldn’t have anything to give you for the boys. Now you can raise them up right and they’ll be safe.’
“Then the doctor came in and examined her in the bedroom. Not ten minutes later they put her in the ambulance and I never saw her again. It’s a sin and a shame the way she died, but she went easier, knowing I would go back to the boys. That’s all I want, to go back to the boys, me and Henry, but we can’t get away. And I don’t know how much longer Mrs. Barnes can look after them.”
Jack got up and paced the length of the parlor. “You think Campbell suspects?”
“I know he suspects,” she said, almost sharply. “Didn’t he say as much, right to my face? He said, ‘Mabel Stone, remember one thing. I’ll have what’s mine.’ And now he sits there watching us, day and night. Like a spider in a web he watches us. I know he didn’t answer when you pounded on the door, but he’s there. You can see his cigar, it’s like an evil red eye in the dark. I think he’s waiting for us both to be out of the house so he can come in and search.”
She rocked forward and crossed her arms across her chest, weeping silently but for short indrawn breaths. Anna leaned close and put a hand on the bowed back. The kind of touch that might provide a grieving mother some small comfort. Because Mrs. Stone had lost a daughter in Janine Campbell.
They talked for a half hour more, asking questions that Mrs. Stone tried to answer. She didn’t know where or how Archer Campbell had gotten some twenty-five thousand dollars in bearer bonds; she didn’t know where Janine Campbell had gone for the abortion or who had performed it. All she could say for sure was that she had paid the doctor three hundred dollars.
“She thought it was the only way to get it done quick and safe. And truth be told, I think she got some satisfaction out of the idea that it was Archer’s money that paid the doctor. Three hundred dollars, and for that he butchered our girl and now those boys have got nobody. Nobody who knows them and loves them. If we go to them, Campbell will follow. For the bonds, if not the boys.”
Jack said, “Mrs. Stone, does anybody else know about this, the whole story?”
She shook her head. “The only person who knows anything at all is a neighbor from down the street. Mrs. Oglethorp. She stayed with my Henry while I was gone. She thinks I went to my sister, too.”
Anna asked, “How can you be sure Henry didn’t tell Mrs. Oglethorp anything, given his state of mind?”
“I can be sure because Mary doesn’t speak German, and Henry lost every word he ever knew of English on the battlefield at Bull Run.”
Oscar stood up, his expression thoughtful as he walked toward the window where Mr. Stone sat rocking. He crouched down and smiled at both man and dog, held out a hand to be sniffed, and scratched behind Montgomery’s ear.
“Henry,” he said.
Mr. Stone looked at him expectantly, a smile on his face that could almost be called hopeful.
“A fine dog you’ve got here. His name is bigger than he is, though. Why’d you name him Montgomery?”
An uncertain look was all the response he got.
“Henry, where are the little boys from across the street?”
The smile faded. He turned in his seat to look at his wife, his brows raised.
“Schon recht,” she said to him. “Macht nichts.” To Jack she said, “The boys and Henry, what’s to become of them when you take me away?”
Anna had never seen a human being so terribly frightened. Not even the sickest patient with nothing but death to look forward to, not parents with a desperately ill child. Mabel Stone wasn’t frightened for herself but for the people who depended on her. Anna was about to tell Jack and Oscar that some other solution had to be found when Jack spoke up.
“We’re not here to arrest you,” Jack said. “You went with Mrs. Campbell and her sons because you were asked to, and you took the money she gave you to look after the boys. Between us I think we can find a way to get you and Henry back to those boys. Safely.”
“With the bonds,” Oscar added. “Campbell will have stolen them somewhere, that’s something we’ll look into down the road, but you don’t have to worry about it. He’ll never be punished but it’ll eat him alive, the idea that she got the better of him.”
Mrs. Stone looked between them, studying their faces until she seemed satisfied.
“You’d think I’d run out of tears.” She folded her damp handkerchief and pressed it to her eyes. “If you mean it, then God bless you.”
“We mean it,” Jack said.
Anna said, “Can I ask one more question?”
