Josiah's Treasure by Nancy Herriman

Author:Nancy Herriman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781617951763
Publisher: Worthy Publishing

“I am positive I’ve seen the man before, Officer Hanson.” Sarah folded her hands at her waist while the policeman squatted to examine the chink she’d shot out of the secretary. Rufus, bent tail flicking, was curled atop the piece of furniture, observing the fellow as he bent to his task.

The hem of Officer Hanson’s indigo wool frock coat grazed the floor right next to a telltale stain, more visible in the morning light than it had been last evening. He glanced down, rubbed a blunt fingertip over it.

“Blood, Officer,” Sarah said in response to the unasked question. “I must have shot him.”

“Hm.” Officer Hanson sat back on his haunches. He scribbled a note on the topmost sheet of a haphazard stack of papers gripped in his fist. “So, is this the same fellow as was here”—he quickly thumbed through his papers—“three days ago?”

“I ken he is,” offered Mrs. McGinnis, pacing between Josiah’s stuffed armchair and the walnut table in the center of the room. “The same hairy beast.”

The scritch of pen against paper stopped. The policeman looked over at Mrs. McGinnis, the stubble of his poorly shaven chin rasping against his high white shirt collar. “What does he want, do you think?”

“Och, now how would I ken that?” Mrs. McGinnis bristled. “’Tis your job to find out, Mr. Hanson, not mine.”

“Officer Hanson,” he reminded her, straightening to his full, and intimidating, height.

“Officer Hanson,” Sarah interrupted before he decided Mrs. McGinnis was obstructing his investigation or some-such charge, “my housekeeper and I suspect that the man erroneously believes there are hidden gold nuggets in this house. He must be looking for them.”

The policeman peered at Sarah before making another notation on his paper. “And are there?” he asked, the tone of his voice suggesting she might not be honest in her response.

“No! It’s a rumor and nothing else.”

“A dangerous rumor for an unmarried woman and her servant, living in this big house alone.”

She recognized the admonition in his words. Aunt Eugenie would have implied the same, reminding Sarah that she was a woman just as stubborn, just as imprudent as her mother had been.

“Our neighbor’s male servant and his brother will be here tonight to watch over us.” If they’d both been at the house last night, they would have scared off the intruder. Sarah was confident of that. “They will be sufficient guard.”

The policeman scoffed. “That little China boy I saw skulking on your front porch? He couldn’t chase off a squirrel!”

Every nerve bristled. She was tired of the derision, the dismissiveness. Just another Chinese. Just another Irish girl. Just another woman who doesn’t know her place. Ah Mong was told to watch over you, Miss Whittier. Josiah knew what he was doing when he asked the boy; last night’s episode would not be repeated, because Ah Mong would not fall asleep again. She trusted him, even if no one else did.

“If you catch the man who attempted to burgle my house, Officer Hanson,” she said, “I will not have to worry about protection, shall I?”

It was his turn to look offended.

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