Undercover Bride by Margaret Brownley

Author:Margaret Brownley [Brownley, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Christian, Romance, Historical
ISBN: 9781634094573
Google: tJl0BQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Barbour Publishing
Published: 2015-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

Maggie left the jailhouse first, and Rikker walked several steps behind her. “It took you long enough,” he groused.

She stopped to look at a display of brooms and shovels in the hardware window and waited for him to pass. Apparently his limp wasn’t an act.

“I got here as fast as I could. I had to take the children to school. Learn anything?”

His answer came moments later as he stood by a lamppost lighting a pipe. Her eyes focused straight ahead, she slowed her pace and pretended to look in the window of the barbershop.

“Claims he was at the train station panhandling,” Rikker said. “A number of people tossed money into his hat. Said he paid no attention and didn’t know who did the tossing.”

She didn’t believe that for a second. Pickpockets were experts at targeting potential victims. A stranger tossed a bill into a hat or cup, and the thief immediately knew where the contributor kept his money. He would also have a pretty good idea how much money was his for the taking. It seemed unlikely that Crankshaw hadn’t taken careful note of his generous donor.

At the corner, they stood side by side waiting for a wagon to move out of the way. She opened her drawstring handbag and pretended to look for something.

“Certainly you don’t believe him,” she said.

“As a matter of fact I do,” Rikker replied and stepped off the boardwalk ahead of her.

She thought about this as she followed Rikker across the street. In any crowd a pickpocket had a choice of ideal targets. A distracted mother; a man carelessly carrying his coat over his shoulder; an enamored couple or trusting youth were all easy pickings.

It didn’t seem likely that he would target Garrett, a man with a military bearing and purposeful walk. Perhaps Crankshaw was watching someone else when Garrett dropped the banknote in his hat. It was a possibility, however slight.

“Did you find out who Garrett is corresponding with?” he asked as she passed him moments later.

He caught up to her in front of the mercantile store where she stopped to pet a black and white terrier tied up in front.

“Not yet.” She’d considered asking Garrett outright but decided against it. If it was addressed to the second Whistle-Stop bandit, chances are he would only lie. “We’ll have to intercept his letters at the post office.”

A half block away he stopped to read a handbill in the window of the assay company. “You know we can’t do that. Can’t mess with the US mail.”

No, they couldn’t. The Pinkerton General Order Book was clear about that; operatives had to adhere to the letter of the law—no exceptions. Rather than tie a detective’s hands, however, abiding by the law inspired the most creative crime-solving methods ever devised by humankind. She and Rikker would just have to come up with a lawful way of breaking into the post office and stealing the mail.

“There’s something else,” she said. “His brother-in-law’s still in town, and there’s bad blood between them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.