Tabitha

Free Tabitha by Vikki Kestell

Book: Tabitha by Vikki Kestell Read Free Book Online
Authors: Vikki Kestell
answered. “We are making splendid
progress on your testimony. I have many notes to review and write up, but my
other responsibilities must be feeling a bit neglected. This interlude will
allow me to catch up with my household duties and, perhaps, begin to write out
some of my notes.”
    In the face of Tabitha and Breona’s unified assurances,
Mei-Xing returned to her work as Mrs. Palmer’s assistant the following morning.
    And as it happened, Rose and Tabitha did not resume
Tabitha’s recitation of her story for nearly two weeks.
    That afternoon their Pinkerton friend, O’Dell, returned from
his travels to report on his search for Joy and Grant’s infant son, Edmund. He
spent an hour closeted in the parlor with Joy and Rose, sharing what little
news he had.
    Balancing his ever-present bowler hat on his knee, he faced
the two women, bereft mother and grandmother. To Rose’s eyes, O’Dell appeared
weary and discouraged. Joy was composed as O’Dell gave his report.
    “I am sorry that I do not have much new information to
convey to you, Joy,” he began. Our assumptions—such as they were—led us to
believe that Dean Morgan left Denver by motorcar, taking Edmund with him. We
also believed that Morgan had a companion, the wet nurse Fang Hua Chen hired to
care for her grandson.
    “Since our initial findings, two of Fang-Hua’s
co-conspirators have provided us with the identity of the wet nurse; however,
we were unable to uncover any family connections other than her deceased
husband and infant in the Seattle area.”
    “She had lost a baby?” Joy blinked as she tried to envision
the woman who, most likely, was caring for Edmund.
    O’Dell nodded. “A few weeks prior to Edmund’s abduction.”
    “Then  . . . she would be more likely to be  . . . kind to my baby boy?”
    O’Dell and Rose both understood where Joy’s questions were
heading. Rose looked at O’Dell and nodded.
    O’Dell, speaking carefully, answered Joy’s question. “Joy,
my understanding is that the woman was suffering from her losses and took the
job Fang Hua offered her so she could care for another baby. Yes, I believe she
is being kind to Edmund. I cannot believe otherwise.”
    He ran a finger around the inside of his collar as if it
felt too tight. “We received a report of one sighting that seems to confirm
those assumptions. Morgan required gasoline for his motorcar. Since facilities
where he might purchase gasoline are not numerous, Pinkerton focused its
attention on a two-hundred-mile radius around Denver—in all possible
directions—and all facilities within that radius where Morgan could have
refueled.
    “The difficulty in that approach is that the sale of
gasoline is a new kind of business not confined to specific locations. Gasoline
is sold at coal yards, factories, or out of an enterprising businessman’s back
door. Where to buy gasoline is frequently communicated by word of mouth—which
works for us, by the way.
    “Once Morgan was out of his familiar surroundings, he would
have to look for signs advertising the sale of gasoline or ask locals where he
might purchase it. An attendant at a general store in Pueblo, Colorado, recalls
a man with a woman and infant asking for directions to purchase gasoline for
their motorcar.”
    O’Dell turned his hat around on his knee. “The southeast
direction of Pueblo from Denver gave us a general direction to go on. We
refocused our radius.”
    Joy leaned forward, eager to hear more.
    There was no more.
    O’Dell looked down. “We have been unable to find any further
witnesses who remember Morgan buying or asking about gasoline. I am sorry,
Joy.”
    “But what does that mean?” Joy clutched her mother’s hand
and tried to remain calm.
    Unable to remain seated, O’Dell stood to pace—but the parlor
gave him no space to do so. He rounded his chair and held on to its back. “It
does not mean that we give up, Joy.”
    “Give up? Who said anything about giving up?” Joy

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