“Please do tell me what you know,” she said.
“All I know is I was supposed to get the diamonds from you. Harriet said you had your mother's diamonds. Karl wants the gold but Harriet doesn't believe there is any. But Karl saw your father after the robbery and is convinced he was in on it during the war.”
“Karl? Harriet's brother?”
“Ha!” he laughed harshly. “He's her husband. Sure had your pa fooled though didn't he? Of course if he touches her, he won't be long for this world.”
Now her concern for her father grew tremendously. She shrugged her shoulders, however, as if he hadn’t said anything important.
“But you have not told me if any of the rest of the gang is here with you or if they're still back in Baltimore and Philadelphia.”
Harry was feeling more confident now. She was succumbing to his charms clearly. He should be able to get that gun away from her in a moment or two. He’d best keep talking to keep her concentration off of him.
“You sure know a lot,” he said. “Harriet had it all wrong about you. She said you were crazy in love with some guy you never even met and were traveling west to be with him. Turns out you may be the Kingpin in the whole operation. So do you know where the gold is?”
Miranda chose to be coy and replied, “But that would be telling.”
Then she hardened her eyes and waved the pistol again, saying, “I asked you where the members of the gang are.”
His mouth hung open a second and then he coughed and said, “I am the only one left on the train. Bones and Rocky stayed behind to back up Karl. When your sister took off Harriet needed to talk with Karl so she convinced your pa to take her on a visit to Philadelphia. When they got back they found you had taken off too. That's when she got suspicious and sent me and Sunny off after you. We almost didn't make the train.”
“Well,” she sighed, “I guess it's about time to let you leave.”
“You're going to let me leave?” he questioned.
“I certainly don't want you staying here with me!”
“And I thought we were getting along so well,” he replied.
“You forget,” she retorted. “I'm crazy in love with a man I've never met.”
She tilted her head towards the door and put on the icy face again.
“Leave. Now.”
He got up slowly and backed to the door, not trusting that she wouldn’t shoot him in the back. Fumbling behind him he slid open the carriage door and stepped back into the corridor. Suddenly people nabbed him from both sides, grabbing his arms and pressing him against the far wall. The porter was on one side and the conductor on the other, and just beyond them was the Pinkerton agent assigned to this train. And his gun was considerably larger than the derringer which was still pointed at his middle. His shoulders slumped.
“I should have listened to my mother when she told me to become a dance instructor,” he mumbled.
~~~
“Your father didn’t mention in his wire that you were also a trained agent. It was very clever of you to arrange the signal with the porter,” complimented Agent Smythson once Handsome Harry had been bundled off to be confined until their next stop.
Miranda just smiled and nodded. She had been trained by her father, but knew better to comment on anything to do with her father’s work, even with a Pinkerton agent.
“Were you able to transcribe any of the conversation?” she asked.
He nodded, patting his pocket.
She nodded back. “Then can you please provide me with a copy of your notes to turn over to the government? They are needed for another case.”
Agent Smythson agreed, but with eyebrows raised.
She smiled at him regretfully. “I’m afraid it is a matter of national security and I cannot talk about it.”
His face fell, and he left, but returned in less than half an hour with neatly printed notes of his observations and recollection of the conversation.
“Thank you so much,” Miranda said sincerely. “I will mention your assistance to my father. I know he will be grateful you were here.
“I would also like to request that there be no mention of me in any capacity. I know your agency employs women; perhaps when you are interviewed for making this arrest, you could imply this was a Pinkerton investigation?”
Smythson flushed with pleasure, gratified at her praise, and pleased with the idea of seeing his name in the paper. He bowed, and took his leave.
Miranda leaned back. She only hoped Harry had been telling the truth and the others were still back east. She’d had enough excitement to last her a good long time, thank you very much. Her own notes joined the Pinkerton agent’s in an inside pocket of her valise. And, nestled in the inside pocket of her chemise, she patted her mother’s diamonds.
Even with doors locked, Harriet had managed to get into her mother’s jewel box and snatch them. She’d actually left behind a few objects even more valuable, but only to the cognoscenti. Miranda laughed. Those yellow stones, “probably just topaz” had whined Harriet to her broker, were rare yellow diamonds. What Harriet had stolen were some rather gaudy paste jewels Mrs. Belden had worn to a masquerade, but Miranda had recovered them, as well as the other trinkets taken, from Henry. Harriet had been unaware that the fence she used was in William’s employ and that he had promptly turned all the stolen items over to Henry.
Arrival
Miranda stepped down from the train, assisted by Peters the Porter. That made her smile. He had been very good to her on the
