"Mary? Why?"
Lee stared at Reese. "I remembered where I'd seen him before, and he's bound to remember where he saw me. And it's no secret—at least it's not a family secret—that you and David and I were all Pinkerton men. And Robert Pinkerton learned from one of the suspects in the current counterfeiting incident that Senator Warner Millen had a man very close to the Jordan-Alexander clan and that the late senator paid that man to watch every move David Alexander made with regard to locating Lily Catherine."
"Damn!" Reese muttered, picking up his pace. "We'd better pray he's at the bank."
But he wasn't. The bank president informed them that Mr. Cosgrove had resigned his position at the bank and left town the previous evening without giving sufficient notice.
"Any idea where he was heading?" Reese asked.
"I think he mentioned Denver," the bank officer replied.
Lee practically ran out of the bank and all the way back to the depot where he immediately got into a discussion with the station manager. "I need to get to Utopia, Colorado. When's the next train?"
"This afternoon."
"What about that one?" Lee pointed to the train he had just exited.
"We've got to unload the cars and back them up on a sidetrack, then turn the engine around before that train can go east or south."
"Forget the cars. What about an engine? Can you get an engine on the track to Denver?" Lee asked.
"Yeah, we can do that, but I need authorization."
"How soon?"
"Forty-five minutes. But I can't do it without authorization," the stationmaster insisted.
"What do you need as authorization?" Reese asked.
"A Union Pacific official, a stockholder, or a federal marshal," the stationmaster replied.
"I'm a stockholder in the U.P. and so is he." Reese pointed to Lee. "He's also a Pinkerton detective. Is that good enough?"
"I don't know."
"Turn an engine around," Lee ordered. "In forty-five minutes, I'll have authorization from President Grant himself, if that's what it takes."
"Yessir."
"I'm going with you," Reese announced.
"No, stay here. Get the damned authorization. But don't let on to David and Tessa that anything's wrong. They've waited a long time to get their daughter and we don't want anything to spoil Lily Catherine's homecoming."
"Where are you going?" Reese demanded.
"I'm going to wire the Denver police to be on the lookout for Cosgrove, and wire Mary, and then I'm going to check every hotel and boardinghouse in this town just to make certain he's not hiding out. Do whatever you have to do, but get that damned train turned around. I'll be back in twenty minutes and I want to be ready to go."
Darkness had settled over the tiny town of Utopia. The last meal of the day was over and everyone had made their way back to their own homes. Maddy and Barker were asleep upstairs, as were the three boarding students, and Mary and Sylvia were sitting in the kitchen savoring a pot of hot tea before Syl had to return to the Silver Bear for the evening crowd.
"I never thought we'd finish these darned uniforms you're so set on having the students wear," Syl announced. "I should have remembered how much I hated sewing my own clothes before I volunteered to make all these dresses and pants."
"We could have hired a seamstress and a tailor from Denver," Mary reminded her. "But we would have missed out on all this fun." She smiled at Sylvia. "And it has been fun, hasn't it, Syl? Go on, admit it. You've enjoyed being a part of this project and working with the other women in town as much as I have."
"Yes, it has been nice," Sylvia agreed. "I've forgotten what it was like to be accepted into town society. To have women friends who aren't in the business, so to speak. But I've enjoyed it. I never really minded doing what I do for a living until now. But suddenly I find the normal life appeals to me lately. Besides, I hate being an outcast."
"I know what you mean," Mary said. "The only other people who've ever fully accepted me for what and who I am is my family and Lee."
"And now, the town of Utopia," Sylvia added.