After Tony ended the call, Theo stared at the phone.Nothing was ever easy, especially when it came to Steve McGibbons.The man was as slippery as a snake and just as lethal.
BARBARA WALKEDinto the kitchen at The Lakeside Inn reading a copy of one of her great-grandmother’s journals.
“Watch out for Charlie!”
Barbara jumped and almost dropped the book.She looked at the floor, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw their adorable Golden Lab was okay.Reaching down, she patted Charlie’s head.“What are you doing in the middle of the floor?”
Katie took a ball of dough out of a bowl and began kneading it.“Diana took him for a long walk this morning.He was enjoying a snooze in the sunshine.What are you reading?”
“One of our great-grandmother’s journals.The Smithsonian discovered our great-grandfather’s name in a hotel’s guest book.But I can’t work out why he was there.”
“Where was the hotel?”
“In Havre.”
“Montana?”
Barbara nodded.“He stayed there in August, 1929.”
“Was he on his own?”
Pulling out a chair, Barbara sat at the kitchen table.“That’s where it gets interesting.He checked into the hotel with another person.”
Katie frowned.“Male or female?”
“Female.They signed the register as Mr.and Mrs.Kelly, but I don’t know whether it was his wife or someone else.”
“His story keeps getting worse.”Her sister folded the dough in half and kept kneading.“For a man who emigrated here with nothing, he sure led an interesting life.”
“It was interesting as long as you weren’t his wife or daughter.”
“That’s true.What I don’t understand is why Maggie stayed married to him.From what we’ve learned, she knew her husband had faked his own death.But that didn’t stop him from visiting gambling houses or seeing his family.”
“Maybe Maggie loved him and that’s why she lied to everyone.”
Barbara sighed.“She was a successful businesswoman.Why would she risk her reputation for a man who disappeared out of her life?”
“You don’t think she could have overlooked his flaws to see someone who was doing his best to provide for his family?”
“He couldn’t do his best when he lived hundreds of miles away.”
“That’s half of the problem.We don’t know where he lived.”Katie sprinkled some flour on the counter.“If our great-grandmother was with him in Havre, how would she have traveled there?”
“She could have taken the train.Anything else would have taken too long.”Barbara pulled out her cell phone.After using all the keywords she could think of, she finally found the information she was looking for.“The Great Northern Railway stopped at Whitefish.If she went to Kalispell, she could have used the branch line to connect to Whitefish, then traveled to Havre.”
“That’s a long way to go for a husband who was never around.”
Barbara sat back in the chair.“I thought so, too, but it’s not the only thing that’s worrying me.If Maggie stayed with her husband, why didn’t she take her daughter?”
“Maybe she didn’t want Grandma to say anything.”
By 1929, Patrick Kelly had been missing, presumed dead, for nine years.Would anyone have cared if he suddenly reappeared?Would they even have recognized him?
Barbara opened the journal and turned to the page she was reading.“Look at this.It was written in July, 1929.”
Katie placed the dough into a bowl and peered over Barbara’s shoulder.“Maggie’s talking about finishing a lot of orders before she goes somewhere.Do you think she means Havre?”
“Maybe.Do you remember the stories Grandma told us of staying with a friend while her mom traveled for business?Maybe this was one of those times.”
