“I do now.”
His smile saluted her. “Well done. They offered me money. Quite a lot of it. I didn’t accept, Miss Morrison. I was carefully selected for this assignment because Idon’ttake bribes. My behavior to the contrary, I am happily marriedandfinancially comfortable. More to the point, taking a bribe goes against my grain. Everything cannot be bought.”
“Oh.”
“Yes. Do you have money, Miss Morrison?”
“No. If you were open to bribery, you’d be insulted by how little I have to offer.”
He chuckled. “Well, it’s safely yours.”
“Why haven’t you made your decision yet?” she asked. “I don’t believe for a moment that it’s dependent on getting a surveyor out here to look at the land I showed you. I think you know that it’s satisfactory. So what is it, Mr. Berry?” She paused. “Alex.”
Alex Berry nodded approvingly at her use of his name. He judged her to be comfortable in his presence. Finally. “It’s the matter of the payroll,” he said. “It went somewhere, Miss Morrison, and I have cause to believe it’s supporting this station or the Hammersmiths. I aim to know which it is.”
Laurel frowned deeply as she leaned forward. “Whoareyou?”
He smiled faintly. “What do you mean?”
“You’re no ordinary government man.”
“No matter how you intended it, I’m accepting that as a compliment.”
“You were appointed to look for the best rail route before the payroll was ever stolen. You and I met back then. I imagine you also met with the Hammersmith family. So what was that all about?”
“Just what it seemed. The best rail route.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “It was something else.” She sat up, straightened her shoulders, and said in a tone somewhere between accusation and epiphany,“Stonechurch Mining. You were investigating Stonechurch Mining.”
Berry simply held her gaze.
“I don’t expect you to tell me if I’m right. I feel sure I am. I don’t know why you were looking into the mine or what you hoped or didn’t hope to find, but I need to know that your business with Morrison Station is legitimate. I need to know that there will be tracks laid and that you are truly empowered to decide the route. If you’re not, I need to know that, too. My life was nearly forfeited this afternoon because of the competition for your approval.”
Now Alexander Berry came to attention and moved to the edge of the sofa. “What are you talking about? What happened?”
“Someone took a shot at me while we were out.”
He shook his head. “I was there. I didn’t hear—”
“It must be lowering for a Pinkerton man such as yourself to have something like that happen almost under your nose and not be aware of it.”
“I’m not a—oh, never mind that. Tell me.”
“You took that ignominious fall and I went after Jelly. You were probably still on the ground when the shot took off my hat. You didn’t hear it because of the thunder. I didn’t hear it either if that makes you feel any better.”
“It doesn’t. You’re all right, though?”
She nodded. “I didn’t get shaky until I saw the holes in my hat, but I’m over that. Now I’m just angry.”
“Do you know where the shot came from?”
“Probably Mrs. Fry’s place. Sorry. The brothel. Leastways that’s what Rooster and Mr. Landry figure.”
“And who do they figure did the shooting? Unless I’ve completely overestimated Mr. Landry’s competencies, he certainly has some idea about that.”
“He does. He’s on his way to confront the sheriff right now.”
Alex Berry jumped to his feet. “Give me directions.”
