Stuart paused. “What do you mean that it was awfully clear?”
“Who else could it have been? Jeremy had spent all his money on cards and drink. More than one man said he owed money. And the sheriff arrived and found Jeremy by the train and that man dead. He was the only one here. There wasn’t anyone else it could have been.”
Stuart drew in a deep breath and thanked Mr. Rose. It was exactly what he’d heard had happened. Mr. Rose was right—it was indeed awfully clear that Jeremy was the only person who could have planned the half-executed robbery and shot that railroadman.
Stuart stepped outside, wondering why he didn’t feel more vindicated that Mr. Rose’s story agreed with everything Stuart had thought about the situation.
Instead he felt . . . disappointed.
But what had he expected? For Mr. Rose to toss aside the testimony he’d given in court, and that Stuart had—against his better judgment—read about in the newspaper?
Seeing Jeremy had gotten under his skin.Norahhad gotten into his head. If he could keep his mind straight, he’d remember that Jeremy had been the one to throw his life away, even before the robbery. And look where it had gotten him.
There was right, and there was wrong, and Jeremy had crossed the line.
Stuart pushed back his shoulders, letting the regrets that sat heavy slide off. They’d be back, although he wished they’d go for good. He hadn’t been able to convince Jeremy to stop, and it was no good replaying it all in his head yet again.
He began walking with no specific direction in mind. If he went home, Ma would fuss over him working too hard. He wasn’t entirely ready to see Norah yet, particularly if he had to convey to her what Mr. Rose had to say. He was passing a competing shipping and freight business when he spotted Nate, who had his photography equipment set up outside the business.
Stuart’s thoughts must have been evident in his expression because Nate immediately straightened up from behind the camera and said, “What happened?”
Stuart relayed what the stationmaster had told him. “It’s no different from what I already knew. I don’t know why it’s got me so unsettled. I suppose it’s because I have to tell Norah.”
Nate watched him a moment, clearly thinking. “Could be. Or was it the visit you paid to Jeremy yesterday?”
Stuart let out a deep breath and nodded. “It was strange, seeing him again.”
Nate adjusted the camera on the tripod. “How was he?”
“Thin. Grateful.” Stuart paused, trying to decide how he would describe the way Jeremy avoided speaking about what had happened the night of the robbery. “Norah asked him specifically about what had happened that evening he’d been arrested. He claimed his innocence but refused to say more. And it wasn’t as if he didn’t want his sister to hear the details—it was something more. I thought maybe it was because he was lying to her, but . . . I don’t know. It hasn’t sat right with me ever since.”
Nate furrowed his brow. “If he says he did nothing wrong, I don’t understand why he wouldn’t be more forthcoming.”
Stuart nodded as Nate leaned down to peer through the camera. “Are you photographing the building?”
Nate straightened again. “Guelph’s hired me,” he said, nodding at the shipping and freight business that was the largest of the Parkers’ many competitors in town. “They want to place an advertisement in the newspaper with an image of their offices.”
“Interesting.” Stuart considered the idea as Nate adjusted the camera again. It was a novel thought, and one on which he doubted Papa would spend the money. There was plenty of business to go around, but they were always hungry for more, and he had to admire Guelph’s for trying something new in their advertising.
“Ever since I came back to town and learned what happened, it’s bothered me how abruptly Jeremy changed,” Nate said.
“It wasn’t abrupt, but yes, it was like a train speeding from the station. I tried to catch up with it, but he was beyond my reach.” It still smarted, thinking about how Jeremy had brushed him off, time and again. A man could only take so much of being pushed aside before he walked away for good. And that was exactly what Stuart had to do.
Nate studied the building in front of them, seemingly lost in thought as a couple strolled by on the board sidewalk, hand in hand. Another few people had passed by before Nate spoke again. “I’d like to see him myself. I mentioned it to Ruthann some time ago, but I needed to think it through. Do you suppose he’d be open to seeing me?”
Stuart shrugged. “I can’t see why not. He certainly was happy enough to visit with Norah and me.” He paused, guilt creeping in through the cracks in his conscience. “I doubt he’d had a single visitor before yesterday.”
After a second, Nate nodded. “All right. You ought to come with me. He might have more to say with two old friends than with his sister present.”
It was the last thing Stuart wanted to do, but he found himself agreeing with Nate. It would make Norah happy, particularly after he’d told her about his visit with Mr. Rose. And especially if he could scare up some crumb of information from Jeremy to share with her.
After making plans to visit the next day, Stuart left Nate to finish his work. It was time to see Norah again.
He could only hope Mrs. Parker was otherwise occupied—else he might find himself the object of her matchmaking again. He straightened his tie and set out for Norah’s house, determined not to let those stray, unasked for thoughts about her enter his mind again.
He was helping afriend, and that was all there was to it.
