“Did he?” How interesting. The manager didn’t seem to like Thomas’s questions. Perhaps that meant he was guilty of something. “Is that your intention?”
“Hmm. I can’t say I like Mr. Harris.” The porter turned his back on the workhouse to study the busy street.
“On that, we agree.”
“You want to know about the children.” The man didn’t ask, which meant he knew it to be true.
“Yes.” Thomas waited to see what more he might say. He should’ve thought to ask him sooner. No doubt he saw everything and everyone that came in and out of this door. “Can you assist me?”
The porter glanced over his shoulder at the door as if to make certain it remained closed. “I wouldn’t want to lose my job.”
Disappointed even if he understood, Thomas nodded. Yet the man’s words implied something was amiss. “I don’t want that either.” He waited a moment but when the porter said nothing further, Thomas pressed for more. “But if children are being shipped so far from home when they’re not supposed to be, something should be done.”
The man scowled, clearly not wanting to hear that. “It’s not as if they have a good life here.”
“Is that what Harris told you?” It didn’t take a detective to guess that.
The question seemed to make the man uncomfortable, and he heaved a sigh.
“I’m trying to do what’s right,” Thomas added, waiting until the porter met his gaze. “I don’t want children with loving parents, regardless of how poor they are, to be taken away from them.”
The man scratched his whiskers with a gloved hand. “Nor do I. I have three kids of my own. They might drive me crazed at times, and heaven knows it takes me and the missus everything we have to feed them but losing one would end me.”
“Then help me. Help save those children who should be with their families.”
After a moment’s pause, the porter nodded. “I’ll do what I can.” He glanced again at the door. “I don’t have any proof. Just a few observations that make me wonder.”
“That’s all I need. I’ll take care of the rest.” Thomas was careful to contain his excitement for fear the man would change his mind.
“Harris receives a fee for every child he ships. But he doesn’t always bother with approval from the parents.”
Just as Thomas had suspected. “What of Mr. Ayers? Is he involved?” If he didn’t have to include Frances by requesting a meeting with Mrs. Conrad, all the better. Besides, from what Frances had discovered, Mrs. Conrad funded a portion of the operation through philanthropy and had little to do with the details.
Frances’ upset the previous day about whether to hold the ball had tugged at him. He wanted to protect her from further worry if he could, regardless of whether she thought him an opportunist only after her dowry.
“I don’t think so. He leaves the details to Harris.”
“Surely parents complain when their children suddenly go missing.”
“Of course. But the adults and children are separated when they arrive. Harris doesn’t give them the bad news until they’re ready to leave. Then he tells them that they ran away.” He shook his head. “It was only a few here and there until the last few months.”
“Harris is getting greedy, eh?”
“Seems so. The situation doesn’t sit right with me but when I mentioned it to Mr. Ayers, he didn’t act the least bit concerned.”
Then he was guilty, too, as far as Thomas was concerned. If he was receiving payment to oversee the program, he needed to take his duties seriously.
But how to catch the men in the scheme so he’d have evidence to end it?
“Another group of children is leaving on a ship late tomorrow afternoon.”
Thomas’s chest tightened. If even one of them should be reunited with their family, he would do everything in his power to stop Harris and whoever else was involved. “Tell me more.”
Chapter Sixteen
Thomas stared at the ticket on his nightstand, pondering what to do. Did he attend the ball that evening as planned? Or should he assume Frances hoped to find a better suitor based on her reaction to his request to court her?
He had no desire to cause her distress if that was what she wanted. She deserved everything she wished for and more. Even so, he’d hoped she wished for him.
