“Of course it did, because if you didn’t have secret hiding spots, well, I would have declared myself a murderess for no reason.”
“Whydidyou declare that?”
“A mother will do anything to protect a cherished son.”
Eunice’s hand touched something cool, and a second later, she tugged out a rectangular toolbox. Setting it on the floor, she brushed aside the dirt covering the lid before she glanced to Mrs. Wagner. “Am I mistaken, then, in thinking that you had absolutely nothing to do with Grandfather’s death?”
“I wouldn’t call me blameless, not when I’m relatively certain my Vincent confronted James after he might have overheard me ranting to myself about being taken out of James’s will.” Mrs. Wagner sighed. “It’s true that I had gone to James for more money, of course, but I’m afraid I may have been a touch too demanding. When I then learned he’d followed through with his threats and drawn up a new will the day after our exchange, I knew he’d taken me out of it. A bottle of wine later, I was talking to myself, unaware that Vincent was apparently within listening distance.”
Vincent nodded to the box. “You’re getting distracted. Open it.” He turned to his mother. “I did hear you, which is why I decided itwas time to have a chat with James about his being my father. I’d been putting that talk off for quite some time, building up my nerve to present him with the perfect solution regarding who should take over the running of Mason Mines once he retired. I’d just about gotten up my nerve when my plan was disrupted when”—he jerked his head in Arthur’s direction—“he arrived in Butte. I knew right off the bat he was going to be a problem. Still, I arrived at Mason Manor fully prepared for my chat that would hopefully convince James I was the perfect candidate to be his heir, and discovered that James was having a meeting with Arthur.”
“They were discussing marriage, weren’t they?” Eunice asked, prying the lid off the toolbox and withdrawing a battered dime novel, which she immediately tossed aside.
“Indeed.” Vincent sent a sneer Eunice’s way. “Imagine my surprise when Arthur at first dodged James’s suggestion—not that I blamed him since I had firsthand knowledge of how difficult you were. However, the tone of the conversation changed, and I realized that not only was James determined to turn the company over to Arthur, he was doing his utmost best to convince Arthur to marry you.” He shook his head. “I missed a great deal of the conversation from there because I had to duck into a room when Hazel came wandering down the hallway. When I returned, the only other thing I overheard was James saying something about an unspoken threat, which I believe prompted him to ask Arthur to give him his word that he’d look after your best interests if something happened to him. After Arthur left, I felt it was still imperative to have that difficult conversation with a man I believed was my father. It did not go well.”
Eunice pulled out an old slingshot from the box. “I wouldn’t think it did, since James wasn’t your father.”
“Well, quite,” Vincent said. “He didn’t hesitate to tell me he’d never had relations with my mother nor hesitate to tell me that I was the son of some traveling salesman my mother took up with when that man was peddling his wares in town. He then told me he’d provided for me and Mother because of a debt he owed,but he wouldn’t admit anything specific about that debt, which turned out to be more along the lines of blackmail. When he was finished, he told me he’d had enough of the Wagner family, that it was time for me and Mother to leave town, and if we didn’t go voluntarily, he’d be making his own arrangements. That’s when I decided to kill him.”
Setting aside the slingshot, Eunice frowned. “But what benefit would you have derived from killing him, and why set me up to take the fall?”
“I believe the simplest explanation for killing James would be rage and then spite for trying to frame you.”
Eunice set aside a necklace made of paste she’d won at a local fair before she continued rummaging around a box that was slowly but surely being emptied. “I’m curious why you think Grandfather named you in the letter he left for me.”
“Because I lost my temper with him that night I learned the truth. After I left, I’m sure he was relieved he’d made plans to send you away, clearly having done so after he had that contentious exchange with Mother.”
“James was quite enraged the last time I demanded money,” Mrs. Wagner said. “And, because he knew full well what I was capable of, I’m sure he wanted to send you away, Eunice, in case I turned spiteful.” She smiled. “James, being a ruthless sort, always recognized that same characteristic in me, so I’m certain he was worried I’d spill just one or two of his secrets to you in order to get him to agree to give me more money.”
“Were you intending on using your ruthlessness to garner yourself an endless stream of funds through blackmailing Uncle Raymond?” Eunice asked.
“Raymond is an idiot and would have been far more easily manipulated than James ever was,” Mrs. Wagner said. “I thought he’d be a plump pigeon for the rest of my days because he didn’t exactly behave in an ethical fashion when he agreed to have you declared dead. Since Raymond wants to be remembered as the Mason who finally helped Butte turn into a cosmopolitan city, youcan bet he wouldn’t have blinked an eye over giving me whatever I demanded.”
Eunice reached into the box again, trepidation flowing freely when she realized there were only a few items left, none of which was a letter from her grandfather. It was a stretch to think Mrs. Wagner was going to be agreeable to moving on to search for another secret place, which meant she needed to delay what was certainly going to be some type of showdown for as long as possible. Pulling out a rag doll that had seen better days, she began searching through the folds of the doll’s dress, hoping Vincent and his mother would take her actions as a search for a letter, not a delay tactic.
“What are you doing?” Vincent demanded.
She pulled off the doll’s dress. “Grandfather might have hidden the letter in the stuffing. You wouldn’t happen to have a knife I could borrow to open her up, do you?”
“If I won’t let you have a pitchfork, I’m certainly not going to hand you a knife.”
“Probably a wise decision on your part,” Eunice said, pulling a loose thread on the doll, which had it unraveling. “While I disassemble this doll stitch by painful stitch, I hope you’ll humor me because I find myself curious as to how you set up the scene so well for Grandfather’s death. Clearly, since you left my pistol on the field, you didn’t know I was supposed to be at the train station, but I imagine my showing up turned out to be an odd twist of luck for you.”
“It would have been lucky if you hadn’t thrown a wrench into my plans by showing up earlier than I was expecting,” Vincent said. “You normally didn’t meet your grandfather until nine, but he always went at eight. That’s why I struck when I did. I thought I’d shoot James, position your pistol to where it would certainly be found, then leave and return a few minutes after nine, catching you in the act, so to speak. Unfortunately, James was a tough old bird, and after I shot him, he actually staggered to his feet at one point, looking around to see if he could find who’d shot him. I wasforced to huddle down in the tall grass, and then, while I was hiding, you arrived early on the scene. I was considering shooting you as well, making it appear like a murder-suicide, but before I could do that, Arthur showed up out of the blue.” He cocked a brow Arthur’s way. “I don’t bet you were planning on Eugenia shooting you, but then I thought for sure that my plan would still work, which is why I crawled away into the trees while you were lying on the ground and Eugenia was running away. After you finally sat up, I was expecting you to return to the house, telling everyone you’d seen her shoot her grandfather. Why didn’t you do that?”
Arthur shrugged. “I knew she hadn’t killed her grandfather.”
“Because?”
“She didn’t shoot to kill me, merely slow me down.”
“And while that’s an unexpected explanation,” Mrs. Wagner said, gesturing with her pistol at Eunice, “James clearly didn’t hide his letter in the doll. What else is in the box?”
Eunice pulled out a tin pin and placed it on the floor, bracing herself for a confrontation she was convinced would soon come. “That’s it. That’s all that’s in there, which means we’ll need to move to my next secret spot.”
“And draw attention in the process?” Mrs. Wagner laughed. “I think not.” She nodded to Vincent. “I have a carriage waiting outside the barn. Wait for me in it, dear.”
“But we don’t have the letter.”
