Shaking his head, he pushed the budget journal aside and rested his elbows on the desk. He glanced out the window. His office gave him a great view of the people boarding the railway. It was good to see that the robberies hadn’t affected their business, but he knew they would go under if the police didn’t catch the thief, and most definitely, the queen would never want to use their service again.
The knock on the door startled Ashton from his thoughts. He scrubbed his palms over his face twice and then sat back in his chair. “Enter.”
The door opened, and one of the railway workers walked inside. The tall man was thin and had the reddest hair Ashton had ever seen. The man’s wide-eyed gaze scooted around the office slowly before finally landing on Ashton.
“Uh, pardon my interruption, Mr. Lee. My name is Orville Reddington, and I’m a porter on the railway.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Reddington. What can I do for you?”
“It’s nothing you can do for me, but I think you should know what happened yesterday during the railway ride to Meols and back.”
Ashton’s heart sank. No, not another robbery! “What happened?”
“Two people—a man and a woman—were asking some strange questions about the robbery.” The man waved his thin hands as he talked. “Those of us working on the railway got suspicious, sir. We wondered if these two were somehow connected to the robberies.”
Ashton scratched his chin. “A man and woman, you say? Do you remember what they looked like?”
Orville shrugged. “They were lower-class folks in their twentieth year or so. The woman, I remember, was pretty, and she had an infectious smile. She had a charming laugh, too.”
Ashton’s chest tightened. “Was she wearing a yellow dress?”
Orville’s eyes widened. “Did you see her? I didn’t even know you were on the railway yesterday.”
“Yes, I saw her and wondered about her as well.”
The other man sighed heavily and swept a lock of red hair off his forehead. “Oh, good. If you know about her, I won’t fret.”
He turned to leave, but Ashton stopped him. “Mr. Reddington?”
The man peered over his boney shoulder at him. “Yes?”
“I appreciate you being on the lookout for people trying to take advantage of our railway. It makes me happy to know you value your job that much.”
The man smiled so wide the corners of his mouth nearly touched his ears. Of course, his face was thin, and his mouth was overly large, so perhaps the man’s smile could touch his ears.
“Yessir!”
“Let me know if you see anything else.”
“I sure will, Mr. Lee.”
Ashton could see an extra bounce in Orville’s walk when he left the office. It was bad enough that Ashton suspected Nicole was up to something, but now...
Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair. Why was she asking about the robberies? She and her brother couldn’t possibly be involved. Ashton just wouldn’t believe it. When he had met her at the masked ball, she seemed too innocent yet eager to share the adventure of running away from the drunken men, even if it put them alone in the shadows. Not once did he think she could be some kind of thief...unless she wanted to steal his heart.
Then again, she was very different from the women he had known. Perhaps her only fault was that she was too quizzical and too adventurous.
He frowned. Why was he having doubts at all? It came down to this—he needed to ask her. It was obvious she was as interested in him as he was in her. She would explain what he didn’t understand if only he asked. The one thing he enjoyed about her was that she spoke her mind. He must believe there was some logical explanation for all of his confusion.
The knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. “Enter,” he called out.
Mr. Wiggins opened the door. “Mr. Lee, a young woman is here to see you.”
Hope sprang in Ashton’s chest. “Who is it? Did she leave a name?”
Nodding, the younger man scratched the side of his crooked nose. “Miss Bastian.”
Relief swept over Ashton. Answers to his questions were within his grasp. He should take things slow if he meant to earn her trust.
