“What is Mrs. Larson doing here?” Ashton asked.
“I would like to know the same thing.” Nicole narrowed her eyes back on the older woman.
“And what I’d like to know,” Gordon said, bending down to pick up a pistol on the ground by the woman’s feet, “is what Mrs. Larson is doing with a weapon?”
Growling, Mrs. Larson dropped her hands to her sides and glared at Gordon. “I don’t have to answer your questions.”
Gordon arched an eyebrow and cocked his head. “No? Well, I work for the Metropolitan Police, so you’ll either answer my questions or you’ll find yourself behind bars and then you’ll have more to answer for.” He folded his arms. “Which shall it be?”
The sour expression on Mrs. Larson’s face soon dissolved as sadness covered her features again. Tears fell freely down her cheeks as she slowly shook her head. “I wanted Mr. Nickerson dead.”
Nicole sucked in a quick breath. She hadn’t expected something like that to come from the woman. “Why?”
Mrs. Larson turned her attention to Nicole. “Because he is an evil man. He finds women’s weaknesses and uses them against us to do his bidding.”
“What was Mr. Nickerson having you do?” Nicole asked, using a softer tone. Obviously, this subject hit a sore spot for the other woman.
“He...he...” She covered her face again, shaking her head.
“Please, Mrs. Larson.” Nicole touched her shoulder gently, hoping to soothe the lady’s nerves just a little. “By telling us, we’ll be able to help you a little more.”
Mrs. Larson wiped the moisture under her eyes. “Have you arrested Mr. Nickerson?” She motioned her head toward the house. “Is that why the police are there?”
“Is there a reason we need to arrest him?” Gordon asked.
The woman glared at him. “Of course there is, you imbecile. He is the one responsible for the railway robberies.”
“Mrs. Larson,” Nicole quickly took hold of the woman’s hands in hopes of calming her down a little. For some reason, Gordon seemed to be irritating Mrs. Larson. “Are you certain he is robbing the railway?” Nicole asked.
“Yes.” Mrs. Larson sniffed. “He was blackmailing me. He knows about my um...problem,” she said in a low voice. “He threatened to tell my husband if I didn’t do something for him.”
“What was it?” Nicole urged.
“He told me to find a man who resembles Mr. Lee.” She glanced at Ashton briefly, and then returned her focus on Nicole. “Mr. Nickerson wanted the railway robbery to look as if Mr. Lee was the thief. Apparently, Mr. Nickerson is still put out with Mr. Lee’s father for taking away the family farm during the war, and Mr. Nickerson is taking it out on Mr. Lee.”
Ashton grumbled and swiped his fingers through his hair, but didn’t say anything.
“So, you found someone who looked like Mr. Lee?” Nicole asked.
“Yes,” Mrs. Larson whispered. “I paid him money to be on the railway during the times it was robbed. Mr. Nickerson told me what days the train would be robbed, and I made sure my man was there at that time.”
“Mrs. Larson?” Gordon asked in a softer tone. “Do you know for certain if Mr. Nickerson stole the money himself, or did he hire someone else to do it for him?”
“I doubt he did it himself,” she snipped. “The man is a coward in all sense of the word. He would pay someone to do it for him, just as he paid me.”
“Glynn didn’t do it himself,” Ashton stated, aiming his stare at Gordon. “He was always at the office during the robberies.”
Gordon blew out an agitated breath. “So, now we need to find the person who was being paid.”
“But that doesn’t make sense,” Nicole told her brother. “Ashton and I saw someone who resembled Mr. Nickerson on the train yesterday. Although we didn’t see his face, he was the same height and build, and had the same color of hair.”
“Indeed, that is odd,” Mrs. Larson spoke up. “Why would he do it himself?”
“Unless...” Ashton scratched behind his ear and shook his head.
“Unless what?” Gordon inquired.
“Well, this last transport of money wasn’t set up by the Crown as the other ones had been. I was the one who arranged for the money to be there, and I only let a few people know about the delivery. The other times the Crown had the money shipped, we knew about it several days in advance. Perhaps Glynn realized this, which is why he decided to take the money himself.”
