Into the Bright Unknown (The Gold Seer Trilogy #3)(86)

“Party?” says Hampton. He pauses midshovel, and dirt clods topple back into the hole.

“I bet the sheriff expected to confiscate all the money Frank Dilley stole,” the Major says.

“Frank Dilley stole a bunch of money?” Jasper asks, exchanging a baffled look with Hampton.

“Don’t stop digging!” Mary says. “We have to get this done before anyone comes along.”

As they resume their attack on the hole, I say, “We stole the money. But we made it look like Frank Dilley did it.”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all month,” Hampton says.

“Tell me how you did it,” Jasper demands.

“Well, we needed your help for that,” Henry says.

“Ah,” Jasper says. “That’s what all the fuss with Jim was about.”

“Yep,” I say. “After Jim was shot, Mary had the best idea.”

Mary grins. “It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Once we had the keys for Hardwick’s safes—”

“Hold on, hold on, hold on,” Tom interrupts. “How did you get the keys to Hardwick’s safes? I’ve been dying to know how you managed it. They were never out of Ichabod’s hands.”

“Ichabod?” I ask.

“His accountant.”

“Mr. Keys!” Jefferson says. He’s leaning against the wagon now, taking a breather. “That was a tough one. He checked those keys every time he sat down and again the second he stood up. So I paid Sonia to help us. One day when Mr. Keys . . . Ichabod . . . stopped for lunch, she lifted his key ring. We had wax trays ready so she could make impressions of all the keys in just a few minutes.”

“Like the locksmith who worked on the Charlotte,” Melancthon says.

Jefferson nods. “By the time his food was served, the ring was back on his belt; he never noticed it was gone.”

“Once we had the keys for Hardwick’s safes,” the Major continues, “we needed a way to get the gold out quickly and efficiently, and then transport it without it being noticed.”

“Aha!” Melancthon interjects. “That’s what you needed that bilge hose for. They’re heavy when full, but easy to move.”

“We were going fill the hose with gold coins, and then store them all in the Charlotte in a barrel,” the Major says. “But it’s a good thing we didn’t. After he was arrested, Frank Dilley told the sheriff that we stole the money, and Purcell came and searched the Charlotte from stem to stern yesterday. If we’d had a single coin hidden aboard the ship, he would have found it.”

“I still don’t understand how you got the money out of the bank,” Jasper says.

“That was me, too,” Jefferson says. “The bank has a tile roof. I climbed up, removed a few tiles, and slipped directly into the cage. Took me a minute to figure out which key opened the safe. Then I stuffed the gold coins into the bilge hose.”

“Which was why Major Craven had me line it with cotton padding,” Melancthon says, running a hand through his whisk-broom hair. “To muffle the sound.”

“Exactly,” the Major says.

“My job was to talk to the guards,” I say. “Keep them from walking around the back of the building or paying too much attention to any odd noises.” I helped in another way, too, by giving all that gold a little push, making the bilge hose easier to handle. But I’m not sure I should say so aloud. Melancthon doesn’t need to know all our secrets.

“I thought for sure they were going to catch me when they opened the door,” Jefferson says. “There was just enough time to close the safe door and crouch behind it. If it hadn’t been cloudy and dark, he might have noticed the hole in the roof.” He looks at me. “You did a great job distracting them.”

I shrug. “Those fellows weren’t too bad.”

“Once the safe was empty,” Jefferson continues. “I climbed back up to the roof, holding one end of the hose. I pulled it over the edge and loaded it onto the wagon. Then I replaced the roof tiles, and it was like I’d never been there.”

Mary is all grins. “The next day, I paid Hardwick’s Chinese workers—the ones who moved all his safes—to pretend that one safe was just as heavy as the others, even though it was empty.”

“He never suspected a thing,” Tom says. “I never suspected a thing.”

“So, back to Jim,” I say. “Once he was shot, Mary recognized an opportunity. A way to hide all the gold we planned to steal.”

Jasper says, “So that’s why she told me to keep Jim hidden.”

“She made all the arrangements,” Henry adds. “She organized everything.”

“I came to San Francisco alone,” Mary says. “So I didn’t think Hardwick would realize I was part of the group. I had to keep out of sight around the Charlotte, though, sneaking in and out through the hold. I was afraid Frank Dilley would recognize me from Hiram’s Gulch.”

“It worked out,” I say. “Mary was able to get things done without Hardwick ever catching wind.”

Becky stares at Mary. “I thought . . . I thought you were avoiding me.”

Mary stares back, not answering.

“So that’s why we’re digging,” Jasper says, attacking the hole with renewed enthusiasm.