| Subject: The New World - Part #71 |
Author:
Wanda
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Date Posted: 04:54:21 07/16/03 Wed
PART #71
When Bow arrived back at the plantation, he saw that Catherine and George were seated outside on the front porch. He also noticed that Marguerite was with them. He waved at them as he rode in, and left his horse at the stables. He walked to the main house, and up the stairs of the porch. Catherine smiled as he walked over to her, and gave her a kiss. He sighed as he sat down in a chair at the table where the other three were seated.
Catherine said, “Bow, you look exhausted.” He said, “I am tired, but I do have some news. Some is good, and some is bad. Which would you like to hear first?” Catherine said, “Let’s hear the good news.” Bow said, “I talked with Marguerite’s father about the saw mill. He is willing to serve as the manager; also he is contacting Marguerite’s brothers about coming to work.” George said, “Bow that sounds wonderful. Once you get the equipment updated, you will be up and running.”
Catherine said, “That does sound wonderful Bow; now what is the bad news?” Bow said, “I have spent a good part of the day with Sheriff Le Havre and the bank manager of First Federated Bank.” Catherine said, “I thought you were going into town to talk with Peter Dunkirk.” Bow said, “I did talk with Peter, but I had such an uneasy feeling about some of the things he said that I decided I would go talk to Sheriff Le Havre. He told me some things about Peter that caused me more unrest, so I decided I would return to his office to talk with him once more. When I got back to his office, the door was locked, and he was gone. Sheriff Le Havre was able to get me into the office where we did some checking, and discovered there were no records there of Joshua or the plantation. After that Sheriff Le Havre and I went to the bank, and talked to the bank manager about Peter. We found he had drained all his accounts; and he had told the bank manager he was leaving town. That prompted us to go to Peter’s home, which we found to be locked up, and all the furniture had been covered. As we walked around the house we discovered that Peter had been burning something in the fireplace, and we found bits and pieces of ledger pages. The greatest find was a ledger book that had belonged to the plantation. It had been scorched by the heat, but it had fallen against the back of the fireplace, and was still intact. We dug it out, and began looking through it. We found that the plantation had no money problems other then Peter drawing money from the accounts, and then depositing the money into his own account. Obviously Joshua did not have a clue what Peter had been doing.”
Catherine asked, “Are you saying that Joshua was not having any money problems?” Bow answered, “The only money problems Joshua had was Peter stealing from him.” Catherine asked, “Does anyone have an idea where Peter is now?” Bow responded by saying, “I don’t know of anyone who knows where Peter is now. There is something though that I do find interesting. Just about the time the money ran out for Joshua, he was killed. I realize he was in a card game; and was supposed to be cheating, but I am wondering if Peter had something to do with that death. Sheriff Le Havre is going to contact the sheriff in Jennings, and see what information he can get from the man who killed Joshua. If this man knows something, it might help us to find Peter, and put his sorry self in prison.”
Bow hadn’t shared all the details with Catherine while George and Marguerite were there. He decided he would discuss the other things with her when they were alone. That night when they were getting ready to go to bed, he said, “Catherine, I know you talked with this man who killed Joshua. Did you get the feeling that someone else was involved in that killing?” Catherine thought for awhile before she spoke, “Bow, you have to realize I was pretty upset when I talked to him, but he indicated to me that he had been goaded by Joshua to the point, he lost control, and killed him. I didn’t get the idea there was someone else who was involved. The man certainly did not implicate anyone else. I do remember the sheriff at Jennings telling me they had found extra cards in Joshua’s sleeves that proved he had been cheating at the game. Are you thinking someone planted the cards in his sleeves?” Bow said, “I don’t know for sure what I think about all this, but I have a feeling there is so much more here than we really know.”
Bow told Catherine that Sheriff Le Havre had suggested he go to Jennings and attempt to talk with the man who was in jail, and waiting for a trial. If Peter did have something to do with Joshua’s death, the man might be able to give some information about Peter which would help to locate him. Catherine said, “So, he was draining all the accounts of the plantation? Does that mean we are not without funds?” Bow laughed, “Well, yes, and no. The plantation is not without funds if we can find Peter Dunkirk, and get our money back.” Catherine, with eyes blazing, said, “What a snake in the grass that man turned out to be. I hope the law catches up with him.”
To be continued...
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