Chapter 4

Julia, Ruby and William had a brief meeting over breakfast in the morning before setting off for the day. Ruby agreed to start investigating family connections for the girl, in hopes she could be restored to them.

At work, William asked the inspector's permission to use four constables to get through the dead man's financials and those of the sons and widow. "If we look at all the angles at once we will get to the bottom sooner, sir." Permission granted, he created the list of information he needed, distributed it to the men and started them searching records.

By noon, Ruby came by with the rest of the information he needed to research and hopefully locate Mina's family. She had copies of the news articles about the train wreck too. The descriptions were horrifying. He actually hoped that at least some of it was exaggeration to sell papers. She also gave him a picture of Mina's father, a handsome, athletic looking, light-haired, light-eyed man. Very Dutch, he thought. In the picture, he was hoisting a toddler on his shoulder. His daughter, I suppose. He was impressed with Ruby's thoroughness and logical presentation of the known facts. He supposed he should not have been so surprised-she was a writer and investigative reporter at one point, and he surmised she used her connection to develop leads. He was going to frame this as a police inquiry about a minor child who was now in Toronto, seeking information to reunite her with her family. That much was true. He sent off the telegrams and then called in a favor with an acquaintance in New York. Now he needed to sit back and wait.

"Murdoch!" yelled Brackenreid. So much for that idea. "Sir!." He replied, as he went into the inspector's office.

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Mina was already awake and dressed Thursday morning when Julia and Ruby entered her room with breakfast. Julia thought she seemed no worse for wear; the sleep (or the dog) appeared to do her good. The girl's eyes though were haunted and the nurse confirmed nightmares woke her up but she still made no sounds other than groans and whimpers. Mina smiled at Ruby, but was more tentative with Julia. Which was to be expected, Julia thought. She noted that Mina displayed very correct manners while consuming her meal, seemed in fact to be soothed by the routine and familiarity. Julia agreed with her sister that the girl was well-bred and in this context, self-contained and mature for her age.

"Ruby….how did you travel from Missouri to Toronto? What method of travel?"

"We started out on the train, but she was so upset I had to take her off after 2 days. We came overland, and by ship through the Great Lakes and the Welland Canal."

"I think it was wise to take her off the train. It was a trigger for her trauma. She seems attached to you, do you think she remembers you from before?"

"Yes, I do, oddly enough. She recognized me and came over to me in that horrible place and clung to me. The people there were surprised because she did not do that with any of them and formed no attachments during her hospital stay."

Julia though there was no reason to delay the work they had to do. "Mina? Will you come walk with me and Ruby so I can get to know you and try to help you?" Mina glanced at the dog still loyally at her feet. "Yes, he can come too." The girl nodded her acquiescence, slipped her shoes on and stood, smoothing her skirt. She brushed her hair over her ears, revealing small gold piercings. Outside, Mina noted the several children running on the lawn and playing but made no move to join them. "We are going to see what we can see," affirmed Julia. Mina looked up, startled, and smiled, and then the three of them started on a ramble through the trees. The first real eye contact and smile… an excellent start! thought Julia.