Author's note:
This story was written from a common starting point for a fanfiction challenge. The text we were given will be the first part in bold. We had 12,000 additional words to tell a story. I hope that you enjoy this.
Nathan Grant Common Starting Point Challenge
Chapter 1
Inspector Nathan Grant rubbed the back of his neck as he made his way through Mountie Headquarters in Union City to his office. He had spent the last hour inspecting freight coming through Union City by railroad for one of his current open cases. This particular case involved the smuggling of stolen jewelry from stores in big cities in Eastern Canada to points out west. The operation had been discovered when a shipping crate for Thatcher Shipping Company had accidentally been dropped while moving it from one train to another. Two small canvas bags with several precious gemstone rings had come dislodged from the lid of the shipping crate. Nathan had been called in by the railroad, and two other crates in the shipment had been found to have jewelry hidden in crates of dishes and utensils.
Today, jewelry from a reported robbery in Halifax had been discovered in crates of food bound for Cape Fullerton. Having no reason to believe that William Thatcher himself was party to the smuggling operation, Nathan had been in contact with the shipping tycoon. Confiding in only his right-hand man about the incident, William Thatcher had not been able to turn up any indication that the stolen jewelry was being added to the crates at their origination in Hamilton. Unfortunately, that still did not rule out involvement by someone in the Thatcher Shipping Company organization entirely. The inside man could also be associated with the railroad or a third party altogether.
Reaching his office, Nathan hung his hat up on the hook inside the door as he walked over to his desk. He had left the contraband in the crates today. Picking up the phone, Nathan called and alerted the Mounties that were near the trains next stop. His plan was to keep tabs on the contraband and see where they disappeared.
After making the call, Nathan leaned back in his chair. He reached out for the lone photograph on his desk. The photograph was of him and Allie taken at Abigail's café just before they had left Hope Valley. While Bill had stayed quiet about the promotion until after Christmas as he had asked, once the fact became common knowledge that he would be leaving Hope Valley for Union City, Bill had set about organizing a going away party for him and Allie.
The fact that the town that had been slow to accept him when he first took the posting was now sad to see him leave had been touching. However, he didn't regret his choice. The Inspector job had been one that he had wanted. He found his new job responsibilities challenging. As for Allie, his niece seemed to have adjusted to life in the city.
Nathan placed the photograph back on his desk as the phone rang.
"Hello."
("We need to talk, but not on the phone." The voice said.)
"It will look suspicious if I suddenly leave, especially since I haven't left for more then a night or two since coming here, besides I have …."
("I thought of that." The voice said. "I talked to a trusted contact. Just follow orders and everything will make sense soon.")
"Okay."
("I will talk to you soon.")
"Goodbye."
Nathan hung up the phone and sat there thinking about what was going on. He wasn't sure what William Thatcher was up to, but if he wanted to break the case, he needed to trust the man. As much as Nathan knew about William Thatcher, there was still a part of him that wasn't sure that the man was just covering his own butt. As Nathan was sitting there thinking about the case and writing what he knew, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
A younger Mountie walked in and without saying a word, he walked over and handed an envelope to Nathan. He took the letter and sat back down. He took a deep breath as he wasn't sure what was going on. Nathan opened the letter and it was orders to accompany O'Reilly to Regina. There were two tickets for the train the in two days time. Nathan was wondering what was going on, then he remembered Mr Thatcher's words – just follow orders.
Nathan wasn't sure what was going on, but he realized that whatever it was, him and Allie were heading to Regina. Nathan looked at the time and then made a quick phone call and it confirmed what he thought. After hanging up the phone, Nathan made arrangements for him to be out of the office until further notice as he had orders to go to Regina. After leaving the office, Nathan headed to the school to talk to Allie's teacher and see if she could put some work together for Allie. Although not happy the teacher acquiesced to the request and put things together for the rest of that week and the following as well.
So two days after the mysterious phone call from William Thatcher, Nathan and Allie sat at the train station waiting for the early morning east bound train. Nathan expected to see O'Reilly, but so far there was nothing.
"Why do I have to go?" Allie asked.
"Honestly." Nathan said. "I don't know. I received orders to report to Regina and there was a ticket for you as well. Look at it this way, even though you have homework, you don't have to go to school for a few days. I am going to assume that everything will be clearer when we arrive in Regina tomorrow evening. I promise to make some time so that we can explore Regina. Think about it this way, it another new experience. Maybe you can write about it. I am sure that your friends will want to hear all about it."
Allie just nodded and went back to the book that she was reading for school. Nathan was on alert, not knowing exactly what was going on. It helped that he was in uniform, but still he was a bit nervous. Shortly before they were to board the train that pulled in, the steward came over.
"Sir, I will show you to your compartment when you are ready. I hope that you and your niece will be comfortable there."
Nathan was a little surprised, but nodded. He hadn't thought about them having a compartment, but it made sense. He tapped Allie's arm to get her attention. After gathering there things, they were shown to the compartment. Nathan was surprised to Superintendent O'Reilly already there.
"Sir." Nathan said while saluting.
O'Reilly returned the salute.
"Relax." O'Reilly said. "Miss Allie, how about you get settled in your room while I speak to your uncle."
Allie looked at Nathan and he nodded. The steward lead Allie to the other end of the compartment and showed her her room. O'Reilly waited until the steward left and Allie's door was shut, he then turned to Nathan.
"Sorry about all of this, it was the only way that we could speak and be assured of privacy."
"Okay. Why bring Allie?"
"Just trust me for now."
Nathan looked at O'Reilly and before he could answer there was a knock at the door. O'Reilly went to get and a well dressed older gentleman stepped in. Nathan looked at him and thought he looked a bit familiar, but wasn't sure.
"Inspector Grant. Please meet William Thatcher."
"Sir."
"Relax son. I was in Calgary when we spoke. I was able to catch an earlier train and met you here. I thought we could talk while on the train. I hope you and your niece are comfortable here in this compartment, I will make sure that you have a compartment on the way back as well. Patrick and I are the only other people in this particular car."
"Thank you, Sir. But if you are in here in Union City why are we going to Regina?"
"William is a busy man and is expected in Regina." O'Reilly said. "Besides, we need the privacy."
The men took all took a seat around the table. All Nathan wanted to do was relax, but he couldn't with O'Reilly there. He figured that they would talk about the case, but Nathan had more questions then answers at the moment.
"No one knows that I am meeting with you and I want to keep it that way. Not only am I trying to protect my business, but I am also trying to protect my family. I want to catch the people that are using my good name to smuggle contraband, but I also need to protect myself. There is a lot I haven't told you because I wanted to be sure or at least have proof before I said anything. There are/were things that I didn't feel comfortable discussing on the phone."
"What are you talking about?"
"Inspector, Grant. I promise I will tell you everything, that is why I wanted to meet with you in person. I told you I wasn't involved and I have been honest. I also know how things work in law enforcement. You have constraints that I wouldn't have as a private person investigating people in my own company. Before I get any further, I am scheduled to be in Regina for business for a couple of days. I can extend the trip if needed, but would like not to if possible. We can talk here and I will be able to meet with you in Regina. Patrick can arrange it.
I think I found a major break in the case, but before I could turn it over to the Mountie station in Vancouver, it was removed from office, which is where I was before traveling to Calgary. There were only two other people that had access to to my office. My assistant, who has been with me for years and my right-hand man, who has also been with me for years. Both are traveling in another compartment in a separate car. It is other information that I have uncovered that I hadn't shared with anyone that has lead me to believe that my right-hand man has gone behind my back and gotten involved with the people that are the smuggling.
Before you ask, I do have a second copy of the information that was stolen. No one knew that and I had kept it with me as I wasn't sure who I could trust. I actually left it there because I wanted to see what would happen. I have spoken to both men, but haven't told them much. I have limited the amount of information that has been shared with people."
"Okay." Nathan said. "What have you learned? Can I assume that your right-hand man is Charles Kensington III?"
"Yes, it is Charles. You need to understand that I have known Charles all of his life and at one time thought that he would be married to my daughter, but she had other ideas. I think that when she rejected him that something more happened and even as he learned more of the business, he withdrew from other things in polite society. This is hard for me as I have seen Charles as a son I never had. I had no choice but to look into him and talk to his father who is also a business associate. I have been able to learn that Charles has been gambling and his own father has even limited what he could touch of the family inheritance."
"I am still confused."
"Don't worry, Grant. It will all become clear as we talk. Is Allie going to be okay alone?"
"Please let me check."
Nathan got up and went to check on Allie. He let her know that he was meeting with O'Reilly and another person, but if she needed anything to let him know. Allie let him know that she was fine and was going to work on her homework or maybe take a short nap. When Nathan returned, O'Reilly and William had both spread out some papers on the table. Nathan grabbed his messenger bag and sat back down. Nathan undid is top two buttons of his serge having seen O'Reilly unbutton his and William had removed his suit coat.
"I ordered some stuff for us. Is Allie going to be okay?"
"Yes, she is going to work on her homework or maybe nap."
"Good. I am mostly here to observe and be another set of eyes. I am am William's cover, we are old friends. It wouldn't be unusual for us to spent time together while he is traveling."
"Thank you, Sir. So Charles. You have proof that he has been gambling?"
"Yes I do." William said. "I hired a private investigator to look into my top men as well as my assistant before you found the gemstones. I had received a report from the port in Vancouver, that was why I was there."
"When was this?"
"Six months ago."
"What was this report?"
"It was to let me know that several ships had had their inventory changed at the last minute and that if I wanted to maintain my status, that it needed to stop."
"What status?"
"I have priority status at most ports in North American. It means that I get prime mooring spots and my cargo is unloaded first regardless of when the ship arrives. It also means that outgoing ships get loaded and set off earlier then others. Because I usually send inventories, including personnel weeks in advance, I don't have as many inspections. Because of my status I also get prime spots on the railroads. I do a lot of work with ports and rails, moving many goods across this country as well as all of North America."
"Got it. Who knew this?"
"Me, my assistant, and the top five men at the company. That is why I hired an investigator to look into all of them and see who was making the changes. All the changes were made by Charles. When I spoke to him, he told me that it was last minute changes on business deals and that he would try to do better about getting paperwork in on time. I wasn't convinced, I have been in the shipping business for a very long time. We know months in advance what is going to be ready and when. Why was it only deals that were under Charles' purview that had changes. Ever since I talked to him, there hasn't been a ship's manifest that was changed, but there have been several inconsistencies with rail manifests."
"Okay."
"I didn't say anything else to Charles, but slowly focused my investigation on him. Even with my own investigation, I knew that I had to tell him about the smuggling, but when I told him, I held back some information to see what he did. He heard me on the phone to you, although I didn't use your name, I was worried.
That was why I had Patrick have you bring Allie. I didn't want the men that Charles is working with to go after her to get you to back off. As much as I want this smuggling to stop, I needed to be sure. I also needed to be sure that others were safe."
Nathan nodded. There were so many questions that he wanted to ask, but knew that it was time to listen and limit the questions until later. He did start making notes as they were speaking so he would remember what he was thinking in the moment.
"So did you find out who Charles is working with. I mean I have several suspects, but not enough information to narrow it down."
"I believe that I know who he is working with and it is not just stolen jewelry that they are moving. At first, I didn't want to believe it, but the more that I learned, the more I realized that this was bigger then a few stolen gemstones. We need to be careful, because if I am right, these men are dangerous and have killed before. Also if I am correct, I have a feeling that my daughter and grandson are in danger. As much as it pains me to admit, I haven't always done right by them."
"What do you mean?"
"Slow down Grant. I have known William for years, he will lay it all out. Right now you are to listen and take notes. You can ask questions later. We have a very limited amount of time. William is expected to check in with his assistant and Charles later. After he goes through everything and meets with them, we can gather back here and go over the questions."
"Bouchard?"
O'Reilly nodded. Nathan let out a harsh breath, he knew that Bouchard was dirty, but he couldn't prove it. Despite everything that Elizabeth had done, Nathan didn't want to see her or Little Jack in danger.
"As I was saying, I think that this is bigger then we think and that it has been going on longer then we think."
"Okay. Why do you say that?"
"When I narrowed my investigation on Charles, which didn't take long, maybe a week or so. I had every shipping contact that he has signed for the last four or so years pulled. I had the investigator go through them. He thinks that Charles has been smuggling for years and it was just by chance that the contraband was found. He is the one that brought me evidence of things that Charles has been involved in over the years. I was surprised at some of the information that was brought to me."
Nathan nodded and wrote several notes. He has several questions, but he knew it wasn't the time to ask them. Before William could continue, there was a knock on the door. O'Reilly got up and let the steward in. The steward set up the coffee and a platter of pastries.