Chapter 2
After the steward left, each of the men got up to get a cup of coffee and something to eat. Once they were settled, William went back to his papers.
"As I was saying, I think Charles has been helping smuggle things for years. I think that it might have started with alcohol into some of the dry communities. The further that I went back the more that I found. I am willing to turn everything over to the Mounties. One of my private investigators will be bringing everything to Regina where you can go over it and do what you need. He is scheduled to arrive later today. He knows to hold onto everything until I get there and meet with him. However, I have a couple of other business meetings that I need to attend with Charles and my assistant. I would let Charles handle them alone, but I think it would raise too many questions. Especially since the businessmen that I am meeting know that I am traveling to Regina from Vancouver. Also right now, I want to try and distance myself and my business from Charles.
Charles already wasn't happy that he wasn't in the same car as me. I have informed him and my assistant that I am not to be bothered today, but we will have an early supper together later. I told him that an old friend was going to be on the train and that the only time I would have with him was while we were traveling to Regina and I wanted to spend as much time catching up as possible. I am sure that he was a bit worried when he saw you get on in Union City. That was why I wanted you to bring your daughter. I felt that it would be less suspicious for you to be traveling with your niece. It is also why I suggested that Patrick not get on the train with you.
The thing about Charles is that he has been spoiled. He is accustom to getting his own way for far to long. I think that is why when my daughter turned his proposal of marriage he was shocked. I know my daughter and I believe that she loved him of some sort, but I also knew that Charles never had her heart. I think that he was just so use to having people do what he wanted because of his name and job, that he didn't know how to respond. I think that he turned to other means to try to regain some control. I admit that I have played cards over the years. Never more then a couple of hands at the club, but I know that winning can give a man a feeling of control over things when other things feel like they are spinning out of control. I can also see how a person can get sucked in too deep. I have seen it happen to men over the years. I think that is part of the reason that I have never played more then a friendly hand or two at the club even though I have been invited to many, many games over the years."
"Just so I am clear." Nathan said. "You believe that Charles is involved and you are worried about what will happen when he is confronted. Why then have you allowed him to continue to have access to things in business."
"That is the thing." William said. "I have limited his access at work. I have slowly reassigned many of his contracts and have slowly handed off other things. I am sure he thinks it is because I want to retire and hand things over to him, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I have kept Charles close to keep tabs on him and what he is doing. I don't want Charles to have my company anymore. Yes, there was a time when I thought that he would take over running the company for me, but I have since changed the papers as to who will inherit things."
"We can talk about that later." O'Reilly said. "We still have lots to discuss."
"Sir. I am still confused. The orders I received were to accompany you to Regina for a meeting. I get that we need to be careful with this case as we don't know who is all involved, but I am confused about the cloak and dagger with this meeting."
"I did that on purpose. It is also why I left yesterday and traveled to Buxton, only to turn around and get back on today. After I spoke to William, we agreed that we needed extra precaution on this meeting. To make this all look good, you will be meeting with three other Inspectors while in Regina. You will be expected to attend and discuss their cases. They may or may not need help and I thought we could use that as a cover for this meeting. This case, your case Grant, is a higher priority, but I needed something to justify sending you to Regina for a week. This meeting happens once a month and several inspectors attend to discuss cases and get help.
When able, I attend as the Superintendent overseeing several inspectors. It just happened that it lined up well with William's travel and that is why I used that as an excuse to have you attend the meeting. Normally the meeting would only be the senior inspectors. I have talked to the Commissioner and he has invited the other three inspectors that you will be meeting with. They are all fairly new inspectors as well, so I thought it would help them. However, I don't want you to discuss this case with them. I have pulled a case file of another open investigation that I want you to share. I am sure that you would be able to solve the case on your own, but I needed something for the meeting Please understand that this case with William would have normally been assigned to a much more senior inspector, but since you found the initial contraband, and at William's urging, I have left this case in your hands. William is confident that you are the man that will solve this for all of us."
Nathan nodded, he was beginning to understand things.
"Thank you for the confidence, Sir."
"Your welcome. Your record speaks for itself Inspector. I have looked into you and if I would have been able to hand-pick an investigator, I would have chose you hands down."
Nathan blushed at the compliment. He wondered how much William Thatcher actually knew about him and his past. He then realized that a man of William's stature had access to lots of things.
"I am concerned what Charles could do if cornered." William said. "I am glad that my oldest and her family are in London. I am worried about the others, especially when I am not right there to protect them."
"We will protect them as best as we can."
"I know Patrick. But they are my life. I don't want these men to hurt them."
Nathan sat back and drank his coffee for a moment. Just before he was to ask a question, he looked up and saw Allie in the doorway.
"Come here, Allie-girl."
Allie came closer and stood closer to her uncle.
"Allie, you remember Superintendent O'Reilly."
"Nice to see you again, Sir."
"I also want you to meet Mr William Thatcher, he is an important businessmen and friend of the Superintendent. He is helping us with a case, so we will be working most of the time on the train."
Allie nodded.
"Nice to meet you, Sir."
"So you are the famous Allie."
"You know about me." Allie asked with much surprise.
"O'Reilly told me about you and your uncle."
Allie smiled. William didn't want to tell either Nathan or Allie that he had also heard about them from his daughter. He couldn't believe that his daughter had let them go. There was a part of him that wanted to throttle his daughter for her behavior toward Nathan and Allie. William couldn't believe that Beth had let this honorable man slip through her fingers only to go with that leech of a man. William wished that he would have been able to stop in Hope Valley and have words with them, but he knew it wasn't the time for that. He also knew that once the case had been made, he was going to have a serious conversation with his daughter. He was just glad that he had ironclad rules for the girls trust funds. Even if Beth married Bouchard, there would be no way that he would be able to get his hands on the money.
"Allie, was there something that you needed?" Nathan asked.
"I was hungry."
"Why don't you have a muffin or something."
"I am sorry." O'Reilly said. "I was going to bring you something when it came, but we got talking."
"It is okay."
"Allie." William said. "I hear you have some homework to do, but how about us men continue to talk and then you can join us for lunch in a little while. Do you want to look at the menu or do you trust your uncle to order?"
"Uncle Nathan knows what I like."
"Okay. I will make sure that we come get you and then you can tell me more about how you are liking Union City over lunch. I think we will need about an hour and half before lunch."
"Okay, thank you. Uncle Nathan, do you think that they have soda?"
"What kind do you like?" William asked.
"Orange or ginger ale."
"I will make sure to order some."
Allie smiled and Nathan nodded. Allie went over and got herself a muffin and poured a glass of juice before heading back to her room.
"Thank you." Nathan said. "You didn't have to do that."
"I raised three daughters. Sometimes a treat is worth it. Besides, meals are on me this trip. They stock orange soda especially for me when I travel."
Nathan shook his head, but if you looked close there was a small smile on his face. The men made their lunch selections and placed the order to be delivered to the compartment.
"Let's get back to things at hand before lunch."
"Yes, Sir."
Nathan sat back up, looked over the notes that he had taken and then turned his attention back to the other two gentlemen that were seated at the table. Both Patrick and William waited until Nathan looked them. Patrick nodded to William to continue.
"I know that you have questions, Inspector."
"Please call me Nathan."
"William, please."
Nathan nodded.
"I will be honest. I had you checked out. I know more about you then you think. I don't do business with people that I don't have checked out. Because of the implications of this investigation, I had to be sure that the people that I would be working with were trustworthy. You are a cut above the average Mountie. After talking to Patrick, I was positive that you were the person that I wanted on this investigation. I know that you stepped back from things when you took your niece in. I also know that you more then deserve this promotion that you received.
That all said, I also know that this investigation is going to bring a lot of press just because of who I am. I hope that you are prepared for that because if not, we need to know now. Hamilton Shipping is a very large business and both the Thatcher and Kensington name draw a lot of attention. I also know that Charles is not going to go quietly when the time comes. I also know that there are already press on this train. It happens most every time that I travel. I swear that there are reporters that follow me around on my travels trying to find some story."
"I understand, we can deal with the press. I am more concerned about our families."
"So am I. I have talked to Patrick about those things. He has assure me that the Mounties will do everything that in their power to protect our families. I can will do everything that you ask and if it comes to it, I will pay to have protection for your niece."
"Thank you. I will let you know. But for now, I want to get back to this case. I get that you suspect Charles, but you haven't given me much information on who you think he is working with. I get that you might be protective of Charles as you have viewed him as a son for years. But we all know that good men can do bad things. We also know that no matter how much we love and care for those people we can't allow them to get away with the bad things that they have done, especially when they have hurt or potentially hurt innocent people. That said, I don't think that he is enough of a key player that we can take this operation down with just him. I firmly believe that he might have information on the people that we need, but I believe that he was a means to an end. He probably got involved out of need, but has turned it to benefit him. Still, I don't think he is the linchpin that we need to bring this organization to its knees."
William and Patrick nodded.
"You mentioned the name Bouchard."
Nathan nodded.
"He is not who you think he is. I have reason believe that he fled the States and is hiding out here in Canada or at least trying to keep a lower profile here. I am not even sure that Bouchard is his real name. Before you ask, I also had private investigators looking into Bouchard from the first time I heard his name from my daughter. We might not be as close as we once were, but I will always look out for my daughters."
Nathan nodded. Nathan realized that William Thatcher probably knew more about the time he had spent in Hope Valley then he first realized. He wondered how much Elizabeth had told her father about their relationship. He also knew that he couldn't let his feelings toward Elizabeth effect how he handled the case. No matter what happened or didn't happen with Elizabeth, William Thatcher deserved to have his name and company cleared. However with what William had just said, Nathan was more sure of anything that Bouchard had come to Hope Valley with the intent of trying to get his hands on the Thatcher fortune. It also confirmed to Nathan what he had known in his gut from the first time that he had meet Bouchard.
"We will talk about Bouchard's involvement or lack there of later. Let's focus on Charles and his what he has done at this point. Especially since I have no intention of letting him leave Regina without being in custody."
"Sir."
"No, Grant. William has told me enough that we can take Charles into custody. What we learn here will be what we use to get him to talk and tell us what he knows."
Nathan wasn't happy. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he didn't like that every time he tried to get more information about Bouchard that he was meet with roadblocks. He started to wonder if he could really trust his superior when it came to Bouchard. Nathan knew that he wasn't going to let the opportunity to learn more slip through his fingers.
"Yes, Sir."
"Good. Now, please continue William."
"Okay. I will focus on Charles for now, but we will talk about Bouchard at some point. I believe he has a right to know what I know."
Patrick nodded as he knew it was pointless to argue with William Thatcher on certain points.
"As I looked into Charles. I found that he was spending money above what he was earning. At first, I didn't think much of it because I knew that Charles had access to a large trust fund from his father and grandfather. It was only after a comment that I made to his father that I started to wonder."
"What was the comment and when?"
"About a year ago, I ran into his father at the club. We sat and had a drink. I made the comment that his was going to have work forever if he ever wanted his grandchildren to inherit anything. He looked at me strangely. I then told him about how for the last few years I had realized that Charles was living beyond his paycheck, but just figured that he had dipped heavily into his trust fund. That is when Charles, Sr told me that Charles had very limited access to his trust fund when he failed to get married. It was my turn to be confused. The senior Charles explained to me that when his father had set the trust funds up, that there was a caveat that to fully access the trust fund they needed to be married and have an heir by a certain age. Charles had passed this deadline without getting married or having a legitimate heir. Charles, Sr told me that because of that Charles had limited access to the trust fund as long as he was alive and even after that. When I asked him how limited, he informed me that Charles went from having access to ten percent of the total trust to less then two percent of the trust's annual interest."
"What kind of money are we talking about?"
"Several thousand dollars a month."