Chapter Nineteen

"Are you warm enough?" Jarrod asked Priscilla as they sat down on a bench under a magnolia tree. "You should have brought a shawl." He added, noticing her dress only had three-quarter length sleeves. It was bright blue watered silk, with lavender trim and cream-colored lace – very becoming but not very warm for the cool early October night air.

"I am fine; in fact, the air feels good. At this point I am warm most of the time." Priscilla replied, and Jarrod asked her how she was feeling. They chatted for several minutes, before he changed the topic.

"So, what is going on with the trust?" Jarrod asked, doubting that what she wanted to talk about had anything to do with that matter.

"Actually, it is more about Sarah than the trust." She replied, tilting her head. Jarrod knew he had been right, but wished he were not this time.

"What about Sarah?" He was curious, because he knew that the two women were not close and had not been for several years. He had always put it down to Sarah being in San Francisco, and Priscilla busy with children and the ranch.

"Your comment, Jarrod, about how hard it will be to prove adultery" Priscilla's words were slow as she spoke. "When you referenced that the couple would have to be found in a compromising situation."

He could see that she was struggling with putting her thoughts into words but did not know how to help her. Jarrod was sure too, that she was embarrassed at discussing the subject with him.

"Exactly how compromising does the situation need to be?" Priscilla rushed the words out, and then looked up at the night sky. "I love looking at the stars and trying to identify constellations – it is so peaceful." She sighed and he reached over to hold her hand in support. Jarrod was not sure how to respond to her question, but thankfully she started speaking again.

"What if Sarah and Adam were seen together early in the morning, at a private residence." Priscilla looked up at him expectantly, as she fiddled with the triple row of pearls around her neck. The diamond rose clasp caught the moonlight and sparkled as the pearls moved.

"I am going to need some more details, before I could give you an answer." Jarrod was intrigued at what she was saying. "Where was it, what was the context, those kinds of details. If it were a breakfast event, with other people present that wouldn't be enough."

"Would the person who saw them, would they have to testify in court?" Priscilla's eyes were full of worry and her brows puckered. It made him wonder if she was the person in question, but when he asked her that she denied it.

"If in fact the witness's information confirms adultery, I don't see the divorce going to trial. In most divorce cases both parties prefer to keep their dirty laundry private." Jarrod offered, leaving out the parties who only cared about revenge; he hoped Heath would not go down that road. "There is also the fact that Adam Cohen is a respectable businessman who wouldn't want his reputation impinged on." It came to him that maybe he could use that fact to scale down Sarah's demands.

"I will caution that if the information is accurate, Sarah's lawyer might want to dispose the witness – that is question the person themselves. However, it would take place in my office, and I would be present." He wanted to reassure Priscilla, even as he wanted to know who the person was, which he asked.

"It is Phoebe Morton." Priscilla answered, and Jarrod felt his heart constrict. Phoebe was Priscilla's best friend, wife to Zack Morton, daughter-in-law to Rufus Morton. Jarrod could not see Zack or Rufus letting Phoebe get mixed up in Heath's situation.

"Tell me more." He asked, not having hope that anything would come of it. He could not fathom how Phoebe could have seen anything improper between Sarah and Adam. Zack – and his father – were very protective of the young woman.

"She and Zack were in San Francisco back in July, for their anniversary. They stay at the Metropolitan Hotel, where the Morton's have an apartment. Rufus has always said that he doesn't do enough business in the city to justify a house, plus they have homes in Arizona and Monterey already." Priscilla explained, and Jarrod nodded his head, wanting her to get on with the story and not caring about Rufus' real estate holdings.

"Phoebe saw Sarah and a man who wasn't Heath – she didn't find out his name until later – together at the Metropolitan. It was early in the morning, and from what she described it sounded very intimate." Priscilla took a deep breath and looked up at Jarrod expectantly.

"Mmm, let me think about this." He stated and standing up walked to the edge of the garden. On one hand, he mused to himself, what Phoebe saw certainly sounded like a lover's rendezvous. Sarah had a house in the city, and there was no reason for her to be at a man's apartment alone, early in the morning. On the other hand, he thought, playing devil's advocate, if Phoebe only saw them passing the hall it would not mean much. Sarah could always state she was visiting a friend who was not well and happened to run into Adam. It would be a thin defense, but all that her lawyer would need.

"Can I ask a favor of you? Would you take me to call on Phoebe tomorrow?" He asked as he walked back to the bench and sat down. It would be improper of him to call on the woman alone, Jarrod understood the social niceties and was not going to get on the Morton's wrong side. "I need to talk to Phoebe and hear in her own words what she saw that morning. It will help me determine if it would be of help to Heath." He explained, then looked with concern at how far along Priscilla was with her condition.

"Of course, Jarrod. That is why I brought it up, to help Heath. We will need to take one of the larger, well-sprung carriages though." She smiled warmly at him, and he nodded his head.

"Well shall we go back inside, and see what, if anything, came of Nick's talk to Heath?" Jarrod stood up and extended his hand to her. However, she did not accept it, which made him realize she was not done talking.

"There is something else about Sarah, and it does involve the VanDer Hoffen Trust." Priscilla offered, making Jarrod sit back down. He regarded her warily, trying to think of what connection Sarah could have to the trust.

"Jarrod, I am fairly positive that Sarah stole money from my sister and brother-in-law's estate – money that was fraudulently obtained." Priscilla spoke slowly, and he knew that it was something hard for her to disclose. This statement, coming on the heels of what she had just told him about the eyewitness gave him hope for Heath.

"Priscilla, please tell me the whole story." Jarrod advised, holding her hands. He wished he had brought a glass of scotch out with him.

"Back when we – Nick, Heath, Sarah and I – went to Denver three years ago to settle Hester's estate? The lawyer for the estate, Roland White almost killed Heath and Sarah before he was arrested." She went on to explain that Roland had been embezzling money from Joseph VanDerHoffen's mines. When he married Hester, she had cottoned on to his scheme and cut herself in for a share of the profits.

"Yes, I do remember that Priscilla. Isn't Roland White still in jail?" Jarrod inquired, recalling the whole unsavory affair. It had taken a year, to find another estate lawyer in Denver, and help him go through the records.

"Roland White was trying to kill Heath to keep him from finding out about the embezzlement and the mine equipment. He also broke into Hester's house on several occasions, looking for the accounting ledger she kept of the transactions." Priscilla explained, and Jarrod wondered where this was all going.

"It was clear that Roland was up to no good on all fronts, but what does this have to do with Sarah?" He was puzzled as to how Sarah could have stolen money from the estate.

"I had my sister's entertainment notebook; the ones that women keep of the parties they give?" Priscilla waved her hand in the air, and Jarrod nodded to show he knew what she was referencing. "On the train ride back from Denver I went through them, more for something to occupy myself than anything else. Hester I soon discovered used them as a diary of sorts, as well as recordkeeping of her parties."

"Hester kept a diary?" Jarrod asked with interest, only imagining what the woman would have wrote about. Hester was not a shy violet, and he had a pretty good idea of what kinds of activities she had been involved in. The fact that she was blackmailing the lawyer embezzling from her husband was not surprising in the least.

"Yes, and she noted the money she received from Roland, and the ledger book she recorded the transactions in. Hester also wrote where she hid the book, and the money." Priscilla paused, and Jarrod pondered if this was the money Priscilla though Sarah had stolen. The fact that it was over three years ago, and Priscilla had never said anything about the matter before perplexed him. He decided to ponder that later and indicate for her to go on.

"There was an armoire in one of the guest rooms, with a secret lock" Priscilla went on to explain the floral detail and how Hester had sketched it out. "There were five old dresses and four hat boxes, stacked on top of each other. The items were in the box on the bottom left." She took a deep breath and sighed unhappily.

"Just before I left Denver the new owners of the house reached out to me, about the armoire. They told me that the doors had been damaged, as if they had been opened by a crowbar. The owners wanted to know if I wanted the contents – five old evening dresses and three empty hat boxes." Priscilla paused and looked over at him, to see if he understood the significance of her statement.

"At the time, I didn't give it a great deal of thought. I was eager to get home and was not feeling well because I was in the early stages of enceintes. However, when I read Hester's diary and made the connection about the hat boxes, I remembered something that I wished I hadn't." Priscilla's countenance took on a sorrowful look, and Jarrod realized that she had been carrying a heavy secret for quite a while.

"One of the first days in Denver I went over to do a last look over of Hester's house, before the new owners took possession. Sarah was at loose ends and asked to come along; I didn't feel right saying no." Priscilla stated, puckering her brows. "After I gave her a tour of the house, I asked her to check the guest rooms for any personal items, while I went through Hester's room." The gaze she gave Jarrod was intense, and he understood what she was implying.

"Why do you think Sarah found the items?" He knew that Priscilla would not make an accusation of theft lightly. "Didn't you say the armoire had a secret lock?"

"That is just it Jarrod, Sarah didn't say anything about the armoire. She should have either said oh there is an armoire I cannot open, or something similar. Instead she told me she didn't find anything at all in the rooms." Priscilla declared, but Jarrod still did not see how she had decided Sarah had taken the ledger and money.

"Maybe she didn't look that hard in the rooms; maybe she just lay down and took a nap? Also, how do you know that Roland White didn't find them when he broke into the house?" His money was still on the wiley lawyer rather than his sister-in-law.

"When I arrived back in California, I wrote to the detective who had investigated and solved the case. I did not mention Sarah's name but did say that I had come across some information in Hester's papers about the money and journal. I asked him to find out from Roland White if he had been the one to break the lock on the armoire, and if so, what had he found inside. Keep in mind he would have done it after Sarah, and I had been in the house. I am sure she would have mentioned the broken door if it been there at the time." Priscilla detailed out her story, and Jarrod had no problem following her train of thought.

"I assumed that the police officer talked to Roland. But who is to say that Roland would tell the truth? The man was a lawyer and would know all about self-incrimination. There is also the fact that once a thief always a thief." Jarrod observed, wishing again he had something to drink.

"Well how is this; Roland admitted to using a crowbar to break the lock. He said that inside were five old evening dresses, and three hat boxes – all empty." Priscilla held up his hand, as Jarrod started to interject a comment. "In the reply letter from Detective Regan he stated that he believed Roland White. He wrote that when they arrested Roland, he was talking about how he had not been able to find Hester's journal. Det. Regan also added that Mrs. Heath Barkley had been able to distract Roland by saying she knew where the journal and money were."

"Wait, Sarah said she knew where the money and journal were, even though Roland – per the detective – only mentioned the journal?" Jarrod had quickly picked up on the discrepancy in Sarah's statement. He now started to understand how Priscilla had come to the conclusion about the theft but wanted to make sure no stone was left unturned.

"This detective; what was your opinion of him? Was he competent? Could you trust him?" Jarrod was grasping at straws, not sure why. Sarah, stealing money that was obtained from criminal activities could put her in jail – which would solve Heath's problems with the divorce. Forget his illegitimate son; siring a child out of wedlock was nothing compared to theft and criminal conspiracy. However, Jarrod really did not want to open that can of worms.

"Jack Regan had been a detective in New York City before he came west; his partner was a retired Pinkerton agent. They were relentless in their pursuit of the case, and carefully dotted every I and crossed every T." Priscilla declared firmly.

"In his reply to you, did he say anything about the statement Sarah made?" Jarrod leaned forward, intent on hearing the reply, if there was one. If this Detective Regan was as good as Priscilla averred, he should have picked up on inconsistency of Sarah's statement.

"I think Jack knew that Sarah's statement was amiss; in his letter to me he underlined twice the word 'money' in her comment about finding the journal and money. Jack added that he concluded the interview because Sarah was in distress due to her experience in being held captive." Priscilla finished her explanation and looked at him expectantly.

"Why have you waited almost three years to bring this to my attention? Or anyone else's attention? Does Nick know?" Jarrod was agog at what he had just heard and puzzled that Priscilla had kept quiet about the matter. He recalled with an inward wince how she had found out about his mistress and the necklace he had gifted Rosemary. Priscilla had told Nick, and it had led to an unpleasant time with his brother.

"It is really circumstantial" she drew a deep breath, as her hand stroked the material of her skirt. "And I was shocked that Sarah could do something like that. Then I remembered how she had lost everything because of her father. I decided that the money must have been more important to her than anything else." Priscilla lifted her hands, palms raised as she made the comment.

"No, I didn't tell Nick because he would be horrified, and he doesn't keep secrets well." She gave him a knowing look, and Jarrod managed a rueful chuckle. "He would say something to Heath, and really at the end of the day I didn't have definite proof of what Sarah had done." The last sentence was delivered with a shake of her head, which caused the moonlight to sparkle on the amethyst ornament in her dark gold hair.

"Thank you for telling me this Priscilla; I understand how hard it has been." Jarrod put his arm around her, as he helped her up from the bench. "You have given me a great deal to think about. Now, why don't we go inside and get something to drink? And we can plan on tomorrow?" He escorted her inside, his mind whirling with the allegation she had made about Sarah.