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you to that trouble. I’ll gladly pay for your time and effort.“
    “Tell me a bit about yourself. How do you support your family? Are all or part of his wages sent to you?“
    “No. My grandfather left me money in a tin hidden beside the fireplace. Not a lot, but enough to live on comfortably. When Richard’s father died, he was the only child and sold the farm. We bought my grandfather’s house with the money. Of course, we expected Grandfather to move out and get his own place closer to town.”
    Mr. Prinney was familiar with old Joe Wyman and figured she meant closer to the town speakeasy in the back room of Mabel’s Cafe, where he’d spent most of his time getting mean drunk.
    “But he stayed on with us,“ Mary said, “saying he wouldn’t spend the money we gave him for the house and it would come back to us. Richard knew that and was going to save all the money he made and bring it back when the dam was finished. I also hand-sew baby clothes. I give some of them away to the less fortunate families and sell the rest to a shop in Philadelphia.“
    “They must be exceptional,“ Mr. Prinney said politely.
    “They are. It’s my only talent. Phoebe Twinkle supplies me with lacy trim and ribbons for the ones I sell.”
    She paused and then said, as if ashamed to ask, “If it is my husband, will I get the money he saved? The telegram doesn’t say. Grandpa’s money won’t last me forever.“
    “I’ll ask about this when I send the photograph. I know very little about the building of this dam, but I’ve heard the working conditions in the tunnels are very dangerous. The dust creates explosions. Since he might have died in an accident at work, you might be entitled to monetary compensation as well. I’m loath to ask you this, but are you absolutely certain that’s where he went?“
    “Of course,“ she said, but there was a hint of doubt in her voice. “I know a lot of women’s husbands have abandoned them, but I don’t think Richard just ran away. Of course, neither of us knew about little Emily being on her way when he left. He was very upset about the tractor being repossessed because Grandpa wouldn’t pay to fix it. And the fact that we had to live in my grandfather’s house with him. Grandpa was a difficult person to live with and was always criticizing Richard. It didn’t bother Richard as much as it did me, but Grandpa was so nasty to him in front of my little boy Joey that it nearly drove me mad.“
    “Emily is your baby?“
    “Yes. It’s Richard’s late mother’s name,“ she said, her voice breaking and a tear running down her face.

    Mr. Prinney sat awhile when Mrs. Towerton had left. He was thinking, somewhat guiltily, that she might be better off if this Taughton person who died really was her husband. She was a pretty young woman, with long blond hair in a braid around her head. She had two pretty children and was obviously well educated, judging by her grammar. She was talented and knew how to take care of money. If she were widowed, she could make a much better second marriage to a man of her own quality, instead of being saddled with an illiterate, seemingly unattractive husband who might have simply walked out on his responsibilities.
    He certainly wouldn’t charge her for helping. This was a moral dilemma just as much as a legal one. And there was nothing he could do about it today. The nearest telegraph office was in Poughkeepsie, which was also the only place he might be able to get the photograph copied.
    Meanwhile, there was a dead man upstairs to be dealt with.

    “What was the purpose of this secret meeting?“ Chief Howard Walker was asking Edward Price at the same time.
    “It’s in the nature of a palace coup.“
    “What does that mean?“ Walker asked.
    “It’s complicated. Brother Goodheart is under attack, and rightly so, in my opinion. You know those film things he does where he hauls a bedraggled family up to the podium and they thank him effusively for his