Wyoming Tough - Diana Palmer [68]
Harding hesitated. Mavie came in with steaming cups of black coffee in mugs on a silver tray. There was pound cake, too. She put it down, grinning at the newcomer. She didn’t smile much. Mallory was amused at her friendliness to the visitor. “Hope you like cake,” she said. “It was made fresh yesterday.”
“I love it. Thank you.”
“Cream? Sugar?” she offered.
Harding shook his head and chuckled, showing perfect white teeth. “I got used to drinking it black years ago. It’s hard to find condiments in some of the places I’ve worked.”
“Thank you, Mavie,” Mallory said pointedly.
She glanced at him, cleared her throat, excused herself and left.
“Nice lady,” Harding commented as he sipped coffee. He closed his eyes. “Colombian,” he decided. “My favorite.”
Mallory’s eyes widened. “You can tell the origin of the blend?”
“It’s a hobby.” His eyes twinkled with secret amusement.
Mallory didn’t comment. “Now. Who took the egg?”
Harding had another sip of coffee and put the cup down. “A threesome, I’m afraid.”
“What threesome?” Mallory’s mind was working overtime as he searched for suspects.
“A local woman, Gelly Bruner, took the egg. She had a key to your cabinet, which was made for her by an escaped convict, Joe Bascomb, who needed money to avoid being captured. There was a third man involved, peripherally, a man named Bates. It seems he helped Ms. Bruner by planting evidence.”
Mallory’s face was thunderous. “Bates works for me! He said he saw Morie Brannt holding the egg in the bunkhouse.”
“I believe he also helped plant evidence on another cowboy who worked here, a man named Harry Rogers, who’s retained counsel and plans to sue for false arrest.”
“Great,” Mallory said. “I guess we’ll keep our lawyers busy.”
“Rogers does have a case, but it’s the sheriff who arrested him that he’s suing, and also Ms. Bruner. He isn’t suing you. He said you were set up, just as he was.”
Mallory was touched. “In that case he can have his job back with a raise, if he wants it, and I’ll pay for his attorney.”
“You’d have to talk to him about that. Your cowboy Bob Bates has been arrested, however, and charged with aiding and abetting theft.”
“I’m just astonished,” Mallory said heavily. “I did suspect Gelly, but I had no idea Bates was that involved.”
“He had feelings for her and he’s very young,” Harding replied. “He’s sick at heart about what he did. She told him it was a prank. He didn’t find out different until Ms. Brannt was fired, and then he was afraid to come forward.”
“It doesn’t excuse theft,” Mallory said. “Not at all.”
“He’s a first offender,” Harding said. “I’m almost certain that he’ll get probation. Ms. Bruner is, however, in a different situation. She has a record.”
“For what?” Mallory asked, stunned.
“Theft. This isn’t her first walk around the justice system. She’s never been convicted, but she’s been charged twice in the theft of priceless antiques from private homes. I’m afraid she’s not going to have an easy time. Her signature was on the receipt for proceeds from the sale of the stolen egg, and Bates is turning state’s evidence against her in return for first-offender status. He can put her in the house with a duplicate key at the time of the theft. It seems that Bascomb also made her a copy of your house key.”
“Oh, good God,” Mallory exclaimed.
“So it might be a good idea for you to check your other valuables and see if any are missing or have been replaced with copies,” the detective suggested.
“I’ll do that today,” Mallory agreed. “That’s a lot of good detective work for such a short time.”
Harding shrugged. “I love my job. I used to be a cop, but I got tired of the hours, so I quit Houston P.D. and went to work for Dane Lassiter.” He grinned. “He’s some boss, let me tell you.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“There’s a rumor going around that Joe Bascomb didn’t get his cut of the money and he’s out for revenge,” Harding added. “If I were you, I’d put on extra patrols out here and watch where I went. He’s really desperate now. They’ve brought in other law-enforcement personnel to go into