Kate Warne and The Buried Treasure

Part six and conclusion in the story of Kate Warne’s first big case

“You love him and he loves you. Do it for him.” Kate in her guise of Madame Imbert said.

The thought of her husband in that cold cell did it. Mrs. Moroney sat down again and wrung her hands in her lap for a moment. It was a moment of indecision for her.

She could still slip away with money. Her and Flora could live out a long life on it.

But that wouldn’t help Nathan. He’d stay in jail.

In the end, Love won out.

“We’ll need a wagon,” she said. “Can you come with me?”

“When?” Kate asked.

“This evening?”

“I can go with you,” Kate said. “Do you want me to get the wagon?”

“No, I’ll get it,” Mrs. Moroney said. “Can you drive it?”

“I can,” Kate assured her.

“Good. Four PM then?”

“Do we need anything?” Kate asked.

Mrs. Moroney shook her head. “I’ve everything we need. I’ll send a telegraph to my husband’s lawyer and set up the meet.”

“You’ve a lot to do,” Kate said.

“Yes. I need to get the wagon and send that telegram. Can you watch Flora for me?”

Kate said she would. “We’ll go for a walk in the park.”

“I’ll be back in a few hours,” Mrs. Moroney said.

As soon as she was gone, She and Flora left for the park. As they walked through the lobby, Kate saw DeForrest sitting in one of the overstuffed chairs reading the paper. She nodded at him. It was a prearranged signal meaning follow me.

As they walked to the park, Flora seemed in good spirits. Kate took their time getting there, even treating Flora to a carbonated drink. Today, the park was full of small booths. Some kind of celebration was going on and different vendors hawked different wares.

As they approached one, she saw DeForrest purchasing something. The smell of hot sugar burnt through the air and Kate found her mouth watering. DeForrest saw them approaching, turned, and smiled. “Madame Imbert. Flora. It’s good to see you.”

“Hello, Mr. Dee,” Flora said.

“Here, Flora,” DeForrest said. He took a small sack of corn from his pocket. “Why don’t you go over by the pond and feed the ducks.” He opened it for her, and the child was more than happy to go do so.

“DeForrest . . .” Kate began.

“Wait,” he said. “Kate. Close your eyes and open your mouth, and I’ll give you something to make you healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

Kate did, wondering what he was doing. DeForrest placed something small and sweet in her mouth. When Kate opened her eyes, it was wide with surprise.

“Oh, that’s so good!”

“Fudge,” DeForrest said. “Like it?”

“I do.”

They looked towards Flora. She was tossing the corn to the ducks and smiling as they swam about after the golden kernels.

“So?” DeForrest asked.

“We’re going for the money this evening at four,” Kate said.

“Where?”

“I don’t know. She’s gone to rent a wagon and telegram George.”

DeForrest nodded. “I’ll need to keep an eye on you.”

“How.”

“I’ll change clothes. Shave. Follow you on horseback.”

Kate was about to object, but decided DeForrest was right. If she turned up dead, it would be a good idea to at least know where her body was.

***

Freshly shaven and changed into a working mans clothes, De Forrest had slipped out a half hour earlier. He’d rented a horse from the same stable Mrs. Moroney had rented the wagon.

Now he sat on a bench, the horse tied nearby and waited. He watched the hotel and at 4 PM, both women came out and got into the wagon. Kate had changed out of her finer clothing and into rougher clothing. So Had Mrs. Moroney. It might have seemed odd enough for a woman to be handling the wagon. But looking like two women who did laundry and cooked every day, it drew less attention.

Once they were several hundred yards ahead, he mounted the horse and followed.

They arrived at the outskirts of town This was fine with DeForrest. There were fields and trees to hide among and still watch Kate.

It was a small farmhouse. The desolate fields around it said the owner had moved on long ago. But Mrs. Morony had a key for the door. She unlocked the door and let them in. The musty odor announced that no one had lived here for some time. There were a few pieces of furniture covered under drop cloths. The floor was dusty. In the last light of the day, Kate saw footprints in the dust. They were made by a lady’s show and some looked older than others.

There were two lamps on the mantel. Mrs. Moroney got them down and lit them.

“It’s down in the cellar,” she said.

Mrs. Moroney led Kate down a flight of wooden stairs into the cellar. Each step creaked as they passed. The cellar was just deep enough for both women to stand upright. Had DeForrest been there with them, he’d have had to stoop.

The room smelt of damp earth. Silver spider webs sparkled in the lamp light. Here and there the dried out husk of a fly hung suspended in the webs. The center ground in the cellar looked disturbed.

“Here,” Mrs. Moroney said, indicating the disturbed area.

There were some old garden spades to dig with. The tools were barely up to the task, but Mrs. Moroney said it wasn’t buried that deeply.

As they dug, they glanced up at each other. I’m sure Kate had to suppress a smile on her face. All the hard work was about to pay off.

The two women exchanged looks as they dug. Once Mrs. Moroney looked up and her mouth dropped open in a look of abject terror. Without warning, she struck Kate on the side of the head with her open hand.

For a second, Kate thought maybe her cover had been blown and she touched the area on her head.

“What?” she asked.

“Spider,” Mrs. Moroney explained.

Kate brushed the smashed creature down out of her hair, looked at it, and then shook it off.

By the light of the lamps, the two women dug down about a foot and half into the soft ground. Then, they dropped to dig with their bare hands. Kate felt cloth under her hand.

“Here it is,” she said.

The money was in a bag. The bag in turn was wrapped in oil cloth. That’s what kept it safe from the damp and the dirt. It must have required both women to remove it and take it back to the hotel. It was a long night as both women stood guard. Kate openly wondered where DeForrest was, but neither woman went looking for him.

Kate knew that shaved and looking different, DeForrest was now across the street watching things.

The next morning, a note arrived from George, Nathan’s presumed lawyer. He’d made it into town. A return note was sent to come and get the money. George Bangs sent a courier (another Pinkerton agent) around to pick it up. The last either woman saw of the money was to see the courier leaving with it. He assured the ladies that George would receive it.

As Mrs. Moroney feared, the money disappeared and so did her husband’s lawyer.

Or so she thought.

The Pinkerton Detective Agency turned the money back over to the Adams Express Company. Except for four hundred and eighty-five dollars, it was all accounted for.

Nathan was transferred back to Alabama where he was tried for the crime. The star witness was his former cellmate, now revealed to be a Pinkerton Agent. Nathan had confessed the whole thing to him when it appeared George would be setting him free.

Nathan Moroney was sentenced to ten years in the Alabama prison system. How the Civil War impacted that sentence is unknown.

No charges were pressed against his wife. She and her daughter moved to Chicago.

So did Madam Imbert.

Remarkably, Mrs. Moroney never caught on that Kate was a Pinkerton or had anything to do with how things transpired. They remained friends for a while, but eventually they drifted apart. And Madam Imbert disappeared into the fertile imagination of the agent who had played her so well.

Allan Pinkerton was already adding more women to his staff of detectives. He needed someone to run the new division. It was only natural that he’d turn to Kate and put her in charge.

Kate Warne had gone far for a woman in the mid eighteen hundreds.

But this case was destined to be nothing more than a mere footnote in what would come next.