The Ranch - Chapter 31

Chapter 31 - Dénouement

I stepped to where Millie was huddled over Arthur, to check for any sign of life. “She… he is still breathing” I was able to report. The former was pressing a wad of material against her lover’s side. The pad was slowly darkening.

Gloria, tears coursing down her cheeks, fetched bandages and together with Millie, they bound the wounds more tightly, while I looked on helplessly. Guy found the phone and called for an ambulance and then the police. He covered the dead bodies each with a throw from the sofas.

“Arthur, how could you deceive me so?” sobbed his wife.

“Don’t you see, I had no other option” gasped her sometime spouse. “You know what Auros was like. Evil. Pure evil. When I refused to set up the racket with him, it was either him or me.”

“But why leave me behind?”

“Shh!” hissed Millie. “Can’t you see how weak he is?”

Her employer gave her a reproving look, but the maid was unrepentant. “You should save it for later, when… if… he’s well again.”

We had a lengthy wait for arrival of the emergency vehicles, made inevitable by the remoteness of the ranch’s location. Once we were sure that everything that could be done for Arthur had been done, my principal and I left the critically wounded man to the care of his lover, his wife and his daughter. Summoned by telephone, Connie had driven up from the riding centre to join us.

Guy and I retired to the porch and sat on the step side by side. As we began to compare our findings, the remaining pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

“So…” I began. “So, Jocasta and Midas were connected with the Persuaders.”

“More than connected. From what I’ve read in those papers you copied, that harridan and the brothers ran the outfit’s operation in these parts. With the evidence you uncovered, the Feds ought to be able to roll up this part of the organisation completely. It may still be like an octopus but now it will be short a couple of tentacles!”

“Does this mean I can go back to being… who I really am? Can I be with my family again?” My eyes misted over as thoughts of being reunited with Rachel and Georgie flooded over me.

“Possibly, but my recommendation would be to wait a month or two to see how the land lies. The Persuaders may not take our actions here lying down. In any case, even if it is safe, do you really want to? Jennifer’s life seems to be developing quite nicely as things are. Professionally, I mean… and…” with a nod in Gloria’s direction “socially too.”

At these words, the fears to which I had been prey, of green and white Plymouths and menacing strangers in white homburgs, were instantly overtaken by another image. I gulped as a recollection of my client in her deshabille that morning came vividly to my mind. The feelings I had been entertaining for her were complicated and had yet to be fully explored. Was I really ready for the kind of relationship which appeared to be on offer there?

We were sat close together, and I became suddenly self-conscious in our proximity. My little skirt barely covered my pantyhose clad legs at all. I unfolded my arms and dropped them to smooth what there was of its material over my thighs and my right hand came to rest against Guy’s left. He didn’t move it away and neither did I mine. At the awareness of that my heart seemed to be beating loudly in my chest as wild thoughts sprang into my brain. What if…? Yes, my feelings were undoubtedly complex!

Summoning up what was left of my self-control I put those thoughts aside. Was I really that sort of… girl? I roused myself with an effort. There were still a number of things bugging me regarding the case. It was irritating that one or two loose ends remained untied. Here was an opportunity to put them into some kind of order instead of indulging in fanciful imaginings.

“I think I understand the blackmail angle!” I faltered, trying to marshal my thoughts logically.

“Arthur’s a philanderer” I continued. He and his first wife had had Connie before he left her for another woman, possibly several, one after another. Then he split from whoever and had a thing with Millie, or that might have been the other way round. Together they set up this place. Gloria came long and he married her. He wound up the ranch and moved to the city, keeping the list of Gloriana’s clients as insurance against a rainy day, but it was coded to keep the names of the ranch’s customers secret.”

Guy added “He probably had the idea that if he got into difficulties he could lean upon a wealthy ex-client to help him out, but I don’t think he would have stooped to blackmail.”

I reflected some more. “That was where Auros and he differed.”

My boss nodded in agreement. “Auros got to know of the existence of the list. I guess Jocasta may have had her hooks into Raymond Price who had been sniffing around and somewhere along the way Auros and Jocasta had become an item. Anyhow that little snake got the crucial information. He saw a gold mine, but Arthur wouldn’t play ball”

“Naturally Auros wanted a piece of the action, but Arthur wasn’t about to hand over the key to the cipher. They fought over it and… exit one of the Klondyke brothers.” I fell silent.

“Arthur was now in big trouble” continued Guy. “The outfit that Midas and company were part of would be after him, so he faked his own death, with Millie’s help. Judging by the way she’s dressed up today, the relationship which those two had enjoyed picked up where it had left off. She’s been spending her days off up here devoting herself to looking after his… needs. He certainly has a way with women!”

“Yes! When I saw ‘Meg’ hanging up that exotic lingerie to dry, I didn’t twig. It wasn’t hers or rather his laundry. It was the maid’s unmentionables, and very sexy too!”

Eager to show off my understanding of what came next, I pushed on. “By that time, Jocasta had become er… interested in Midas, but she wasn’t going to let Auros’s disappearance pass and got Ray to investigate.”

“He must have cracked the code, in the same way I did” put in Guy. “The indentations in the paper you took from Midas’s office revealed notes on how to break the cipher. Ray must have gotten too close and speculated that Arthur was still alive. He was following Gloria to discover where her presumed-dead husband was hiding out. That’s why he died. Arthur killed him to preserve the secret.”

“Except it wasn’t Arthur. I remember it now. When I followed Ray to his office that day, the car directly behind him was an old grey station wagon. He ended up dead not long after.”

“Millie’s automobile!”

“She had Gloria’s gun. She had been feeding Ray information about Gloria’s schedule so she could fix where he would be, and then…” I drew my hand dramatically across my throat.

“Well done, Jennifer” beamed my boss and mentor. “Well done!

“Oh, but what about the cook? How did Flora die? That still needs an explanation.”

“The autopsy came back negative as to any foul play. Natural causes. Her health was really poor and she could have died any day.”

Guy put his arm around me and pulled me close. Why did that make me tingle all over? It was just a friendly hug. At least it would have been if the hand hadn’t remained around my waist.

“Whether or not Arthur does survive” I decided “I don’t plan to enlighten the police about Millie and Ray. She’ll have to take her chance.”

I was relieved that the ex-agent didn’t disagree. “One last question, then. Who was your attacker?”

“Oh, that’s easy, it was Connie. She took it upon herself to scare me off. The gun was just for show. I’m guessing that Arthur and Millie had nothing against me and didn’t want me getting in too deep as I could have got hurt. What a long time it’s taken me to understand.”

“You’ve done really well!”

My waist was in receipt of another ‘friendly’ squeeze. A siren interrupted our tete-a-tete heralding the proximity of the authorities.

As we got to our feet in anticipation of their arrival, his hand slid downwards. I found myself blushing scarlet!

Then the police car showed up.