She pulled her hands back and clasped them together tightly. “Oh, Isaac, it’s all too fantastic. Why would Jacob rob banks when he already owns the second-largest bank in San Francisco? The thought is too absurd to be real.”
“I can’t give you an answer, Marion. In the beginning, he took the money to build his own bank. But when he became rich, the robbery and killings became an obsession. I’ve seen many cases like Cromwell’s. The robberies and the murders are like a narcotic for him. He can’t help himself, and will go on killing until I stop him.”
She looked up into his sensitive violet eyes across the table. They had turned dark and cold. “You, Isaac? Does it have to be you?”
“I can’t let him go on murdering people.” Bell spoke the words in a monotone, as if he were reading an accusation in a courtroom. “I am not going to let him thumb his nose at the law and continue to run around free, living the life of a wealthy Santa Claus.” Then he added, “And that goes for his sister, Margaret. She’s buried in his evil operations up to her pretty neck.”
Marion dipped her head in utter confusion as her hat covered her eyes. “I’ve known Jacob and Margaret for years and yet I didn’t know them.”
“It’s hard,” Bell said softly, “but you’ll have to accept it.”
She tilted her head back and the forward brim of her wide flowered hat rose until he could look directly into her coral–sea green eyes. “What can I do?” she asked softly.
“For one thing, you must go on as if you know nothing. Continue your duties as his loyal secretary. Our agents will have both brother and sister under constant surveillance. All you have to do is report anything suspicious or unusual regarding Jacob’s actions.”
“You mean, of course, report to you.”
He nodded. “Yes.”
She suddenly had the feeling she was being used, that Bell’s interest in her was purely as an informer. She turned away so he couldn’t see the tears welling up in her eyes.
Bell immediately sensed what was whirling in her mind. He moved his chair around the table until he was sitting close enough to put his arm around her shoulders. “I know what you’re thinking, Marion, and it’s not true. I know I am asking you to commit a devious act, but lives hang in the balance. Yet there is much more. It goes far beyond a request for your help.” He paused to build up his courage. “I’m in love with you, Marion. I can’t explain why it happened so suddenly, but it did. You must believe me.”
Marion looked into his face and saw only affection and fondness. Her fears vanished in an instant as she leaned forward and kissed him solidly on the lips. When she pulled back, she smiled wickedly. “You must think I’m a brazen hussy.”
He laughed at seeing her blush. “Not at all. I enjoyed it.”
Then her eyes turned soft. “I have to admit I felt something when I looked up and saw you standing there in the office.”
This time, he kissed her.
After a long moment, he pulled back and grinned. “Perhaps we should order before they ask us to leave for disorderly conduct.”
30
AS SOON AS MARION RETURNED FROM HER LUNCH WITH Bell and was in the midst of typing a letter, Cromwell called her into his office. She concealed her nervousness by not looking him in the face as he spoke. “Marion, I’m going to attend the National Conference for Community Banks. It is being held in Los Angeles this year on March twenty-eighth to March thirtieth. Could you please make the necessary travel arrangements, and book me a room at the Fremont Hotel downtown?”
“To be in Los Angeles by the twenty-eighth, you’d have to leave tomorrow,” said Marion. “That’s awfully short notice.”
“I know,” Cromwell said with an offhand shrug. “I wasn’t going to attend, but I changed my mind.”
“Will you wish to charter a private car?”
“No. I’ll leave private cars to the presidents of the Crocker and Wells Fargo banks. When I go on bank business, I’ll travel as a simple passenger so my depositors will know I have their best interest at heart and am not squandering their money.”
Marion rose to her feet with a rustle of her skirts. “I’ll see to it.”
As soon as she returned to her desk, she picked up her telephone and in a low voice, nearly that of a whisper, asked the operator for the Van Dorn Detective Agency. When Marion gave the receptionist her name, she was immediately put through to Bell.
“Isaac?”
“Marion? I was just going to call and ask you out for dinner and a play.”
She felt pleased that he was happy to hear her voice. “I have some information for you,” she said seriously. “Jacob is going out of town.”
“Do you know where?”
“Los Angeles,” she answered. “He’s going to attend the National Conference for Community Banks. It’s a forum for bankers, to exchange the latest in banking operations.”
“When does it take place?”
“The twenty-eighth to the thirtieth of this month.”
Bell thought a moment. “He’d have to be on a train tomorrow if he was going to make Los Angeles by the twenty-eighth.”
“Yes, that’s right,” said Marion. “As soon as I ring off, I have to make his reservations. He’s traveling in a coach, as an ordinary passenger.”
“Not like your boss to save a buck.”
“He claimed it would impress Cromwell depositors by not squandering the bank’s assets.”
“What do you think, Marion? Is this trip legitimate?”
She did not hesitate in answering. “I do know there really is a National Conference for Community Banks on those dates in the City of Angels.”
“I’ll see that one of our agents is with him all the way.”
“I feel soiled going behind his back,” she said remorsefully.
“Do not regret it, sweetheart,” Bell replied tenderly. “Jacob Cromwell is an evil man.”
“What time should I expect you?” Marion asked, happy to get off the subject of Cromwell.
“I’ll pick you up at six so we can have an early dinner before making the play.”
“Are we going in your red racer?”
“Do you mind?”
“No, I enjoy the exhilaration of speed.”
He laughed. “I knew there was something about you that attracted me.”
Marion hung up the phone, surprised to find her heart beating at a rapid rate.