“Is it safe?” I asked sarcastically.
Turtle snorted and turned to tend his flapjacks. I sipped rebelliously because I was not going to get anywhere. They had been perfectly justified and I had better adjust to it. As if he sensed my softening, the major leaned forward, touching my arm lightly so I’d look at him.
“Do you remember identifying DeLord last night?”
I glanced, startled, at the lieutenant and then remembered. That did much to restore my battered self-esteem.
“Yes, and I was right, wasn’t I?”
The lieutenant nodded.
“Well,” Major Laird continued, scratching the back of his neck with his forefinger, “he told us why he was masquerading. And it is serious.”
“Dad?” I cried out so sharply Merlin whined. I absently signaled him to stay down.
“No, no, your father knew about it,” DeLord hastened to say. “Although, to be quite candid, I had to suspect him, too.”
“The stamps?” I queried, adding facts up.
The major held up his hand for me to slow down with wild guessing. The lieutenant grinned.
“She’s quick.”
“Let us explain the whole thing, will you, Carlysle,” the major suggested patiently.
“Then Dad was murdered!”
“Carlysle!” the major snapped in an authoritative tone.
DeLord’s hand went up to interrupt the major’s reprimand.
“Yes, only I didn’t know that until last night. It puts another complexion on the whole situation.” His fingers lightly pressed my hand. “Believe me, had we any idea that would happen, we would have acted with more dispatch. But we had only circumstantial evidence that points to the One Hundred and Fifteenth Regiment. As far as my superiors were concerned, it was a serious but not an acute situation. Naturally, I could take only the colonel into my confidence when I was assigned to the case. Matter of fact,” and he grinned ruefully, “the major was one of my prime suspects.”
Incredulous, I stared at my guardian.
“You see, Miss Carla, it had to be someone with enough sophistication to know what to loot.”
“Loot? It was looting?” I glanced at Turtle.
“Yes, looting. Not just trinkets or ghoul jobs on corpses. But items of intrinsic or tangible value. Jewels, stamps as you suggested, even some rare letters and a rare and immeasurably valuable Book of the Hours. Very old, more than priceless to its custodian. These are things an educated man would know to steal.”
“But why was my father murdered?”
“Your father had identified the thief to his satisfaction. He was obviously murdered to keep from disclosing what he knew.”
“For a mess of jewelry and stamps?” I cried, appalled at the horrible, horrible wastefulness.
The lieutenant shook his head slowly from side to side.
“I’m afraid it was more than a mess of jewelry and stamps. The estimated value of the losses is close to several hundred thousand dollars.”
I stared in stunned silence at the lieutenant.
“It took us some time to narrow down our search when the initial reports came in after the Falaise-Argentan pocket was wiped out. There were items stolen by the German Seventh Army that should have been recovered in their baggage vans and weren’t. I was detached from CAO to the MF Double AS
“
“The what?” I asked.
“The Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section. So the French wouldn’t find their art treasures on a quick trip overseas to America. All soldiers are light-fingered. Then we found ourselves with too many potential masterminds.” The lieutenant stroked his head but he didn’t smile. “When your father and I crossed paths in Paris that time, I eliminated him completely. I asked him to request a replacement and I’d make sure it was me. Then I could work directly in the regiment without being suspected. We checked everyone. Including you, Major.”
The major was frowning in concentration and suddenly his face cleared. He pointed directly at the lieutenant, snapping his fingers as his thoughts crystallized.
“That lecture on autographs! Bonaparte, Louis, ye gods. I thought you’d gone into battle shock. We were at the assembly area at Montcarnet, right?”
The lieutenant nodded. Regan Laird’s face clouded again, the muscles tightened along his jaw, and his eyes turned bleak.
“That leaves us with
“
“That’s right, Laird.”
“Warren!” I exploded out of my chair. “Warren killed my father.”
“We believe so,” DeLord said quietly.
“Believe so?” I echoed, aggravated at his calmness.
He sighed. “Believe me, I sympathize, Miss Carla. Unfortunately, although my earnest private desire is to arrest Warren immediately - “
“But weren’t you and Dad on the way to arrest Warren the night he murdered Dad?”
DeLord shook his head. “Your father had laid a trap for the looter with several valuable stamps and some jeweled crosses. We had to find them in the thief’s possession, you know, to press charge. Frankly, I hadn’t suspected Warren. I had my eye on one of the Third Battalion smart operators. I thought at the time your father was going to order Warren back to HQ. He should’ve after that stunt with the beetfields!” The lieutenant’s face was grim. “Now I know why, against all logic, your father had to keep Warren on the line.”
“Fer Chrissake!” Turtle growled softly.
“So, after your father died, I had to go on alone, set up another trap which also meant the necessity of -“
“Sucking up to Warren?” Turtle interrupted again, his eyes narrowing.
DeLord nodded. “The bait was taken and then I couldn’t find it!” He grimaced with distaste and dismay. “And that was the hardest blow. It had to be Warren because he was the last person to handle the items. But he didn’t have them and I searched, believe me, I searched. I even drugged his coffee one night to search him personally. And I had to find out how he disposed of the loot. There were some mighty valuable pieces involved by then and they’ve got to be recovered.”
“And my father’s murder is less important than - “
“No, no,” DeLord hastily interrupted, his eyes shocked at that suggestion. “But I didn’t know that until last night. Now the serial number has been filed off the Colt but I think we can get enough to reconstruct it and trace the issuee. Unfortunately, Miss Carla, we have to have proof to bring an officer to court-martial. Proof of murder and proof of grand larceny.”
“But I’m no longer army,” I said through my gritted teeth “and I don’t need any further proof. Warren’s waiting for me in Boston.”
I swung my chair around, grabbing for the pile of letters on the sideboard. The major caught my arm as I passed him and jerked me sharply to my feet. I tried to twist free but he was on his feet, hands on my shoulders, shaking me hard.
“But I’m not having my ward up for murder. Now you stop this ranting around right now
” he gave me a neck-snapping shake, bruising my shoulders with his powerful hands. “You’re army as long as I’m your guardian. Just remember that, Carlysle. And I give the orders. I expect them to be obeyed.”
He forced my chin up, his eyes glinting angrily down at me.
“You don’t go off half-cocked into a battle if you want to win it.” Again he shook me but not so hard, because I knew he was right and he sensed it. “You want Warren? Not half as bad as DeLord, Bailey, I, and the U.S. Army want him. And you’re going to help get him because, my dear ward, you’re the new bait. Someone tried to burgle this house last night. Two attempts no three, were made in Cambridge. Now sit down, and listen.”
He gave me a little push and I stumbled back into my chair, rubbing my shoulders absently.
“We think he’s after the gun. DeLord believes he might be after more than that .”