As Qwilleran walked with Celia to the parking area, she said, "Someone backed a truck up to the carriage house today and started unloading stuff. I went downstairs to see what it was all about, and I met the nicest man! He said he works for you."
"That's Mr. O'Dell. You'll see him around frequently. He's the one who cleaned your win dows before you moved in."
"They may need cleaning again soon," she replied with a wink, and she drove away laughing.
Indoors Qwilleran found something on the floor that belonged on the telephone desk: the paperback playscript that Fran wanted him to read. Koko was under the desk, sitting on his brisket and looking pleased with himself. Qwilleran smoothed his moustache with a dawning awareness: There was a leonine theme in Koko's recent antics, starting with the lion in A Midsummer Night's Dream... then Androcles and the Lion... and now the Lion in Winter. Did he identify with the king of beasts? For a ten-pound house cat he had a lion-sized ego.
Or, Qwilleran thought, he's trying to tell me something, and I'm not getting it!
-14-
When Qwilleran's secret agent reported to Operation Whistle HQ on Tuesday evening, she was in a state of exhaustion. "I'm absolutely whacked!" she said. "First, the hospital this morning... then the family reunion... and then some flabbergasting news!"
"Sit down before you fall down," Qwilleran said. "Relax. Have a swig of fruit punch. Say hello to Koko and Yum Yum."
The Siamese came forth, looking for her handbag. When plumped on the floor it looked like a treasure-filled wastebasket. "Have you been good kitties?" she asked them.
"No," Qwilleran replied. "Koko is still in the doghouse for malicious destruction of property.... Now go on with your story. In the last episode of The Trials of the Trevelyans, you were having a heart-to-heart talk with Tish, and Nella had just left without saying good-bye."
"Yes, that was the Sunday they had that train ride at $500 a ticket. After the train ride, Floyd came home, got a mysterious phone call, and said he had to go and see a man about a train. He left, and they never saw him again."
"When did Tish tell you this?"
"This morning at the hospital. I couldn't tell you because I had to rush off to The Roundhouse.... So then I called Grandpa Penn and said I'd pick him up at two o'clock. He sounded as if it was the video he was really excited about. I didn't mention Eddie's accident."
"Did Florrie know he was coming?"
"Oh, yes! She was thrilled at the idea of seeing 'Pop' after so many years. She wanted to get all dressed up. At two o'clock, like I promised, I drove out to Sawdust City. That retirement home is a depressing building. Have you seen it?"
"I have, and I think the residents spend most of their waking hours at the Trackside Tavern and the Jump-Off Bar. Who can blame them?"
Celia told how she walked into the lobby and found three old fellows sitting in a row - all shaved and combed and respectable in white summer shirts. "They all stood up, and I asked which one was the famous engineer. The tallest one said, 'I'm the hoghead.' I told him my car was at the curb, and he said, 'Full steam ahead.' But when I led the way to my car, all three men followed me! Before I knew it, three husky old men were squeezing into my little car. I was worried about my springs, but what could I do? I said, 'I didn't know you were bringing your bodyguards, Mr. Penn.' They all laughed."
"Well put," Qwilleran said. "It turned out they were his fireman and brakeman, who'd always worked as a crew and still stuck together. Their names were Fred and Billy, and they were all excited about seeing the video. On the way to The Roundhouse they talked a mile a minute!"
"NO!" Qwilleran shouted, and Yum Yum - caught pilfering a pocketpack of tissues from the wonderful hand bag - dropped it and ran. "Sorry, he said. "Go on with your story."
"Well, when we got to the house, Tish ran down the steps and threw her arms around her grandpa. Florrie was in her wheelchair on the porch, wearing a pretty dress. Her old dad stumbled up the steps, crying 'My little Florrie!' And he dropped down on his knees and hugged her, and they both cried. When she asked, 'Where's Mom?' I cried, too."
"A touching scene," Qwilleran said.
"I took Fred and Billy out to the patio, so the others could have a private talk. The men remembered Florrie when she was a pretty young girl, waving at them as the train went by. They also knew about her wedding and didn't like it one bit! Then they started cursing F.T. to high heaven for stealing their life savings. They hoped he'd be caught and get prison for life. When I showed them the trains Florrie had wrecked, they laughed and cheered."
"Did you show the video?"
"Twice! Tish refused to look at it, and Florrie had to go to bed because the excitement had knocked her out, but the three men thought the video was wonderful. After that, I drove them back to Sawdust City."
"I'd say you handled everything nobly, Celia."
"Thanks, Chief, but that's not the end. When I got back to The Roundhouse, I got the shock of my life! Are you ready for it?"
"Fire away."
"It's something the lawyer had just told Tish. He said Floyd had put the Party Train in Florrie's name to protect himself from creditors and lawsuits!"
"Well! That puts a new complexion on the matter, doesn't it?" Qwilleran said. "The train can be sold and the proceeds used to send Florrie to Switzerland."
"But you haven't heard the whole story, Chief. Grandpa Penn is buying the train!"
"Wait a minute! Does he have that kind of money?"
"That's what I wondered," Celia said, "but Tish says he's had a good railroad job for fifty-years and always believed in saving for a rainy day. What's more, his money is in banks and government bonds, so it's not tied up. He's turning everything over to Florrie. They've called the lawyer already."
"Will the old man have enough left to live on?" Qwilleran inquired.
"She says he has his railroad pension and social security and good medical insurance. He doesn't need much else.... What do you think of it, Chief?"
"Sounds like the ending of a B-movie made in the 1930s, but I'm happy for everyone. You didn't say how much he's turning over to Florrie, but he can sell the train for well over a million. More likely, two million. I heard that Floyd had put $600,000 in the locomotive alone. Just imagine! An old engineer's dream! To own the celebrated No.9!"
Celia looked puzzled. "But if he wants to sell the train, who would buy it? That's an awful lot of money to spend on a thing like that."
"Train collecting is a growing hobby. More people than you think are pursuing it." It also occurred to Qwilleran that the economic development division of the K Foundation, currently promoting tourism, might take over the Party Train and operate it as Floyd intended.
"Well, it's time for me to go home and see what Wrigley's doing," she said.
Qwilleran handed her an envelope. "Here are your tickets for the play Thursday night, plus a little something extra in appreciation of your work."
"Oh, thank you!" she said. "I'm enjoying this assignment so much, I don't expect a reward."
"You deserve one. And the next time you talk to Tish, see if she has any idea who tipped off the auditors to the Lumbertown fraud... and why they haven't been able to find Floyd... and who made the mysterious phone call on the night of his disappearance. She's a smart young woman. She might be able to make some guesses."