Walking a Fine Line: Day 20

Word Total: 120,030

Year to Date: 720,367

Summary of Events:

Led by Detective Waggoner, the police went to Mr. McElligott's apartment, which they searched while Joseph waited with an officer, whom he told more about what he'd done privately, which ended up being corroborated by the landlord when he came out to see what was going on. The detectives were apprised of Joseph's revelations once they returned with Mr. McElligott, but no jewellery or money, and Joseph led them to the apartment where the actual crooks lived. The two crooks were caught unawares by the police, and the jewellery and money found. Mr. O'Toole confessed readily to Mr. McElligott's innocence and more, while his associate — identified as Mr. Treacy — was upset, and held his silence. With the men arrested, the detectives and several officers headed back for the station house, leaving the other officers to do a bit more searching yet for further information in the apartment…

Excerpt of the Day:

Once they were outside, Detective May said something to the officer holding Joseph’s arm that prompted the officer to release it and advance beside Mr. McElligott, leaving Joseph to walk freely with Detective May beside him.

“I hope I’ve gotten the truth out of you now, Mr. Neil,” Detective May said.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Joseph said. “It’s just… she’s my best friend.”

“Who is?” Detective May asked.

“My sister who’s sweet on Mr. McElligott,” Joseph replied. “She’s my best friend, and I want the best for her, and I wasn’t sure going to you right away and telling everything he’d told me would allow me to vet him properly. In fact, I wasn’t really sure what to believe when he first told me that he’d been accused of a robbery.”

Detective May nodded. “I don’t think I’ve met a man more zealous after his sister’s wellbeing.”

“Too zealous,” Joseph said.

“Maybe before you have to marry another sister off you should join the force,” Detective May said. “Or, if that doesn’t suit you, you should become a private investigator. I think you’d do well. If you want to join the force I’d even put in a good word for you.”

Joseph nodded.

“I want to see you for questioning tomorrow,” Detective May said. “But as it stands, I’m letting you off with a warning to get us involved sooner if there is a next time, or, as I said, join the force or become a certified private detective, as if there is a next time, I might not be so lenient, and I can’t speak for my colleagues at the other station houses.”

“Yes sir,” Joseph said.

“You certainly talk like you’ve been in the army,” Detective May said. “What unit did you say you were with again?”

Joseph replied.

“And under the name Joseph Neil?” Detective May asked.

“Yes,” Joseph replied. “Joseph F. Neil.”

“I’ll look that up,” Detective May said. “For now, good night, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“After dinner like this is fine?” Joseph asked.

“It is,” Detective May replied.

“Probably about the same time you saw me tonight then,” Joseph said.

“I’ll be expecting you,” Detective May said.

Joseph nodded and slackened his pace, letting Mr. Crawford pass him, and then letting the whole party increase their gap ahead of him until he reached an intersection where he ought to turn westward in order to head home, so he did, glancing over his shoulder a couple times just to be sure that no one was going to come after him. Based on how everything had come out, he hadn’t expected to be let go, but he was grateful, and he was resolved not to withhold anything from Detective May that was relevant for him to know when he called on the station house the following evening.

Next Post: 1 October.

Walking a Fine Line: Day 19

Word Count: 114,056

Summary of Events:

Joseph decided to stop back at the pawnshop on his way home and look at the piece. He was sure it was one of the stolen ones upon examination, but he simply told the broker he'd heard rumours about stolen jewellery being pawned off in the area before going home. He shaved off his beard — which was met with much enthusiasm by his family and others — before going to the police station, where he was introduced to Detective Waggoner of the Philadelphia police, and Mr. Crawford, one of the jewellers who'd made the stolen jewellery for Mr. Bradley. He told them about the piece that had been pawned, prompting them to depart immediately for the pawnshop, where the broker obligingly showed them the piece, which was authenticated by Mr. Crawford…

Excerpt of the Day:

“Well, we’ll get you your money back once we’ve apprehended the crooks,” Detective May assured the broker.

“Thank you,” the broker said. “I’m sorry to have taken the piece. The man’s story of hardship was pretty convincing.”

“Do you have any other pieces with rubies in them?” Detective Waggoner asked.

“No sir,” the broker replied.

“Can you describe the man who pawned this piece?” Detective May asked.

“I can,” the broker replied with a nod, going on to describe Mr. O’Toole.

“Have you ever seen him before?” Detective May asked.

“No sir,” the broker replied.

“How about his accomplice?” Detective May asked, describing Mr. O’Malley.

The broker shook his head. “No sir.”

“What about the other suspects?” Detective Waggoner asked, proceeding to describe Charlie, as well as a figure that sounded an awful lot like Joseph.

“Not the first one,” the broker replied. “As for the second one, I’d look behind you.”
The detectives turned around and looked at Joseph. He felt sick. He was sure his face had blanched involuntarily.

“Now that you say that…” Detective May said.

Suddenly an officer came up from behind and seized Joseph’s arms.

“Please! I can explain!” Joseph cried.

“Then you’d best,” Detective May said in a low, warning tone.

“I… I met your suspect, Charlie McElligott,” Joseph said, looking at Detective Waggoner. “My sister’s sweet on him. He told me the whole thing, claiming innocence. I found it rather unbelievable, and so started trying to figure out if he was telling the truth or not. In that guise, I went to Mr. Sowards’ pawnshop and pretended to be an insurance agent. I didn’t expect him to give me the piece that’d been pawned to him, or the ticket, but I was going to give them to you today.”

Detective May looked at the officer and nodded. He released Joseph’s right arm.

Immediately Joseph shot his hand into his pocket and produced the bracelet and his wallet. His hand shook as he handed the bracelet to Mr. Crawford, who examined it immediately while Joseph produced the pawn ticket, and the clipped pictures.

“I’m friends with a newsstand operator who got me old editions of the Inquirer, I clipped these pictures from there to try and find the pieces myself,” Joseph said. “That’s how I knew the piece I brought you was part of the collection. And how I knew the necklace from here was too.”

“Charlie McElligott, you said, is here?” Detective Waggoner asked. “In Chicago?”

“Yes,” Joseph replied. “He’s working for my family’s butcher under an alias, thus how he met my sister. I was suspicious of him, and he was impressed by my devotion to my sister, so he told me his real name and why he’d come to Chicago with the hope that I would help him clear his name.”

“You seem to be proving his guilt,” Detective Waggoner said. “Where is he?”

Joseph gave the address, even though he felt badly about it. Although he didn’t want it to be true, he had to admit that even without all the facts, Mr. McElligott looked innocent.

Walking a Fine Line: Day 18

Word Count: 108,033

Summary of Events:

Owing to the fact that Mr. O'Toole and Mr. O'Malley — whether those were their legal names or not — had seen Joseph just as up-close as he'd seen them, he decided that in order to get to the bottom of the matter himself, he would need to disguise himself, so he grew a beard, bought some secondhand glasses and a fedora, as well as practising up his best imitation of his Irish-born uncles' accents before making another round of the pawnshops, which he decided to stake out in hopes of seeing Mr. O'Toole or Mr. O'Malley and tailing them back to where they lived so that he could apprise the police. He was rewarded at his fifth stakeout by the appearance of Mr. O'Toole, and although he wanted to keep the jewellery from being pawned, he forced himself to stay outside and focus on following Mr. O'Toole to his real place of residence…

Excerpt of the Day:

Mr. O’Toole had come out of the pawnshop and headed in the opposite direction from whence he’d approached the shop, with Joseph slipping out of hiding to follow him once a safe distance had opened between the two of them.

Since then, however, Joseph hadn’t really had much work to do. Mr. O’Toole was walking on with completely relaxed casualness, evidently not even suspecting that the police whom he and Mr. O’Malley had escaped from might be wandering around the city looking for him — or, if he suspected it, he wasn’t the least bit concerned.

He wasn’t looking over his shoulders regularly, ducking into buildings for a few minutes here and there, or anything else that might indicate he was wary of being found or followed. Furthermore, he wasn’t taking a winding route, ducking in and out of alleys and winding around, his route was completely straightforward and out in the open.

Not only did this latter point suggest to Joseph that Mr. O’Toole was completely unafraid of being found, but he felt that it also proved that Mr. O’Toole was most definitely not a Chicagoan. He suspected that Mr. O’Toole didn’t know the streets well enough to even consider taking a route that wasn’t straightforward, and might get lost if he were to find himself concerned enough about being discovered that it might be in his best interests to deviate from a straightforward plan and trajectory.

Joseph thus walked along casually behind, lest he arouse anyone’s suspicions by looking like he was following Mr. O’Toole, as who knew when a concerned citizen would tell Mr. O’Toole that it looked like someone was following him, which would incite a chase.

Of course, as the Chicago native and expert tailer, Joseph knew that he’d have the upper hand by some margin in such a pursuit — provided there were no taxis along the route — but if he could keep from arousing Mr. O’Toole’s suspicions, he intended to, lest Mr. O’Toole even suspect that the same man who’d stolen the last piece of jewellery he’d tried to pawn was still pursuing him.

Soon they turned into a residential area that Joseph wasn’t terribly familiar with, although based on the numbers of an intersecting street and avenue that he passed as he followed Mr. O’Toole, Joseph was pretty sure that he had a relative living in the area, a second or third cousin, if he wasn’t mistaken, not that he knew Ma’s family tree well.

He knew he had a lot of relatives in Chicago on Ma’s side, but how exactly he was related to all of them — outside of Ma’s brothers and their descendants — he wasn’t fully sure of, but he knew it was one of those more distant relatives of his who lived in this area.

Joseph was a little surprised when Mr. O’Toole finally ducked into an alley, but he followed Mr. O’Toole, closing up the gap a bit now that they were in a poorer-lit area, meaning that his ability to see Mr. O’Toole was as compromised as Mr. O’Toole’s ability to see him, thus it was both a good thing and a bad thing.

Walking a Fine Line: Day 17

Word Count: 102,086

Summary of Events:

Joseph presented the jewellery to the police, as well as taking them to the pawnshop to corroborate his story, following which they encountered the customer and his auburn-haired associate, but the two men managed to get away from the police by knocking the police detective unconscious before getting into a taxi whose license number Joseph failed to memorise fully. Although the auburn-haired associate didn't resemble Mr. McElligott very much at all, Joseph decided to call on Mr. McElligott and see what he had to say about what Joseph had seen…

Excerpt of the Day:

A mixed expression came over Mr. McElligott’s face. On one hand, he looked shocked at the report of a gun battle, but on the other, he looked somewhat excited by the news that Joseph had seen an accomplice.

“What did he look like?” Mr. McElligott asked quickly.

“He was around the same height as you, and of a similarly lean build,” Joseph replied. “He also had auburn hair, while his eyes were more of a greenish-hazel, his head was narrower, he had more prominent ears, and his nose was crooked.”

Mr. McElligott furrowed his brow again, looking puzzled. “I’ve never seen any man like that in my life.”

“I escaped them and got the jewellery to the police,” Joseph continued. “And after corroborating my story with the pawnbroker, we ended up encountering Mr. O’Toole and his associate questioning people trying to figure out where I’d gone. When questioned by the police detective, they identified themselves as Jerry McPherson and Sandy O’Malley.”

“I’ve never heard of anyone by those names either,” Mr. McElligott said.

“Additionally, they tried to pretend they were Chicago natives by leading the police to a Polish family’s home, claiming it was their own, when the police asked to search their residences,” Joseph added. “When I pointed this out, the two of them knocked the detective out and outran myself and the constables before making their getaway in a taxi.”

“Well, I can assure you I’ve never met this auburn-haired man you’re telling me about, nor have I ever heard of anyone named Sandy O’Malley, although if Sonny used a fake name in Jerry McPherson, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sandy O’Malley is a fake name too.”

Joseph nodded.

“What’s more, based on your description, I can’t say this Sandy O’Malley looks a lot like me at all,” Mr. McElligott continued. “Sure we’re about the same height and build with the same hair colour and a similar eye colour, but that’s not a lot of similarities. If Sonny wanted to make me a scapegoat he should’ve picked a more effective double.”

“As I understand it, this crime was committed after dark,” Joseph said, unable to help himself. “The fact that Mrs. Bradley was able to identify her assailant’s hair and eye colour was actually something of a feat considering the situation. They probably only needed the resemblance to be token to make you an effective scapegoat for their crime.”

“Then that proves I’m innocent!” Mr. McElligott declared triumphantly. “And you can’t deny it because you’re the one who pointed it out to me!”

Joseph set his jaw, annoyed at himself for having not held his tongue and let Mr. McElligott come to that realisation on his own like he should’ve.

“So are you going to help me clear my name now?” Mr. McElligott asked, looking pleased and eager.

“No,” Joseph replied succinctly.

Mr. McElligott’s expression darkened in displeasure.

“But I am going to get to the bottom of this matter myself,” Joseph snapped, immediately setting off homeward before Mr. McElligott could say a word.

Walking a Fine Line: Day 16

Word Count: 96,066

Summary of Events:

Joseph decided to make another round of the pawnshops looking for the stolen jewellery and, when visiting a shop he'd not yet visited, ended up hearing a customer who'd come in after him use the same story as Mr. Sowards had told him the man who'd beat him up had used. Upon recognising the piece the man — who matched the description Mr. Sowards had given him — was wanting to pawn as one of the stolen ones, Joseph decided to take action and approached the customer, asking if he could look at the piece as if he were interested in buying it, which the customer agreed to, even allowing him to handle it…

Excerpt of the Day;

Since he wasn’t sure that the broker believed that it was stolen, Joseph felt like this called for action. He didn’t have any money that would come even close to the piece’s value to buy it from the man — nor was he inclined to give a crook his money — so there was only one other thing to do.

Quickly Joseph shoved the necklace in his pocket. The customer gave a shout of protest, but Joseph used a deft move of his foot to trip the man while also shoving him toward the counter before making a break for the door and sprinting up the street.

A crack split the air, and for a moment the undamaged streets of Chicago became the shelled-out streets of any one of the French or Belgian towns in which Joseph and his unit had seen action as they’d fought throughout the war.

With the sound of a second crack, Joseph returned to the present, instinctively ducking in a store entryway and reaching under his right arm for his own sidearm. He looked back toward the pawnshop and saw the customer had a pistol in his hand. He levelled it at Joseph and fired again, but just as with his first two shots, it missed Joseph so wildly he had no idea where it went.

Drawing his gun, Joseph aimed carefully and fired back, aiming to graze the man, which his bullet did before he advanced up the street just as he’d done in the war, ducking from safe spot to safe spot.

Suddenly a window by where Joseph was sheltering exploded into glass shards, and from the wrong angle to have been broken by a bullet from the gun of the customer.

Turning his head, Joseph saw a man whose face was shaded by a hat ducking behind a car across the road and up the street from him.

The man fired a second time and in an instant Joseph felt a searing, burning pain across his left cheek. He returned fire before continuing his way up the street. Both men continued firing at him, while he returned with a couple shots of his own, hoping to get a better look at the second man.

As the man straightened to move, Joseph saw that he had a reasonably lean figure and was wearing an iron-grey suit with a silver-coloured tie. The man ended up knocking his fedora off his head as he ducked behind a car to avoid a shot Joseph fired his way, and when he popped his head up to return fire himself, he revealed a headful of auburn hair, but his face looked nothing like Mr. McElligott’s, being longer and narrower, with more prominent ears and a crooked nose.

Satisfied with that better look, Joseph darted down an alley and holstered his gun, quickly taking a twisting, turning route, as he was certain the two men he had exchanged fire with were as much Philadelphians as Mr. McElligott was, thus they wouldn’t be able to outpace him or outflank him here on the streets of Chicago.

Walking a Fine Line: Day 15

Word Count: 90,068

Summary of Events:

Although Joseph promised Mr. Sowards he'd go to the police, fearing that he'd get in trouble for pretending to be an insurance agent, he didn't. Instead, he went to call on Mr. Varley — whom he was sure now was Mr. McElligott — whom he presented with all he'd learned since they'd last seen one another in order to see his reactions, including revealing that he'd found a piece of jewellery, which had been pawned by a Mr. O'Toole. Mr. McElligott denied knowing the man initially, but then seemed to realise something, and so asked Joseph to describe the man, which Joseph obligingly did…

Excerpt of the Day:

Mr. McElligott nodded throughout the description. “He is the Sonny O’Toole that I knew. He’s also the one who told police that Mrs. Bradley’s description of the robber sounded an awful lot like me. We used to go to school together. He was a year older than me, but he was one of those ones who didn’t really care to learn anything, so he got held back to improve his marks. I never had a lot to do with him in school, as I didn’t socialise with him and the other rowdy, disobedient boys, I wanted to do well in school to please my parents. After I finished school I never saw Sonny, I’m not even sure if he finished school, or if he didn’t drop out before the end.”

Joseph nodded. A connection at last.

“Considering who he was in school, and who he spent time with, I can’t say I’m surprised he’s on the wrong side of the law,” Mr. McElligott said. “He was probably in on the robbery and chose me as a scapegoat for him and his actual accomplice.”

Mr. McElligott’s gaze was pointed. Joseph drew his face into a sceptical expression.

“Honestly, Mr. Neil,” Mr. McElligott said. “Does it make any sense to you why I would let some of the jewellery be found in my own backyard? Sure it was only the least-valuable pieces, but still, if I were guilty, why would I not have planted the evidence somewhere else to prevent people from believing me to be guilty? What crook wants to be hunted down and thrown in jail by the police?”

It was a valid point, not that Joseph wanted to admit it.

“Nevertheless, I’m not convinced of your innocence,” Joseph replied. “You seem to be a very good actor, with your reactions being impressively genuine, and you’ve done well to not yet slip up and admit something you shouldn’t.”

Unenthused, Mr. McElligott crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Joseph. “I need remind you, it seems, that you aren’t a licensed private investigator. You’re just a store clerk, like me, and your nosing about in all this business isn’t exactly legal as a result, thus I could call the police and have you thrown in jail for having broken into my home, especially through subterfuge, even if I haven’t yet discovered you to have stolen anything.”

“I’ve not turned you in to the police yet,” Joseph retorted, crossing his arms and glaring likewise.

“I’m surprised,” Mr. McElligott snapped bitterly. “And even though I should get you arrested, all I’m going to tell you is to get out of here, and not to come back under any guise whatsoever if you’re going to continue to believe me guilty of a crime I didn’t commit even though I so foolishly told you the whole truth of the matter.”

Joseph gave a succinct nod, took up his hat, and stepped out the door which Mr. McElligott had opened as he’d made his concluding remarks.

Walking a Fine Line: Day 14

Word Count: 84,029

Summary of Events:

To Joseph's disappointment, he found no money and no jewellery that suggested Mr. Varley to be guilty, only the photos that attested to Mr. Varley's being Charlie McElligott, just as he'd claimed, and likely to be innocent, although the fact that Joseph had found one of the stolen jewellery pieces in Chicago still had him suspicious, so he decided to go through the pawnshops again and see if he could find some more. When he reached the shop where he'd found the piece he had, Joseph was shocked to find it was boarded up and that nearby businesses reported the broker had been wounded by an angry customer and was in hospital, prompting Joseph to go visit him, wondering if the attacker was the man who'd pawned the stolen piece…

Excerpt of the Day:

As Joseph approached, however, Mr. Sowards stirred and turned his head. His left eye opened wide and even his right eye opened a bit at the sight of Joseph.

“Well I’ll be!” Mr. Sowards exclaimed. “You’re the last person I expected to see here!”

“I hope you’re not displeased,” Joseph said.

“No, no,” Mr. Sowards replied. “Not at all.”

“I had just wanted to ask you if you’d seen the man who’d pawned the stolen bracelet since I came,” Joseph said.

“I did,” Mr. Sowards replied, gesturing over his body with one of his bandaged hands.

“He did this to you?” Joseph asked, shocked.

“He did,” Mr. Sowards replied with a subtle nod.

“What happened?” Joseph asked, stepping closer.

“Well, it was at least a week since he’d last been there, maybe a bit more than that,” Mr. Sowards replied. “And he came in with another piece of jewellery, gold with rubies in it like the last one that I gave you, and he wanted to pawn it off, so I looked it over, but then I told him I wouldn’t take it. Now, he wasn’t grateful for that bit of news, but I told him I wasn’t going to be a fence for thieves. He was especially displeased about that and told me that he hadn’t stolen it, said he was pawning off a family heirloom to feed his hungry family, but I held my ground and told him I had reason to believe otherwise. Well, then he got rightly angry and attacked me. I’ve never got such a pummelling in all my life, and he finished by throwing me through the front window.”

Joseph shook his head. He didn’t really know what to say, but he did feel badly that Mr. Sowards had gotten so injured.

“I don’t really remember what happened after that,” Mr. Sowards went on. “I recall hearing a whistle, and the police told me later that if there hadn’t been an officer on patrol who’d heard the shouting and the breaking glass, I might’ve died, as the officer saw the man come out of the store with a knife in his hand, but he ran off when the officer blew his whistle.”

“I’m sorry,” Joseph said.

“Sorry?” Mr. Sowards asked. “For what?”

“For causing you all of this by telling you that piece was stolen,” Joseph replied.

“Well, now this isn’t anything to be sorry about,” Mr. Sowards replied. “I’d rather be beat up by a crook for refusing to do business with him than get chucked in jail for having dealt in stolen goods without realising it.”

“If you’re sure,” Joseph said doubtfully.

“I am sure,” Mr. Sowards replied. “When I woke up here I told the police the whole story. It would’ve been helpful to have your name, but I was able to tell the story without it, and I promised I’d send you their way if I saw you again.”

Walking a Fine Line: Day 13

Word Count: 78,054

Summary of Events:

Having spent several days giving bleak reports as to the health of his false relative to the Żbikowskis and the false relative of the Żbikowskis to his family, Joseph finally told them that these false relatives had died, causing expressions of condolences. Mr. Żbikowski gave Joseph a day off for the funeral, and although Brighid was determined that Joseph get to the to-do list she had for him, he managed to dress up in his father's old work clothes and sneak off to Mr. Varley's apartment building without being discovered, and was relieved to learn the landlord was out of the building, but one of the other tenants would let him know that Joseph was there once he returned, leaving Joseph to sneak into Mr. Varley's apartment and have a more in-depth look around the place with the help of his father's tools…

Excerpt of the Day:

He also checked the drawers for false bottoms or other things by measuring them with Da’s tape measure and knocking on them to see if they were hollow, along with checking to be sure that the drawers were as deep as the dresser with the measuring tape, and he found that everything checked out as a normal dresser.

Finally, however, as he removed the last garment from one of the drawers, Joseph found an envelope. It was unlabelled, prompting him to wonder if it contained money from the pawning of the bracelet that he was currently hiding in his bedroom.

Instead, Joseph found photographs of varying sizes, featuring various people, all of whom looked related. One of the largest photos was a military portrait of a young man who looked strikingly like Mr. Varley, but it wasn’t him, for this young man had a decent-sized beauty mark on his jaw, just back of his chin, but Mr. Varley had no such marks on his face.

On the back Joseph found writing: Archie McElligott, aged 19. His military unit was named as well, and Joseph recognised it. He didn’t recall having ever met anyone from it, but he was sure he’d heard about it, as if it’d been close to where he’d been at every point in his time on the front, but he wasn’t fully sure.

Another of the larger photos was a family shot, and in that one Joseph saw both Archie — identified by his beauty mark — and Mr. Varley, standing beside him. They were undoubtedly brothers, and sons of the man who was seated front and centre beside his wife; two little girls, probably older than Elina, but not by too many years, and three little boys were also in the photo.

It, too, had writing on the back that was in the same feminine-looking hand as that of the first photo: C & R McElligott Family, April 1913. Clayton McElligott, aged 37; Rhoda McElligott, aged 31; Archie McElligott, aged 15; Charlie McElligott, aged 12; Winnie McElligott, aged 9; Virgie McElligott, aged 7; Willie McElligott, aged 5; Ollie McElligott, aged 4; Tommie McElligott, aged 2.

All of the other photos had similar inscriptions, all in the same distinctly feminine hand, and all of them looking old and slightly faded, as if they’d been written a long time ago, possibly by Mrs. Rhoda McElligott.

Photos showed Willie, Ollie, and Tommie at older ages, and there was a handsome photo of Mr. and Mrs. McElligott from just three years ago which was noted as having been taken on the occasion of their 20^th wedding anniversary.

Not exactly the evidence Joseph had been looking for, but it seemed pretty strong proof to him that Mr. Varley was, in fact, Charlie McElligott, as he’d been claiming, but the matter of his innocence remained unresolved, unless Joseph could find something yet in his searching, as he was by no means nearly done.

Walking a Fine Line: Day 12

Word Count: 72,102

Summary of Events:

Having come up with a way to get himself into Mr. Varley's apartment, Joseph considered his options for getting the day off work, and eventually concluded that he had to tell the Żbikowskis that he had a sickly relative who was falling ill, even though he didn't, before eventually he would tell them that the relative had died and he'd need a day off for the funeral. Conversely, to explain the day off to his family, he decided to use the same story in reverse, so after telling the Żbikowskis about his 'sick relative' at work, he disclosed the same thing at home…

Excerpt of the Day:

“Well, apparently Mrs. Żbikowski has some family here in Chicago, and one of her cousins is sick,” Joseph lied. “This cousin has always been somewhat sickly and weak, so it’s not entirely surprising, but this time it seems especially serious, so they’re worried.”

“Oh,” Theresa said, looking still sober, but yet relieved, making it clear that she’d been fearing something that might affect his income.

“That’s very serious,” Ma said. “What is the illness?”
“I don’t know,” Joseph replied. “It wasn’t mentioned.”

“And they don’t think she’s going to make it?” Ma asked.

“Well, they’re not sure yet,” Joseph replied. “There’ve been a few close calls in the past, but the older a person gets, the harder it is for them to recover, and I understand this cousin to be several years older than Mrs. Żbikowski.”

Ma nodded.

“They would be going to the funeral, I would presume,” Brighid said.

“If there is a funeral,” Joseph replied. “Undoubtedly.”

“When might it be?” Brighid asked.

“Her cousin isn’t even dead yet!” Joseph exclaimed. “Who knows when the funeral’s going to be before the person is even dead?”

“Might it be in the middle of the week?” Brighid asked.

“It all depends on if — or when — the person dies!” Joseph exclaimed. “As you should well know!”

“You don’t have to yell,” Brighid snapped.

“It would help if you were less irritating,” Joseph snapped back.

“I simply would like to know if you’re going to be getting a day off of work for the funeral,” Brighid retorted. “Is that too much to ask?”

“When there’s no guarantees that anybody’s dying, yes,” Joseph replied irritably.

“Well when there is a funeral, I would like to know,” Brighid declared somewhat haughtily. “As I have a list of things for you to get done around here.”

“How sympathetic of you,” Joseph muttered.

“You don’t sound as if you know this relative personally,” Brighid snapped. “Why should you attend the funeral?”

Joseph closed his eyes and put his forehead into his hand, sighing with frustration.

“I never said I was going to any funeral that might be happening anytime in the near future,” Joseph replied. “I don’t even know of any funerals happening in the near future. I was simply stating that you seem to be quite sympathetic.”

“To whom?” Brighid demanded.

“The Żbikowskis,” Joseph replied. “Their relative isn’t even guaranteed to die and you’re already planning the funeral!”

“If this relative is weak and sick it’s really only a matter of time,” Brighid said.

“What if it were Ma?” Joseph challenged.

“What?” Brighid asked, looking massively suspicious.

“What if Ma were weak and sick and you were told that somebody was practically planning her funeral for her?” Joseph pressed. “Would you appreciate the kind of comment you just made?”

Brighid pursed her lips.

“That’s what I thought,” Joseph declared. “You wouldn’t appreciate someone talking that way about Ma, therefore I don’t think it’s terribly sympathetic of you to go talking that way about the Żbikowskis’ relative, even if this relative is in poor health. And that’s to say nothing of why you’re even saying such things.”

Walking a Fine Line: Day 11

Word Count: 66,039

Summary of Events:

Joseph told his family that his missing button and other damage to himself and his clothes from his fall was because he'd been running from an aggressive stray dog after taking evasive action to avoid a neighbour they all found annoying. Theresa was sceptical of the story, but Joseph refused to tell her what he'd really done before pondering how he might be able to get into Mr. Varley's apartment for a longer time. He figured it would require him getting a day off work on false pretences, but he also needed false pretences to get him into Mr. Varley's apartment, which he was finding more difficulty coming up with…

Excerpt of the Day:

Once his plate was filled, Joseph ate everything on it, starting with the foods he liked the least and ending with the ones he liked the best, just like he did at home. Like usual, he mostly ate in silence while the Żbikowskis spoke in Polish all around him, thus he knew little of what they were saying outside of the various little words or phrases he’d learned over the years.

As a result, he thought on his plan, but he came up with no ideas before he finished eating and was dismissed from the table to go wipe down the counter while Mr. Żbikowski and Andrew started counting the money, Paul swept the shop floor, and Mrs. Żbikowski and Frances prepared the dessert.

Joseph focused most of his attention on making sure the counter was good and clean for the second half of the day before he looked up out the windows at the traffic outside in the drizzle, which was still sparse as most people were at lunch.

A truck came into view directly out the windows in front of Joseph, slowing as it approached the intersection. The cab was painted vibrant red, with the fenders gleaming black, and careful working had put white letters on the side spelling E. Burke & Sons Construction.

The truck stopped at the intersection, waited for a car to drive through the other way before carrying on. Joseph watched it until it was gone. Da had worked for Mr. Burke right until the day he’d collapsed. Mr. Burke’s youngest son had been the one who’d come to their door and told Ma gravely that Da had collapsed at work and was being taken to hospital, from whence he’d not departed… not alive, anyways.

Joseph was struck by a sudden thought. Even though Mr. Burke had owned and operated the company, Da had, over the years, acquired his own hand tools and had even built himself a toolbox to carry them all to and from work in. That toolbox was still up in the spare room, and Joseph himself had used the tools from it to do repairs around the house.

That would be perfect! He could dress in some of Da’s old work clothes — and hope no one noticed how loosely they fit him — take Da’s toolbox, and go to the apartment claiming he was a repairman Mr. Varley had hired to fix something. Then he’d be able to get in unquestioned and make all the ruckus he wanted, as a repairman would be expected to make something of a racket. Now all he needed to do was get a day off work.

Pronunciations:

Żbikowskis: zhbeekohvskeez

Żbikowski: zhbeekohvskee

Walking a Fine Line: Day 10

Word Count: 60,023

Summary of Events:

Having the photos and descriptions of the jewellery, Joseph set out to check local pawnshops and jewellery stores for the missing pieces. He didn't find anything at first, but finally he ended up discovering one of the pieces at a pawnshop, which had been pawned just a few minutes before he arrived, enabling the pawnbroker to give him a thorough description of the man who'd pawned it. Since the man looked too different from Mr. Varley to be Mr. Varley in disguise, Joseph wondered if he was an associate and decided to stake out Mr. Varley's apartment building for a few days to see if the two men might meet, but was disappointed to get no results. Since Mr. Varley lived closer to Joseph's workplace than his own, Joseph decided to use a ladder belonging to workmen who were repainting the building to sneak into Mr. Varley's apartment and search it for evidence before Mr. Varley could arrive home, and was glad to find his entry eased by the fact that Mr. Varley didn't lock his window…

Excerpt of the Day:

As he eased through the window, Joseph felt a tug near his waist, as if something had caught. He stopped, pulled back, tried to ensure he was a bit higher, and then pushed through again. He felt a tug again, but it released before he could stop, so he carried on, hoping he hadn’t torn anything.

He wriggled his way inside carefully and looked down. A shot of dismay went through him as he realised one of the buttons that held his jacket closed had torn off. He looked at the sill, but it wasn’t there. He hoped he’d be able to find it on the ground when he left and could come up with a story to explain how it’d come off that wouldn’t make Ma too unhappy.

Time, however, was of the essence, so he immediately set about searching everywhere he could think might possibly be a hiding place for an expensive collection of jewellery, or stacks of money, or any other incriminating evidence.

Drawers were plentiful in the room, and Joseph did his best to search through each one without making a mess, feeling for jewellery or thick stacks of paper, or even guns or other things, as well as carefully looking between layers of garments or other items, depending on the drawer.

He looked under the bed, under the pillow, under the mattress, on the top shelf of the closet, in the kitchen cupboards, the medicine cabinet, and any other hiding place he could think of, but he found nothing, not even the hint of anything, and he felt stupid for getting excited at the one point about feeling something hard in a stack of clothes only to discover it was a button that was properly affixed to its garment.

No cups or glasses were hiding anything inside, nor were the bowls, there was no signs that pillows had been opened and sewn back shut, or anything, what was worse, Joseph was alarmed by the sound of approaching footsteps rather sooner than he’d hoped to be, prompting him to hurry back to the open window.

Swinging out quickly, Joseph reached his feet for the ladder, but one of them bumped the ladder, which started to tilt. Quickly Joseph stabbed out a foot to catch the ladder and managed to do so, gripping the windowsill tightly as he pulled the ladder back upright.

He carefully transferred himself over onto the ladder and then drew the window carefully shut before descending the ladder.

As he did so, however, the ladder shifted and started to fall again. Joseph was at a level where he couldn’t grab onto anything, so he put out his hand to break his fall, but the blow to the heel of his hand as it hit the ground sent a severe jolt of pain up his whole arm.

Turning onto his back, Joseph looked at the sky for a moment, his wrist throbbing in pain. He slowly got up and dragged the ladder carefully back to its hiding place with his good hand, which he was grateful was, in fact, his dominant hand, as the ladder had started falling — both times — so that his dominant side was further from the ground.

Walking a Fine Line: Day 9

Word Count: 54,022

Summary of Events:

As he headed home from Mr. Varley's apartment, Joseph wondered whether he really ought to be looking into Mr. Varley's potential connection to the jewellery theft all that much, as he felt like his family was getting suspicious of his being late for supper, which wasn't usual for him. He didn't end up going long without thinking about it, however, as Mr. Sheenan offered him some more old Inquirers to look at, one of which, he was glad to discover, had the photos in it he'd been looking for, which he immediately set about cutting out from the paper…

Excerpt of the Day:

Even though he’d forgotten which edition had the photos of the stolen jewellery, that edition had actually been in the bundle Mr. Sheenan had given him, and he was now carefully cutting out the pictures and the detailed descriptions beneath each one, in order that he might carry them in his wallet.

The reason he was doing this was because he’d decided that there was a better way he could prove whether or not Mr. Varley — regardless of whether that was his legal name or not — was tied up with the robberies.

He’d come up with it almost as soon as he’d seen the pictures, as he’d not had any idea how large the pictures were when he’d read about them in the other article, but he was glad to discover that they were all quite large photos, meaning they gave good detail of each piece of jewellery, even if they weren’t colourised.

His suspicion was that, regardless of what Mr. Varley’s legal name was, if he was tied up in the robbery — and guiltily so, despite his claims — he might be in Chicago to disperse of the jewellery in a location that was, at least he was hoping, far enough removed from the robbery to allow him to sell the pieces without anyone suspecting that they were, in fact, stolen.

As a result, Joseph could use the photos and the detailed descriptions with them to scout around local pawnshops and jewellery stores, especially in the vicinity, considering Mr. Varley both lived and worked in the area, and see if Mr. Varley was pawning off the jewellery.

If he couldn’t find the jewellery, then it was entirely possible that Mr. Varley was as innocent as he claimed — although whether or not he was Charlie McElligott remained an unanswered question — but if he did, and Mr. Varley was the one responsible for pawning it off, then Theresa had been wooed by a crook who needed to be arrested.

Joseph didn’t really like the idea of Theresa having been such a poor judge of character as to be taken in by a robber, but considering the convincing acting displays he’d seen from Mr. Varley so far, it was entirely possible.

Of course, if Joseph were to find that the jewellery was being pawned in Chicago, but by someone who didn’t match Mr. Varley’s description, then, despite the statements in all of the articles he’d read so far, the robbery could possibly have been committed with an associate who got away without discovery.

Indeed, Joseph mused as he carefully clipped the photos — which he’d carefully cut out in one block — apart so that he could look at each one and its description individually, it was entirely possible that Mr. Varley had actually let Joseph into his apartment deliberately on both occasions to show Joseph he was alone in an effort to persuade Joseph that he was a falsely accused man who was alone and friendless in Chicago when, in fact, his associate had been away on those very evenings pawning the goods, or maybe he and his associate were living separately in order to cast suspicion away from themselves.

Walking a Fine Line: Day 8

Word Count: 48,034

Summary of Events:

Joseph stopped by the newsstand and was given several more old copies of the Philadelphia Inquirer to go through, but none of them were the edition with the pictures of the jewellery, nor did any have a photo of Mr. McElligott for him to compare with Mr. Varley's face. A couple days later Theresa reported that Mr. Varley wanted to know if Joseph would help him, prompting her to ask what was going on, but Joseph told her that he didn't know enough to tell her yet. Having become disturbed by a worry that if Mr. Varley were exonerated and deemed a suitable husband for Theresa he might move her back to Philadelphia with him, Joseph paid a visit to Mr. Varley to make clear that he wasn't going to help if Theresa was going to be moved so far away from him in the end, prompting Mr. Varley dismay that Joseph still didn't believe him…

Excerpt of the Day:

“I still have no proof you are who you’ve claimed to be,” Joseph replied. “I’ve got just over half a dozen Philadelphia Inquirers at home that I’ve been poring through, and although they have proven that there was a robbery committed against a Mr. and Mrs. Marion Bradley, presumably by a Mr. Charlie McElligott, and that Mrs. Bradley was appallingly treated by whoever the robber was, they don’t prove you to be Mr. McElligott. In fact, I’ve learned more about the situation from the articles than I have from you, but there’s nothing you’ve told me that hasn’t also been stated in the papers.”

Mr. Varley looked visibly dismayed.

“As a result, for all I know, you could be pretending to be Mr. McElligott and even pretending that he’s innocent to hide who you really, really are, and why you’re really, really here,” Joseph concluded.

Signs of annoyance came onto Mr. Varley’s face. “It seems as if I won’t gain your trust until the sun rises in the west and sets in the east at my command!”

“You said yourself that the reputation Chicago has outside of its own boundaries is as a place which boasts a disproportionate amount of lowlifes in its population,” Joseph replied. “Surely you don’t think that I, a born-and-bred native of this city of shifting shadows, would be so stupid as to trust anyone blindly, even people who are inclined to believe themselves to be my friends?”

“Do you even trust Theresa?” Mr. Varley demanded caustically.

“With my life,” Joseph replied. “And she trusts me likewise.”

Mr. Varley exhaled, annoyance still showing on his face as he rose to his feet in response to the kettle’s whistling. He removed it from the heat and filled the teapot before adding the leaves and bringing all the tea things to the table which he’d brought last time.

“I guess it isn’t hard to believe that she trusts you like that,” Mr. Varley conceded, although there was still a sharpness to his voice. “Siblings are often very close to one another, after all. But what would it take for you to trust that I’m Charlie McElligott and all the rest of it?”

Joseph leaned back in his chair somewhat thoughtfully, then lowered his gaze to look Mr. Varley squarely in the eyes. “I don’t think you can.”

Mr. Varley looked like he wanted to cry out in agony, his whole posture despaired.

“You would be better served to give me a list of people who can confirm your identity and your story to me in person,” Joseph said. “Helpfully such a list would contain their addresses, allowing me to call on them and learn about you without any interference on your part.”
Mr. Varley’s continued disheartened posture made it clear he possessed no such list.

“Of course, even if you were to give me that information, it would probably require me to go to Philadelphia to speak with anyone,” Joseph went on. “And, as I’ve already said, my family can’t afford to spare me or my income for the time that would take.”

Walking a Fine Line: Day 7

Word Count: 42,032

Summary of Events:

Not believing a word of Mr. Varley's story, Joseph was dismissive when Mr. Varley asked him for help clearing his name, but he couldn't help thinking about what Mr. Varley had told him, eventually coming to the conclusion that he might be able to corroborate the story by getting his hands on a Philadelphia newspaper. On his way to work the next day, Joseph did just that, buying the previous day's copy of the Inquirer from a newsstand. He took it home and sought out any articles that might corroborate Mr. Varley's tale that evening, and eventually found one…

Excerpt of the Day:

The article reported that Philadelphia police were, indeed, still looking for an accused thief by the name of Charlie McElligott, who was accused of robbing Mr. Marion Bradley and his wife — named Genevieve — of over $100,000 in jewellery that formed a special collection known as the Augusta collection after Mr. Bradley’s late first wife, for whom the collection had been made.

Each piece, it was reported, prominently featured a large and reasonably valuable ruby, as rubies had been Mrs. Augusta Bradley’s favourite gem. The collection had been largely a display set since her passing, seeing as it’d been made especially for her.

It was also reported in the article that the two least valuable pieces of the collection, a simple bracelet and a ring had been recovered in the backyard of Mr. and Mrs. Clayton McElligott, Charlie’s parents, while Charlie had vanished, presumably with the rest of the collection, within the first few days of January.

The article went on to say that police were becoming more sure that Charlie had left Philadelphia, and so were expanding their search beyond Philadelphia, with New York, Washington, and Pittsburgh being named as places that they were looking for Charlie.

Joseph shifted his jaw as he read on about police having not yet found any of the pieces at pawnshops or jewellery stores in Philadelphia, and their advising of all jewellers and pawnbrokers to be on the alert for the pieces.

He was interested to note that the article said that an earlier edition of the paper had published photographs of the still-missing items, which had been provided to the Inquirer by Mr. Bradley. He’d have to ask Mr. Sheenan if he could track down that edition specifically.

Seating himself, as the article had been toward the top of the page, so he’d had to stand up to read it without lifting the paper from the desk, Joseph thought about what he’d just read.

There had been more details in that article than Mr. Varley had supplied, but Joseph felt like that was more likely to disprove Mr. Varley’s identity as Charlie McElligott than prove it. If Mr. Varley really were Charlie McElligott, he ought to know things that the papers didn’t, instead of having the papers know things he didn’t.

Although, if Mr. Varley was Charlie McElligott, future editions might be worth acquiring to learn how the police’s search in Pittsburgh went, as Mr. Varley had said that he’d bought Philadelphia papers in Pittsburgh and Cleveland on his way to Chicago. That meant people would’ve seen Mr. Varley, and, if Mr. Varley were Mr. McElligott, those interactions might be reported to the police by the newsstand operators who had sold him the papers.

That could then function as a proof of Mr. Varley and Mr. McElligott being one in the same man, but Joseph wasn’t fully sure, as there was no photo in this article of Mr. McElligott that he could compare with Mr. Varley’s face.

Walking a Fine Line: Day 6

Word Count: 36,339

Summary of Events:

Joseph sought out the taxi with the license plate number he'd memorised as he walked to and from his workplace, and watched traffic go by out the windows over several days. Finally finding it, he questioned its driver and was quite glad that the driver remembered Mr. Varley and the address he'd asked to be taken to. After work, Joseph went to the address — as it was on his way home — and found it was a small apartment building where Mr. Varley was listed as a tenant. Going up to Mr. Varley's unit, Joseph found he wasn't home and was going to try and break in when he was knocked out. Upon regaining consciousness, Joseph was suspected as a robber by Mr. Varley's neighbours, but Mr. Varley insisted Joseph was a friend, and asked Joseph to pretend he was to the police, which Joseph agreed to only so that his family wouldn't lose his income. Once the police, having been persuaded, had left, Mr. Varley showed Joseph into his apartment and made him some tea before informing Joseph that his name was actually Charlie McElligott, that he was from Philadelphia, and going on to explain why he'd come to Chicago…

Except of the Day:

“You may not have heard of him, but there’s a fairly wealthy man by the name of Marion Bradley in Philadelphia,” Mr. Varley explained. “His money comes mainly from industrial works and the railway. He was away on business when a lone crook broke into his house and stole a valuable collection of jewellery. Mrs. Bradley heard the robbery in progress and courageously confronted the crook, but the crook beat her and… and did horrible things to her, before getting away.”

Mr. Varley looked shaken, suggesting to Joseph that it might be best not to ask what else the crook had done, but to simply guess that it was along the lines of what Joseph had suspected Mr. Varley had meant to do with Theresa when he’d sought to guide her away from the park.

“Despite the robbery’s being carried out in darkness,” Mr. Varley continued. “Mrs. Bradley was able to determine that her attacker was tall, lean, and had auburn hair. The police publicised this, hoping for a lead. Someone gave them my name as fitting the description, so they put out a warrant for my arrest.”

Taking up the teapot, Mr. Varley filled the two cups with what looked to be not so strong of tea as Ma liked, for which Joseph was grateful, as he didn’t like strong tea, it was almost as bad as coffee.

“When my parents saw this they questioned me extensively,” Mr. Varley went on, his voice catching in the last word. “My alibi was weak. I had been alone that evening, trying to find my wallet. On my way home from school that day I’d seen a couple children trying to get a cat out of a tree, so I stopped to help them. I thought that while doing so I’d lost my wallet, but I didn’t find it there, and I still haven’t found it. I think someone pinched it. I didn’t ask anyone to help me look for it, and I should’ve, as then I would’ve had someone to affirm where I was.”

Joseph drew his tea toward himself and added a bit of sugar to it, doing his best to stir the sugar in quietly, although Mr. Varley seemed to be focusing on preparing his tea and recovering his composure, as he seemed near to tears.

“What’s worse,” Mr. Varley said, his gaze fixed on the tea. “Is that the police later found a couple of the pieces of jewellery hiding in the snow in my parents’ backyard. So when my parents told the police about my missing wallet, they declared it would be found at the crime scene, but they’ve failed as much as I have to find it.”

Taking a sip of his tea, Joseph wished he could have some milk in it, although it wasn’t too bad overall.

“The police also showed a picture of me to Mrs. Bradley that my parents gave them,” Mr. Varley added. “And she told the police emphatically that I was the man.”

Walking a Fine Line: Day 5

Word Count: 30,106

Summary of Events:

Having finally spoken to everyone on Theresa's list of witnesses, and even to some other people whom those he'd spoken to had mentioned who weren't on Theresa's list, Joseph decided to call on Mr. Fannon again and ask some more questions. He went near closing time and, after having all of his questions answered — with the answers further reinforcing Mr. Varley's upstanding character — Joseph decided to ask some more questions of Mr. Varley, as well as discreetly finding out where Mr. Varley lived. To his frustration, Mr. Varley continued to be evasive, as well as to probe Joseph for information about himself, including seeking Joseph's surname, as he'd not yet learned it from anyone…

Excerpt of the Day:

Joseph set his jaw and glared at Mr. Varley stubbornly.

“You contend that I’m being evasive and withholding information from you,” Mr. Varley said. “But you have knowledge of a fact about me and refuse to share the same fact about yourself with me, which suggests to me that you’re being rather hypocritical. If you don’t want me to know things about you that you don’t know about me, then you should be willing to give me those pieces of information about yourself such as you already possess of me.”

Resentful of the validity of Mr. Varley’s point, Joseph glared at him for a long moment.

“Neil,” he finally spat bitterly.

“Joseph Neil,” Mr. Varley said. “That doesn’t sound too unique.”

“I can assure you that it is,” Joseph snapped. “My father was the only son to live long enough to have children of his own, thus none of my paternal cousins have the surname Neil, even if they have the same first name as I do.”

“But surely your grandfather had brothers,” Mr. Varley pressed.

“He didn’t bring his family here,” Joseph replied firmly. “After his death his wife moved her family here because she had relatives on her side in the city. Furthermore, I’ve not heard of having any relations outside of Chicago but within this country. All the other Neils I know of as relatives are still in Europe.”

“I don’t feel like Neil should be that uncommon of a surname,” Mr. Varley said. “Nevertheless, you have provided me that for which I asked, and for that, I thank you. Now a good night to you, Mr. Neil.”

“You haven’t answered my question,” Joseph declared. “And that’s not the only one I have for you either.”

“Some other time then,” Mr. Varley replied, indifference in his voice. “As I said, good night, Mr. Neil.”

A taxi pulled up to the curb and Mr. Varley got into the backseat. Joseph started toward the taxi to haul the door open and drag Mr. Varley out of the vehicle, but it pulled away from the curb almost immediately.

Managing to sight the license plate, Joseph read the numbers and letters on it and started repeating them over to himself, that he might commit the plate to memory and question the cabbie as to where he’d taken Mr. Varley, whom he angrily supposed to have spied the taxi coming and summoned discreetly, as he prided himself in being observant, yet he didn’t recall seeing Mr. Varley signal for the taxi in the way most people signalled, which was more obvious.

As he stared after the retreating machine until it disappeared, Joseph seethed that Mr. Varley had so craftily evaded him, and certainly thwarted him in his efforts to ascertain where Mr. Varley lived as well. He hoped that Mr. Varley was getting the cabbie to take him directly home, so that it would simply be a momentary delay, not a long-term evasion.