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.