Dorothea Hall Mysteries

Cold Comfort

We bid good night to Barton and retired. The next morning Freddy returned and I had to fill her in on all the details over breakfast. Emory is usually gone before we eat, but he had decided to take a day off from the shipyard to work on a project of his own. He wouldn't discuss it, but I suspected it was a present for my birthday in April.

"I think it's Tommyrot," Freddy said.

"What is?" I asked.

"Mr. Whitlock senior wanting to find Mr. Dabbs so bad. I think it's Emory's friend who wants to find him."

"Freddy has a point. I would think Mr. Whitlock would much prefer never to see Mr. Dabbs again rather than send his son to track him down," Emory said.

"From my short time speaking with him and what you've said, I don't think Barton would want to find him for some sort of revenge," I said.

"Nah, I bet he wants to help his friend. It sounds like he's a bit of a doormat," Freddy said.

Emory sighed. "You could be right. Henry and Barton have always been bosom friends."

I thought about the way Barton had spoken of Henry, with a mixture of disappointment and bemused affection, and wondered if there might be a stronger form of love between the two of them. Perhaps Barton's father wanted the opposite of what he claimed, to never see Henry Dabbs again. I felt the only way to discover the full truth was to find Dabbs and question him about his motives and feelings in the matter.

It was a cold afternoon in January as I made my way to the ticket office for The British and American Steam Navigation Company. I was dressed as a respectable woman of the working class. Despite Barton's claim that Mr. Dabbs would only go first class, I suspected he would want to keep a low profile. When I inquired about booking passage to America, I was brought to the office of Mr. Cornelius Long. He studied my humble but clean raiment and smiled.

"Sit down, sit down. What can I do for you Mrs...?"

"Miss Seddon. I hope you can help me Mr. Long. I am searching for my brother," I said.

"And you feel he may have booked passage to America?"

"Yes sir. He got one of my friends in a family way and I'm afraid he's never been the responsible type. He fled and the only thing I could think of is he would want to get as far away as possible, thus America."

"While this is reprehensible behavior, Miss Seddon, I hope you understand that I can't release information about one of our passengers, even to a distraught sister."

I had anticipated this situation and asked Barton for some spending money. He had been as generous as always. I pulled out a small stack of bills. Mr. Long's eyes went wide.

"My friend has a rich aunt who wants to find a way to work things out with my brother." I pulled out the photo of Barton and Mr. Dabbs. "Could you at least tell me whether you have seen the man on the right, and if so what name he is going by?" I pushed the notes across his desk.