way from the outside in. As McIver suspected, the virgin snow played out about ten inches below the surface when he’d cleared the perimeter, revealing the hardpack from the day before. He moved closer to the door and started another round.
Twenty minutes later, he found the padlock. It lay cocooned about four inches below the surface. He calculated what time the robbery could have taken place. It had started snowing about dusk and snowed throughout the night.
“Find anything?” McIver asked from the doorway.
“Yep. There’s the lock.” He jabbed at it with the shovel. “I’d say the robbery took place around two o’clock. Not that it’ll help us catch the thief, but at least it’s good information to know when we have a suspect.”
The bell chimed again just as Jake palmed the cold steel.
“Sam.”
McIver turned back. “Yeah?”
“It’s not broken.” Jake pushed his hat back.
The shopkeeper swore. “Let me see that.”
“Did you lock up at closing time?”
“Like I said, a big delivery came in from Chicago. You can tell by the looks of the storeroom.” McIver frowned. “It was getting late and had already started snowing by the time we got it all inside. Will had been ill as a hornet and itching to go somewhere all day. I closed up the front but don’t remember checking the back. But the boys and Gus know to take care of things.”
The bell tinkled again.
Jake waved McIver away. “Go on. There’s nothing else we can do here. I’ll talk to Gus and the boys and see what I can find out.”
McIver hurried in to take care of his customers.
Jake left the shovel propped against the wall and crunched around to the front of the building. The McIver boys had worked up a sweat clearing the boardwalk. All along the street, other business owners were busy doing the same.
“Will, can I talk to you and Abner?”
Jake stopped short of calling Will a boy. The young feller had shot up so much in the last year, he’d pass for a grown man except for the scraggly tuft of whiskers on his chin.
Will propped himself on his spade, as sullen as before. “I reckon.”
“What do you remember about closing time yesterday?”
“Don’t remember nuthin’. We helped Pa unload a whole trainload of junk; then I left.”
“Did you leave the door unlatched?”
“I left before they got through.” He shrugged and went back to work. “Don’t know what happened after that.”
Jake looked at the younger boy. “Abner, what about you?”
“I thought Will or Gus took care of everything.” Abner’s eyes grew wide. “Pa’ll have our hides if we forgot and someone broke in.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t your fault.” Jake slapped the boy on the back. “Besides, even if you forgot, nobody would know. They’d have to be planning to break in and get lucky. See?”
Abner frowned. “Yeah, Mr. Jake, but there ain’t no need in making it easy for them, now is there?”
Jake laughed. “I reckon you’re right—”
“Abner McIver, do not say ain’t.”
Jake turned to see Lavinia MacKinnion sweeping toward them, her hawkish face ensconced in a black scarf, a black cloak billowing behind her like the wings of a giant bat.
“Yes, ma’am.” Abner stepped to the side of the boardwalk, giving the teacher a wide berth.
She smiled at Jake, but it only made her cheekbones more prominent. Jake winced. Lavinia made no secret she’d set her cap for him. “Good morning, Jake.”
“Morning, Lavinia. How’s your pa?” Jake weighed his words with care. One misstep and Lavinia would have him committed to Sunday dinner or a taffy pull or some other such nonsense in a heartbeat.
A shadow crossed her face. “Still grieving, but he’s doing better. Thank you for asking.”
“I don’t want to keep you.” He stepped aside to give her room to pass. “I’m sure you have a busy day.”
He didn’t mean to be rude, but he didn’t want to get ensnared in Lavinia’s schemes. And he didn’t want to wake up to her the rest of his life either. Now, Livy O’Brien in the mornings might be a different story. Just the thought of waking up with Livy produced a wave of longing he’d never had for another woman.
“I do need to hurry. The children will be arriving soon. Abner, don’t be late for school.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Abner hung his head and shuffled toward the store.
Jake bit back a smile. Abner looked less than thrilled about the prospect of spending the rest of the day with the teacher as well.
* * *
Livy hurried toward the mercantile, mentally reviewing the