PART 3 — THE SECRET OF THE MISSING COOK AND THE NIGHT THE RANCH ALMOST FELL APART

Edith dropped the paper.

Harlan immediately stepped in front of her.

“Stay inside.”

But she could already hear men shouting outside.

Coulter grabbed his coat and rushed toward the yard.

Within seconds, the ranch was in chaos.

Horses were being saddled. Cowboys were grabbing lanterns. Several men ran toward the northern pasture.

Edith stood at the kitchen door, her heart pounding.

“What happened?”

Toby appeared beside her.

“Someone fired a sH๏τ near the cattle pens.”

“Was anyone hurt?”

“We don’t know yet.”

Edith watched as Coulter mounted his horse.

Then she noticed something strange.

The rider who had delivered the telegram was gone.

His horse was missing, too.

She remembered the note.

Ask Coulter Grady what happened to the last woman who cooked here.

A cold feeling settled in her stomach.

It was nearly midnight when the cowboys returned.

Coulter came first.

His coat was torn, and mud covered his boots.

Harlan walked behind him, leading a frightened young horse.

“Everyone accounted for?” Coulter asked.

“Yes, boss.”

“What about the cattle?”

“Some got through the broken fence. We’ll bring them back at daylight.”

Coulter nodded.

Then he noticed Edith standing on the porch with a lantern.

“You should be asleep.”

“I couldn’t.”

He studied her expression.

“What’s wrong?”

Edith held out the folded paper.

Coulter read it.

His face changed immediately.

“Where did you find this?”

“Under the kitchen door.”

Harlan stepped closer.

“That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier.”

Coulter folded the paper and put it inside his coat.

“Come inside, both of you.”

They gathered around the kitchen table.

For several moments, Coulter stared at the wooden surface.

Then he finally spoke.

“The last cook was named Martha Bell.”

Edith listened.

“Martha worked here for almost six years. She was a widow with a young son. She knew every recipe in this kitchen and could feed fifty men with supplies that should have fed thirty.”

“Where is she now?” Edith asked.

“She left suddenly last autumn.”

“Why?”

Coulter rubbed his forehead.

“Because she discovered something.”

Harlan looked toward the window.

“Silas Crowley had been paying one of our former employees to send him information about the ranch.”

Edith frowned.

“What kind of information?”

“Financial records. Cattle numbers. Delivery schedules. Everything Crowley needed to make this place look worthless before offering to buy it.”

Coulter continued.

“Martha found a ledger showing the payments. She brought it to me. I told her I would handle it.”

“What happened?”

“Two days later, her son disappeared for several hours while playing near the creek. He was found safely, but Martha became terrified. She left town the following morning.”

Edith covered her mouth.

“Did Crowley threaten her?”

“We never proved it.”

Harlan leaned forward.

“But we all knew.”

Edith looked down at the note.

“Why would he want me gone?”

Coulter answered immediately.

“Because he thinks Martha left something behind.”

“What?”

“The original ledger.”

Edith remembered the old kitchen.

The loose shelves.

The broken cabinet.

The forgotten storage room.

She had spent several hours cleaning everything during her first day.

Suddenly, she remembered something.

“There was a loose floorboard beneath the pantry shelves.”

Coulter stood.

“Where?”

“Behind the flour barrel. I thought it was just old wood.”

Harlan exchanged a glance with him.

“Show us.”

They entered the pantry.

Edith moved the flour barrel aside and pointed to the board.

Coulter knelt.

He worked a small knife beneath the edge and lifted it.

Beneath the floor was a narrow space.

Inside lay a wrapped bundle.

Coulter carefully removed it.

The cloth was old and dusty.

When he unfolded it, a leather ledger appeared.

Harlan let out a low whistle.

“That’s it.”

Coulter opened the first page.

There were names, dates, amounts, and signatures.

Every payment Crowley had made to the former employee was recorded.

But there was something else.

A second sheet had been tucked into the back.

It contained a list of cattle shipments that had been deliberately altered to make the ranch appear less profitable than it really was.

Coulter stared at the figures.

“Good heavens.”

Edith leaned closer.

“What does it mean?”

“It means someone has been stealing from us for months.”

Harlan pointed toward a name.

“Look.”

At the bottom of the page was a signature.

Jasper Cole.

Edith recognized the name.

He was the ranch’s bookkeeper.

A quiet man who rarely joined the others for meals.

Coulter closed the ledger.

“Where is Jasper?”

Nobody answered.

They hurried to his room.

The bed was empty.

His clothes were gone.

And on his desk lay a letter addressed to Coulter.

It read:

You should have sold the ranch when you had the chance. Tomorrow’s inspection will settle everything.

Coulter crushed the letter in his hand.

“He’s working for Crowley.”

Harlan shook his head.

“I knew something was wrong.”

Edith stood silently.

Then she noticed a small envelope beneath the letter.

She picked it up.

Inside was a pH๏τograph of Martha Bell standing beside her little boy.

On the back, someone had written:

The woman knows where the second book is.

Edith looked at Coulter.

“Where is Martha now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then we need to find her.”

Coulter shook his head.

“She could be anywhere.”

Edith turned the pH๏τograph over again.

A small address had been written along the bottom.

It was an address in Powder Creek.

“I think she’s still nearby.”

The next morning, Edith went into town with Harlan.

They found Martha Bell living in a small rented house behind the church.

The woman who opened the door looked exhausted.

When she saw Harlan, her face тιԍнтened.

“I’m not going back.”

“We’re not asking you to,” Harlan said gently.

Then Edith stepped forward.

“My name is Edith Mayburn. I’m the new cook at Grady Ranch.”

Martha studied her.

“Then you need to leave.”

Edith looked at her calmly.

“Someone left a note telling me to run. They also tried to frighten the ranch hands last night.”

Martha’s face lost its color.

“Did you find the ledger?”

Edith nodded.

Martha closed her eyes.

“Then Crowley will come after it.”

“There’s another book?” Edith asked.

Martha looked toward the street.

“My husband kept a second record. It contains the names of everyone involved in the scheme. Not just Jasper Cole.”

“Where is it?”

Martha hesitated.

Then she looked directly at Edith.

“Inside the old church.”

Edith was confused.

“Why would you hide it there?”

“Because nobody would think to search a place they claim to respect.”

Before Edith could ask another question, a wagon stopped outside.

A well-dressed man climbed down.

Silas Crowley.

He removed his gloves and approached the porch with a pleasant smile.

“Mrs. Bell. What a surprise.”

Martha immediately stepped backward.

Crowley looked at Edith.

“And you must be the new cook.”

Edith said nothing.

“I’ve heard quite a lot about you.”

He glanced at Harlan.

“Wonderful biscuits, apparently.”

Nobody laughed.

Crowley continued.

“Miss Mayburn, I’d like a private word. Business matters.”

Edith remained beside Martha.

“I don’t discuss business with strangers.”

His smile тιԍнтened.

“Then perhaps we should discuss your employer’s future.”

He removed a folded document from his coat.

“Tomorrow morning, Grady Ranch will be sold. The bank has already approved the arrangement.”

Harlan stepped forward.

“That isn’t true.”

Crowley shrugged.

“Then I suggest you read the papers.”

He handed Edith the document.

She glanced at the first page.

Then she noticed a signature at the bottom.

Coulter Grady’s.

But something was wrong.

She had seen Coulter sign his name many times.

This signature was not his.

Edith looked up.

“You forged this.”

For the first time, Crowley stopped smiling.

“Be careful, woman.”

Edith held the document firmly.

“I may not understand your business, Mr. Crowley. But I know a dishonest signature when I see one.”

Crowley stepped closer.

Harlan moved between them.

“That’s enough.”

Crowley slowly replaced his gloves.

“Tomorrow, Miss Mayburn. When the bank arrives, you’ll understand.”

He climbed into his wagon and rode away.

Martha closed the door.

Her hands were shaking.

Edith turned toward her.

“Tell us about the second ledger.”

Martha looked at the two ranch workers.

Then she whispered:

“There’s something else. The second book doesn’t only prove Crowley stole from Grady Ranch.”

She paused.

“It proves that Coulter Grady’s own father helped him begin the scheme.”

Edith stared at her.

“His father?”

Martha nodded.

“And if Coulter discovers what’s written on the last page, he may lose more than his ranch.”

That evening, Edith returned to Grady Ranch carrying the forged document and a new determination.

The cowboys gathered in the dining room.

Nobody was laughing now.

Coulter stood beside the fireplace, reading the papers.

When he finished, he looked at Edith.

“You’re certain this signature is forged?”

“Yes, sir.”

He studied her for a long moment.

“How can you be so certain?”

Edith gave a small smile.

“Because you always make the letter G too large. This one doesn’t.”

Harlan chuckled.

“She’s right, boss.”

But Coulter didn’t laugh.

He was staring at the document’s final page.

A name appeared there that made his face turn pale.

Gideon Grady.

His own father.

Before anyone could speak, a knock sounded at the front door.

Three sharp blows.

Toby hurried to open it.

A young woman stood outside, holding a small child by the hand.

She was pale, frightened, and covered in road dust.

“Please,” she whispered. “I need to speak to Miss Edith Mayburn.”

Edith stepped forward.

“I’m Edith.”

The young woman looked toward the dining room.

Then she spoke the words that made Coulter drop the document.

“My name is Clara Bell. I’m Martha’s daughter.”

She swallowed.

“And I know where the second ledger is.”

A pause.

“But there’s something you need to know before you find it.”

She looked directly at Coulter.

“Your father didn’t just help Silas Crowley. He left him the legal right to take this entire ranch.”

And the document proving it was signed by Coulter himself when he was only twelve years old.

To be continued in Part 4…