Page 79 of More Than Meets the Eye

Baldwin adjusted his spectacles and marched to the far side of the counter, lifted a box from somewhere behind the display case, and set it on the countertop. “Thankfully, the schoolmaster at Ben Franklin cares more about nurturing the minds of his students than beautifying the town. These are books I’ve set aside for him. Secondhand, but in good condition. Even so, he wouldn’t be able to afford the quantity he needs without the land speculation money.”

Logan met Zach’s gaze.

“Land speculation?” Zach masked his surprise as he turned his attention back to the shopkeeper.

Baldwin nodded. “About five years ago, Lawrence invited myself and two other gentlemen here in Cooper to join him in an investment group.”

Logan slipped the scrap of paper out of his shirt pocket and scanned the notations beneath the bookshop name. PB, AG, HC—each of those initials had been listed in the ledger. PB must be Baldwin, first name Paul or Phillip or something. Christie hadn’t known what they meant, but now they had context. An investment group.

“All of us have modest incomes,” Baldwin continued, “yet Lawrence had the clever idea of pooling our resources and using the funds to invest in properties likely to draw the interest of the railroads. We made a tidy profit last year with some acreage around Greenville.”

“Sounds like a savvy play,” Zach flattered.

“It’s worked well so far.” The shopkeeper winked, then grew more serious. “Lawrence is the real mastermind. He manages all the details for us.”

And most likely cheats Baldwin and the other investors as much as he cheats the school board, Logan thought as he picked up a composition booklet from a nearby shelf and fanned the pages.

“He even came up with the idea of tithing our gains.” The shopkeeper idly straightened the schoolbooks in the box so they all stood in tidy columns.

“Tithing?” Zach leaned an elbow on the counter. “Like giving to the church?”

“Precisely.” Baldwin smiled. “Before divvying up the profits, he sets aside ten percent and places it in a special account here in Cooper. Whenever one of us wishes to donate to a charitable cause, we submit our request to the group, and if all agree, the funds are withdrawn. Lawrence submitted his pupils, and we’ve been giving to them on a regular basis. Each time he purchases books from me, I write up two receipts. One for the stingy amount the school board is willing to pay, and the second for the true price, including the tithing money. That way Lawrence can keep an accurate accounting.”

Or an inaccurate accounting. Logan clenched his jaw as Benson’s scheme crystalized in his mind. Baldwin gave the schoolmaster two receipts—one for, say, $200 that didn’t include the tithing money, and one for $400 to show the actual total cost for the books, with each man in the investment group basically donating $50 from their tithing account to make up the difference. Baldwin expected his partner to turn in the $200 receipt to the Ben Franklin School Board and use the second receipt for personal record keeping. But if Benson turned in the $400 receipt and received reimbursement for the higher amount from the school board, that would mean he donated $50 from his tithing money but made $200 from the school board, netting him $150. His partners received nothing from their $50 donation beyond the satisfaction of helping needy schoolchildren, never realizing they were actually helping Benson line his pockets.

A hundred or so dollars here and there would certainly add up, but it didn’t seem a sum worth killing over. Unless the crooked schoolmaster was also skimming money from his investment pool.

Use money siphoned from the school board to invest in land speculation, use the tithing money to perpetuate the con, then cheat his partners from their share of the profits. Give each investor enough profit to satisfy, make them believe they have equal say in what is done with the tithing funds to enhance their illusion of control, all while making off with the lion’s share of the earnings.

It was quite cunning.

And quite illegal.

How much did Benson keep for himself? Fifty percent? Sixty? That might be an amount worth killing over.

Mr. Baldwin’s obvious prejudice against bureaucracy in school governance made him an easy target to manipulate. The other partners would be equally gullible. Yet if those men ever discovered they’d been duped, they’d bring Benson up on charges in a heartbeat.

“I don’t guess you have any more of them secondhand books sitting around, do you?” Zach wisely steered the conversation back to neutral waters. Pressing Baldwin for details now would only rouse suspicions. “Sounds like that’s the price I’m needing.”

“I’m afraid all of these volumes are reserved for the children in Ben Franklin.” Baldwin removed the box from the counter and lowered it out of sight. He fell silent for a moment, then brightened. “I do have some older editions of McGuffeys that I was planning to mark down. I can give those to you at a discount. There’s only about five copies, but it would be a place to start. Oh, and some of the Ray’s Arithmetic series I received in my latest shipment arrived damaged. I can give you those for the cost of the postage it would take to return them. There are only four of those, and they’re all Volume I, I’m afraid, but they’re yours if you want them.”

Yes, this kind man with a heart for children would be livid if he discovered Benson’s perfidy. Not only was Benson shortchanging his pupils, he was profiting from their shortfall.

“I’ll take them,” Zach said. “Thanks. Oh, and do you have a price sheet for your newer schoolbooks? It might help to show a list to our school board, so they have a better idea of the cost of materials.”

“Absolutely.” Baldwin reached beneath the counter and extracted a printed flier. “I work one of these up every year when the new books come in. Yours isn’t the only organization to request such information.” He placed the handbill on the counter and pushed it toward Zach. “I have those books in the back. Let me go wrap them up for you.”

Zach nodded, and as soon as Baldwin disappeared, Logan approached.

“Benson’s got them all bamboozled,” Logan said in a low voice.

Zach scanned the handbill. “Not sure this will be enough to cast doubt on him, but maybe it will get a few board members to start asking questions. Crooks like Benson are smooth as silk on the surface, but their veneer is thin. Start poking at it, and it will tear.”

“If we can couple what we’ve learned from Baldwin with what’s in the ledger, we might even get the law to take an interest.”

Zach frowned. “That’s if Seth found the book. Benson might have moved it out of the schoolhouse.”

The one part of their plan that could easily go awry. They were banking on Benson’s arrogance. But if he’d gotten nervous and moved the incriminating ledger, all they’d have was a price list and an unsubstantiated theory.