Wistful in Wisconsin

trapped young women in brothels.
When the sheriff didn’t speak, Mayor Ledbetter continued. “It’s time we had an election to see who the people of Idyll Wood want to see as their sheriff.” Finished speaking, he pulled a white square of linen from his jacket pocket. Wiping his forehead, the mayor moved to his padded desk chair and weakly sank into it.
The banker spoke up then. “You never did find out who was behind the scheme to lure women to Idyll Wood. Countless females abused and you do nothing to discover the mind behind it all.” Strong ended with a tsk.
“Hmmm.” Fred drew out the sound before asking his question. Not for the first time, he considered that the banker might be involved with the white slavery that had happened in this town. “Why does your tone sound like you know more than you’re saying?”
A snort sounded from the older man. “I know Halderson couldn’t have planned it. The hotel owner was smart enough, I suppose. He didn’t have enough ambition to be more than a middle man. Of that, I’m sure.”
The banker tipped his head back and looked up to meet Fred’s gaze. “You can be sure the brains behind the group is still close by. Probably scheming still.”
Looking down on his opponent’s balding head, Fred tapped a finger to his chin. “Care to name names?”
Moving his head abruptly from side to side, Mr. Strong frowned. “I don’t plan to accuse anyone without proof. It’s how I’ll behave when sheriff.”
Mudslinging would get them nowhere. Fred looked beyond the banker to the lawyer. Even though the man seemed to want to disappear, Fred needed an answer from Ledbetter.
Pointing a long, well-shaped finger at the man, Fred’s gaze pinned Ledbetter to his chair. “Want to tell me exactly when this election will happen?”
“Uh, well, that is—”
His stammer irritated the banker. That man gave the mayor a baleful look after cutting him off to answer.
“Saturday, when most people are in town. Better start campaigning.”
For a brief moment, Fred’s mouth gaped. “But today’s Friday!”
An election the next day? Fred’s raised eyebrow brought a cold chuckle from his opponent.
“I plan to hold a rally while the voting is happening. Should be interesting with the town full of country folk since the mayor’s planning to let farmers in the area vote.”
When Fred opened his mouth to speak, Strong held up a hand. “They rely on the sheriff, being the only law close enough to help them.”
Fred nodded solemnly. While that made sense, something didn’t sit right about opening the election to the country folk. His neck itched, something that happened when danger loomed. For the life of him, he couldn’t see how Strong would use that to his advantage. The farmers would vote for Fred. His family was a part of the area farmers, after all.
At the sheriff’s silence, the banker continued. “Nine o’clock, outside your crazy brother’s store.”
The words slapped at Fred like a glove across the face in some old-time duel. “I accept your challenge. I’ll be there Saturday morning for a chance to have my own say while people vote.”
The mayor moaned. Both men threw him a disgusted look before ignoring him. After all, Ledbetter was as harmless as a worm on a fish hook.
Before leaving the office, the banker turned away from the door to glower at Fred.  With arms crossed over his round belly, Strong cleared his throat pointedly.
“One more thing I question. How could your brother suddenly recover his wits? I smell a rat, and like the dog sniffing it out, I’ll find out the truth.”
Not waiting for a response, he jerked open the door. Phineas Peters fell into the room, laying at the stunned banker’s feet. Ledbetter only moaned louder in reaction while Fred chuckled loudly.
“Get up boy and move out of my way!” Strong’s words rumbled like a thunder cloud, and the man raised a foot to kick the clerk. Phineas scrambled to his feet while the banker muttered about a lack of confidentiality.
Then he moved through the door. With a slam of the front entrance, he was gone. A cloud of tension remained, even without his presence.
Studying the doorway for a brief moment, Fred turned to the mayor. “You’re his lawyer. Do you know of any unexplained sources of income for the man? Anything that would connect him to the sale of these poor women.”
Ledbetter’s ferret face flashed with a glimmer of speculation. It passed quickly, and the man shook his head. “I can’t betray information about my client.”
The sheriff nodded. “I’ll take that as a yes. You’d a felt free to deny it, I’m sure.”
The mayor only shrugged and harrumphed. “I have work to do. We need to be done with this conversation since I do have to see to my clients.”
Fred plopped his low-crowned hat back on his head and put a finger to its brim in a salute. “Yes, sir, Mr. Mayor. Thank you for your support.”
Ledbetter frowned at the biting words. Otherwise, he didn’t bother to respond and Fred didn’t bother to wait for a reaction. He’d already headed to the office’s front door.

Chapter 4
The Surprise
Three days before, Fred had borrowed Holder’s buggy. With his saddle horse tied to its back, he’d driven it back to town in anticipation of taking Lilah to visit Myra this day. So far, Friday had shaped up to be a miserable day. Fred sent up a prayer that the women’s visit would go better than his experience in the mayor’s office.
Pulling up in front of the neat, white fence that surrounded Lilah’s two-story, sunny-colored home, he smiled. It was a lot like its owner. Cheerful and welcoming. And the gingerbread decorating it was pretty but useless. That also reminded him of the scatterbrained woman. If he’d