Page 60 of Because I Could Not Stop for Death

“Yes, let’s walk a bit, and we can talk about what you’ve been up to in the city.”

“I haven’t been up to anything.”

He laughed. “That’s not what I’ve heard.”

The knot in my stomach tightened a bit more. What exactly had Matthew heard?

He maneuvered down the sidewalk, and with one more glance over my shoulder, I fell into step next to him. Because of my height, Matthew didn’t even have to adjust his stride to meet mine. There was a small park at the end of the street, and just at the front there was a bench. “Would you like to sit?” Matthew asked.

I shook my head. “I have to think about my reputation, Matthew. I don’t know who might walk past us that will be connected to Mr.Dickinson. It might be an aide or someone who works in Congress alongside him. We are completely innocent, but I can’t take the risk of being seen as guilty of anything improper. Suspicion is all it would take for me to be dismissed, and you know that.”

“I was going to suggest that you sit and I stand,” he said.

“I don’t think that’s much better. Meeting briefly on the street to trade pleasantries like it appears we are now is fine.”

“Very well. What luck are you having finding Mr.Johnson?”

“How do you know that I’m looking for Mr.Johnson?”

“You said as much on the train. He’s not a kind man. It would serve you well to stay away from him.” His tone became more serious.

I gripped my satchel tightly. “And let my brother’s killer get away?”

“Mr.Johnson is not the killer,” Matthew said with much more confidence than I would expect.

“How do you know that?”

He pressed his lips together in a thin line.

I straightened my shoulders. “If you don’t tell me your reasoning, I can’t believe it.”

“Can’t you just take my word for it, Willa, as your friend and a friend of Henry’s, and as a person who has your best interests in mind?”

As much as I wanted to believe Matthew, I couldn’t completely. However, I did give his opinion weight. Perhaps Emily had been too quick to conclude that Mr.Johnson was behind Henry’s death. Yet I still had suspicions about him. “What about the rumors running through Amherst claiming he’s working with a slave catcher?”

“I don’t know anything about that,” he said and looked down the street.

I knew by the way he wouldn’t look me in the eye when he said it that he was lying to me, and it broke my heart just a little.

Matthew sighed and faced me again. “It’s clear that Henry knew something he shouldn’t, and it is likely to involve the Underground Railroad. This is why it is important that you stay out of it. This is a very dangerous game that both sides are playing. I don’t want you to be caught in the middle of it.”

“It does not sound like a game to me, Matthew. It sounds like life or death for many, and in my brother’s case, death.”

“Which is exactly why you should drop it and leave the inquiry to the police. My theory is that Henry learned the identity of the informant for the slave catcher and that got him killed.”

“And who is the slave catcher?” I asked.

“I—I don’t know.”

“Please don’t lie to me, Matthew. If you were really my friend, you would not lie to me.” I looked him in the eye.

He turned away. “I’m not lying to you. If I am holding back information it is only to protect you. Your safety is my number one concern before anything else.”

“Who is the informant?”

“We don’t know, and I can’t say the police department is putting in much effort to find out. I’m here of my own accord, as you know. It’s legal to take runaways back to the South if it can be proven they ran away.”

“How do they prove that?” I asked.

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