Wildfire

Summary

Long Island’s emerald turf, hitherto a clandestine empire of thoroughbreds, belongs to Bob Barrington—until a single desert night when the West swallows him whole. In a lantern-lit saloon John Keefe, cardsharp with a cobra’s patience, murders the absentee patriarch, filches the parchment that bestows the stables, and vanishes eastward beneath a pseudonym as flimsy as the smoke curling from a monogrammed ivory cigarette holder. The coroner’s gavel falls on the word suicide; only the desert wind and Keefe’s crony Gorman know it was homicide. Months later, Keefe—now answering to the foppish alias Buffy—struts through the Long Island manège, eyes afire for Henrietta, the elder daughter whose silhouette mirrors the daguerreotype once tucked inside her father’s watch. Into this tinderbox rides Sheriff John Garrison, still haunted by an unidentified corpse, clutching the curious holder like a silver bullet. Watch, holder, and a torn inventory sheet orbit one another in a cosmic waltz of coincidence until Henrietta, pawn-shop sleuth and proto-feminist avenger, assembles the triad of proof. A final handicap looms: Wildfire, the stable’s incandescent filly, is slated to lose by whip-betrayal unless Henrietta can tear down the conspirator’s signal flag mid-gallop. She scales rooftops, wrestles Keefe on a narrow stair, and—flag toppled—watches her father’s champion thunder past the post, her own heart likewise breasting the tape in Garrison’s arms.

Synopsis

The story relates how Bob Barrington conducts a racing stable on Long Island without the knowledge of his daughters, Henrietta and Myrtle. Barrington is traveling in the west and meets John Keefe, a gambler. They play cards alone and Keefe kills Barrington and steals the bill of sale to his racing stable, leaving a sheet of the inventory on the floor, together with a curious cigarette holder, taking all the papers of the dead man. There is an inquiry as to the cause of the death conducted by John Garrison, the young sheriff. The verdict is suicide, the body being unidentified. Gorman, a pal of Keefe's, is the only person who knows the truth. Keefe goes east and claims the stables, but Matt Donovan, the trainer, suspects foul play. Keefe changes his name to Buffy and becomes infatuated with Henrietta. John Garrison also goes east and sees Henrietta and thinks he recognizes in her a striking resemblance to the picture found in the watch of the dead man. Keefe and Garrison meet at the home of Henrietta. Keefe denied his identity, but Garrison incidentally shows him the curious cigarette holder and Keefe betrays himself. Garrison sends west for the watch and the missing sheet of the bill of sale. He starts with the watch for the home of Henrietta but loses it en route. It is found by a street beggar and pawned. Henrietta happens to be passing the pawnshop and is attracted by an article in the window. She enters and finds her father's watch with her picture in it. She overhears Keefe tell Donovan that he bought the stable of her father and her suspicions are aroused. She shows Keefe the watch and picture and he again betrays himself and she is certain her father met with foul play. While playing tennis with Henrietta the missing sheet of the bill of sale falls from the pocket of Garrison and she finds it and the mystery deepens. Henrietta resolves to take no one into her confidence. She visits the office of Keefe, secretes herself outside the window, and overhears a conversation between Keefe and Gorman. They leave the office and she finds the complete bill of sale and compares it with the missing sheet. Ralph Woodhurst, the fiancé of Myrtle, has been induced by Keefe to bet large sums at his pool room. The day of the big handicap is approaching and Wildfire, the crack filly in the Keefe stable, is being backed to win. Keefe sends Donovan to rob Henrietta of the missing sheet, but she covers Gorman with a gun and the plan is frustrated. Henrietta, on the day of the big race, seeks out John Garrison, and accuses him of being in collusion with Keefe or Duffy. She shows Garrison her proofs, the watch and the missing sheet. Garrison tells her the truth. Keefe realizes that he must flee the country and he prepares for a final coup. He backs another horse to win, bribes Chappy Raster, the rider of Wildfire, to use the whip on the mare, which will cause her to sulk, if the flag on the racing stable is up when the horses start. Henrietta overhears the plot and goes to the office, where she has a terrific struggle with Keefe. She succeeds in pulling down the flag while fighting Keefe, Garrison coming to her assistance and dragging Keefe down the stairway, where a furious struggle ensues. The story closes with Henrietta on the roof, the flag down, in the arms of her lover, Wildfire having won the race.