The Persian Helmet

Chapter 27: Greenline Station

  The next day, in her office with the door closed, Clare tried to focus on her own business again. The train depot, for starters. The city was going to let her have the use of it when the train tracks opened again. She wasn’t sure if the tracks would function as a siding or continue in both directions to the next towns, plus a siding by the station for unloading. One siding would be enough, if it were long enough. She restricted Sears house sales to one a day, and people had 24 hours to unload, so they had to schedule pickups in advance. She gave some leeway for lateness but they couldn’t allow box cars to pile up.

  She wanted the depot for more office space, but that was really just because she liked the late-19th century building. She didn’t need more office space and it wouldn’t really be efficient to split up her work in different buildings. Keeping all the Sears kit house paperwork in one spot was just a matter of files cabinets and computer memory. What else could she do with the depot?

  Unless they kept late hours, another food service couldn’t provide anything that the Greenline Café couldn’t, unless volume doubled, which was possible. The Rendezvous covered as much bar business as the town wanted in the city limits. As for a possible ice cream/coffee shop, that was not her line at all. She had no intention of trying her hand at the food service business. The city might rent the depot out to someone else for that.

  What this town needs, Clare thought, is a nice little wine bistro. Something … urban. Urbane. Sophisticated. Open past 8 p.m. Maybe a little jazz combo, if there was anything other than bluegrass and country to be found in the county. There were already plenty of bluegrass and country venues within an hour’s drive in any direction. Maybe outdoor seating. The Rendezvous was all right for the occasional drink with an date but it wasn’t the kind of place she felt comfortable going in alone or taking a friend like Roxy to, for instance.

  Light bulbs went on over her head like strings of Christmas lights. Clench and his father were planning a winery. The grapes wouldn’t be ready for a couple of years, but maybe they’d like to have this little spot, unless they were planning to open a place right on the farm, as wineries usually did. Maybe they could do both. Maybe she could get the use of the depot and hold on to it until they were ready, if they wanted to use the depot, that is. Until their own vineyard was productive, they could specialize in Ohio wines.

  Greenline Station. Nice name. Take the last train to Greenline, and I’ll meet you at the station … Clare hummed along to the Monkees song now stuck in her head for the rest of the day. Did Clench write songs as well as play banjo? She could ask him to write a song to that tune, Last Train to Clarksville. Of course it would be easy for any band just to substitute Greenline for Clarksville, but maybe he could add some new lyrics just for Greenline. It was a pretty, romantic song but kind of sad. His song could be about a couple meeting at the station to stay, not to part.

  Clare daydreamed about the partings and meetings that had taken place at the depot for decades, through several wars. Lucky the building hadn’t been demolished yet. She needed to get busy on her plan before someone flattened the building.

  It occurred to her that if the tracks were reopened for through traffic, maybe they could organize scenic train rides with dinner on board. Who? Not me, Clare told herself. There was at least one such excursion she knew of, in northern Ohio, maybe more. They could have fall leaf-peeper tours and stops at historical sites. Maybe go down by the Ohio River.

  Everybody loves a train, she thought. If the track were re-opened, it ran close enough to her house that she would be able to hear the train whistle if she were at home, which was fine with her, even if it was in the middle of the night. It was like the rain hitting the roof.

  Thinking about trains and lovers at the station and rain on the roof almost put her to sleep at her desk.

  A tap at the door made her sit up straight.

  What next, she thought.

  “Come on in.”

  Sandy said, “Bad news. The house kit was stolen off the siding.”

  “Oh no. I was just thinking about opening the tracks in Greenline, so the deliveries would be closer. I thought they’d be safe in Chillicothe. But the box cars were on the siding all night, weren’t they?”

  “Yeah.”

  “At least it’s all insured. Did you tell the customer?”

  “Not yet.”

  “They come pretty quick so we’ll just re-order and they’ll just have to wait a few more days for their dream house. Give them a call. No, I’ll call. Does that station have security cameras?”

  “Uh, I don’t know. I’ll ask.”

  “I thought they’d have a night guard at a freight station. I wonder if it would be better to ship those kits by truck?”

  “Trucks could be robbed too.”

  “Yes. And truck drivers won’t want to hang around, they want to unload and move on to the next load. But box cars you can leave on a siding for a while. Those cars have been unloading into trucks. When’s Jackson coming in next?”

  “Should be here with a delivery this afternoon.”

  “OK. I want to ask him if the customers could pick up their houses at the point of shipment.”

  “What do you want to bet he’ll say no?”

  “I’ll ask him anyway, then figure out what to do. Meanwhile, I’ve got to talk to the sheriff. Again.”

  Clare called the customer first and told him his shipment would be delayed. Fortunately the trucks hadn’t left yet to pick up the house kit at the station and he was able to reschedule, so he wasn’t too disgruntled. Clare didn’t tell him the shipment was stolen. She decided to talk to Sheriff Matheson before calling the Chillicothe station.

  “Now what,” he said when Clare walked in. Clench was there with him.

  “Well, it didn’t happen in Greenline.”

  When she finished telling him about the theft, the sheriff said, “I know it’s your business but like you said, it didn’t happen here. So you’re thinking of getting a track reopened here and taking these shipments here?” He frowned.

  “Yeah, I was. Maybe we — I could get better security than they have in Chillicothe. But I’d like to find out who did this before moving any further with the railroad company. If possible.”

  “Good idea. Don’t get me wrong, your business has done this town a lot of good. But before you came, all we had was drunk driving and a little drug traffic and small robberies.” The sheriff would not admit to anyone that he felt somewhat revitalized professionally by having Ali in his lockup. But that was only because they caught him. If he’d gotten away again, it would be different.

  “Anyway, you’d best talk to them in Chillicothe and I’ll call them over there too.”

  “If you want to go to Chillicothe, I’ll drive you,” Clench said. “We can talk to the stationmaster and the police too.”

  “OK. I want to see if they have surveillance tapes.”

  “OK, let’s go.”

  Once again Clare informed her staff that she was going out of town and should be back that evening before the store closed.