Death of a Robber Baron by Charles O'Brien

his private office and offered her a chair facing him. He leaned forward, his arms resting on the desk, his expression professional. “Harry Miller has just reported favorably on your performance, madam. I’m impressed, especially since he’s so hard to please. I was already aware of your good judgment, sophistication, and tact. Miller tells me that you also have courage and strong nerves.”
    â€œI’m grateful for his instruction and delighted to have earned his compliments.”
    Prescott smiled. “You may start at Macy’s tomorrow.”

C HAPTER 7
    A Challenging Start
    19–28 April
    Â 
    O n Pamela’s first day as a detective, Macy’s was crowded with busy shoppers. By midday, the young female clerks at the jewelry department’s counters looked harassed and fatigued. They would be on their feet for another six hours.
    Pamela noticed a wealthy lady’s maid drift away from her mistress. Pamela walked over to the opposite counter and pretended to admire a tray of gold rings. Looking into a mirror, she secretly observed the scene behind her. The maid took an expensive bracelet carelessly left on a display counter, nonchalantly put it on her arm, and drew her sleeve over it.
    Pamela studied the wealthy lady. Slim, tastefully dressed, gracious in her manner, she looked perhaps sixty. Her wrinkled face had an unhealthy pallor and sagging cheeks. She was comparing one bracelet with another, shaking her head in dissatisfaction, and demanding to see yet another. The young clerk complied each time but seemed increasingly rattled and desperate. She struggled to keep her eyes open. Soon, a dozen gem-studded, gold bracelets were spread out across the glass counter. Eventually, the lady threw up her hands, beckoned the maid, and left the counter without buying anything.
    Pamela debated with herself the best way to proceed. The high value of the stolen bracelet seemed to call for an arrest. Indeed the wealthy lady might have deliberately distracted the young clerk and thus worked together with her maid in the theft. An arrest, however, would cause a public and noisy confrontation with unforeseeable consequences for Pamela. She decided to follow the lady and her maid.
    Finally, as they were about to leave the store, Pamela approached the lady politely and spoke in a soft voice. “I believe, madam, that your maid has neglected to pay for the bracelet that she’s wearing. An oversight, I’m sure.”
    Irritated and appearing embarrassed, the lady stared at Pamela through watery eyes. Pamela said nothing more but smiled pleasantly and stood her ground. She half expected the lady to dismiss her with a paralyzing gesture of contempt and complain to the store manager. Instead, the lady gazed sternly at her maid. “Is that true, Agnes?”
    The maid nodded, an empty expression on her face, confirming Pamela’s suspicion that the maid might be “simple.”
    â€œGive it to me,” said the wealthy lady.
    The maid complied without apparent embarrassment. Her mistress handed the bracelet over to Pamela. “My maid is a sweet girl from a family that has served me well for decades. She fails to understand that when the store displays a product, it’s not giving it away. If she takes it, she is expected to pay for it. I try to guard against her artless thievery, but unfortunately I was preoccupied and didn’t notice her. You behaved with exemplary discretion.” She hesitated. “How shall I call you?”
    â€œPamela Thompson, ma’am, pleased to serve you.”
    â€œI’m Mrs. Henry Jennings. I’ll commend you to the manager.”
    These compliments had a patronizing tone. Pamela nonetheless accepted them with a polite smile, though she felt not the least inferior to Mrs. Jennings. When she and her maid finally left the store, Pamela breathed a sigh of relief. She hurried back to the bracelet counter. The clerk had put the bracelets