Adopted By Polly Gray

Chapter 18: Campbell's Office

"Have a seat Mrs. Gray" Campbell spoke as he gestured to the chair in front of his desk as he sat down.

Polly carefully made her way over to the chair as she eyed down the man standing in the corner. He was a middle-aged man with curly red hair. Something about him seemed familiar, not like she had seen him before, but something was clicking in her mind, she just wasn't sure what at the moment.

"Is this the messenger you are protecting from me shotting?" She asks as she nodded towards the mystery man.

"Aye, yes. He's been gathering up information from associates of Jones. Let's just say he's an old friend doing me a favor so I can get your nephew off my back."

"Tommy came and spoke to you the night Starlene was taken, or at least he told me he was going to. If he did, why didn't you just give him all the information then? Would've saved countless of your men from dealing with trouble." Polly glared at the mystery man in the corner before turning her attention to Campbell.

"He rang me, that he did. But I honestly knew nothing at the time. Jones was one of the most loyal men I had so for him to disobey me like this was a complete shock." Campbell leaned back in his chair with his hands folded over his stomach.

"Disobey you? Meaning you told him not to do something and I'm assuming that something was about not going after Starlene." Polly could feel her blood boiling at this point but made sure to keep it hidden under the surface. If Campbell wanted to play a game, then she was going all in on playing. However, she certainly wasn't going to lose to him.

Campbell nodded, "I won't lie to ya, Mrs. Gray. He brought up the suspicion that Starlene was his missing daughter and had evidence to prove his theory. I, however, felt the evidence wasn't strong enough to take legal action as of yet, so I told him to wait. I had plans on speaking to my superiors about how Jones could get custody of his daughter, rightfully, and not create a mess for himself or her."

"Did he know you were planning to do that?" Polly now was sitting up in her seat. She finally was getting somewhere with the useless detective.

"He did. I told him I would investigate helping him, I had other matters to take care of first, such as stolen guns and your nephews." Campbell smirked at the Shelby monarch.

"So, what's his story then? Does he speak or just act as décor in your office?" Polly turned her attention back to the red-headed man in the corner.

The red-headed man grumbled, "He does talk, ma'am." He responded with a Scottish accent.

"Mr. Cooper allow me to introduce you to Mrs. Gray." Campbell sat up in his chair as he prepared to smoke from his pipe.

"I'm not here to make friendly introductions. I'm here for information about my missing daughter. What do you know about Jones?" Polly's full attention was on Mr. Cooper.

Mr. Cooper had his hands behind his back but brought them forward to reveal he had a case file filled with papers in it. He walked over to Campbell's desk and placed it down before walking over to the other side of Campbell's chair near the fireplace in his office.

Polly watched him like a hawk and only let her eyes stary away from him for a second to acknowledge the case file that was placed down.

"Jones, from what I have gathered, is a complicated man. He does have a little girl in his custody by the name of Starlene. In that case file is everything I've collected, who he works for, who works for him, his relationships, his home address, where he has the girl, and rumored plans of what he plans to next now that he has his supposed daughter back." Mr. Cooper spoke with his rough voice.