“No, not yet,” she said. “But no one in the house could have done it. I know all these people well. We were all fond of Annie. None of them would have any reason to kill her.”
“But you said yourself that the door is always open. It would be relatively simple for an outsider to sneak in and out without being seen.”
“I suppose so.” Then she shook her head. “Not so easy in the mornings. There is always housework going on— floors being swept, bed linens changed. Someone would have to have taken a terrible risk.”
I went across to the window. It was open about four inches. I pushed it up and leaned out. Even the normal clatter of Elizabeth Street was subdued today. Only a few pushcarts and an ice cream vendor. From the far end of the street came the sounds of an organ grinder playing a lively Italian tune.
“Well nobody could have climbed in this way,” I said, pulling my head back in and closing the window. “It’s sheer brick wall, without even a drainpipe or fire escape.”
“I know. This is madness. You must be wrong, Molly. Perhaps her strange color has something to do with her disease.”
“We’ll know when the doctor comes,” I said.
“We may not find a doctor today. It is a holiday, after all.”
“Then I must ask Daniel to take a look at her. If what I suspect is true, then her death may have something to do with the murder of Mr. Lee.”
“What could it have to do with his death?” Sarah demanded. “Annie was here for a good week before he was killed. And no outsiders knew she was here. What connection could there possibly be?”
“As to that, there was a connection, wasn’t there? She had been Mr. Lee’s concubine, several years ago, brought from China just like Bo Kei.”
“But who could have found out she was here? And why kill a girl who was bound to die soon anyway?”
I couldn’t come up with a good answer to this. “Perhaps the murderer thought he was killing Bo Kei. But then nobody knew that she had been brought here either, did they?” I shook my head. “It doesn’t make sense, unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless Bo Kei knows more than she’s told me.” I drew the cover back over Annie’s dead face. “I’m going to find Daniel and have him question Bo Kei. Perhaps a policeman will get the truth out of her.”
“What do you think she could be hiding?”
“That she was the one who killed Mr. Lee. Again it’s only a theory and I can’t prove it. And she’s claiming she’s innocent, but I get the feeling that she knows things that she’s not telling me.”
I touched Sarah’s arm. “Don’t mention any of this to anyone else yet. Not until Daniel has confirmed my suspicions. If the murderer works here or is observing us, I don’t want him alerted.”
“You think the murderer could work here or be watching us?” Sarah looked around nervously.
“We can’t be too careful at the moment. This is someone who was prepared to take a risk, killing a girl in broad daylight in a house full of people.”
“I wish Monty hadn’t gone now,” Sarah said. “I’d feel safer with a man in the house. We’re all women volunteers on today.”
“I think you’re quite safe. Annie was only killed because someone suspected she knew something they didn’t want made public. We’ll know more when Daniel speaks with Bo Kei.”
I tiptoed out of the room with a backward glance at the form of Annie under the sheet.
Twenty-nine
I left the house and started toward police headquarters on Mulberry Street. As I walked, I thought through what I was going to say to Daniel and I realized that I wasn’t ready to face him yet. I had too many unanswered questions and I wanted to speak to Bo Kei first. I changed course and continued toward the Broadway trolley. Even if I was going to incur Daniel’s displeasure, I didn’t want to give up on this investigation now when I could sense that I was onto something. I had no idea what I was onto, but it had been my experience that if a second murder happens, it is usually linked to the first. I already had potential links—Annie had been in Bo Kei’s position once as Mr. Lee’s concubine. She had been cast out and sent to the ultimate disgrace and degradation of working in a brothel. But that was five years ago. She had already been punished for not having a son, and cast out—so why would somebody want to kill her now?
And yet Bo Kei had feared for her. I remembered how pitifully she had begged me to take Annie with her. She must have suspected that Annie’s life was in danger. Which might indicate that she hadn’t killed Lee Sing Tai herself. She certainly couldn’t have killed Annie since she was helping me clear up the debris of the party when Annie died. It was all quite baffling and I just hoped I might be able to persuade Bo Kei to tell me the truth. At least I’d be able to observe her reaction when I told her that Annie had not died of natural means.
I strode out with determination after I alighted from the trolley. I suppose also at the back of my mind was the desire to present Daniel with a case that I had solved and thus to justify my actions. I entered the house and took Sid and Gus aside to tell them what I had discovered. Then I went upstairs to confront Bo Kei. She was standing at the top of the second flight peering down to see what was going on.
“You saw her, Missie Molly?” she called, her voice quivering with distress. “She is really dead?”
“Yes, I did and—” I stopped short. I was staring at her bare feet.
“Bo Kei,” I blurted out, “you have big feet.”
“I know.” She sounded surprised at this observation. “Big disgrace to my family. Small feet are good. Many girls in China have bound feet, but the missionaries say to my family this is wrong and bad. So my feet were not bound, and they are extra big. My mother say no man want to marry me.”
Then whose footprints had made those little indentations at the edge of the roof?
“Bo Kei,” I said severely, “it’s about time you told me everything that you know. You have lied to me and kept
