“Everybody hates Aggie, and that includes you!” Gina claimed.
“What other jobs did Emilia have?” Sarah asked quickly, before the two girls came to blows. “Besides watching Aggie, that is.”
Maeve obviously had no intention of answering, but Gina said, “She was in charge of making all the girls get up and dressed in the morning, then she looked after them all day, so they went to their classes and to meals and didn’t sneak out. Then she checked to make sure everybody was in bed at night.”
“All that in addition to looking after Aggie,” Sarah said in amazement. “That’s a lot of responsibility. And now you do it all, Maeve?”
Somewhat mollified by the implied respect, Maeve said, “Yes, ma’am, I do everything.”
“So now all the girls hate her instead of Emilia,” Gina said smugly.
Wanting to head off another argument, Sarah said, “You said Emilia was stupid, Maeve. It sounds like she had to be smart to do all those jobs, though.”
“She went places she shouldn’t go,” Maeve said. “Like that park where she got killed. That was stupid.”
“City Hall Park isn’t really a bad place,” Sarah said. “In fact, it’s a very nice park. Courting couples meet there all the time. But of course we don’t know why she went there that morning. Did she say anything to either of you about it?”
“She was always doing things she shouldn’t do,” Maeve insisted. Her eyes narrowed. “And she was stupid with men. That’s why she got herself killed.”
“Was she going to meet a man that morning?” Sarah asked, remembering Mrs. Wells had said one of the girls heard Emilia say she wanted Ugo to see how nice she looked. Perhaps Emilia had said more than that.
“No, she was going to get a job,” Gina said. “She told everybody who would listen. We was sick of hearing about it.”
“That and her new dress,” Maeve recalled with a frown. “It wasn’t new at all. Somebody gave it for charity, and it was an ugly old thing! Mrs. Wells offered it to me first, but I wouldn’t take it.”
“She did not,” Gina said. “You’re a liar! Everybody knows she always gave the best things to Emilia. And I heard you begging Mrs. Wells for that hat Emilia was wearing.”
“So you don’t think Emilia was going to meet a lover that morning?” Sarah pressed, trying not to remember the hat and dress in question had been hers.
“Not likely,” Gina said, taking a bite of caviar then quickly spitting it out. “Ew, what was that awful stuff?”
“Fish eggs,” Sarah said with a smile. “I’ve never cared for them either.”
Gina looked more closely at the brown glop. “Fish don’t lay eggs,” she informed Sarah.
Sarah could have argued, but she didn’t want to get distracted. “You’re right, I am,” she agreed. “Why wouldn’t Emilia have been meeting a lover?”
“She said she didn’t have no use for men after what happened to her,” Gina said. “She swore she’d never so much as speak to one again.”
“She must’ve changed her mind,” Maeve said with an unpleasant grin, “or she wouldn’t be dead, would she?”
“Did either of you hear her say she wished Ugo could see her in her new outfit?” Sarah asked.
Both girls just gave her a blank look.
Sarah opened her mouth to ask another question when she heard her father calling for everyone’s attention.
“Is it time for Mrs. Wells?” Maeve asked in alarm.
“I guess it is,” Sarah replied, and the girls were gone in an instant, hurrying to take their places beside her. Sarah rose and made her way more slowly to the other end of the ballroom so she could have a good view of the proceedings.
11
DANNY HADN’T FARED WELL DURING THE TRIP BACK to Mulberry Street. He insisted on trying to escape, which meant the officers had to keep using their locusts on him. Frank was beginning to wonder if there’d be anything left to question. By the time he got the boy into an interrogation room, he was bloodied and more than a little groggy.
“Do you remember me, b’hoyo?” Frank asked him. “Your friend Billy cut me up so you could escape the last time we met.”
Danny gave him a pained grin, still cocky in spite of his condition. “You gave me whiskey the last time,” he remembered.
“Tell me what I want to know, and you could get some tonight, too.”
“I don’t know much,” he tried.
“I think you do. You started telling me about Dr. Tom Brandt. And don’t pretend you don’t know who I’m talking about.”
“I don’t gotta pretend,” the boy said. Even with the bruises, he managed to look innocent.
“The doctor who was murdered three years ago. You were telling me how somebody hired you to fetch the good doctor. Who was it?”
Danny no longer looked quite so cocky. He glanced over at the cop still holding his locust at the ready and measured his chances. He didn’t want to anger Frank, but he was afraid of someone else, too. “He finds out I ratted on him, he’ll kill me.”
“How could he find out?”
“You start asking him questions, what else he gonna think? Then he finds me and kills me.”
“Maybe you should be more worried about me right now,” Frank suggested.
But Danny wasn’t fooled. “You might beat me up, but you ain’t gonna kill me.”
“I’ll put him in jail and then he’ll meet up with Old Sparky,” Frank said, using the nickname for New York’s brand new electric chair. “You won’t have to worry about him again.”
Danny shook his head, his expression grim. “Swells like him don’t go to jail. You even talk to him, he’ll have your job.”
“Nobody’s that important,” Frank tried, knowing perfectly well it was a lie. “But if you’re that afraid, I’ll see you get out of the city safely. You can go someplace else, where you can start a new life.”
“Why would I want to get out of the city?” he asked in amazement. “This is the only place I’ve ever lived. This is where all my friends are.”
Frank sighed. He wasn’t getting anywhere with kindness. He could beat the boy, but Frank had an idea he’d hold up pretty well against brute force. He’d been taking beatings all his life, and he was right when he said Frank wouldn’t kill him. How else was he going to find out who killed Tom Brandt?
“I guess I’ll just keep you here overnight, then,” he said, rising.
“I could give you a nice reward for letting me go,” the boy offered.
Frank glared at him. “Now you’ve gone and made me mad, Danny.” He motioned for the guard to take him away.
Danny gave him no trouble, and Frank led them down to the cellar cells.
The night guard woke up at the sound of their footsteps. “You got another birdie for the cage, Detective Sergeant?” he asked sleepily.
“Yeah, but I want you to let one prisoner out and put this one in.”
Frank noticed Danny’s swagger had vanished at the sight of the cells and their inhabitants. He was still trying to put up a good front, but Frank could see the growing apprehension in his eyes.
“Who do you want to let out?” the night guard asked.
Frank pointed to the huddled figure in the comer of the nearest cell. Billy hadn’t moved, although Frank could see his eyes staring blankly at them.
The guard went in and pulled him to his feet, prodding him with his locust to get him to leave the cell. Frank had once seen some boys torture a dog to death. Billy’s expression reminded him of that dog.
