They could hear Mrs. Wells and Opal coming down the stairs. Gina glanced in that direction and jerked the hat from her head. “Thank you,” she whispered, gathering her discarded slippers, and darted out of the room. Sarah realized she was afraid Mrs. Wells would take away her gifts if she saw them, and once again she felt a niggling unease at the way the woman showed favoritism among the girls.
By the time Opal and Mrs. Wells entered the parlor, Sarah had drawn a couple deep breaths and managed to regain most of her composure. She tried not to think about the fact that she was holding in her hand the weapon that had killed Emilia.
“Mrs. Brandt, is something wrong?” Mrs. Wells asked the instant they came in.
Sarah tried to smile. “No, why do you ask?”
“You look quite pale,” Opal said, echoing Gina.
“Do I?” Sarah decided to take advantage of their concern. “I was feeling a bit light-headed. Perhaps I should go home. I know you were planning tea, but – ”
“Don’t be silly,” Opal said. “Of course you should go if you’re not feeling well. I have my carriage outside, and I’ll be happy to see you safely home. Mrs. Wells, I’m sorry to cut our visit short, but – ”
“Of course, you’re absolutely right,” Mrs. Wells said. “Mrs. Brandt should go right home. Please feel free to return at any time, Mrs. Graves, and thank you for your support.”
Sarah managed to say the correct things and allow Opal to escort her out of the mission. When her driver had handed them into the carriage, and they were settled, Opal noticed the package Sarah carried.
“What have you got there?” she asked.
Sarah looked down at the paper-wrapped hat pin. “I’m not sure you’ll want to know.”
12
“NOW YOU
“Yes,” Sarah said, laying the object on the seat beside her so she no longer had to touch it. “It gave me a bit of a shock.”
“More than a bit of one,” Opal said. “I thought you were going to faint.”
Sarah sighed, grateful for the privacy of the carriage, even though Opal had been ostentatious to bring it into the neighborhood. “I didn’t tell you the real reason I became interested in the mission,” she began, and explained to her about Emilia and how she came to be wearing Sarah’s clothes when she was killed in the park. “They didn’t have any idea who the girl was and probably never would have found out, but one of the police detectives recognized the clothes. He asked me to identify the body, if I could.”
“How horrible!” Opal exclaimed. “And how on earth would a
Sarah managed not to feel defensive. “I had met him several months ago when he was investigating another murder. I helped him solve the case.”
Opal wasn’t the least bit satisfied with this explanation. “Are you telling me this policeman remembered your clothes for several months and then recognized them on the dead girl?”
“I think it was the hat he remembered, and no, he didn’t remember it for several months. He’d seen it recently. We… I’ve helped him with several other murder cases since then as well.”
Sarah had expected to see disapproval or even disdain, but Opal simply looked intrigued. “You must tell me all about this policeman and how you got involved in solving murders,” she insisted. “I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of anything so interesting!”
Sarah supposed it was interesting, but just then she realized they were passing Police Headquarters. “Could you ask your driver to stop here for a moment?” she asked anxiously. “I need to leave Detective Sergeant Malloy a message while we’re here.”
Opal looked out the window at the imposing four-story, marble-fronted building with the fanlight over the arched doorway that read NEW YORK POLICE HEADQUARTERS.
“Oh, my,” she said with a smile, signaling her driver to stop. “I really will have something amazing to tell Charles tonight when he asks me how my day was.”
Frank tried to remember back to the time before he’d met Sarah Brandt. Surely, he hadn’t been angry all the time then. He would’ve had apoplexy long before now if he had been. No, he was sure he had never been this angry for this long in his entire life. And he was definitely going to have to forbid her to leave him any more messages at Mulberry Street, or he’d have to quit the force and become a street cleaner. As it was, nobody there could look at him without smirking.
Could a man be henpecked when he wasn’t married? Frank didn’t think he wanted to know.
As if things weren’t bad enough, Mrs. Ellsworth was out on her porch as he came down Bank Street. She waved to get his attention, just in case he hadn’t noticed her there. He waved back.
“Good evening, Mrs. Ellsworth. I hope you’re keeping well,” he said as pleasantly as he could considering how furious he was with Sarah Brandt.
“I’m fine, thank you, Mr. Malloy. I knew you’d be calling tonight – either you or Mr. Dennis. I dropped a knife at dinner. Knife falls, gentleman calls, or at least that’s what they say.”
Frank didn’t ask who “they” were. He was too busy gritting his teeth at the thought of Richard Dennis calling on Sarah. “Is Mrs. Brandt at home?”
“Oh, my, yes. She arrived in a fancy carriage a few hours ago. We’ve seen a lot of carriages calling for her lately. Much different from the people who usually come running down the street to fetch her for a birth, I must say.”
A fancy carriage. She’d probably been out somewhere with Dennis again. He tried reminding himself it was none of his concern, but he still felt like somebody had cut out a large chunk of his insides with a dull knife. “How is Nelson getting on?” he asked to change the subject. Mrs. Ellsworth’s son had recently been accused of murder, and Frank and Sarah had helped exonerate him.
“He’s working very hard, even harder than he did before,” she said proudly. “I expect he wants to prove to Mr. Dennis that he made the right decision not to dismiss him.”
“Knowing Nelson, he’ll have Dennis’s job before the year is out,” Frank said, making Mrs. Ellsworth smile. Since Dennis owned the bank, they both knew that was unlikely.
“He’ll be satisfied to become a vice president.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Frank teased her. He climbed the steps to Sarah’s door and knocked more loudly than he’d intended.
Mrs. Ellsworth bade him good night as the door opened.
“Malloy,” Sarah said with the welcoming smile she hadn’t given him the last few times he’d come here. “You must’ve gotten my message very quickly.”
He refused to return that smile and went inside at her silent invitation. “You’ve got to stop leaving me messages at Headquarters,” he said sternly, determined to get this settled.
She didn’t seem the least bit intimidated. “Are you worried about my reputation or your own?” she asked in amusement.
“It’s not funny. You should hear what they say about you.”
“Why don’t you tell them Commissioner Roosevelt has made me an honorary detective?” she suggested. “Then you’d have an excuse to consult with me.”
“Maybe I’ll ask him to do that,” Frank said, reluctantly allowing his anger to cool a bit. She always had that effect on him. Until the next time she made him angry.
Which would probably be in about sixty seconds.
“Come into the kitchen. I’ve got a lot of things to tell you,” she said.
Frank followed obediently, leaving his hat hanging in the hallway, as usual.
She’d already made coffee, and a pie sat on the table.
“Did Mrs. Ellsworth make the pie?” he asked.
“Of course. She said she knew you were coming. Something about a knife falling on the floor.” She began to cut
