Giving Sarah a murderous scowl, he made for the front door, almost forgetting to grab his hat on the way out. He left the door hanging open, so Sarah hurried to close it, turning the lock with a decisive click.
“Oh, Mrs. Brandt, whatever shall we do?” Mrs. Ellsworth wailed.
“We’ll find Malloy. He’ll take care of this,” Sarah said with more confidence than she felt. If the police had Nelson in custody, they could have already beaten a confession out of him, guilty or not. Even Malloy might not be able to help then. Their only hope was that Prescott had been right about the Commissioners wanting to be careful with this case because Nelson was a respectable citizen.
The city had already dealt with one scandalous murder trial recently in which a young Italian woman had stabbed her lover to death when he refused to marry her. Thousands of newspapers had been sold over the misfortunes of Maria Barberi, and the press would pounce like hungry jackals on another case with the same potential for salacious reports.
“I’m going to go straight to Police Headquarters,” she told Mrs. Ellsworth.
“I’ll go with you!” the old woman exclaimed, jumping to her feet.
“I don’t think that’s wise. There’ll be dozens of reporters swarming around, and if they found out who you are… No, I want you to go home and lock yourself in. Don’t open the door to anyone you don’t know. If Mr. Prescott found you so quickly, others will, too. I’ll be back just as soon as I can, but don’t worry if it takes a long time. I might not even be able to find Malloy for a while if he’s out on a case.”
“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Brandt,” the old woman said, taking Sarah’s hands in hers. “I don’t know what I would have done without you!”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Sarah said, wondering what on earth she would tell her friend if her son really had killed Anna Blake.
Just as Sarah had suspected, Mulberry Street was swarming with reporters jostling for a good spot from which to view the comings and goings at Police Headquarters. The cab Sarah had taken over had to let her off a block away. Fortunately, the morning rain was over, and the sun was trying halfheartedly to break through the clouds. Sarah had still brought her umbrella, though, and she gave thought to using it to force her way through to the building.
Fortunately, saying “Excuse me!” several times very loudly, and shoving a few times in a very unladylike manner, got her almost to the narrow stairs that led up to the arched doorway of the four-story building.
“Let the lady through, you vultures!” a voice called from above her, and she looked up to see the imposing figure of Tom, the doorman to Police Headquarters.
The reporters looked around in surprise to see a female in their midst, and Sarah took advantage of their momentary distraction to squeeze through and make her way up the steps to the front door, which Tom obligingly opened for her.
“ ‘Morning, Mrs. Brandt,” he said, tipping his derby hat.
“Thank you very much, Tom,” she said as she slipped past him into the receiving area of Police Headquarters.
The desk sergeant looked up, and when he saw Sarah, his normal scowl slid one notch lower in disapproval. “You’ll be wanting Malloy, I expect,” he said, “Or have you come for Commissioner Roosevelt this time?” he added sarcastically.
Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt was an old family friend, and he kept an office upstairs. Sarah had visited him here when she’d needed his help in the past. She smiled sweetly. “I’d be happy to see either one of them. Whoever is available.”
“Mr. Roosevelt ain’t in right now,” he told her a little too smugly. “But I’ll see if I can scare up Malloy for you. Would you be wanting to wait?”
She could see from the gleam in his eye that he remembered the time he’d sent her to wait in the depths of the basement, but she had the upper hand now. “I’ll be upstairs. I’m sure Miss Kelly can find a place for me to sit where I won’t be in anyone’s way.” Minnie Kelly was the first female secretary in the history of the New York City Police Department, just one of Roosevelt’s innovations and a constant source of aggravation to the old guard. “No need to escort me,” she added, knowing full well he’d had no intention of doing so. “I know my way.”
Minnie Gertrude Kelly was a small, comely girl with raven black hair which she wore in a severe chignon so as not to appear too flashy. She looked up from her typewriter and greeted Sarah with a friendly smile.
“I’m sorry, but Commissioner Roosevelt isn’t in today, Mrs. Brandt,” she said.
“I know, but I needed a place to wait while someone tries to find Frank Malloy for me,” she explained.
Minnie understood completely. She knew all about Sarah’s adventures in the bowels of the building and invited her to have a seat.
“Do you know anything about the murder this morning? The woman who was killed in Washington Square?” Sarah asked.
“Yes, I heard. What a terrible thing. At first everyone assumed she was a… a lady of the evening, but then someone recognized her. They said she was a respectable woman from a good family. She lived in a rooming house nearby. But they’ve already arrested the man who did it, I heard.”
“I know,” Sarah said. “He’s my next-door neighbor.”
“How awful!” Minnie exclaimed. “Do you have any idea why he did such a terrible thing?”
“That’s why I’m here,” Sarah said. “I don’t think he did it at all, and I’m afraid he might be persuaded to confess anyway.”
Minnie nodded her understanding. “Would you like for me to telephone Mr. Roosevelt? He might be able to help.”
“I think that would be a very good idea.”
Unfortunately, Teddy wasn’t at home either, but Minnie left him a message on Sarah’s behalf, and Sarah settled in to wait. She was just beginning to think that perhaps she should demand to see Nelson herself when she heard familiar footsteps in the hallway. In another moment, Frank Malloy’s burly figure appeared. He wore a suit that needed to be pressed, and he needed a shave. His bloodshot eyes told her he hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before.
As usual, he didn’t look at all happy to see her, but she wasn’t going to let that distract her. “Malloy, have you heard about Nelson Ellsworth?” she asked, jumping to her feet.
“Of course I heard about him,” Malloy said, his dark eyes almost black as he glared at her. “He started telling everybody in sight that he’s a friend of mine as soon as they took him into custody.”
“He didn’t kill that woman, Malloy. You know that, don’t you?”
“What makes you so sure?” Malloy was in one of his disagreeable moods. He hardly ever had any other kind.
“Because I know him. He couldn’t even strike a woman, much less kill one.”
“People do strange things, Mrs. Brandt. You of all people should know that.”
He was referring, of course, to the people they had encountered on the murder cases they had solved together.
“I know that Nelson Ellsworth would not commit murder. And I have to try to save him from being accused of it, for his mother’s sake, if nothing else. She did save my life, you know.”
He frowned, trying to give her one of his blackest looks, but she wasn’t fooled. In exasperation, he turned to Minnie Kelly. “Miss Kelly, has Mr. Roosevelt started hiring female police detectives?”
Minnie bit back a smile. “No, sir, I don’t believe he has.”
“I just wanted to be sure,” he said, “because from the way Mrs. Brandt was talking, I thought he might’ve put her on the force.”
“Malloy,” Sarah said through gritted teeth, “you know as well as I do that most detectives would just give Nelson the third degree until he confessed so they could wrap this case up nice and neatly. Nobody wants a lot of bad publicity about a respectable young woman getting killed on a public square within sight of people’s homes, and they won’t get any if they lock the killer up the same day. But what if Nelson didn’t do it? That means an innocent man will be punished, and the real killer will go free!”
He sighed in disgust. “I’m so glad you explained that, because I never would’ve figured it out by myself.”
“You don’t have to be sarcastic,” she snapped. “I know you understand what needs to be done, but I had to come down to make sure you knew he’d been arrested before it was too late to help him.”
