Murder On Astor Place

any finer feelings, she might as well prove she was. “Your mother told me something very disturbing, Mina. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t think of mentioning such a painful subject, but it was so strange, I feel I must tell you so you’ll know her current state of mind.”

“I know her state of mind,” Mina said in disgust. “She hasn’t had a coherent thought in ages.”

“Then perhaps that’s why she told me that you’re Alicia’s real mother.”

For a heartbeat, Mina stood frozen with horror, and then she howled. Threw back her head and howled in agony. There was no other word for it, a sound Sarah would never forget as long as she lived, as if someone had torn loose Mina’s very soul. And then she lunged.

Sarah understood her intention with only an instant to spare, and she threw herself off the sofa just as Mina would have landed on top of her. Their skirts tangled, sweeping Mina’s feet out from under her, and she went sprawling over the arm of the sofa, knocking over a table covered with bric-a-brac that crashed to the floor in a shower of splintering glass.

Sarah scrambled to her feet, cursing her heavy skirts but knowing she must be ready to defend herself against another attack. Before she was fully on her feet, however, the parlor doors slammed open and Alfred rushed in. He took in the scene with one swift glance, his aged face chalk white as he saw the overturned table and the smashed figurines and Mina VanDamm struggling up out of the mess.

“Don’t just stand there, you idiot! Help me up!” she cried, galvanizing the ancient butler who hurried to do her bidding.

Outside, the rain slashed at the windows, and from the hallway came the sound of running footsteps. In another moment, Cornelius VanDamm appeared. He wore a smoking jacket, and his expression was alarmed.

“What on earth happened?” he demanded of Mina, who had struggled to her feet with Alfred’s assistance. “I thought the storm had broken a window.”

“She attacked me!” Mina shrieked, pointing at Sarah.

Mr. VanDamm stared at Sarah in surprise, having failed to notice her standing there, since the room was so dark.

“Sarah, is that you?” he asked, even more amazed. “What are you doing here?”

“I came… the storm…” she tried, but Mina gave her no chance to explain.

“I said she attacked me! Aren’t you going to do something?”

VanDamm looked from her to Sarah and back to Mina again. “Mina, I think you should go to your room. You aren’t yourself.”

“Then who am I?” she challenged, lifting her chin defiantly. “I told you she attacked me! Look what she did!” She gestured to the overturned table and the resulting mess.

“Alfred, you may go,” VanDamm said, using a softer tone, to show the servant he didn’t hold him responsible for what had occurred.

Alfred fled, although he was much too dignified to actually hurry. When the doors had closed securely behind him, VanDamm turned to Sarah. “Mina is upset. She hasn’t been herself since her sister died.”

“Stop it, Father. She knows!” Mina shrieked.

“Mina, there’s no reason to shout,” VanDamm admonished her.

“I tell you, she knows! She knows about Alicia! Mother told her!”

He needed a moment to absorb the truth of it, and as he did, his face grew slack from shock. Stunned, he turned back to Sarah, his eyes were terrible. “What did she tell you?” he demanded. “What exactly did she say?”

For a moment, Sarah didn’t know how to reply. VanDamm’s face seemed carved from stone, and his eyes reflected a torment she could only imagine. “She… she told me that Mina is Alicia’s real mother,” she lied reluctantly, having gone too far now to back down, and braced herself for his fury.

But instead of anger, she saw only… relief? Why would he be relieved to learn that Sarah knew their terrible family secret? Unless he’d been afraid she knew Alicia’s other secret, which of course she did.

“I’m afraid Francisca has grown quite unreliable in recent years,” he said, making his voice quite reasonable, as if he were merely explaining a difficult geometry problem. “She hardly ever leaves her room anymore, and she spends her time weaving elaborate fantasies. You would be foolish to credit anything she said, Sarah.”

Sarah felt her hackles rising. She hated being patronized, and she hated the way he patronized his wife, too. Her anger made her reckless. “Mr. VanDamm, I also know why Alicia ran away.”

He stiffened again, and this time his expression closed, as if a shutter had been drawn to conceal whatever emotion he was experiencing. “And why do you think she ran away?”

“Because she was with child. I told Mina when I was here before, and I’m guessing you already knew, which is why you sent her to the country in the first place.”

“Nonsense,” he said, trying for outrage and falling a little short. “That’s ridiculous. If that’s what Francisca told you-”

“She didn’t tell me. I’m not sure she even knows. I guessed it when I saw Alicia the night before she died, and the police confirmed it.”

“The police,” Mina scoffed.

“And we also know that an abortionist visited her right before she died,” Sarah said, stung by Mina’s contempt and wanting to sting back.

“We?” VanDamm echoed. “Who else is involved in this with you?”

Sarah realized she’d said too much, but it was too late. “The authorities. They’ve been investigating her death, as you well know.”

“They aren’t investigating it anymore,” VanDamm said with a certainty that told her he had been behind the decision to take Malloy off the case.

“But they’re still investigating the death of the abortionist, ” she countered, determined to best him in this battle of accusations. “She was murdered before the police could question her.”

She saw at once that she’d won. His surprise was apparent, and his glance at Mina, telling. What else did they know? And how could Sarah get them to reveal it?

“I told you, she knows all about us,” Mina reminded him with satisfaction. “And she’ll tell everyone. You know what a gossip her mother is. We can’t let her leave here. She’ll ruin everything.”

“Mina!” VanDamm gasped, but Sarah hardly noticed. She was too busy gasping herself.

Good Lord, what did she mean? It sounded as if Mina was threatening her life, and plainly Mr. VanDamm thought so, too. Outside the thunder roared again, reminding her of the storm that had stranded her here. But as dangerous as it might be outside, she knew she had put herself in even more danger inside. Someone closely connected to the VanDamms had killed two people already to protect Alicia’s secret, and if that someone was in this room, Sarah might very well be next.

“Detective Sergeant Malloy knows I’m here,” she lied. “And he knows everything that I do.”

“She’s bluffing, Father!” Mina cried.

He ignored her. “I can pay you,” he said to Sarah. “Anything you want. I know your family cut you off when you married. I know you’ve had to work to support yourself, but I can take care of you. You’ll never want for anything again.”

“Stop it!” Mina screamed. “She won’t keep our secret! Don’t you understand? She hates us! She wants to ruin us!”

He hardly seemed to hear her. “And if you insist on being stubborn, I can make your life very uncomfortable, too,” he continued, not missing a beat and not even bothering to change his tone. “If you choose to ruin us, you will regret the day you were ever born.”

“Father!”

At last he turned back to Mina, his expression livid. “She’s Felix Decker’s daughter!” he reminded his daughter coldly. “Do you expect me to have her killed?”

Sarah decided not to wait for her answer. Storm or no storm, she slipped out the door and into the hallway. Just as she reached it, she realized that someone was pounding on the front door. They hadn’t been able to hear it in the parlor above the noise of the storm, but whoever was knocking was determined to get in. Perhaps it was just another passerby, desperate for refuge, but Sarah didn’t care who it was. She was going to let them in.

“Don’t open the door!” Mina shouted behind her. “Stop her, Alfred!”