Murder On GramercyPark

Frank stared at the boy. He’d been lied to by thousands of people in the course of his work, and he liked to think he could spot a lie a mile away. This boy was either telling the truth or he was the best liar Frank had ever encountered. “Sounds like someone wanted you to come to New York and find your father.”

The boy shrugged. “I guess so. Ma, she thought someone was mad at Pa and wanted to get even or something.”

“They must have wanted to get even very badly to go to all that trouble,” Frank suggested. “How did you find your father when you got to the city?”

“I just went to the place where he was going to be, where it said on the poster he was going to be. There was lots of people there. I sat way in the back so he wouldn’t see me, and then he come out on the stage. It was him, all right. I ain’t seen him for almost five years, but I was eleven when he left, so I knew him right off.”

“Did you confront him that night?”

“No. I didn’t want to warn him off. And besides, there was this man who talked that night. He said Dr. Blackwell was married to his daughter. I didn’t think that could be right. He’s married to my ma! I was confused, and I needed to think about things some, so I waited around, after the lecture. I was gonna follow him home, but he got in one of them hansom cabs. I didn’t know they was called that then, but I do now. Anyways, I heard him telling the driver where to take him. Gramercy Park. It was easy to find out where that was. I just asked somebody at the place where I’m staying.”

“And so you called on your father. When was this?”

“I don’t know. About five days ago, I guess.”

“What was his reaction?”

Calvin frowned, his youthful face revealing every emotion. Plainly, he found the memory painful. “I don’t know what I expected, but for certain it wasn’t what happened. He pretended he was real happy to see me. Asked how everybody was doing and all. I thought he’d be mad or maybe act a little guilty, but he didn’t. It was like he’d just forgot all about us, and I’d reminded him. Said he knew he’d been neglecting us, and he wanted to set things right. I thought he meant he’d bring all of us up here to live with him. That’s what he should’ve done, and he’s got plenty of room in this house, don’t he? The reason he left was so he could do better and give us a better life. This was his chance.”

“But he wasn’t going to do that, was he?”

“He said the city wasn’t the right place for us because it was so dangerous. He said we’d be better off to stay in Lynchburg. He was making money now, for the first time, and he’d start supporting us again. He’d even come to visit. But he had to stay here because that’s where his business was.” Calvin’s tone clearly expressed his bitterness.

“What did you say?”

“I said I knew he had another wife now, and what would people think if they found out about us?”

“Did that scare him?”

“It made him real mad. He said if I did anything to hurt him, he wouldn’t be able to make a living anymore, and we’d never get anything from him again. If I kept quiet, he’d send me back with some money, and he’d start sending us money regular again, too.”

“Did you believe him?”

“I didn’t know, but he was real mean. He scared me, like he might do something worse than not support us if I made any trouble for him.”

“Did he threaten you?”

“Not right out, but he made it real clear he could make sure I didn’t never get back to Lynchburg if I made trouble.”

“So you didn’t make any trouble,” Frank guessed.

“I told him I wouldn’t. He said to come back in a few days, and he’d have the money for me. I thought maybe if I had some money, I could do something. I didn’t know what, but maybe Ma would know. At least it would make things easier for her if he started supporting us again. So I left.”

“And you didn’t come back again until day before yesterday.”

“Yes, sir. And like I said, nobody answered the door. I thought maybe he had to go out or he forgot I was coming or something, but shouldn’t somebody have answered the door anyway? That snooty fellow was here the other times I come and today. Seems like it’s his job to answer the door.”

“All the servants had the afternoon off that day,” Frank told him. “Apparently, he didn’t want anyone to know you were here or to see you again.”

“No, I guess he wouldn’st,” Calvin said after he thought about it.

“And someone shot him while he was here alone.”

Calvin’s smooth face creased into a puzzled frown. “Then he’s really dead? But why would somebody shoot him?”

Frank leaned back in his chair, ostensibly unconcerned. “Perhaps because he’d deserted his family and then refused to pay the promised sum of money to them.”

“But why-” he started, and then stopped when Frank’s meaning sank in. “You think I shot him? Why would I do a thing like that? He was my father!”

“The father who deserted you and caused your family great hardship while he was living in luxury. The father who took another wife and now refused to acknowledge you.”

Now Calvin was angry. “I might’ve hated him, but he was still my father! And besides, if he was dead, he couldn’t help us none, now could he? Killing him would be stupid!”

“But what if he’d decided not to give you the money he’d promised? What if he told you to go back home and forget about him or some harm would come to all of you? I know that would make me mad enough to shoot somebody.”

“But I didn’t even see him that day! I wasn’t even in the house. And I don’t have a gun, either!”

Frank was inclined to believe him. Calvin didn’t even know Blackwell was killed with his own gun, so the killer wouldn’t have had one. The story about the policeman sending him on his way was easy enough to check, in any case. And his theory about Blackwell refusing to pay the boy seemed farfetched. Blackwell wouldn’t dare take a chance on offending Calvin and having him spread his story. Paying him off was a simple solution to a very complicated problem, one that Blackwell would have been a fool not to accept. Frank didn’t think Blackwell was a fool.

Besides, if Calvin had taken the money and killed his father, he’d be miles away by now, just as Amos Potter had suggested. He certainly wouldn’t have come knocking on the door and drawing attention to himself.

Now the boy was looking really frightened. “Are you gonna put me in jail?”

It would be so easy. The boy was penniless and alone. No one except his mother would care what happened to him, and she was miles away and powerless to help him. Frank could stick the boy in jail, beat him until he confessed, close the case, and collect his reward from Potter and Symington. That’s what most of the detectives on the force would do. Frank had done it a time or two himself, although never with an innocent boy. The people he usually dealt with were criminals, guilty of something or another, even if it wasn’t the crime he was investigating. If they went to jail, they deserved it, and the world was a better place with them behind bars.

But Calvin Brown was guilty of nothing.

“Did you kill your father, Calvin?” he asked.

“No, sir! I already told you.”

“If I don’t arrest you, what will you do?”

His eyes widened. Frank could see the fear and the hope mingled in them. “I… I guess I can’t do nothing much. I’m about out of money, so I’ve got to go back home soon. The ticket was just one way, so I’ll have to hop a freight or something, but I got to get back home to help my ma.” He thought a minute. “I sure would like to find out who killed my pa, though. I kinda feel like it’s my duty or something.”

Frank wanted him to stay, too. He might need to ask him more questions when he found out more about the case. And he did need to know who had sent the poster to Mrs. Brown. Someone, it seemed, was trying to cause Dr. Blackwell trouble. If he could find out who, he’d be a lot closer to finding the killer.

“If I pay your rent for another week, would you stay in town?” Frank asked. A few dollars was cheap enough for the help the boy might be able to give him. Besides, he wanted the boy close so he could keep an eye on him. “If