“I’ve heard them arguing more than once about how Mrs. Spratt-Williams changes the reports they give to the Charity Organization Society.”
“Changes them how?”
“She changes the names of the women we rescue. She’ll change a few letters or something, just to make it different.”
“Why would she do that?”
“So if the girls ever needed help again, they can go to one of those other charities. They keep a list, you see, and they’re very strict. Once you get help from one of them, you can’t ever go back to any of them.”
Sarah remembered that Miss Yingling had explained this at her very first visit. She’d thought it horribly unfair then and still did. In fact, she found herself in perfect agreement with Mrs. Spratt-Williams. She was suddenly glad the woman had asked for her help.
“I suppose Mrs. Van Orner believed in following the rules,” Sarah guessed.
“Oh, yes. She was a great one for rules. That’s why she wouldn’t like it if Mrs. Spratt-Williams took her place.”
“I’ll talk to her about it when I meet with her this afternoon.”
“Oh, please don’t mention my name!”
“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Mrs. Spratt-Williams is very sensitive. She doesn’t like it when people question her. I didn’t understand that at first,” Lisa confided, “but Mrs. Van Orner explained it to me. Seems like she was very rich once, back when her husband was alive, and people always invited them to parties and such, the way rich people do. Then something happened with her husband. He cheated people in business somehow. I don’t understand how he did it, but lots of people lost all their money. I never had any money to lose, but I guess some people do. There was a big scandal about it, because he cheated them. One man even shot himself over it. Now people don’t invite her to parties anymore, not even after her husband died. Mrs. Van Orner was the only real friend she had left. So be very careful what you say to Mrs. Spratt-Williams. Do you understand?”
Sarah nodded. She thought she understood a lot more, too. The story about the man shooting himself sounded all too familiar.
FRANK HELPED MISS YINGLING TO A CHAIR. “CALM DOWN and tell me everything that happened.”
Miss Yingling sat down and took a deep breath. “I took Amy shopping. She needed some new clothes, so we were going to Macy’s Department Store. Herman took us in the carriage and let us out on a corner. We were walking down the sidewalk toward the entrance to the store when this woman approached us.”
“Was it Mrs. Walker?” Van Orner asked.
“Yes. Amy wasn’t afraid of her or anything. In fact, she seemed almost happy to see her. She said something like, ‘Look at me now, Mrs. Walker.’ That’s how I knew who she was.”
Van Orner had gone to the sideboard, and he brought back a small glass of something and put it in Miss Yingling’s hand. She took a sip before continuing her story.
“As soon as I saw her, I knew something was wrong. How would a woman like that dare approach us on a public street? But before I could think what to do, a man came up behind us and put his hand over Amy’s mouth.”
“Did you get a good look at him?”
“I don’t know. I might recognize him again, but it happened so quickly. I expected Amy to put up a fight, but she almost seemed to go limp.”
“Did you smell anything strange?” Frank asked.
She looked at him in surprise. “Yes, I did.”
“Chloroform,” Frank said to Van Orner. “What happened next?”
“Mrs. Walker shoved me out of the way and took Amy’s arm. The man took her other arm and together they walked her across the sidewalk to a waiting carriage. I tried to go after them, but there were so many people on the sidewalk, and they didn’t seem to notice what had happened and they got in my way. They were all so interested in where they were going, and when I started calling for help, they just started walking faster.”
“What kind of a world do we live in?” Mr. Van Orner muttered.
“So they put Amy in the carriage?” Malloy asked.
“Yes, the man almost had to pick her up to get her inside, and then the woman got in and he jumped up into the driver’s seat and drove away. By the time I found a policeman, they were gone, and he said he couldn’t do anything, so I ran all the way home to tell you.”
She looked like she had, too. She was still breathless, and her face was flushed and her hat crooked.
“That was the best thing you could’ve done,” Frank assured her. He turned to Van Orner. “Do you want me to get her back?”
Van Orner was furious. “Of course I do. The nerve of that woman, kidnapping someone in broad daylight on a public street. Amy is my property, and she knows it.”
Frank wanted to be sure. “What if Amy’s the one who . . .”
He saw the light of understanding in Van Orner’s eyes. “Yes, I see, but I don’t want Mrs. Walker to have her. Bring her back here, and we’ll sort it out. It’s just too bad Mrs. Walker isn’t the one who poisoned my wife. I’d help you arrest her myself.”
Miss Yingling gave a small cry, and both men turned to reassure her.
“Don’t worry,” Van Orner said. “No one blames you for this.”
“What did you mean?” she asked.
“About what?”
“About Mrs. Walker being the one to poison Mrs. Van Orner?”
Van Orner’s voice was gentle when he spoke to her, making Frank wonder exactly what their relationship was. “Mr. Malloy was just explaining to me who had an opportunity to poison Vivian, and while I’d be happy to find out Mrs. Walker was the guilty party, she couldn’t have been.”
“Yes, she could,” Miss Yingling said.
Van Orner shook his head firmly. “No, she couldn’t. She would have had to be near enough to Vivian that day to put the poison in her flask, but—”
“She was!”
Both men stared at her in surprise. Frank found his tongue first. “What are you talking about?”
“She was here. Mrs. Walker came here to the house that morning, the day Mrs. Van Orner died.”
“The Devil you say!” Van Orner cried. “The nerve of that woman, coming to my home! Surely, no one let her in, though.”
“I don’t know exactly what she said, but the maid put her in the receiving room and went looking for Mrs. Van Orner. We were getting ready to leave for the day. Mrs. Van Orner went down. She wouldn’t have her brought up to the parlor, so she went down to the receiving room, and they talked there.”
“Did Mrs. Van Orner have her purse with her?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember, but she must have because we were just getting our things to go out.”
“Would Mrs. Walker have had an opportunity to be alone with Mrs. Van Orner’s purse?”
Miss Yingling looked up at him in despair. “I don’t know. I just don’t know!”
“She must have. That’s it,” Van Orner said. “The Walker woman was angry at Vivian for breaking into her house and kidnapping Amy, so she poisoned Vivian and now she’s taken Amy back.”
Frank turned to Miss Yingling. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
Guilt flushed her cheeks, but she said, “I’d forgotten all about it. I was so upset after Mrs. Van Orner died . . .”
Frank knew she was lying, but he didn’t have time to figure out why just now. “Do you want to come with me?” he asked Van Orner.
“No, I’ll leave this to you.”
Of course he would. He didn’t want his name mentioned if there was trouble and the press got hold of it. “Which house on Sisters’ Row is it?”
