Armed with directions, Frank refused the offer of Van Orner’s carriage. He would make better time on foot and the elevated train.
THE TENDERLOIN WAS QUIET AT THIS HOUR ON A MONDAY morning. The seven houses of Sisters’ Row sat as if sleeping, their shaded windows like shuttered eyes. Frank counted carefully to make sure he was at the right door and then hammered with authority.
After a few minutes, a voice called out, “We’re closed!”
“Not to me,” Frank called back. “I’m the police.”
“We paid our protection. Go away!”
“Open up or I’ll get a squad to break down the door!”
Frank could almost feel the frustration of the person on the other side of the door as she turned the locks, ready to give Frank an earful. As soon as the latch released, however, Frank threw his weight against the door, sending the other person staggering backward as it lurched open.
“Mrs. Walker’ll have your job!” the woman screamed, her dark face fierce with fury.
“Just tell her Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy is here because Gregory Van Orner sent him.”
Her eyes widened with either fear or amazement. He hadn’t figured out which before she turned and ran up the stairs. Frank decided he wouldn’t find out anything standing where he was, so he followed her at a more sedate pace.
By the time he reached the top of the stairs, Mrs. Walker was hurrying down the hallway to meet him. “Where’s Amy?” he demanded.
“Hush,” she cried in a hoarse whisper. “You’ll wake the other girls.”
Frank wasn’t particularly concerned about that. “Just tell me where Amy is and I’ll take her back to Van Orner and we’ll pretend this never happened.”
“Are you crazy? Van Orner is the one who ordered me to bring her back here.”
Frank needed a minute to absorb this ridiculous statement, and before he could formulate a reply, a male voice called from downstairs.
“Mrs. Walker? Are you there?”
Frank had left the front door standing open and someone had wandered in.
Mrs. Walker made an exasperated sound, pushed past him, and hurried down the stairs. Before he could decide whether to follow her or stay where he was, she was coming up again. A small man with white hair carrying a doctor’s black bag was right behind her.
“Do you have any idea what she took?” he was asking her.
“She didn’t take anything. She was perfectly fine and then she just fainted and we can’t wake her up.”
Frank stepped out of the way to let them pass. Mrs. Walker gave him a dirty look. “Don’t try to scare me, copper.”
Frank had thought for sure that mention of Van Orner would scare
He waited until Mrs. Walker and the doctor disappeared into one of the bedrooms, then he followed. He wasn’t exactly sneaking, just not making more noise than was absolutely necessary. He stopped outside the door, which they’d left ajar.
“What did you use on her, Rowena?” the doctor asked.
“Nothing, I told you.”
“Don’t lie to me. I can smell the chloroform.”
“Just a little, to keep her calm while we brought her here. She came around after we got her in the house, and then she started screaming bloody murder like they sometimes do.”
“So you gave her some more?”
“I know better than that. I talked to her until she calmed down. She was mad as a scalded cat and then she said she didn’t feel right and laid down on the bed. That’s when I called you.”
“You gave her too much.”
“No, I didn’t. I know my business, Arthur. I’ve never lost a girl yet.”
“You’ve lost one now.”
“What are you talking about?”
“She’s dead.”
“She can’t be dead!”
Frank stepped into the room. A pretty young woman lay on the bed, her face white, her body still. “Is that Amy Cunningham?”
Mrs. Walker looked up. “Are you still here? I thought I told you to get out.”
“Is that Amy?” he asked again.
“What if it is?”
“If it is, then Mr. Van Orner is going to be very upset.”
“I don’t see why. He wanted rid of her and now he’s rid of her.”
“If he wanted rid of her, why did he send me to get her back?”
The doctor was putting things back into his medical bag. “Next time, be more careful, Rowena.”
“I told you, I was careful!”
“What did she die of?” Frank asked the doctor.
“I’d say too much chloroform.”
“It wasn’t that!” Mrs. Walker cried. “I told you, she came around after we gave it to her. She was talking sense and running around the house and everything.”
“She was, really,” the maid offered. She’d been standing off to the side, wringing her hands. “She was perfectly fine, then something took her real sudden.”
“What do you say, Doc?” Frank asked.
“I don’t hold with autopsies, but that’s the only way to tell for sure.”
“Your opinion,” Frank prodded.
“If it was chloroform, she wouldn’t have woken up. If she woke up, and they didn’t give her any more—”
“We didn’t!” Mrs. Walker insisted.
“Then it could’ve been something else, although she’s young to up and die for no reason.”
“She just had a baby,” Mrs. Walker said. “A couple weeks ago or maybe three.”
The doctor pursed his lips. “Maybe complications from that. I’ve seen it happen.”
“Or maybe you killed her,” Frank said, “the way you killed Mrs. Van Orner.”
“What?” Mrs. Walker gaped at him.
“I know you went to see her the morning she died. Somebody put laudanum in the flask she carried, enough to kill her. Maybe that’s what she did to Amy, too,” he added to the doctor. “Is that why you kidnapped her today? Because she knew you’d killed Mrs. Van Orner? Or maybe you killed Mrs. Van Orner for revenge for stealing Amy out from under your nose and now you’ve punished Amy for wanting to get away.”
Mrs. Walker looked stunned. “I didn’t even know Mrs. Van Orner was dead. What happened to her?”
“I think you know exactly what happened to her.”
“I don’t! And I didn’t need revenge for anything! Gregory Van Orner told me where Amy would be today and said he was sick and tired of her and wanted me to take her back.”
Frank gave her a pitying look. “How do you intend to prove that?”
“I don’t have to prove anything,” she snapped.
“You will when I arrest you for kidnapping . . . and murder.”
“Murder! That’s rich. Wasn’t nobody murdered.”
“Mrs. Van Orner was, and now here’s Amy lying dead in your house. Are we going to find she died of an overdose of laudanum, too?”
“She didn’t have a dose of anything, I’m telling you! I wouldn’t hurt a hair on her head. She’s worth a fortune to me alive. What kind of a fool do you take me for, to put myself out of business by killing my own whores?”
“We’ll let a jury decide that.”
“What do you mean, a jury? I’m not going to trial for anything.”
