would assume he had the means for such a venture, even if he didn’t have any social standing in the city yet. And don’t forget, Chilton seemed very confident. He managed to convince several of us to take a chance. Maybe he thought he’d do Richmond a good turn by letting him in.”
“Have you ever known Devries to do somebody a good turn for no reason?”
Decker had no answer.
“I’ll tell you what I think. I think he ruined Richmond on purpose so he could get Garnet.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean he wanted a wife for his son.”
“Chilton didn’t have to scheme to bring that about. Paul Devries could marry anyone he wanted.”
“Could he?”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you met Paul’s friend, Hugh Zeller?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m talking about. Paul and Hugh Zeller are very close friends. They’re such close friends that Paul would probably not be interested in women.”
Decker simply stared back at Frank across his desk, his expression stony.
“I think Devries wanted his son comfortably and safely married, but he couldn’t take the chance of marrying him off to a girl who might be disappointed in Paul and reveal his secret.”
“A girl whose family would be outraged,” Decker said. “A family with power and influence who would make sure Devries and his family were socially ostracized for tricking a young woman like that.”
“Then he met Garnet Richmond, and he decided she would be the perfect wife for Paul, if he could make her desperate enough that she would take him and stay with him under any circumstances.”
“Good God,” Decker said, this time in a horrified whisper. “But he’d already gotten what he wanted. Why did he want to kill Mrs. Richmond?”
“I’m not sure yet, but Paul told me Garnet wanted a divorce. Mrs. Richmond came to New York to see her daughter, and maybe Devries thought she would help Garnet leave.”
Decker shook his head as if trying to clear it. “But does this have anything at all to do with why somebody stabbed Chilton?”
“I don’t know yet. The question is, do you want me to keep on trying to find out?”
9
WHEN SARAH WOKE UP, SHE WAS DELIGHTED TO FIND HER mother had stopped by for a visit. Mrs. Decker had been only too happy to join Catherine and Maeve upstairs for some make-believe involving the dollhouse while she waited for Sarah to finish her nap.
Maeve and Catherine had fixed her a sandwich to tide her over until supper, then the girls went back upstairs so Sarah and her mother could speak privately. They shared the details of their respective visits with Malloy while Sarah ate her sandwich at the kitchen table.
“Do you think Father will allow him to continue the investigation?” Sarah asked.
“I have no idea, although I will certainly encourage him to, if I can. I simply can’t get over Garnet being with child, though. Why wouldn’t she have told Paul and Lucretia? I gathered that her failure to produce a son to carry on the family name was a major source of Lucretia’s disappointment in her.”
“Maybe she didn’t want to say anything until she was certain. Claiming to be with child when you’re not can cause even more resentment.”
“Perhaps, but still…You said she wasn’t happy about the baby.”
“No, and that’s puzzling. Of course, if she wanted to end her marriage, a child would complicate matters tremendously.”
“Yes, it would. Although she would be a fool to divorce Paul; if she wanted her freedom badly enough, she might be willing to tolerate the disgrace and being left with nothing.”
Sarah tried to remember anything she might know about a society divorce. Alva and William Vanderbilt, Consuelo’s parents, were divorced, but Alva had somehow managed to remarry another millionaire almost immediately, so their situation was hardly comparable to Garnet and Paul Devries. Besides the Vanderbilts, she couldn’t think of any other examples. “Garnet could go back to her family, I suppose, if they would take her in, but Mrs. Devries would never allow her to take her child.”
“Heavens, no, and the law would support that. Paul would get the child, and Garnet would never see it again. That would explain her unhappiness about the baby, at least.”
“The choice between staying in an unhappy marriage or never seeing your child again is awful.”
“Women stay in unhappy marriages for far less noble reasons all the time,” her mother said. “And how unhappy can she be? Lucretia is a harridan, to be sure, but I can’t believe Paul is a problem. Surely, he doesn’t beat her or starve her or keep her locked away in the cellar. The worst I can imagine is that he neglects her, and many women would consider that a benefit.”
Her mother was right, of course. Chilton and Lucretia Devries apparently had just such an arrangement. She and her mother had reached no conclusions a few minutes later when the doorbell brought Catherine and Maeve clamoring downstairs to greet the visitor.
“Just as I hoped,” her mother said when they recognized Frank Malloy’s deep voice. “I knew he wouldn’t dare come to our house again, but I felt sure he’d be here sooner or later.”
Sarah bit back a smile. Her mother was obviously enjoying the novelty of having a murder to investigate. Or perhaps she had simply grown fond of Frank Malloy.
In a few more moments, Malloy appeared in the doorway, carrying a delighted Catherine. Sarah felt her smile growing at the sight. She had grown very fond of Frank Malloy herself.
“Mrs. Decker, I was hoping you’d be here,” he said with a grin.
“Great minds think alike, Mr. Malloy,” she replied.
“What does that mean?” Catherine asked.
“I’ll explain it to you later,” Maeve said. “Now tell Mr. Malloy good-bye. The grown-ups need to talk for a while.”
“Then can I come back?”
“Of course,” Malloy said. “Now give me a kiss before you go.”
Catherine giggled and pecked him on the cheek. Children, Sarah reflected, are excellent judges of character.
When the girls were gone, Malloy took a seat at the kitchen table. Without asking, Sarah poured him a cup of coffee.
“Have you been busy today, Mr. Malloy?” her mother asked.
“Yes, I have. I visited Mrs. Richmond and Miss English.”
“Miss English is Mr. Devries’s mistress, Mother.”
“I don’t suppose you would need me to see her as well,” her mother said. “I’ve never actually met anyone’s mistress before.”
“No, I would not,” Malloy said quite firmly.
“Pity. Oh, well, at least you can tell us what you’ve learned from these two ladies. Oh, dear, does one call a mistress a lady? I don’t believe this was covered in my deportment classes at Miss Lydia’s Finishing School.”
“Behave yourself, Mother. Poor Mr. Malloy doesn’t know you’re teasing him.”
“I think he probably does, but I should allow him to tell his story. That
“Which means you have to suffer through a lot of dull conversations, I’d guess,” Malloy said.
“But never when I am in your company, Mr. Malloy.”
Malloy raised his eyebrows, but he said, “I am happy to report that Mrs. Richmond is alive and well.”
“That’s good news,” Sarah said.
“What is her first name? I keep thinking I must know her.”
