Sarah walked slowly, hugging the rail and straining to see a place down below, along the side of the bridge, where a person might get to the edge and climb up over the rails and cables and …
“Sarah!”
She turned and saw Malloy. He was on the other side of the walkway. She darted and dodged among the other pedestrians to reach him.
“Do you see her?’ she asked.
“No, but I can see how you could get out there.” He pointed to a narrow strip of pavement at the edge of the outer traffic lane, which was probably for workmen to use. They could see for a long way down the length of the bridge and saw no sign of her.
“How far would she go?” Sarah asked.
“I doubt she’d walk out very far onto the bridge. Too much chance of someone seeing her and stopping her.”
“Where is she, then?” Sarah looked again in all directions. “I’ll go back to the other side and watch from there.”
Once again she was buffeted and bumped by the heedless individuals intent on getting where they were going. When she reached the rail, she saw the same narrow access area on this side as well. The only difference was that on this side, a solitary figure hunched against the wind was making her way gingerly along it.
15
“MALLOY!” SARAH SCREAMED AS SHE FRANTICALLY SCANNED the area below, trying to figure out how to get down to where Terry Richmond was. “Mrs. Richmond! Terry!” she called, waving.
Someone grabbed her hand and pulled it down. “Don’t,” Malloy said. “If she sees us up here, she might panic and jump.”
“What can we do, then?”
“We need to get down there so you can tell her she doesn’t have anything to be afraid of. Come on.”
He took her arm and propelled her into the streaming mass of pedestrians heading for the Manhattan side of the bridge. Sarah had to resist the urge to knock people over in her desperation to reach the end of the bridge again. Fortunately, many of them were also in a hurry, and they were soon back where they had started.
Sarah had no idea how to get onto the walkway Mrs. Richmond was using, but fortunately, Malloy did. They had to cross through the line of vehicles entering the traffic lanes, but after only a couple close calls as they darted in front of skittish horses controlled by impatient drivers, they reached the point at which Mrs. Richmond must have entered the bridge.
“Hey, where’re you going?” a young workman yelled at them as Malloy helped Sarah up the steep steps to reach the narrow walkway that ran along the edge of the bridge.
Malloy identified himself. “There’s a woman out there who’s planning to jump.”
The young man swore, and Malloy cuffed him on the ear.
“Watch your language, and get some help. We’re going out to stop her, so don’t make a lot of noise when you come up. Let us talk to her.”
The fellow nodded and ran off.
Sarah had reached the top of the steps, and she could see Mrs. Richmond. She was maybe a hundred feet out. She’d stopped and was looking down over the side, probably judging the distance as Malloy had predicted.
“I’m going to hang back,” Malloy said. “If she sees me, she might jump before we get a chance to say anything to her. Are you going to be able to do this?”
Sarah had no idea. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she felt as if she couldn’t draw enough air into her lungs, but she looked deep into Malloy’s dark eyes and nodded.
“Go on, then,” he said.
Sarah wanted to run, but the path was narrow and the wind buffeted her, bringing tears to her eyes and forcing her to clutch at the railing as she moved forward. Remembering Malloy’s warning, she resisted the urge to call out. Finally, she was close enough that Mrs. Richmond sensed her presence. Her head jerked up, and she took a step back.
“Don’t come any closer!”
Sarah raised both her hands in a gesture of surrender. “Don’t do this. You don’t have anything to be afraid of.”
She laughed at that, an ugly, bitter sound. “What do you know?”
“I know everything. I know you stabbed Devries with the knife you got from Mr. Angotti, but it was self- defense. You won’t be punished for that.”
“You’re lying. I know Mr. Malloy came with you this morning. He’s going to arrest me. I won’t put Garnet through that, not after what’s already happened to her.”
She reached up and grabbed one of the thousands of cables that supported the bridge, stuck her foot into the grillwork, and began to hoist herself up.
“No!” Sarah cried, sprinting toward her. “Stop! Listen to me!”
From the pedestrian walkway above, a voice shouted, “Somebody’s jumping!”
Mrs. Richmond froze, instinctively looking up to see who had spoken. The foot traffic on the walkway had stopped, and dozens of faces were peering down at them.
“Jump! Jump!”
“What’re you waiting for!”
A cacophony of voices showered down on them, jeering and urging her on. Nearer, the wagon drivers were stopping their horses, wanting to see the show.
“Don’t listen to them!” Sarah said, stopping just short of touching distance. “Listen to me! You can’t do this to Garnet, not after what she’s been through. Your daughter needs you.”
“She doesn’t need me to shame her!”
“You won’t, I swear it. Mr. Malloy is here. He’ll tell you himself. He just wanted to make sure you were the one who did it so he could stop the investigation.”
“But your father won’t stop it. Devries was his friend.”
She hoisted herself higher, ready to swing her leg over the edge when a gust of wind rattled the cables and threw her backward, dislodging her other foot so for a heart-stopping moment she swung free, clinging to the cable with both hands.
With a cry, Sarah threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around Mrs. Richmond’s flailing legs. The force of her struggles slammed Sarah against the side of the bridge.
“Let me go!” Mrs. Richmond bucked and squirmed, but Sarah held on, refusing to let go, refusing to fail.
Locked in a desperate embrace, they seemed frozen there for a brief eternity as a roar of voices above protested Sarah’s heroics. Then the shouts were closer and followed by the pounding of running feet, and Malloy was there with his minions.
He took Mrs. Richmond’s weight and others pried her hands from their death grip on the cable, and then she was down, standing on the pavement, except her knees buckled, and Malloy had to lift her into his arms.
Sarah was vaguely aware of the shouts still raining down on them from the frustrated gawkers who had been cheated out of a spectacle, but she didn’t care. She was too busy thanking the grim-faced bridge workers who had assisted Malloy as they escorted them back off the bridge.
Trotting along behind Malloy, Sarah heard Mrs. Richmond ask, “Where are you taking me?”
“To your daughter,” he said.
* * *
WHEN FRANK ARRIVED AT THE DECKER HOUSE SEVERAL hours later, he wasn’t surprised to be immediately escorted into the family parlor. First of all, he was accompanied by the Deckers’ daughter, which would have guaranteed him admittance. Even more important, though, the phone call he had made to Decker from the Devrieses’ house had announced that he would be delivering the solution to Chilton Devries’s death, which made him just as welcome as Sarah.
