Bless the Bride

More disturbing thoughts went through my head as I walked faster and faster toward Mott Street. I had been told that the Sixth Precinct officers accepted bribes from the Chinese community. What if Bobby Lee, or whoever the real killer was, was paying Captain Kear enough money to pin this crime on someone who couldn’t defend himself, like Frederick?

If I went to the Tombs, would they let me see Frederick, I wondered. Almost certainly not, and such an act would be bound to get back to Daniel. The only way I could make Daniel take over this investigation was if I could prove Frederick’s innocence or find out who really pushed Lee Sing Tai off that roof. And I really had no idea how to do that. But the one thing I could do was to see if I could rally the decent members of the Chinese community to help Frederick. Surely the Chius might know of a lawyer who would take his case?

I felt a growing sense of unease as I entered Mott Street even though the scene was livelier than usual today, with men sitting on stoops, standing outside restaurants drinking tea, or shopping at the stores that were all open in spite of the Labor Day holiday. Again I couldn’t see any women among the crowd until I heard a voice blaring from a megaphone and Chuck Connors came into the street with another of his slumming tour groups. Like the one I had seen before, this one was composed of more women than men and their eyes were wide with anticipation as they followed their leader into the forbidden world of Chinatown.

“I am going to show you a scene of such vile depravity that some of you ladies may need to find your smelling salts before we enter,” he was saying as he led them to the fake opium den. I have to admit that my curiosity was piqued. What did an opium den actually look like? As they disappeared into a doorway and down a flight of stairs, I acted on impulse and followed the last members of the tour. They were a young couple, the girl clutching her sweetheart’s arm desperately.

“Do you really think we should do this?” she whimpered. “What if someone tries to kidnap me? What if we breathe the opium fumes and we’re overcome or robbed?”

“I’m here to protect you, Daisy,” he said, looking down at her with concern.

“Will we not be putting ourselves in danger?” a woman at the front of the pack asked.

“Don’t worry, madam,” Connors replied in a low voice. “Those poor wretches we’re going to see won’t even notice we’re here. They are under the power of the drug.”

Our footsteps echoed down the narrow stairwell. At the bottom we came into a dimly lit area. Smoke swirled around one hissing lamp, so it was hard to see what lay beyond, but I could make out wooden platforms around the walls. Figures lay on them, some smoking from long pipes, others lying in a stupor. At intervals around the room braziers glowed. Although I knew it was not a true opium den, I felt a rush of fear. The air was cloying with scented smoke and suddenly I felt that I couldn’t breathe. I turned and tiptoed back up the stairs as Connors’s voice said in a hushed stage whisper, “They are all in the land of their dreams. For the moment they are happy. They have escaped from their troubles. But the moment the drug wears off, they will have to repeat the process. Once smoked, the drug takes over their lives. They will never escape from it, never be free.”

I came out into the fresh air and stood catching my breath, ashamed of my momentary panic. It wasn’t like me to be so easily frightened, especially when I knew that the scene had been staged for the benefit of the tourists and the moment they departed the actors would go back to their normal lives. But there was something about the place—some undercurrent of danger that I had picked up. I put it out of my mind and went straight to the Chius’ residence.

In response to my knock the door was opened by a tall young man. He was so like Frederick Lee in appearance that I gasped out, “Frederick?”

“Can I help you, ma’am?” he asked, and I realized that the similarity was in the Eurasian features and this boy was younger and skinnier.

“You must be Mrs. Chiu’s son who is attending Princeton,” I said. “My name is Murphy. I wondered if I might speak to your parents?”

“Who is it, Joe?” a man’s voice called from beyond the screen.

“An Irish lady, dad. Mrs. Murphy,” the boy called back. “Wants to speak to you and mom.”

“From the church or the missions?”

“Didn’t say.”

“I’ll be right there,” the man’s voice said, and a slightly built Chinaman came around the screen, straightening his ascot.

I held out my hand to him. “Molly Murphy,” I said. “I had the pleasure of meeting your wife the other day and I wondered if I could have a word with you both.”

“Come in,” he said, ushering me through the hallway. “Aileen,” he called. “You’ve got company.”

“I’m just finishing up in here,” Mrs. Chiu’s voice came from the far end of the passage.

“Take a seat. She’ll be coming right away.” Mr. Chiu escorted me to the sofa. I sat. “If you’ve come to visit, I’m afraid this isn’t a good time. We’re just about to go out,” he said. Although his words were slightly clipped and staccato, his English was remarkably good. “We take a picnic to Staten Island with friends from church today.”

“How lovely. It’s a perfect day for a picnic,” I said. “I won’t keep you long. I came actually because I need some help and your wife is the only person I know in Chinatown whom I felt I could approach.”

At that moment Aileen Chiu came into the room, wiping her hands on the apron she wore over her good clothes. “Sorry, I was just finishing making the egg sandwiches,” she said. Her face broke into a smile when she saw me. “Why, it’s you, Miss Murphy. How nice to see you again. But I’m afraid you’ve come at a bad time. We’re just on our way out. We’re meeting friends at the Staten Island ferry. We always share a picnic with members of our church on Labor Day.”

“I’m sorry. Of course I won’t keep you then,” I said. “Perhaps I could come back later today when you get home?”

“We usually stay pretty late,” she said, giving her husband a worried glance. “What is this about?”

“You remember the young man you saw me with the other day, Frederick Lee?” I said. “You thought he was my sweetheart?”

“Of course I remember. I used to know his mother before she passed away, God rest her poor soul,” Aileen Chiu said.

I took a deep breath. “Well, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Frederick has been arrested for the murder of Lee Sing Tai. They are holding him in the Tombs.”

“Holy Mother of God,” Aileen Chiu muttered. “We heard about Mr. Lee being killed, of course, but I don’t think we knew he was murdered, did we, Albert?”

“There were rumors going around On Leong, but nobody knew anything definite,” Mr. Chiu said. “So they’ve arrested Frederick Lee, have they? That’s too bad.”

“I’m sure he’s innocent,” I said. “So I wondered if you might know how to obtain a lawyer for him. I don’t believe he’ll get a fair hearing otherwise. I suspect that Captain Kear wants to pin it on Frederick because he’s not connected to one of the tongs.”

“Captain Kear. I might have known,” Aileen Chiu said, smoothing her hands down her apron. “That man’s nothing but trouble. He’s given Albert his share of grief, hasn’t he, my dear, because Albert won’t go along with bribing the police.”

“Let’s not go into that,” Albert said curtly. “So Frederick Lee is being held in the Tombs and you want us to find a lawyer to represent him?”

“A good lawyer,” I said. “I just wondered if you knew such a person. I don’t know how much Frederick could pay, but I hate to think of him being browbeaten into a confession because he has nobody to speak for him.”

“Quite right,” Albert Chiu said. “Don’t worry, Miss Murphy. I will try to do something about this. I will ask my fellow church members today and if they can’t come up with anybody, then I will go to CCBA tomorrow. They will certainly find someone to represent him.”

“CCBA? What’s that?” I asked

“It is the Consolidated Benevolent Association. It looks after the welfare of Chinese citizens.”

“For a price,” Aileen muttered.

Albert frowned at her.

“Well, it does,” she said defiantly. “You have to pay CCBA if you want to open a business in Chinatown.”

“Isn’t that just like one of the tongs, then?” I asked.

“Oh, no,” Albert said. “It’s how the tongs started out. Now they’re too busy trying to destroy each other and demand protection money from us businessmen. At least the CCBA is not crooked. They will probably pay to hire a lawyer for Frederick Lee.”

“Unless someone in On Leong like Bobby Lee pays them not to,” Aileen said.

“Hush, woman. Do not speak of something you know little about,” Albert said. “My word is respected in this community. If I ask for help, I will receive help. You need not worry, Miss Murphy. I will do my best for a fellow Chinese.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am.”

“How do they know that Lee Sing Tai was murdered?” Albert Chiu asked. “From what I heard, he fell from the roof where he had been sleeping.”

“Someone pushed him from the roof,” I said.

“How do they know this? Was there a witness?”

“He had a wound to the side of his head,” I said. Even as the words came out I realized that I was probably the one who had caused all this trouble. If only I had kept quiet about noticing the wound. If only I had not insisted that Lee Sing Tai had been murdered, then Captain Kear would probably have been happy to let the death be ruled accidental. As usual I had spoken too hastily, without thinking through the consequences, and it was my fault that Frederick Lee was now locked up in the Tombs.

“Is that so?” Mr. Chiu nodded. “So it is believed that someone struck him first and then threw him to his death?”

“You see, I knew it,” Aileen Chiu said triumphantly. “I knew there had been a death that night. What did I tell you?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, we were sleeping on our roof too,” Aileen Chiu said. “And our Kitty woke up and said she thought she saw an angel. So I said to Albert—it’s come down from heaven to take somebody, you mark my words. And I was right.”

“Your Kitty saw an angel? On Mr. Lee’s rooftop?” I asked.

“She couldn’t exactly pinpoint it to Mr. Lee’s rooftop, but it was one of those buildings farther down the block. Her father thought she’d dreamed it, of course, but she was quite insistent. It was either an angel or a fairy, she said.”

“Did she say what this angel looked like?” I tried to keep my voice steady.

“A little dainty spirit thing, like a young girl with white wings, and it flew from one roof to the next.”

Twenty-seven

I ran all the way back to the El station on Chatham Square, driven by my anger. I stood, seething, on the railway platform, waiting for a train that didn’t come. Finally it dawned on me that today was a public holiday and the train schedule would be curtailed. I ran down the steps again, not willing to wait any longer, threw caution to the winds, and hailed myself a cab.

I had to get back to Patchin Place immediately. I had to confront her. I didn’t stop to think that if she had killed once before, most efficiently, she could do so again if cornered. I was so furious at having been taken in by her. Poor little Bo Kei—please do what you can to help Frederick. I know he’s innocent. Well, of course he was innocent if she had killed Lee Sing Tai herself. Unless she had persuaded or driven him to help her. She had demonstrated just how forceful she could be. And he was besotted with her. A man will do a lot for a woman he loves, especially if there is only one way for them to be together and that involved hurling her husband from a rooftop.

There was still the question of the big workman’s boots. Frederick was a clerk, and his sort didn’t wear hobnail boots. But then I had never actually studied his feet. He could have inherited the shoe size of his European mother. He could have worn those boots that night to throw us off the scent. I dismissed that notion right away. Who would be aware that the tar on the rooftop might become soft enough to leave imprints after a hot day?

But if Bo Kei had killed Mr. Lee, she would surely have needed an accomplice to help her carry the unconscious Lee Sing Tai to the edge of the roof. And in my cursory examination I had seen no sign in the dust and dirt up there of a body having been dragged. And what better accomplice than her beloved Frederick? I realized with utter mortification that I had probably been duped yet again.

No, that wasn’t quite true. I had made poor judgments. I had assumed that she and Frederick were innocent because they seemed like nice, wholesome young people. And yet Daniel had reminded me more than once that murderers don’t look like villains. I came to the conclusion that my anger was directed at myself as much as at Bo Kei.

As the cab came to a halt at the entrance to Patchin Place I felt a sudden spasm of fear. In my mind as I had traveled northward, Bo Kei had become a dangerous monster, not just a frightened and desperate girl. What if she had killed my friends—stolen their jewels and run off? I overpaid the cabby in my haste and teetered in my impractical lady’s shoes over the cobbles to their front door. Why, oh, why did they not make sensible shoes for women? I’d willingly have worn hobnail boots. I knocked on the front door, waited for what seemed an age, then let out a huge sigh of relief as Sid answered it.

“Thank heavens,” I muttered. “Where is Bo Kei?”

Sid looked surprised.

“What’s the matter? You look as white as a sheet. She’s sleeping, I believe. Gus felt an urge to paint today, so I moved the Chinese girl into your room, as she said she was sleepy.”

The horrible vision in my head transformed into a picture of Gus sitting engrossed in her painting while Bo Kei came up behind her, a heavy object in her hand. I left Sid staring at me and positively ran up the stairs. My bedroom door was closed. I flung it open and a sleepy Bo Kei opened her eyes and looked up at me.

“Missie Molly. You come back. What news?” she asked, sitting up anxiously.

“How could you?” I burst out, my intention to tread carefully with a dangerous killer having been forgotten in the heat of the moment. “You lied to me. You let me help you and spirit you to safety. Do you realize I can find myself in terrible trouble for harboring a criminal? This could put my upcoming marriage in jeopardy.”

“What do you mean?” She stared at me worriedly. “What criminal do you speak of?”

“Don’t you play innocent with me, miss. You begged me to save poor Frederick because you knew he was innocent. Of course you knew it. All the time it was you!”

She looked as if she was about to cry. “What was me? What have I done?”

“Killed the person who stood between you and happiness. You were seen, Bo Kei. Someone saw you leaping from one rooftop to the next.”

“Yes, I did this. On the night that I escaped, more than one week ago.”

“No, on the night that Lee Sing Tai was hurled down to his death.”

“That is not possible.” She looked shocked. “How could I be there? You yourself took me to the house of safety.”

“I am told it would be comparatively easy to come and go unnoticed from that house. Maybe you climbed down the drainpipe again. Maybe you got out of your window and crossed the roof to make your escape. You seem rather good at doing that kind of thing.”

She was still staring at me in horror. “But I did not kill Lee Sing Tai. I swear this. I also swear that I did not go to his rooftop that night. That man frightens me. I would do anything in my power to stay away from him. Why would I risk going back to a man who would make me his slave?”

“So that you could be free forever, of course. So that you could be with Frederick. While Lee Sing Tai was alive you would never be free, would you?”

“I admit it. I am glad that he is dead,” she said in a small voice. “But I swear to you, on all the holy saints of your church, that I was not the one who pushed him from the roof. I was not the one who killed him.”

I stared at her, wishing I could read her mind. There was something about the way she phrased that last sentence that made me wonder if she knew who did the actual killing if she didn’t do it herself. “You know what I think?” I said. “That you and Frederick planned this between you. You might not have been strong enough to throw Lee off the roof, but Frederick was.”

“No, this is not true. Frederick is innocent. He is a good, upright man. He would never do a terrible thing like this, never.” She was sobbing now. “Please, Missie Molly. Please believe me.”

“I want to believe you, Bo Kei. I wanted to help both of you, but if someone tells me they saw a small, slight figure jumping from roof to roof, the very night that Lee Sing Tai was killed, what am I to believe?”

She went to say something, hesitated, then said, “Maybe what they saw was laundry, flapping in the wind. Plenty laundry on rooftops. Maybe it was someone moving across another roof on their way to bed. Plenty people sleep on roof when weather is hot.”

“It doesn’t matter. If you and Frederick did this between you, then the truth will soon come out,” I said. “He is being held in the Tombs. That is a terrible place. I’ve been there. If he has something to confess, trust me, he will confess it.”

“But what if they make him confess to something that he didn’t do?” She wailed. “This happens all the time in China. Men will say anything when police do terrible things like drive bamboo under fingernails or burn with red hot pokers.”

I shuddered. “The police here don’t do anything like that,” I said. “I only meant that those cells are damp and it is frightening to be locked away in darkness. If Frederick really is innocent, then you have nothing to fear.”

As I said the words a sliver of doubt crept into my mind. I knew there were policemen like Daniel who were firm but honest. But then there was also Captain Kear, who had made it quite clear that Frederick was the ideal suspect. Might he not resort to underhanded means to make Frederick confess to something he didn’t do?

“I do not think they will ever be able to discover who did this crime,” she said, looking at me defiantly now. “A man falls from a rooftop. How can they know if he was pushed? How can they say who pushed him if nobody saw?”

“They have ways of finding out,” I said. “For one thing, someone had hit him on the head to knock him out. They will find the weapon and there will be fingerprints on it.”

“Fingerprints? What is this?”

“Did you know that every person’s finger leaves a print of a different pattern? The police now have a way of examining the prints people leave on objects that they touch. Later they take fingerprints from people they suspect, and if one of them matches up, then they know who is guilty. Clever, no?”

She nodded.

“The New York police are among the first to put fingerprinting into action.”

“But people must leave fingerprints all over their own houses.”

“Of course they do. But if a strange print shows up where it shouldn’t—on a heavy object that struck Lee Sing Tai, for example—then they will not stop until they have found the person who matches that print.”

I had hoped this might scare her, and indeed she did look worried, but then she said, “If Frederick or I had done this terrible thing, you would not be able to prove it by finding our fingerprints at Lee’s house. I lived in that place and Frederick was summoned there by his employer. The police would expect to find that we had touched many things.”

That was true, of course. I didn’t know what else to say. In fact I found myself deeply confused. She wasn’t acting as if she was guilty, but then I obviously wasn’t as good at extracting a confession as professionals like Daniel. What was I going to do with her? If she had killed Lee Sing Tai, then I certainly didn’t want to compromise myself or Sid and Gus for a moment longer. But if she was telling the truth and she was innocent, then I didn’t want to hand her over to Captain Kear either. I deeply regretted my rash behavior in bringing her here. When would I learn to think first and not act on impulse? I came to a decision: I would tell Sid and Gus the whole story, as much as I knew it. They were worldly wise, intelligent women. I would let them suggest our next course of action.

“You can go back to your nap,” I said, “but whatever you do, don’t try to leave the house. Every policeman in New York is looking for you. I want to speak to our hostesses. We must decide what to do with you.”

“They will believe I am innocent,” she said defiantly. “They are good, kind women.”

I was on my way to the door when I heard deep pounding coming from below. Someone was hammering on the front door. Bo Kei leaped to her feet and ran over to me.

“The police have found me,” she whimpered.

“Let’s hope not. Stay put until I come back.”

As I came out onto the upper landing Sid was coming up the stairs. She held a piece of paper in her hand.

“That was a messenger boy,” she said. “It’s a message from Sarah Lindley for Bo Kei. Not good news, I’m afraid.”

She handed me the sheet of paper. It read: I AM SORRY TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR FRIEND ANNIE HAS JUST PASSED AWAY.

Twenty-eight

Bo Kei was distraught when I told her the sad news. Her face crumpled and she broke into noisy sobs.

“No, this can’t be true,” she said. “How did she die?”

I went to sit on the bed beside her and put my hand gently on hers. “She was very sick, Bo. She had consumption. People who catch that disease don’t get better.”

“No!” She was shaking her head violently now. “She tell me she not so sick. She says she will soon be well and we will go away from New York together.”

I looked at her with pity. “I’m sure she said that to make you feel better. She didn’t want to upset you with the knowledge that she was going to die.”

“But yesterday she was well. She was jumping around and laughing. Having good time. She has plenty strength to—” She broke off. “She was plenty strong,” she corrected herself. She stood up suddenly. “I must go to see her.”

“You know that’s not possible. It’s too dangerous for you to leave the house at the moment. You must stay here.”

“But I must. I must make sure her bones are taken back to China or she will never rest.”

“You were raised by Christian nuns, Bo Kei,” I said. “Surely you believe that her soul has gone up to heaven. It doesn’t matter what happens to her bones.”

“But Chinese believe bones must be buried with ancestors or ghosts will walk without home.” She shook her head, sending out a spray of tears. “All my fault. I should never leave her behind when I come here. I beg you to bring her along, but you say no.”

“Bo Kei, I couldn’t risk bringing a dreadful disease like consumption into my friends’ home. You have to understand that. I was trying to do my best to save you. I should have left well enough alone.”

“Yes,” she said. “If I had been with Annie, maybe she would still be alive.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean maybe she doesn’t die from this wasting disease. New York is dangerous place. Perhaps bad men find her.”

“What bad men are you talking about?”

I stared at her. She shrugged. “Plenty bad men in New York,” she said.

I wasn’t quite sure where this was going. “But she didn’t run away from the brothel, did she? She was thrown out because of her disease.”

“Yes, but…” She hesitated, chewing on her lip. I sensed that she wanted to tell me more, but was afraid to.

It’s not your business. Don’t get involved. The words boomed through my head. As usual I ignored them.

“I’ll go to the settlement house, if you like,” I said. “I can find out for you what will happen to her body and where she’ll be buried.”

“Okay.” She nodded, defeated. “You tell them I must know where they bury her, because one day it is my duty, as family member, to take her home to our village in China.”

“I’ll tell them that,” I said, thinking that it was most likely that poor Annie would be buried in the potter’s field with all the others who couldn’t afford a proper funeral. I went across to Gus’s studio and poked my head around the door. Gus was sitting with her back to me, facing a canvas covered in a bewildering array of dots.

“What do you think?” she asked. “I’m trying the new pointillist style. It really captures the essence of the scene, don’t you think?”

I actually thought it looked like a child with bad chicken pox, but I nodded politely. “Definitely,” I said. “Could I possibly interrupt and ask you to come downstairs for a minute. I want to talk to you and Gus.”

She followed me, intrigued. I sat with them in the kitchen and told them everything. “So you see,” I finished, “we might be harboring a murderer. I’m deeply sorry I have involved you in this. It’s your house. You tell me what you want to do with her. I’m going back to the settlement house now. I can take her with me if you want me to.”

“People in this country are innocent until proven guilty,” Sid said. “What does she have to say for herself?”

“Of course she pleads innocence, most emphatically—but she would, wouldn’t she?”

Sid glanced at Gus. “I think she should stay put for now. At least until we have thought this through.”

Gus turned to me. “And I think you should come clean with Daniel. Tell him the whole thing. He may have qualities of which I don’t approve, but I think he’s fair and straight.”

“Tell Daniel?” I felt my stomach twist itself into a knot. I could just imagine what he’d say when he found out that I had hidden the woman the police were searching for.

“He’s the only one who can decide what to do with her. We’re just not equipped to do so, Molly.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. “I know you mean well. I know you wanted to help, but if you really think she may have killed this Chinaman, then we really shouldn’t keep on hiding her.”

I sighed. “I know. And you’re right. I should come clean with Daniel. But I have to tell you I’m dreading the thought.”

“Nonsense,” Sid said. “You’re a responsible adult, Molly. You did what you thought was best. If he doesn’t like it, then tough luck.” She put her hands on my shoulders. “If you don’t stand up to him now, he’ll walk all over you. I’ve seen it so many times—a strong, bright girl gets married and soon she’s reduced to a quivering, helpless little jelly, trying to please her bully of a husband.”

I had to laugh at this. “I can’t see myself ever being reduced to a quivering jelly,” I said.

“But if you’re frightened of facing him and telling him the truth, that’s the first step on that road.”

“I suppose I feel guilty because I went behind his back and kept on with the investigation,” I said. “But you’re right—if we can’t face each other as equals, what sort of life do I have ahead of me?”

“Just tell him that. And if he tries to bully you, tell him you’ll call off the wedding,” Sid said.

I stared at her. “I couldn’t do that.”

“Molly, he has to know that he is not the king of your little castle—or at least, only if you’re the queen.”

“I wish I could send you in my place,” I said. “But I’ll get going right away. Wish me luck.”

“Don’t stand any nonsense from him,” Sid called after me.

It was all right for her. She didn’t have to face an angry Daniel. I felt positively sick as I rode the Broadway trolley southward to police headquarters. As the journey progressed, I decided that I really should go to the house on Elizabeth Street first, before I confronted Daniel. I had promised Bo Kei that I would report back to her, and after I had told Daniel the truth, there might not be a chance to fulfill that promise. At least that was my reasoning for putting off the moment when I had to face him. So I set off for Elizabeth Street.

The house seemed awfully quiet as I stepped into the hallway. Someone had been cooking and the odor of fried bacon wafted from the kitchen.

“Hello!” I called and Sarah appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Molly, it’s you,” she said, coming down the stairs to meet me. “Good of you to come. Such a sad occurrence. She seemed so much better, so much more cheerful, but then I’ve seen it before, haven’t you—that people seem to rally right before they die.”

“How long ago did it happen?” I asked.

“We’re not quite sure,” she said. “I got here around ten o’clock. I was asked to go and collect Annie’s breakfast tray. We took her meals up to her so that she didn’t eat with the other house residents and risk contaminating them. I went up and tapped on her door, then I let myself into the room. At first I thought she was sleeping and tiptoed across to retrieve her tray. Then something looked strange about her and I took another look. Her eyes were open and she was staring at the ceiling. I touched her and she was cool to the touch—not quite cold, but cool. And I realized she was dead.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “That must have been a shock for you.”

She nodded agreement. “I’ve worked here long enough now that I’ve seen a dead body or two, but one never gets used to it, does one?”

“I agree,” I said. “I’ve seen quite a few dead bodies, but it’s always a shock, especially when you had grown fond of the girl and had hopes for her recovery.”

“I don’t know about that,” she said. “One does not normally recover from consumption, but she had seemed so much brighter since the other Chinese girl arrived. Poor thing—I expect it was a shock for Bo Kei, having found a cousin only to lose her again.”

I nodded. “She was very upset. She begged me to come and see Annie for a last time and she was emphatic about knowing where Annie will be buried so that her bones can be taken home to China one day.”

Sarah sighed. “I don’t think we have much control over where she’ll be buried. Paupers’ graves are—well, paupers’ graves. But I’ll see what I can do. We have several resident volunteers whose families have clout in this city. Maybe we can bend the rules.”

“You’re very kind,” I said. “Could I possibly go up and see her? Bo Kei will want to know how she looked.”

“Of course.” Sarah turned back up the stairs. “Please follow me.”

Up the stairs we went, one flight, then two. Annie’s body was lying covered by a sheet. I tiptoed across as if I were afraid of waking her and gently pulled back the sheet. I looked down at her, then frowned. I had expected her to look pale and translucent, the way people were always described when dying of consumption. Instead of that her face and neck had a purplish hue.

“Was her face that color when you found her?” I asked.

“Yes, it was. I wonder if it was the disease coming out. It’s not very pleasant, is it?”

As I continued to stare at her, a thought was nagging at the back of my brain—something Daniel had told me once. He had mentioned skin turning purple when … the word suffocation popped into my head.

“How was she lying when you found her?” I asked.

“Just like this. Very peaceful, except for the purple skin and the red eyes.”

Fighting back my abhorrence, I lifted one of her eyelids. What would normally be the white of her eye was full of little red dots. I released her eyelid and shuddered.

“Sarah, who has been here today? Did anybody from outside go up to see her?”

She looked puzzled. “Nobody. Nobody’s been here at all. It’s a holiday, you see. It’s been especially quiet.”

“Who took up the breakfast tray? Was she alive then?”

“Yes, but she was sleeping, so the worker who took up the tray let her sleep. The food hadn’t been touched, so she must have just passed away in her sleep.”

“How many people are working in the house at present?” I asked. “Do you know them all? Can you vouch for all of them?”

Sarah looked puzzled. “What is this all about? Why the questions?”

I moved closer to her, glancing back at the open door. “I think she may not have died naturally. She may have been suffocated,” I said in a whisper.

“You mean she was murdered?” Sarah put a hand to her mouth in horror.

“I’m not sure, but I have been told that red dots on the eye are a sure sign of suffocation and she has them. Has a doctor seen her and signed her death certificate?”

“No, not yet,” she said. “But no one in the house could have done it. I know all these people well. We were all fond of Annie. None of them would have any reason to kill her.”

“But you said yourself that the door is always open. It would be relatively simple for an outsider to sneak in and out without being seen.”

“I suppose so.” Then she shook her head. “Not so easy in the mornings. There is always housework going on—floors being swept, bed linens changed. Someone would have to have taken a terrible risk.”

I went across to the window. It was open about four inches. I pushed it up and leaned out. Even the normal clatter of Elizabeth Street was subdued today. Only a few pushcarts and an ice cream vendor. From the far end of the street came the sounds of an organ grinder playing a lively Italian tune.

“Well nobody could have climbed in this way,” I said, pulling my head back in and closing the window. “It’s sheer brick wall, without even a drainpipe or fire escape.”

“I know. This is madness. You must be wrong, Molly. Perhaps her strange color has something to do with her disease.”

“We’ll know when the doctor comes,” I said.

“We may not find a doctor today. It is a holiday, after all.”

“Then I must ask Daniel to take a look at her. If what I suspect is true, then her death may have something to do with the murder of Mr. Lee.”

“What could it have to do with his death?” Sarah demanded. “Annie was here for a good week before he was killed. And no outsiders knew she was here. What connection could there possibly be?”

“As to that, there was a connection, wasn’t there? She had been Mr. Lee’s concubine, several years ago, brought from China just like Bo Kei.”

“But who could have found out she was here? And why kill a girl who was bound to die soon anyway?”

I couldn’t come up with a good answer to this. “Perhaps the murderer thought he was killing Bo Kei. But then nobody knew that she had been brought here either, did they?” I shook my head. “It doesn’t make sense, unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Unless Bo Kei knows more than she’s told me.” I drew the cover back over Annie’s dead face. “I’m going to find Daniel and have him question Bo Kei. Perhaps a policeman will get the truth out of her.”

“What do you think she could be hiding?”

“That she was the one who killed Mr. Lee. Again it’s only a theory and I can’t prove it. And she’s claiming she’s innocent, but I get the feeling that she knows things that she’s not telling me.”

I touched Sarah’s arm. “Don’t mention any of this to anyone else yet. Not until Daniel has confirmed my suspicions. If the murderer works here or is observing us, I don’t want him alerted.”

“You think the murderer could work here or be watching us?” Sarah looked around nervously.

“We can’t be too careful at the moment. This is someone who was prepared to take a risk, killing a girl in broad daylight in a house full of people.”

“I wish Monty hadn’t gone now,” Sarah said. “I’d feel safer with a man in the house. We’re all women volunteers on today.”

“I think you’re quite safe. Annie was only killed because someone suspected she knew something they didn’t want made public. We’ll know more when Daniel speaks with Bo Kei.”

I tiptoed out of the room with a backward glance at the form of Annie under the sheet.

Twenty-nine

I left the house and started toward police headquarters on Mulberry Street. As I walked, I thought through what I was going to say to Daniel and I realized that I wasn’t ready to face him yet. I had too many unanswered questions and I wanted to speak to Bo Kei first. I changed course and continued toward the Broadway trolley. Even if I was going to incur Daniel’s displeasure, I didn’t want to give up on this investigation now when I could sense that I was onto something. I had no idea what I was onto, but it had been my experience that if a second murder happens, it is usually linked to the first. I already had potential links—Annie had been in Bo Kei’s position once as Mr. Lee’s concubine. She had been cast out and sent to the ultimate disgrace and degradation of working in a brothel. But that was five years ago. She had already been punished for not having a son, and cast out—so why would somebody want to kill her now?

And yet Bo Kei had feared for her. I remembered how pitifully she had begged me to take Annie with her. She must have suspected that Annie’s life was in danger. Which might indicate that she hadn’t killed Lee Sing Tai herself. She certainly couldn’t have killed Annie since she was helping me clear up the debris of the party when Annie died. It was all quite baffling and I just hoped I might be able to persuade Bo Kei to tell me the truth. At least I’d be able to observe her reaction when I told her that Annie had not died of natural means.

I strode out with determination after I alighted from the trolley. I suppose also at the back of my mind was the desire to present Daniel with a case that I had solved and thus to justify my actions. I entered the house and took Sid and Gus aside to tell them what I had discovered. Then I went upstairs to confront Bo Kei. She was standing at the top of the second flight peering down to see what was going on.

“You saw her, Missie Molly?” she called, her voice quivering with distress. “She is really dead?”

“Yes, I did and—” I stopped short. I was staring at her bare feet.

“Bo Kei,” I blurted out, “you have big feet.”

“I know.” She sounded surprised at this observation. “Big disgrace to my family. Small feet are good. Many girls in China have bound feet, but the missionaries say to my family this is wrong and bad. So my feet were not bound, and they are extra big. My mother say no man want to marry me.”

Then whose footprints had made those little indentations at the edge of the roof?

“Bo Kei,” I said severely, “it’s about time you told me everything that you know. You have lied to me and kept things from me, and if you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll have the police take you to an American jail.”

“But I tell you truth,” she wailed. “I say that I do not kill Lee Sing Tai and I do not know who kills him. This is truth.”

“Not the whole truth, obviously. You didn’t want to leave Annie behind at the house. You were frightened for her—why?”

“She is family and she is sick. I no want to leave her alone among strangers.”

“No, it was more than that,” I said. A strange idea was forming in my head—a picture of the two girls dancing around together, Annie looking livelier than I’d ever have believed possible. “You thought she might be in danger. Well, it turned out she was in danger. Somebody killed her, Bo Kei.”

“Kill her?”

“Put a pillow over her face and suffocated her. Made her stop breathing.” I stepped closer, staring her right in the eye, hoping that my greater height would be intimidating. “Why do you think that was? Do you want to tell me the truth now, or are you going to let Annie’s killer walk free?”

She looked at me with frightened eyes. “I do not know who might have killed her,” she said.

“Then let me ask you this—why do you think someone killed her? Was it someone from the brothel who came after her? Someone who worked for Lee Sing Tai or Bobby Lee? Was someone afraid she would divulge something she knew?”

She shook her head.

“She’s dead, Bo. There’s nothing you can do to bring her back, but you can help us find her killer. So let me ask you this—I saw small footprints on the roof. A tiny, dainty foot. Were they possibly Annie’s footprints? Was she on that roof? Did she go to kill Lee Sing Tai?”

She hung her head. “She make me promise I never tell anyone,” she said.

“But she’s dead now. Tell me. In this country we punish people for being an accessory to a crime.”

“What does this mean?”

“That you knew about a crime and you helped the criminal in some way, even if you didn’t commit the crime yourself. Did she kill Lee Sing Tai? Did she?”

“No!” She yelled out the word. “No, she did not kill him.” Then she sank onto the top stair and put her head in her hands. “She wanted to. She went to the rooftop with that purpose.”

“She was well and strong enough to climb up to a rooftop and then leap from one roof to the next?”

She nodded. “She was not as sick as she acted. She knew if she was sick they would throw her out of the bad-women house—not want her to make their customers sick.”

“You’re saying she was only acting? She didn’t have consumption?”

“Yes, she knew that she had this disease, but not as bad as she wanted everyone to think. She knew she would die from it one day, but right now she was strong enough to climb up and jump across from one roof to the next. It is not such a big leap if one has no fear. And she had no fear, only anger. She said to me, ‘This man must not be allowed to put more girls through shame and misery. He must be stopped now.’ And when I tried to tell her not to go, she said, ‘My life is over. I will die some day soon. But I make sure this man pays before I die.’”

“She went to kill him—but she didn’t go through with it?”

“No,” she said. “Because of the ghost.”

“What ghost?”

Bo Kei looked up at me as if she didn’t want to go on. “When she reached the roof of Lee Sing Tai’s house, he was not there but the door that led to the stairs was open. She plucked up courage and started to go down the stairs to his bedroom. As she stood at the top of the stairs she looked down and what do you think she saw? She saw a ghost floating up toward her. That’s when she knew that Lee Sing Tai was already dead.”

“So what did she do then?”

“Everyone is afraid of angry ghosts. She ran. She jumped across to the next roof and almost didn’t make it. When she came back to me she was crying and couldn’t breathe. She made me promise that I would tell nobody what she had done.”

“This ghost?” I said. “What did it look like?”

“It was a white floating head in the darkness,” she said. “It stared up at her with an open mouth but no sound came out. And it had lots of arms and legs, like a demon or a monster.”

“And she thought it was Lee’s ghost and he was already dead?”

She nodded. “What else could it be?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t believe in ghosts myself. I’m afraid we’ll have to tell this story to the police, Bo Kei. At least it should make them release Frederick.”

She gave me a watery smile. “All right. I will tell your good policeman.”

“I’m going to see him now,” I said. “I will bring him back here to talk to you and you will tell him everything you know.”

“I will get in trouble?”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. If what you say is true, then Annie did nothing wrong—except for trespassing on someone’s property.”

“And they will now believe that Frederick did nothing wrong either and they will set him free?” she asked hopefully.

“Yes, I believe they will set him free.”

The smile of relief that flooded her face reassured me once and for all that she had not been involved in the killing herself. And for the third time that day I set off back to Mulberry Street. When Daniel and I were married, I thought, there would be a telephone in the house so that the police could get in contact with him whenever he was needed. Such a useful instrument. It would have saved me a fortune in shoe leather!

Thirty

As I took the trolley southward yet again I rehearsed what I was going to say to Daniel. I had uncovered valuable information, so he should be pleased with me. On the other hand, I had continued my involvement in this case when he had expressly forbidden me to. The knot in the pit of my stomach returned. He was going to shout at me. Be furious with me. Then suddenly I decided that this wasn’t like me at all. I wasn’t usually the sort of person who cowered before men. I was turning into the kind of female I despised, the kind who lost her individuality and gumption when she married. What sort of a life would I have if my sole purpose on this Earth was to defer to my husband and make sure I didn’t upset him?

Enough is enough, I said to myself. If I didn’t stand up to Daniel now, he would dominate me for the rest of my life. He was going to have to accept that I was not prepared to turn into a helpless little wife. I could understand that he didn’t want me to continue my career as an investigator because that could be seen as compromising his position in the police department. And he did feel the need to protect me, which was nice. And God knows I’d been in need of protection several times in the past couple of years. But I wasn’t going to let him bully me or dictate to me.

Having come to that decision I strode out from the trolley with more confidence. But I have to confess that as I went up the steps into that austere building, that confidence did waver a little. Still, I held my chin high as I approached the front desk.

“I wish to speak to Captain Sullivan,” I announced to the constable who was manning the front desk. “It’s most urgent.”

“I’m afraid Captain Sullivan’s not here at the moment,” he said. “Will one of the other officers do instead?”

“No, thank you.” I felt the relief of reprieve and had to force myself to continue, “You don’t know where I might find him?”

“No, miss. I couldn’t tell you that,” he said.

“Even if you did know, you mean?” I stared at him. “Look, I have some facts for him. It’s important that he gets them as soon as possible. If you won’t tell me, may I write a note and you can ask one of your men to deliver it to him?”

“What’s this concerning, miss?” he asked warily.

“A murder case he’s working on.”

He was still looking at me most suspiciously. “And you say you have important information for him?”

He was driving me mad. “Yes. Now for goodness sake, please provide me with a pen and paper.”

He did so and I wrote: Daniel, I need to speak to you immediately about the murder of Lee Sing Tai. I have obtained valuable knowledge, which I want to share only with you. I believe there has been a second murder. I will await you at—I didn’t want to go all the way back to Patchin Place again—the settlement house on Elizabeth Street. It would be better that he examine Annie’s corpse for himself before he questioned Bo Kei.

I finished up with: Yours, Molly.

I only hoped I was his after this. I blotted the sheet, folded it, then handed it to the young policeman.

“I’ll see that he gets it, miss,” the constable said. He poked his head through into a back room. “Harry, this note has to get to Captain Sullivan,” he said. “The young lady says she’s got information concerning the case he’s working on.”

Another constable, this one looking absurdly young and boyish with a freckled face and strawberry blond hair, came to the doorway and paused there looking at me with interest. Obviously he then decided I looked respectable enough. “Right you are, miss. I can’t guarantee where he’s likely to be. Knowing the captain, he could be anywhere.” He turned to give his companion a grin. “But I’ll find out and we’ll see he gets it. What name shall I say?”

I really didn’t want them to know I was Daniel’s fiancée or they’d think it was some trifling domestic matter such as my needing to speak to him on the color of ribbons.

“It’s Murphy,” I said, “but the pertinent information is all contained in that letter and it’s rather vital that he gets it so that a murderer doesn’t have the chance to slip away.”

At the word “murderer,” the constable’s face became somber. “He’ll know where to find you, will he?”

“I’ve put that in the note.”

“Then I’m sure he’ll come as soon as he can,” he said and escorted me to the doorway.

I went out into the street and was about to go on my way to Elizabeth Street when I had an idea. I ducked into a shop front and waited. Sure enough, a few minutes later the freckle-faced constable appeared and set off down Mulberry Street. I followed, at a sensible distance. I had a problem keeping up with him as he was moving along with the large strides of a young man and my shoes didn’t fare so well on the cobbles. At the corner of Bayard he turned left.… And I realized he was heading for Mott Street. I was in luck. So Daniel had heeded my pleas to find out the truth and get Frederick released. He was still working on the murder investigation, in spite of having told me that it was Captain Kear’s territory.

Sure enough, the constable stopped just before he reached Lee Sing Tai’s residence. Another constable was standing guard outside.

“Is Captain Sullivan in there?” I heard the first ask.

“As far as I know,” the other agreed. “He went in some time ago and I haven’t seen him come out yet.”

I decided I had been patient long enough. I stepped forward. “Thank you, Constable. I can take it from here,” I said.

The constable I had followed from Mulberry looked both shocked and mortified that I had followed him. “But, miss—”

“It’s all right. I know the case he’s working on and I have important facts that he’ll want to receive immediately,” I said.

“You do?” I could see him torn between interrupting an angry Captain Sullivan and getting into trouble for letting me interrupt an angry Captain Sullivan.

I decided a small white lie was in order. “He is expecting me,” I said. “He wanted me to get in touch with him the minute I heard anything.”

I saw relief flood his face. “Oh, well, in that case, miss…” He saluted me and hightailed it back up Mott Street. I took a deep breath before going up the stairs to Lee’s residence.

The faint smell of incense still lingered in the hallway. On the other side of the screen I could hear low voices. There was no sign of the houseboy. I tapped gently on the wall, then came around the screen.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you, but—”

I broke off in midsentence and froze. Daniel’s was not one of the two men’s voices I had heard. Captain Kear and Bobby Lee were sitting together on the sofa, heads together in low conversation. They both leaped to their feet as they saw me and I could have sworn they looked guilty.

“I’m terribly sorry,” I said. “I was looking for Captain Sullivan.”

“Captain Sullivan? He’s not here,” Kear said.

“But the constable standing guard outside said that he was. He said that the captain had entered some time ago and he hadn’t seen him come out.”

A quick questioning look passed between Captain Kear and Bobby Lee.

“Well, he’s not here now,” Bobby Lee snapped.

“I wonder if he could be up on the roof, checking out where the murder was committed or how the assailant got away,” I said.

“Why would he be doing that?” Bobby Lee demanded. “Ordinary murder does not require exalted men like Captain Sullivan who have better things to do.”

“Besides,” Captain Kear added, “I already made it clear that this was my case and I had the prime suspect in jail.”

“I’ll just go up to the roof and take a look, if you don’t mind,” I said. “Just on the off chance he’s still up there.”

I didn’t wait for permission and they didn’t deny it. But as I was halfway up the stairs I heard Bobby’s Lee’s distinctive Chinese accent hissing, “What does she want? Do you think he sent her?”

And Kear replying, “If she hasn’t gone in a second we’ll get rid of her.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. It could be as harmless as making sure that I left or it could mean that I followed Lee Sing Tai over the edge of that roof. I hesitated, not wanting to go up the second flight of stairs. But I had to find Daniel and if he wasn’t there, that meant that he might also have taken the leap across to the next roof. I certainly wasn’t going to follow him on that route.

I went up to the rooftop. It was empty. The brass bed frame was still there, but the bed had been stripped. A strong wind was blowing from the Hudson, making the laundry on surrounding roofs flap loudly. I jumped as a nightgown suddenly billowed out. But there was no sign that Daniel had ever been there. So I came down again. As I crossed the upper landing I thought I saw a flash of movement in Lee Sing Tai’s bedroom. I expected it to be the old woman spying on me, but to my surprise I saw Daniel’s face. He put his finger to his lips and beckoned me ferociously. I crossed the hallway, and with one swift movement he grabbed my arm and spun me into the room, shutting the door behind me.

“What are you doing here?” he mouthed at me. At least he wasn’t using profanity, but he didn’t look too overjoyed to see me.

“There’s been a second murder, connected to Lee’s death,” I answered in a whisper. “I wanted you to come and see right away. And why are we whispering?”

“Because I didn’t want my presence in this house known to the occupants down below,” Daniel said. “Now you’ve announced to all and sundry that I’m here, I have no choice but to reveal myself. Once again you’ve successfully managed to wreck what I was trying to do.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “But I thought you should know that someone has just been murdered.”

“How the devil did you know where to find me—or was it just a lucky chance that you stumbled upon me here?”

“I went to Mulberry Street. I wrote you a note. One of your men was sent to deliver it to you and I followed him.”

Daniel shook his head as if nothing about me would surprise him any longer. “There’s no point in standing here any longer,” he said. “Now that my presence has been revealed, I’d better go down and face the music.”

“You could make your escape across the rooftops if you wanted to. I could say I didn’t find you,” I suggested, wanting to please.

“I’m not risking my neck, thank you. No, there’s nothing for it, I’m afraid.” He opened the door and went down the stairs ahead of me.

Captain Kear looked up, scowling. “What are you doing here, Sullivan?” he demanded. “I thought we agreed this was Sixth Precinct business.”

Daniel had resumed his cocky, almost arrogant appearance. “As to that, Kear, you know damned well that headquarters can take over any case it chooses, if it deems it’s beyond the scope of one precinct. But to answer your question civilly, you came to us, asking for forensic help. We have determined that Mr. Lee was knocked over the head with the statue of some god in his bedroom. We’ve detected traces of blood and hair on the statue—also fingerprints we haven’t yet identified, but not those of the man you are holding in the Tombs.”

“Then Frederick is innocent,” I interrupted, trying to play the innocent myself. “I’m so glad.”

Captain Kear and Bobby Lee were both scowling at us.

“So I was just checking the rest of his room for matching fingerprints,” Daniel went on breezily. “It appears he was killed down there and not on the rooftop. Interesting, don’t you think? Makes one believe that it would be someone who knew him who would have the nerve to come into his bedroom and feel comfortable walking around his house.” He turned to Bobby. “Have my men taken your fingerprints yet, Bobby? No matter, I’m sure they’re already in our files from past incidents.”

I was impressed at his bravado. Once again he had clearly taken over, asserted his superiority over the other men, and was enjoying it.

“But I must leave you now, gentlemen,” he continued after neither of the men spoke. “Miss Murphy has uncovered yet another piece of evidence that I must inspect right away. And I believe that I ordered both this room and the bedroom to be sealed off as crime scenes, until our inspections had concluded. So I’m not sure what you’re doing sitting here.”

“This is now my place,” Bobby said, sticking out his chin belligerently. “I make sure nobody steal from my father’s house.”

“If anyone did the stealing, I suspect it might be you, Bobby,” Daniel said. “Has the cabinet been thoroughly checked yet?”

“There was no need,” Captain Kear said. “We had a perfect suspect in jail. If you tell me that his fingerprints are not on the murder weapon, then I suppose we’ll have to start from square one again and go through that cabinet. I’ll arrange for a translator.”

“Notify me when you have him. I want to be there. I take it the cabinet is locked?”

“Yes, and I have the key.” Kear produced it from his top pocket, wrapped in a white handkerchief. Daniel held out his hand, took it from him, and inserted it into the cabinet. “We’ll leave it there and nobody will be allowed to enter this room. That includes you, Bobby.”

“This will be my house, I tell you,” he said angrily.

“Only if your birth certificate stands up to scrutiny under American law, and I rather fear that the old lady will be only too happy to testify against you. She’s still in the place, I take it?”

“Up in her bedroom. Doesn’t come down,” Bobby said. “Cook brings her meals up to her.”

“That’s fine,” Daniel said. “The two of them but nobody else, right, Kear? You and I will meet here when you’ve lined up your interpreter and we’ll conclude the last of the fingerprinting.”

“If you say so,” Kear said flatly, giving Daniel a look of pure animosity.

“Right. Off we go then.” Daniel made it sound like an invitation to a picnic. The other men rose reluctantly and went to the stairs ahead of us.

“Come, Molly,” Daniel said. Captain Kear was just passing around the screen when Daniel added, “And Kear, I suggest you release your suspect from the Tombs. I think we’ll have this case sewn up by the end of the day.”

With that he took my hand and escorted me down the stairs.

Thirty-one

The moment we stepped out into the street, Daniel waited until Kear and Bobby Lee went their separate ways, then grabbed my forearm and dragged me into a side alley.

“Now what’s this about?” he demanded.

“As I told you, there has been a second murder.”

“Why is it you who brings me this message and not one of my own men?” he asked, his face only inches from mine.

“I didn’t want to tell anyone else,” I said. “Especially not one of Captain Kear’s men from the Sixth Precinct.”

“You mean the murder hasn’t been reported to the police yet?”

I shook my head. “Nobody actually knows it’s a murder yet except for the woman who summoned me, and I’ve asked her to keep quiet until you see the body.”

“So who is it?”

“A Chinese girl at the settlement house on Elizabeth Street. The workers there thought she’d died of consumption but I recognized from what you had told me that she’d been suffocated.”

“May I ask what you were doing at a settlement house on Elizabeth Street? You are not still working on this case when I made it quite clear to you that it was solely a police matter?”

I could hear the anger rising in his voice.

“Before you get on your high horse,” I said, my own voice rising now, “it was Sarah Lindley, whom you met last night, who called me to the settlement house where she works in a volunteer capacity. Naturally she was upset at finding one of their residents dead.” I was rather proud of this explanation, which was nothing but the truth.

“And what does her death have to do with that of Mr. Lee? Is she the missing bride?”

“She was his former concubine who has recently escaped from a brothel,” I said.

Daniel’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of such subjects coming from the lips of a lady.

“How the devil did you find that out?”

“She told Sarah her whole story when she first came to them, of course.”

“And who do you think might have killed her?”

“Whoever killed Mr. Lee,” I said.

“And who do you suspect that might be?”

“I thought you knew,” I said. “I thought you said to Captain Kear that you’d been going on with the investigation and were about to make an arrest.”

Daniel looked around, but the alley was still empty. “That was only to justify my presence in the apartment,” he said in a low voice, “and to let him know who is the superior officer.”

“So what were you doing there, then? Do you suspect Bobby Lee?”

“It’s possible, but I was there on a different matter, about which I can’t tell you,” Daniel said. “Let’s just say that you couldn’t have come at a worse moment and I was lucky to get out of it as easily as I did.”

“Do you think they were in it together?” I asked. “They seemed awfully chummy when I walked in on them.”

Daniel smiled. “I told you—I can’t discuss it with you.”

“I’m sorry I barged in on you,” I said. “I thought you’d want to know about the second murder.”

“Of course,” he said. “Well, I suppose I’d better go and take a look at the wretched woman, although I’m not sure why you decided there was a connection with Lee’s murder.”

“I told you—Lee brought her over to America several years ago to be his wife, or rather his concubine. When she didn’t produce a son, he sent her to a brothel he owned.”

“Charming,” Daniel said. “I hope that inspires you to produce a son rapidly.” He flashed me a grin before becoming serious again. “But then what current connection could she have had with him? More likely to have been some kind of underworld vendetta.”

“Ah,” I said.

Daniel was staring at me. “You know more about this matter?”

“Yes, I do.” I looked around. “Could we go somewhere else to talk? It smells really bad in this alley and I feel uneasy speaking so close to Lee’s residence.”

“Very well,” he said. “You can walk with me toward Elizabeth Street if you like. First I need to give my constable his orders, then we’ll be on our way.”

We picked our way past the piles of garbage and back to Mott Street.

“Go on,” Daniel said. “What have you found out?”

“I know where the runaway bride is hiding,” I said.

“So you did you keep working on this matter when I forbade you to?” He gave me a cold stare.

“I don’t like the word ‘forbade,’” I said. “It implies that you are the master and I the servant, you the captain and I the crew. Well, I’m sorry, but that’s not how it’s going to be and maybe we should sort this out before the wedding. I want to be your partner, Daniel, not your slave. If you can’t see me as an equal, then the wedding is off.”

He reacted with surprise, taking a step away from me. “What brought on that little tirade?” he demanded. “I forbade you to continue working on a case because it was now a police matter. I forbade you just as I would have forbidden any civilian involving herself with a criminal case.”

“Oh,” I said, the wind somewhat taken out of my sails. “I’m sorry, it’s just that I’ve watched enough husbands boss their wives around. I’ve been worrying about giving up my freedom when we marry—being someone else’s wife is a big step. I’ve seen bright, independent women reduced to simpering idiots doing only what their husbands tell them to do when they become wives.”

“Would you really call off the wedding if I ordered you around?”

“Absolutely,” I said. “I have a profession. I have good friends. I could live a pleasant life without a husband.”

I could see his expression had softened. “But not as pleasant?”

“That remains to be seen,” I said. “But I do want to marry you, Daniel. I do love you. It’s just that I want us to start off on the right foot.”

“And that would also include no deception between us,” Daniel said. “I couldn’t have a wife who goes behind my back. It has to be out in the open between us.”

“Agreed,” I said.

“And you will stop working as you promised?”

I hesitated. “We’ll discuss that more on our honeymoon,” I said. “I understand your reservations and, trust me, I have no wish to live with danger any longer. But I have to warn you now that I don’t see my future in sewing undergarments and holding endless tea parties either.”

He smiled. “No, I don’t see you spending your days sewing, but I expect we’ll find something to keep you busy.” He paused. “Now we’ve got our lives sorted out, let’s get back to this Chinese woman. Where is she?”

“She’s currently at Sid and Gus’s house.”

“What? You’ve been hiding her from the police?”

“Don’t start getting angry again. This is how it was. She was at the settlement house with the other Chinese girl who has just been murdered. Sarah Lindley told me about her. I brought her to Sid and Gus because I know that Captain Kear wanted to pin the crime on her and Frederick Lee. So I took her to safety until you could talk with her.”

“Oh, I see.” He nodded. “No, you wouldn’t have wanted her turned over to Kear.”

I allowed myself a little smirk. I had handled that rather well without telling an actual lie.

“And does this Chinese girl know who killed her friend?”

“Not exactly, but I think we can guess why she was killed. It turned out that the two girls were cousins. The one who had escaped from the brothel was angry that Mr. Lee was putting yet another girl through the degradation that would surely befall her. So she decided it had to stop. She knew how Bo Kei, that’s the name of my Chinese bride, had escaped over the rooftop, so she went back that way, intending to kill Lee while he slept on the roof. But when she got there, he wasn’t in his bed, and as she started to venture down the stairs she saw what she claimed was a ghost coming up toward her. She was terrified and fled back the way she came.”

“You think the ghost she saw was the killer?”

“It had to be, didn’t it?”

“But she didn’t witness the actual murder?”

“No, but it’s pretty obvious that she came face-to-face with the killer and he knew that she could identify him.”

“And how did she describe this ghost?”

“A white face floating up above a strange animal shape, with too many arms and legs to be human.”

“Ah, I see.” Daniel’s face lit up. “I knew it. Lee Sing Tai was either knocked out or killed in his bedroom, then the killer carried him up to the roof. She saw Lee’s body over the killer’s shoulder. That would explain the extra arms and legs.”

“Yes!” I agreed excitedly. “Then at least we know that it had to be a man who did this. No woman would have been strong enough to carry a body that way.”

“I have a nice set of fingerprints taken from the statue that knocked him out,” Daniel said. “Now I just have to find out to whom they belong.”

We had reached the corner of Bayard Street. “Look, I don’t think you should come with me to the settlement house,” he said. “It wouldn’t look right to have you with me on a murder investigation. Why don’t you go home and stay with this girl until I arrive? I may be a while, as I have some matters to take care of at headquarters first, but I’ll come as soon as I can.”

“All right, Daniel,” I replied. I was delighted that we seemed to be working together for once.

“So Sarah Lindley will be there, will she?” he asked. “And she’s the only one who knows that the death could be murder?”

“Oh, yes, she’ll be there.”

“I thought her fellow wanted her to stop this kind of thing.”

“He did, but he relented. His only stipulation is that he accompanies her there and back at all times. He says the neighborhood is too dangerous.”

“It is,” Daniel agreed. “Only crazy young women like yourself think you can walk around these streets with impunity. Well, good for Monty. I think more charitably of him than I did. So that’s why I’ve seen him in this part of the world.”

“You’ve seen him around here?”

“On more than one occasion. Come to think of it, I saw him on my way to Mott Street today. He was hurrying along at a great clip and didn’t see me.”

“I expect he wanted to get out of such a distasteful area as quickly as possible,” I said. “He always looks as if he’s got a bad smell under his nose, doesn’t he?”

Daniel smiled. “Not every girl can be lucky enough to land an excellent catch like me.”

“Ah, but he’s a lord with a huge property,” I said. “Sarah will be a lady.”

“So there’s the attraction.” Daniel nodded. “Off home with you, then, and I’ll see you when I can.”

He put his fingers to his lips to blow me a kiss, then crossed Bayard toward Elizabeth Street.

I was about to head for the elevated railway when a strange idea came to me. Annie hadn’t said she had seen a white face floating up the stairs. She had said “a white floating head.”

And unbidden, an image of Monty Warrington-Chase flashed into my mind.

Thirty-two

I stood like a statue, staring out across the street. No, that was ridiculous. What could an English aristocrat like Monty Warrington-Chase possibly have to do with Lee Sing Tai? Even as I asked myself the question, a likely answer formed in my head. Monty who looked so unwell recently, who had been seen hurrying toward Chinatown, not noticing either Daniel or myself. I had seen a face that resembled Monty’s emerging from an alleyway on Mott Street, and I realized that the man had come from an opium den. So Monty was a drug fiend.

The moment I realized that, I saw how easily he could have killed Annie. He would not have been seen as an outsider at the settlement house. Nobody would have questioned his presence if he went upstairs, looking for Sarah. And of course he had to kill her because he realized that she had seen him, carrying Lee Sing Tai’s body up the stairs to throw it off the roof. And I had been partly responsible for her death. If I hadn’t brought Bo Kei home with me, then Monty wouldn’t have bumped into her coming out of the water closet, and realized that she was not the girl who had seen him at Lee’s. That the girl he had seen was the other girl Sarah had told him about—the girl who was still at the settlement house.

I looked across the street for Daniel, but he had already vanished between pushcarts. So what should I do now? Obviously report what I had deduced to him, but I needed proof. Then it occurred to me that we had proof, in Lee Sing Tai’s cabinet. That day when Bobby Lee had opened it and complained that someone had been there, I had glimpsed a signature on a piece of paper, half protruding from one of the drawers. There had been something about it that struck a chord then, but I hadn’t been able to place what it was. Now it came to me that I had seen that signature before—when Hermione had shown me Monty’s letter to her. There was a particular flourish to the way he formed his M.

I couldn’t wait to prove that I was right—what a coup that would be if I could go to Daniel and tell him that I had solved the case. I’d rather enjoy seeing Captain Kear’s face too. So I turned back down Mott Street. The constable was standing on duty outside Lee’s residence. I went up to him.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” I said, “but I think I must have left my gloves up there when I came out with Captain Sullivan a few minutes ago. Would it be all right if I popped up to retrieve them?”

“I don’t see why not, miss,” he said genially. “Just don’t go touching anything or I’ll be in the soup.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be very careful,” I said. “I wouldn’t have bothered you, but they are new gloves and they cost so much these days, don’t they?”

“Doesn’t everything,” he said.

I gave him a beaming smile and ran up the steps, opened the front door, and moved cautiously around the screen. Then I sprinted across the room to the cabinet and opened it, using my handkerchief to hold the key and then the side of the door. I tried to remember in which of the drawers I had seen the signature. Over on the left, about halfway up.… I was conscious of the need to hurry or the constable would come up to see what was delaying me. I pulled open a drawer. It was literally stuffed full of papers—a daunting prospect. Obviously I couldn’t go through them all. But the one I wanted had been sticking out. Surely it would have been shoved back hastily when the cabinet was closed. I examined one drawer, then another. I pushed it back, but it didn’t seem to go all the way in. On impulse, I pulled the drawer completely out and hit pay dirt. Several papers had been pushed behind the drawer, and one of them contained the signature I had seen.

I held it in my hand. The writing was all in Chinese characters but it was clearly some kind of IOU.

“Perfect,” I said, closed the cabinet carefully, and turned to leave.

“I’ll take that, thank you,” said a low, smooth voice and I turned to see Monty standing by the screen. He came toward me. “You really are a most annoying woman, you know. Give me the paper.”

“Did you just owe him money for opium or was he blackmailing you?” I asked.

“The latter,” Monty said. “Threatened to tell Sarah’s family about my unfortunate habit. Now I’ll just take this—” He went to snatch it from me. I stepped aside. “And then off to the border,” he added.

“There’s no point, you know,” I said. “There’s a constable at the bottom of the steps. You can’t go anywhere.”

“I can return the way I came,” he said. He took another step toward me. For a second I glanced down at his feet. “Oh,” I said. “Climbing boots. Of course. Sarah told me you were a keen mountaineer.”

“Sarah talks too much for her own good,” he said. “She was only too keen to tell me the whole story of those Chinese girls.” He paused smiling as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “On second thought,” he said, “I think I’d better take you with me. Just in case.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” I started moving toward the screen. He went to grab me, expecting me to be the usual kind of helpless miss. But I had been well schooled by experience in my profession as well as by my future bridegroom. I delivered a savage kick to his shin, then brought my elbow up to his windpipe. I heard the thin fabric of my dress ripping under the arm but I didn’t care. Monty gasped and reeled backward. I only needed that half second to run around the screen and down the stairs.

“He’s in there!” I shouted to the constable. “Quickly. The murderer is in there. Don’t let him get away.”

The constable rushed up the stairs. I stood below, holding my breath. But a few minutes later the constable reappeared. “There was nobody there, miss. You must have imagined it.”

“Then he escaped over the rooftop again,” I said. “But he can’t go too far. He’ll have to come down a fire escape on the building behind. Blow your whistle and get help.”

He was now looking at me strangely. “Are you sure about this, miss? You didn’t just imagine that you saw someone. I don’t want to look like a fool if this is for nothing.”

“Of course it’s not for nothing,” I said. “He tried to grab me and I ripped my dress, see?” I demonstrated, not caring that it was unladylike to reveal flesh to a strange man. “And he got into the apartment across the roofs—the way he got in before. He’s wearing climbing boots.”

“And you say he’ll have jumped across to the next roof?”

“Yes, around the corner on Pell Street.”

“Right. I’ll get help then.” He blew his whistle as he headed in that direction. I was very tempted to follow but I saw that there was nothing useful I could do and I certainly didn’t want to find myself taken hostage by a desperate man. I should go straight to police headquarters to await Daniel. I set off back up Mott Street. As I passed the narrow arched entrance beside Lee’s emporium I thought I saw a flash of something light in the darkness beyond. Surely Monty couldn’t have climbed down from the roof already and taken refuge in there? I didn’t know where the arcade led, but it didn’t seem the brightest move to me, seeing that he could be trapped so easily. I peered into the darkness. Had I really…?

A hand came over my mouth and I was yanked backward. I tried to struggle but the hand clamped over my mouth and nose, making it impossible to breathe. I hadn’t realized how strong he was. I was being half dragged, half carried backward down a sort of tunnel. I flailed, fought, and tried to breathe. I could feel singing in my head. Spots danced in front of my eyes and my only thought was one of fury—that I had let this man get the better of me, and that I was going to die before my wedding.

“Damnation,” I heard Monty mutter before I blacked out.

* * *

I gradually came back to consciousness, like a swimmer coming up from deep water. I was lying on a hard surface in almost total darkness. I lay there, gasping for breath like a landed fish. As I breathed I was conscious of a cloying smoky smell that I couldn’t place. My eyes became used to the darkness and I saw a wooden ceiling, only a foot or two above my head. A moment of panic shot through me that I was lying in a coffin. Then I noticed a fire was glowing nearby. As my lungs tried to work properly again I felt something hard and foul-tasting in my mouth. I gasped in smoke, making me cough and retch.

I knew where I was now—an opium den and not the mock kind of Mr. Connors’s. The cold hard object in my mouth appeared to be the long stem of a pipe, the bowl of which was propped over a glowing brazier. I saw similar pinpoints of light in similar cubicles around the walls and the darker shape of figures lying in tiers around the walls. I tried to move my hand, but my limbs felt lethargic as if they didn’t fully belong to me. If I managed to get my mouth free and shouted for help, would anyone here be awake enough to help me? My eyes wanted to close. I fought the sleep that was overcoming me. Was Monty still here, watching me? Enjoying the spectacle of my being drugged by opium, or had he merely half suffocated me and then left me to give the appearance of an opium addict while he made his getaway?

I had no idea how long I had been unconscious or how much opium I had already breathed in. I was horribly aware of the singing in my head and that my arms and legs were no longer obeying me. If Monty was still watching me, my only course was to breathe as little as possible, feign sleep, and hope that he’d leave.

I shut my eyes and let my mouth droop open, making what I hoped were the snoring noises of one on opium. I think I may have drifted off because suddenly I was floating, my body completely weightless and my arms propelling me though the bluest of skies with no effort at all like swimming in a warm ocean. Brilliantly green fields were below me, greener than anything I had seen in Ireland, and the air felt sweet and fresh. It came to me that there was nothing to worry about. All would be well.

Except a word hovered at the back of my consciousness. Daniel. Daniel. I repeated it and forced my eyes open. Something I had to tell Daniel. I tried to sit up and banged my head hard on that ceiling of the bunk above mine. The pain was enough to bring me back to some degree of consciousness. Daniel. Had to tell Daniel … I tried to get to my feet. My legs felt as if they were remote objects over which I had no control, and I had to cling onto the edge of my bunk while the world swung around me. Have to get out. Get out, I muttered. I staggered across to the wall and felt my way around until I came to a door. It took me a long time to find a latch and make my fingers lift it, then to push open the door. I stepped outside, trying to see where I was going, but I couldn’t focus on anything. In truth I didn’t know where I was. Just two things, darkness and Daniel, echoed through the hollow of my mind.

There was a bad smell in my dark passage and that helped to bring me to some kind of reality, but I still couldn’t make my brain function enough to tell me where I was or where I needed to go. I staggered forward, feeling the rough brickwork of the arched wall on my hand. I heard noises ahead—voices, harsh and loud; the chink of crockery; a fiddle played badly. As I stepped out to see what it was, a burst of gunfire sounded right beside me. I leaped back, half fell, and was grabbed by strong arms. I fought myself free.

“Okay, missie. Only firecracker. Firecracker for holiday,” a voice said.

Firecracker. My fuzzy mind played with the word. Another burst made me jump again. Danger. Had to get away from here. But I wasn’t sure in which direction safety lay. I started to walk. Then I heard a voice.

“Follow me, if you please, ladies and gentlemen. We are now in the heart of Chinatown. There is danger and depravity all around us, so please stay close to me. We wouldn’t want the little ladies to be shipped off as white slaves, would we?”

Even in my befuddled state I recognized the voice. Connors. Slumming tours. I was saved. I staggered toward him.

“Mr. Connors, I need help,” I tried to say. But the words only came out as a moaning jumble of sounds with no discernible consonants. Instead of offering help, Connors shepherded his group hastily to one side, steering them past me like a herd of sheep.

“There you are, that’s one of them,” Connors said, his voice booming through a megaphone. “I promised you’d see opium addicts and there you are. You can see how low ordinary white folks have fallen, under the spell of this awful drug.”

“No wait, listen,” I tried to say, but they swept past me and away.

Then another hand grabbed my arm. “You poor dear woman,” a voice said. “Have no fear. I’ve come to save you. Yes, there is salvation in the Lord. Come back to the mission with me and I’ll help you break the bonds of the devil’s drug.” I could vaguely make out a trim shape of woman in a gray outfit and old-fashioned gray bonnet. “Come on,” she said again. “Let me take you to the mission. I promise you won’t regret it. The Lord has sent me to find you and lead you on the road to recovery.”

I wanted to laugh. I wanted to tell her I was Molly Murphy, private investigator and about to be married to a respectable police captain, but again my mouth made only animal-like sounds. One thing was clear. I didn’t want to go with her. Had to find Daniel and tell him … I couldn’t remember what I had to tell him, but it was important.

She was just trying to drag me away when I heard another voice. “Miss Murphy! Holy Mother of God, it’s Miss Murphy, Albert. What has happened to you, my dear? Albert, take her arm. We must get her into the house.”

And I was half carried in through a front door. “Are you sick, my dear? Has someone attacked you? Your dress is all torn.”

I tried to tell her with my useless lips, again producing only the incomprehensible words one makes when half asleep.

“Looks to me as if she’s been drugged,” a male voice said.

“Then we’d better leave her to sleep it off,” said the woman’s voice. “Wasn’t it lucky that the wind got up and we came back from the picnic early, or who knows what might have happened to her?”

Someone put a cup to my lips and I sipped water.

“It’s coffee she needs,” the male voice said. “If coffee can cure a hangover, it should help with other drugs, shouldn’t it?”

They lay me down and tucked a blanket around me. “It’s all right, my dear. You’re quite safe now,” the woman said.

I closed my eyes. Quite safe now. I knew there was some reason I shouldn’t sleep, but it had gone again. I closed my eyes and retreated into dreams.

Thirty-three

It was the smell of coffee that aroused me. It crept into the peaceful landscape in which I was residing until my brain formed the word “coffee” and I came to consciousness. Aileen Chiu was standing in front of me, holding a cup.

“I let you sleep it off,” she said, “but I guess you’d now like a nice cup of coffee to clear your head.”

“What time is it?” I asked.

“A little past nine in the evening.”

“That’s terrible,” I said as memory returned. “I’ll be too late.”

“Too late for what?”

“To stop him from crossing the border and getting away.” I sat up, closing my eyes as the world swung around. “The murderer,” I added. “Can you send someone to police headquarters and get Captain Sullivan?”

“Why yes, I’ll send my son, Joe, right away,” she said, “but what’s this about a murderer?”

“The man who killed Mr. Lee. He dragged me into an opium den and drugged me while he got away,” I said.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” she muttered, crossing herself. “You poor dear. What an experience. You’re lucky to have escaped with your life.”

“Yes, I am,” I said, realizing as I spoke the words how true they were. I was alive and soon Daniel was going to come and all would be well—except that I’d slept so long that Monty Warrington-Chase would be in Canada and nobody would bother to pursue someone who killed Chinese people. At least Sarah would be safe now—an awful thought struck me. Had he taken her with him?

I sipped the coffee, feeling normality returning. I was conscious of voices, a door slamming; then I lay back again until I heard a voice I recognized. “Where is she? Is she all right?”

And Daniel burst into the room. He dropped to his knees, enveloping me in his arms. “Thank God,” he murmured, burying his face in my hair. “Thank God. I was going out of my mind with worry. I’ve had men combing the city for you.” And then as he held me away I saw that his eyes were moist with tears. “Where the devil did you get to? I thought I told you to go straight home and wait for me.”

“I intended to,” I said. “I was on my way home when he grabbed me.”

“Who grabbed you?”

“Monty Warrington-Chase,” I said. “He committed both the murders, Daniel.”

“Monty? What the deuce did he have to do with Chinatown?”

“Opium addict,” I said. “Lee Sing Tai was blackmailing him and threatening to tell Sarah’s family.”

“He told you all this?”

“I figured most of it out for myself,” I said. “I actually found the piece of paper with his signature on it, but I suppose he must have taken it when I was unconscious.”

“He knocked you out?”

“I think he tried to kill me, but then someone was coming or his conscience got the better of him, and he dumped me in an opium den instead,” I said. “You must stop him, Daniel. He said he was going to the border. That must mean Canada, I suppose.”

“How long ago was this?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t know how long I was asleep, but it must be several hours. The Chius found me in the street and brought me home with them. I wanted to tell them to find you, but I was so drugged that I couldn’t form any words.”

“I’ll tell the constable outside to get things moving, and I’ll arrange for someone to take you home,” Daniel said. He was gone for a moment, then came striding up to me. “Just a minute. You found the piece of paper with his signature on it? Where did you find this paper?”

“In Lee’s cabinet,” I answered, realizing that I should not have mentioned this fact.

“You went back to Lee’s place?”

“Only because there was a constable standing outside the door, so I knew I’d be safe,” I said. “I hadn’t realized that Monty came in across the roof.”

“Molly, what did I tell you?” Daniel was glaring at me now.

“Two seconds ago you were crying and thanking God I was still alive,” I said. “Now you’re looking at me as if you could kill me.”

“Did it occur to you it’s because I love you?” he said. “If anything happened to you—well, I don’t want to picture life without you. And yet you continue to put yourself in harm’s way.”

“I don’t put myself in harm’s way deliberately,” I said. “Harm’s way just seems to find me.”

“Not any longer,” Daniel said. “If you don’t behave yourself from now on, we’ll go and live with my mother. There. How’s that for a threat.”

“Terrifying,” I said, managing a smile. I took a deep breath. “I’m really sorry about all of this, Daniel. I knew I shouldn’t get involved from the beginning. I thought I was helping, but I wasn’t.”

“I don’t know about that,” Daniel said. “You’ve solved my case for me. We’ll have men watching all border crossings so we’ve a still good chance of catching him.”

“But if he’s taken that signature with him, you’ll have no proof.”

“My dear girl, I told you, I have a nice set of fingerprints on that statue. If Monty’s match—well then. There we are. The courts have never yet allowed us to admit fingerprints as evidence, but they’ll have to soon. And at very least you’ve stopped your friend Sarah from marrying him.”

“Poor Sarah,” I said. “She might really love him. I know how I’d feel it you turned out to be a drug fiend or a murderer.”

Daniel actually laughed. “That’s one thing you can say for me. I’m a straightforward kind of guy. What you see is what you get.”

I looked at him with love in my eyes. “That’s just fine with me,” I said.

* * *

I arrived back at Sid and Gus’s to find a beaming Bo Kei with Frederick beside her. He had been released that afternoon and they were already planning what they should do next.

“I will be forever in gratitude, Missie Molly,” Bo Kei said. “You have given me my life and my happiness.”

Well, at least I’d done something right. They were going to go back to Canada where they felt that Chinese people had a better chance of leading normal lives. This made me think of Monty crossing the border. Had the police been too late to catch him? Would the Canadian authorities return him?

We didn’t learn the truth until a few days later. Monty had been apprehended trying to sail out of Montreal on a ship bound for England. He had died of a drug overdose that night, whether intentionally or accidentally we’d never know. Given his position in society, it would have been unlikely that he would have had to face a harsh punishment for the crime of killing Chinese. He might even have walked away a free man. Sarah was with us when Daniel came to tell us the news.

“I’m glad he’s not going to prison,” Sarah said. She sat staring down at her hands, her face betraying no emotion. “I know that addiction causes people to do all kinds of wicked, reckless things. Poor Monty, I believe he tried to tell me about it once, in a subtle way. He said that he’d fallen from his polo pony in India and broken his ribs. The pain had been so great that they’d fed him a constant supply of morphine. I suppose the addiction started then.”

“I think you’re being too kind,” Sid said. “You’re well rid of him, Sarah. Now that you’re no longer engaged we can tell you that we thought him a selfish, arrogant brute who would have made your life miserable.”

“Why didn’t you say this to me before?”

“Because we know that people fall in love with the most unsuitable types,” Gus added. “And if you really were in love with him, it was not up to us to stop you.”

Sarah gave a sad sort of smile. “I don’t think I ever was truly in love with him. I can’t have been because I felt such a sense of relief when I heard he had fled to Canada. And I’m not heartbroken that he died. Now that I’ve had time to think about it, I’m sure he didn’t love me either. He was only marrying me for my money.”

“That’s the same with Molly and me.” Daniel patted my hand. “I’m only marrying her for her money.”

“So you’re off back to Westchester tomorrow for the final wedding preparations, are you?” Sarah asked.

I nodded. “Final fittings on my dress, that kind of thing. If you think you could bear it, I’d like you to come to the wedding too.”

“I’d like to, if only to see Sid and Gus dressed as bridesmaids.” Sarah managed a smile.

“I’ll have you know that Gus and I will be the most demure and correct bridesmaids in the history of weddings,” Sid said. “You wait until you see us in lavender.”

“I must be going.” Daniel got to his feet. “I only came to tell you the news and I have paperwork to finish tonight if I want to be free to come with you tomorrow to my mother’s. Ladies, I bid you farewell.” And he bowed correctly.

I walked with him to the door. “How is it that you have time to come with me? I thought you were working on a big case you couldn’t tell me about.”

“I was.” He paused. “It is concluded, satisfactorily as far as the commissioner is concerned, in spite of you, Miss Murphy.”

“What did I do?”

“I was ordered by the commissioner to look into corruption in the New York City police—a task I found most repugnant, as you can imagine. Spying on my fellow officers and turning them in. I can tell you, that goes against the grain; but I had no choice in the matter. I obey orders. As you can imagine, a good deal of my attention was focused on the issue of accepting bribes. I was spying on Kear and Bobby Lee when you barged in on me. They were about to conclude a lucrative deal. Luckily I was able to nail him anyway—something I don’t regret too much, as I couldn’t stand the man. The commissioner hopes that a couple of examples like this will put the fear of God into the rest of the force. We shall see. On a policeman’s pay it’s all too easy to accept bribes and sometimes it’s expedient to work on both sides of the law.”

“But you’ll never do that,” I said.

“If I did, you’d never hear about it.” He laughed. Then he took me into his arms and kissed me.

* * *

The next day when I went back to Mrs. Sullivan’s house I took little Bridie with me. When I went to Cherry Street to deliver the wedding invitation, Seamus had let me know that he wasn’t planning to attend. Had to be near the docks in case the ship decided to sail, was how he put it, but I got the feeling that he’d feel out of place at a fancy wedding in Westchester County. So he said his good-byes to his daughter and she trotted off with me, holding my hand and scarcely a look back at her father and brother.

To my relief Mrs. Sullivan made her quite welcome, indicating she was pleased to have a flower girl in the bridal procession after all. She set about making a dress for her and was delighted that Bridie proved a quick learner with her needle. “Why she’s better at it than you,” she said, looking up at me with triumph in her eyes. “I think she’ll make a splendid little helper for my maid.”

I was sure she would, but I had other ideas by this time. I took Daniel aside when he came up to see how we were getting along.

“Listen, how would you feel about starting married life with a child in the house?” I asked him.

He looked at me suspiciously. “Are you trying to tell me—because we haven’t … for some time.”

I laughed. “Not ours. I was thinking of Bridie. I’m sure she’d be fine with your mother, but I’m thinking she’d be a grand little helper for me, especially when the babies come, and she could continue her schooling.”

“But my mother’s grown quite fond of her,” he said. “And I think we should get off to a better start with just the two of us on our own. Later when we’re settled, we can discuss it again if you like.”

So now Bridie had people actually fighting over her. I could see that Daniel’s mother liked having someone to look after again, which was just fine with me. I suspected that Bridie would not end up as any maid’s helper. She would be spoiled and would learn to play croquet with the local young ladies.

During the next week I had plenty to occupy me, so that I had no time to think about crime and detection and specifically what had just happened to me in Chinatown. My days were filled with the minutiae of arranging a wedding, from ordering the ham from the butcher to the flowers for the church and the final fittings on my wedding gown. None of it seemed real until I awoke one morning and realized it was my wedding day. I looked out of my window to a perfect blue sky. Mrs. Sullivan had arranged a hearty breakfast, but I couldn’t eat a thing. While I was still toying with my boiled egg Sid and Gus arrived from New York, dressed so conventionally that I hardly recognized them.

We went up to my room and they helped me into my dress. It was all creamy silk and lace, and when I looked at myself in the looking glass, I hardly recognized myself. I was no longer the Irish tomboy—I was an elegant woman, about to be married.

I saw Mrs. Sullivan standing in the doorway, watching me admiring myself. She looked pleased and proud. I went over to her and gave her a hug. “Thank you, it’s wonderful,” I said.

“You look grand,” she said, going quite pink. “I only wish that my dear husband had lived to see this day.”

So wonders would never cease. She actually approved of me. Then a second wonder happened as Sid and Gus came back, having turned into demure young ladies in dresses of lavender silk.

“The carriage has come,” Bridie called, looking out of the window. “And it’s beautiful and it’s got two white horses, like Cinderella.”

In truth I felt like a magic princess. The others went down and I stood alone in the room, still looking at my reflection. In an hour’s time I’d be a married woman, Mrs. Daniel Sullivan. I’d have given up my freedom. I’d no longer be hunting people through Chinatown or the Lower East Side. I’d be expected to behave sedately and do the kind of things wives did. For a second I felt a twinge of panic. Then I thought—was it really such fun to be risking my life on a daily basis, not knowing where my next dollar was coming from? And was Mrs. Daniel Sullivan such a bad thing to be?

“Molly, come on, we’ll be late,” Mrs. Sullivan called from the stairs.

“Coming,” I called and went down to meet my future.

I climbed into the open carriage and we rode to the church, my veil blowing out behind me in the wind. The organ was playing as I went up the path to the church, with Bridie walking ahead of me. The organist switched to the wedding march. There were so many people in the pews, and as all those faces turned toward me, I was suddenly overcome with shyness and self-consciousness until I spotted Daniel. He was standing there by the altar in his dark suit, his unruly hair combed into submission, and he was staring at me with a strange look of wonder on his face, as if he’d just seen me for the first time. And he looked so handsome he almost took my breath away.

“This is the man I’m going to marry,” I whispered and almost had to pinch myself. Mrs. Daniel Sullivan wasn’t a bad thing to be at all.

I started to walk up the aisle toward him, hardly conscious of Bridie ahead of me or Sid and Gus following just behind. As I came close to the altar, Daniel held out his hand to me. His eyes were smiling.

The next bit was something of a blur. Then we were walking down the aisle together, my hand tucked through his arm and people were throwing rice as we stepped out into the bright sunshine.

“Well, Mrs. Sullivan?” Daniel said. “I’ve finally tamed the wild Irish girl.”

“Don’t you believe it.” I laughed.

Then it was back to the house for a magnificent spread of food and toasts and champagne. I had always known that Daniel moved in society, but I was surprised at the number of distinguished people who were attending. Daniel introduced me to aldermen and members of the Four Hundred. Even Mr. John Wilkie, head of the Secret Service with whom Daniel had recently worked, had come up from Washington. Actually I had worked for him too, unbeknownst to my bridegroom!

“So you’re giving up your profession, are you?” he said as he came to congratulate us. “I must say I’m disappointed. Such a waste of talent, Sullivan. I was hoping to recruit her.”

“You’ll do no such thing,” Daniel said. “I am delighted I can finally stop worrying about her and know that she’s safely at home.”

The reception line moved on. For a while I had felt like a stranger at my own wedding until I realized that I did know quite a few of the guests. There were several of Daniel’s fellow officers, including my friend and female detective Mrs. Goodwin. I was delighted to see old Miss Van Woekem, the distinguished lady who had taken me under her wing when I first arrived in New York. Sarah Lindley had come, looking rather pale and sad, but giving me a kiss and a brave smile. “It was for the best, wasn’t it?” she whispered to me. I nodded.

And then I looked up as an amazing figure came flying toward me. It was Ryan O’Hare, wearing a floor-length black cape over a white suit.

“You didn’t think I’d let the small matter of a lack of invitation keep me away, did you?” he asked, taking my hand and kissing it. “I’ve never been known to miss a good party in my life. Besides, I can see that this one needs livening up. I may give one of my recitations—‘The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck,’ perhaps?”

I started to laugh. “Oh, Ryan, I’m so glad you’re here,” I said.

If Daniel didn’t feel the same way, he was gracious enough not to say anything. As we moved through the crowd together I heard Daniel’s mother’s voice. “Yes, she is such a dear girl, isn’t she? I’m so lucky to be getting such a daughter-in-law.”

After the toasts and the cutting of the cake the party slowed down as guests stood around the lawn in the balmy evening air.

“Ah, so there you are, Mrs. Sullivan.” Mr. Wilkie came up to me. “Come for a stroll with me and show me those lovely rosebushes.”

We walked across the lawn together.

“You know, I can’t see you settling down to domestic bliss,” he said.

“I’m going to have to learn how to,” I replied.

He leaned closer to me. “When you come back from the honeymoon,” he said in a low voice, “there’s a little job I’d like you to do for me. Oh, and no need to mention it to Daniel.” He put his finger to his lips and moved back into the crowd, leaving me staring after him.

“Ah, there you are,” Daniel called, coming toward me. “I thought you’d run away from me already.” He put his arm around my waist. “They all seem to be having a good time, don’t they?”

I nodded. “Your mother has done a wonderful job. It’s magnificent, Daniel.”

“Let’s leave them to it. I think it’s time you and I slipped away together, don’t you?” he murmured.

He took my hand and led me back toward the house.

HISTORICAL NOTE

Everything I have written about Chinatown in 1903 is accurate, including Chuck Connors’s slumming tours, the overzealous missionaries, the opium dens, and the lack of Chinese women. Congress passed the Exclusion Act in 1884, hoping to drive those Chinese who had come for the Gold Rush and the building of the railways back to their homeland. The act decreed they could never become citizens, even if born here. They could not bring over their wives and families (certain rich merchants got around this). However, in the Census of 1900 there were over three thousand men living in Chinatown and only thirty women. Of course there could have been more women, including the small-foot wives hidden away, and there were definitely Chinese prostitutes in the brothels on the Bowery.

In spite of the Chinese being sober and hardworking, they were universally mistrusted and considered to be a threat. Misconceptions about their customs and lifestyle continued well into the century, which is why Chinatowns have endured for so long.

Also by Rhys Bowen

The Molly Murphy Mysteries

The Last Illusion

In a Gilded Cage

Tell Me, Pretty Maiden

In Dublin’s Fair City

Oh Danny Boy

In Like Flynn

For the Love of Mike

Death of Riley

Murphy’s Law

The Constable Evans Mysteries

Evanly Bodies

Evan Blessed

Evan’s Gate

Evan Only Knows

Evans to Betsy

Evan Can Wait

Evan and Elle

Evanly Choirs

Evan Help Us

Evans Above

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

BLESS THE BRIDE. Copyright © 2011 by Rhys Bowen. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.www.minotaurbooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataBowen, Rhys.Bless the bride / Rhys Bowen.—1st ed.p. cm.ISBN 978-0-312-62810-9 (alk. paper) 1. Murphy, Molly (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Women private investigators—Fiction. 3. Irish American women—Fiction. 4. Missing persons—Investigation—Fiction. 5. New York (N.Y.)—History—1898–1951—Fiction. I. Title.PR6052.O848B57 2011823'.914—dc222010040697First Edition: March 2011eISBN 978-1-4299-6739-6First Minotaur Books eBook Edition: March 2011

Table of Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Author’s Note

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-six

Chapter Twenty-seven

Chapter Twenty-eight

Chapter Twenty-nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-one

Chapter Thirty-two

Chapter Thirty-three

Historical Note

Also by Rhys Bowen

Copyright