Murder on Sisters' Row

5

“DID THE GIRLS FEED YOU?” SHE ASKED, WALKING TOWARD him.

“They made me a sandwich.”

“Is there anything left? I’m starving.”

He stood aside and let her precede him into the kitchen. She saw the loaf of bread still on the cutting board. She sliced herself two pieces and found the cheese in the icebox and cut some. Malloy had found a cup and poured her some coffee from the pot on the stove and refilled his own cup. He waited until she was seated and halfway through her sandwich before he started in on her.

“I warned you not to get involved with that madam.”

Sarah sighed with resignation. “I told you, I couldn’t refuse to help that girl. Besides, all I did was take the baby, and the madam had already given me her permission to do that.”

“You also made sure the bouncer wasn’t there when those rich do-gooders got there to take the girl away.”

Sarah tried not to show him how surprised she was. “How did you know that?”

“Mrs. Walker told me.”

Sarah gaped at him, giving up all semblance of dignity. “When did you see Mrs. Walker?”

“When she came to Police Headquarters to complain to the chief of detectives that someone had kidnapped one of her girls.”

“Oh, dear!”

“Yes, oh, dear. She made sure to complain about you by name, so of course O’Brien sent for me right off.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He gave her a look that said she shouldn’t lie to him, so she took another bite of her sandwich.

“She told me what happened. Whose idea was it to get the bouncer away?”

“Theirs,” Sarah said when she’d swallowed. “Mrs. Van Orner and her friends at Rahab’s Daughters.”

“Whose daughters?”

“Rahab’s. You remember the Bible story about Joshua and Jericho and how they sent in the spies and she was a harlot and—”

Malloy was waving his hand. “Never mind. So you went to this Mrs. Van-what’s-her-name—”

“Van Orner.”

“Van Orner,” he repeated patiently. “And she and her friends came up with this plan?”

“Yes, they told me exactly what to do. They knew Mrs. Walker would have a man there to keep order when necessary, and if they could just get him away from the house, they thought they could get Amy out without too much trouble.”

“Mrs. Walker has accused you of kidnapping one of her girls.”

“I wasn’t even there.”

“You organized it.”

“No, I didn’t. I told Mrs. Van Orner that a young woman needed help, and she did the rest. All I did was take the baby, and Mrs. Walker had told me I could.”

Malloy looked around meaningfully. “If you took the baby, where is it?”

“He’s with his mother.”

“And where is that?”

Sarah opened her mouth to reply and caught herself just in time. “Why do you want to know?”

Malloy sighed. “Because the chief of detectives has ordered me to find her and take her back to Mrs. Walker.”

“You can’t be serious!” Sarah cried, nearly choking on the last bite of her sandwich.

“I’m perfectly serious. The girl is Mrs. Walker’s property, and she wants her back.”

“The girl isn’t anyone’s property,” Sarah insisted. “We abolished slavery in the United States thirty years ago!”

“That’s the rumor,” Malloy said blandly.

“And I can’t believe the police are helping a madam force a young woman back into prostitution!”

“Mrs. Walker pays a lot of money to make sure the police do whatever she wants, and they usually oblige her.”

“Well, I have no intention of telling you where she is.”

“I know you don’t.”

“You do?”

“Of course I do,” he said with some exasperation.

“Then why are you here?”

“Because if I didn’t come and ask you, I’d lose my job. I’ve got a mother and a son and a very expensive school to support, if you’ll recall, so I need my job.”

Malloy’s son Brian was deaf and attended a special school. Sarah tried not to feel guilty. “I don’t want you to lose your job, but I can’t let you take Amy back to that place.”

“Where is she now?” Malloy held up his hand when she would have protested. “You don’t have to tell me the address. I just need to know if she’s someplace safe. Good God, she’s not here, is she?” He looked around in alarm.

“No, of course not! I wouldn’t put Catherine and Maeve in jeopardy.”

“Thank God you thought of that. So where is she?”

“Mrs. Van Orner has a house where she takes the girls. They stay there until they can make their own way in the world.”

“If they could make their own way in the world, they wouldn’t have ended up in a brothel in the first place.”

“Mrs. Van Orner did say that many of the women end up back on the streets. It’s very difficult for them to find honest work.”

“Honest work that will keep them from starving.”

They both knew how little women got paid in factories and sweatshops.

“Yes, a woman needs a husband to support her, but as Mrs. Van Orner pointed out, few men are willing to marry a woman who has been a prostitute.”

“Sounds like this Mrs. Van Orner has chosen a pretty thankless job.”

“Yes, she has. I wonder why she hasn’t given it up by now. I don’t think I could do it myself.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“Malloy, I know you didn’t want me to get involved, but how could I have refused to help that poor girl?”

“You didn’t have to get the baby out yourself.”

“I had to make sure he didn’t get sold or shipped out West or something.”

“No, you didn’t, but that’s an argument for another day. Today, I have to figure out what I’m going to tell O’Brien and Mrs. Walker.”

“Tell them the truth. I’m not going to betray Mrs. Van Orner.”

“Who is this Mrs. Van Orner?”

“Her husband is Gregory Van Orner. I don’t know much about them except that they’re very wealthy. I could ask my mother—”

“No!” he nearly shouted. “Don’t ask your mother anything. I don’t need her involved in this, too.”

Sarah bit back a smile. Mrs. Decker had occasionally assisted in investigations, but without her husband’s knowledge. Obviously, Malloy didn’t want to risk him ever finding out.

“Then you’ll have to be satisfied with what I know,” Sarah said. “She has an office for Rahab’s Daughters in the United Charities Building on Twenty-second Street, and she has a group of people who work with her and help her rescue prostitutes.”

“Who are these other people?”

“A Mrs. Spratt-Williams, Mr. Porter, Mr. Quimby, and a Miss Yingling, who serves as her secretary. I don’t know anything about any of them either, except that they’ve done this before.”

“They’ve broken into a brothel and kidnapped a prostitute before?” he asked in amazement.

“Yes, but not often. It’s dangerous, I’m told.”

Malloy didn’t appreciate her attempt at humor. “I’m told the same thing. If they don’t break into brothels very often, how do they do all this rescuing?”

“They find girls on the street and take them to the house I told you about, where they’ll be safe.”

Malloy sipped his coffee and considered what she had told him.

“What are you going to do now?” she asked after a moment.

“I’m going to tell O’Brien that Mrs. Van Orner is married to a rich and important man, so we can’t touch her either.”

“Either?” Sarah echoed. “Who else can’t you touch?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yes, O’Brien wanted me to drag you down to Headquarters to be questioned. I told him who your father is, though, and he changed his mind.”

“So he sent you here instead. I’m truly sorry, Malloy.”

“Yeah, well, so am I, but there’s nothing we can do about it. I’ll tell O’Brien what you told me about Mrs. Van Orner and her friends. If O’Brien wants to take on the Van Orner woman and her husband, he’s welcome to it.”

“I’m not going to tell anyone where that house is,” Sarah warned.

“Nobody’s going to ask you. I’ll tell them you don’t know, that you turned the baby over to Mrs. Van Orner and she took it to the mother. If anybody asks you, you should say the same thing.”

“Can this Mrs. Walker really take Amy back to her house?”

“If she can find her, she can try.” Malloy ran a hand over his face. “Please don’t have anything else to do with this, Sarah. People like Mrs. Walker are dangerous, and I can’t protect you from her, not when she’s got my boss on her payroll.”

“I understand.” Sarah reached across the table and laid a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry you got involved in all of this.”

His gaze met hers and held for a long moment, but before either of them could say anything, the clatter of small, running feet alerted them to the fact that Catherine was about to join them. Sarah withdrew her hand just as Catherine burst into the kitchen.

“Are you still mad?” she asked Malloy.

“No,” he said, taking her up into his lap.

She smiled up at him beatifically. “I’m glad.”

LATER THAT EVENING, LONG AFTER MALLOY HAD GONE, Sarah and the girls were cleaning up the supper dishes when someone rang her bell. Maeve and Catherine went to answer it while Sarah dried her hands and removed her apron. She was already mentally taking inventory of her medical bag in preparation for going out on a delivery when she heard what sounded like a disturbance in the front room. She was already hurrying out when she heard Maeve say, “You can’t come in here!”

When Sarah reached the office, she saw that her visitors had already come in and were facing off with a defiant Maeve and a cowering Catherine, who clung to her skirts and gazed up at them in alarm.

“Mrs. Walker, what are you doing here?” Sarah demanded, quickly stepping between the woman and Maeve. She was only too aware that Jake stood behind the woman, frowning menacingly.

“I came to find Amy, and you’re the only one who knows where she is.”

“But I don’t know where she is, and I can’t help you, so I must ask you to leave.”

The woman jutted her chin out defiantly. “I ain’t going anyplace until you hear what I have to tell you.”

“Then we will leave and go straight to the police,” Sarah said, motioning for Maeve and Catherine to move in the direction of the front door, which still stood open.

“The police won’t help you none,” Mrs. Walker scoffed.

Luckily, Sarah remembered her advantage over Mrs. Walker. “If you think they’ll take your side because of the bribes you pay them, let me assure you that my father’s influence reaches all the way to the mayor and beyond. Closing down one house of ill repute in the city won’t cause much concern to anyone, unless of course you happen to be the owner.”

Jake made a threatening noise in his throat and took a step forward, but Mrs. Walker stopped him with an impatient gesture. Then she took a deep breath and lifted a hand to her head, as if she were suffering some sort of distress. “I . . . Mrs. Brandt, I didn’t come here to trade threats with you.”

“Why did you come, then?”

“To . . . I wanted to talk to you . . . about Amy.”

“There’s nothing you can tell me about her that I don’t already know.”

“That isn’t true. I think if you know the whole story, you’ll change your mind about helping her.”

“I doubt that.”

Mrs. Walker lifted her chin again. Her eyes were like chips of flint. “Then you shouldn’t be afraid to hear me out.”

“And if I refuse, will you have your man here force me to listen?” She gave Jake a meaningful glare that he returned with narrowed eyes.

“Jake, go out and wait in the carriage.”

“But—”

“Do as I say.”

With obvious reluctance, he turned and made his way outside, leaving the front door wide open behind him.

Sarah had no idea what Mrs. Walker intended to say to her, but she knew she didn’t want Catherine to hear it. “Maeve, would you take Catherine over to Mrs. Ellsworth’s for a little visit?”

“I can’t leave you here alone with her!”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Maeve asked doubtfully.

Sarah turned to look at them. Catherine’s lower lip quivered. In another moment she was going to start crying. Sarah smiled reassuringly. “Wouldn’t you like to visit Mrs. Ellsworth? You haven’t seen her all day. Just for a few minutes. I’ll come and get you when our visitors leave. Go on, now.”

Maeve was even more reluctant than Jake had been, but she picked Catherine up and headed for the kitchen. They could go out the back way and Jake wouldn’t see them. Sarah was glad she’d thought of that.

Sarah turned back to her visitor expectantly. “What did you want to tell me?”

Mrs. Walker glanced around, apparently noticing her surroundings for the first time. She saw the two easy chairs Sarah had placed by the front window. “Could we sit down? It’s been a horrible day.”

Sarah didn’t want to encourage the woman to stay a moment longer than necessary, but a lifetime of training prevailed. “Of course,” she said, glad to hear that she sounded less than gracious, at least.

When they were seated, Mrs. Walker took a moment to study Sarah, as if trying to judge her mood or read her thoughts in some way. Finally, she said, “I know what you think of me, but you’re wrong.”

“Am I?” Sarah asked. “Are you telling me you don’t really own a brothel where you force young women to sell themselves?”

To Sarah’s surprise, Mrs. Walker smiled. “You see, that’s where you’re wrong. I don’t force them at all. I don’t have to. They come to me of their own free will, begging me to take them in.”

“How can you expect me to believe that?” Sarah asked, outraged.

“Because it’s true. I have girls knocking on my door every day. Maybe you don’t know what it’s like to be hungry and desperate, you being from a rich family and all, but there’s plenty of girls in the city who do. Poor girls, whose families have thrown them out because they can’t afford to feed them anymore. Or girls whose families died or whose husbands deserted them. If they’re lucky, they get a job in a factory or they try rolling cigars or making collars in their rooms for some sweatshop, but it ain’t long before they figure out they can’t afford to eat and keep a roof over their heads both on what they make. Maybe they say no the first time some man offers them a dollar to lift their skirts, but that’s more than they make in a week, and when the landlord tells them to pay up or get thrown into the street, that dollar starts to look pretty good.”

“I deliver babies all over the city. I know very well how difficult it is for a woman alone to survive,” Sarah said.

“Then you shouldn’t be surprised that the girls want to work for me instead of being out on the street with no one to protect them, in all weathers where anything can happen to them. I told you before, I take good care of my girls. Nobody beats them or robs them. They eat good and have a clean place to sleep. If I took all the girls who come begging, I’d have a hundred working for me. I have to turn girls away every day.”

“Then you shouldn’t miss Amy.”

Mrs. Walker stiffened. “You don’t know anything about her, or you wouldn’t say that.”

“I know she was desperate to get away from your house.”

“She was, but not for the reason you think.”

“What other reason did she need?”

“Girls leave my house for lots of reasons. Sometimes they go off with a customer who promised to set them up in style. Sometimes they get lured away to another house. Sometimes I throw them out because they steal from customers or the other girls or me. And sometimes they think they’re in love.”

“Amy said she hated what you made her do with the customers.”

“Of course she did. It’s what you wanted to hear, but that’s not the reason she wanted to leave.”

“What do you think the reason was?”

Mrs. Walker stared at Sarah for a long moment, studying her again. Then she said, “Let me tell you how Amy came to me in the first place. A man brought her.”

“What man?”

“A rich man. He’d been keeping her, and he was tired of her. She can be . . . disagreeable when she doesn’t get her way.”

Sarah had noticed this, but she didn’t respond.

“I don’t usually do favors for my clients, but this man . . . I didn’t want to refuse him, and he paid me well.”

“Did he know she was with child?”

“I don’t think she knew herself. If she did, she was stupid not to tell him, and Amy isn’t stupid. Foolish, yes, but not stupid.”

“When did you find out?”

“Not for a long time. She’s a plump girl and nobody noticed when she got a little plumper.”

“Why didn’t she let her protector know about the baby?”

“He didn’t want to hear from her, and we don’t encourage the girls to write letters. You can understand how much trouble that might cause. Besides, she was a whore. Why would he believe the baby was his?”

“How long has she been at your house?”

“Almost six months.”

“Then she would have been more than three months gone when she arrived at your place. The timing should convince him now.”

Mrs. Walker shrugged. “If he wanted to believe it, I suppose.”

“You didn’t tell him?”

“Of course not. I make it a habit not to cause problems for my clients.”

“I guess that’s why Amy didn’t ask you to tell him when she did realize she was pregnant.”

Mrs. Walker sniffed in disgust. “If she’d told me, I could’ve taken care of it, but by the time I found out, it was too late. I had a doctor come see her, but he said she was too far gone and would probably die if he tried. I should’ve put her out then, the ungrateful little bitch, but I let her stay, out of the goodness of my heart.”

“And because some of your customers enjoyed being with a pregnant woman,” Sarah guessed.

Mrs. Walker’s brown eyes flashed, but she knew how to control her temper. “My girls have to earn their keep. I don’t run a charity.”

Sarah sighed. “Mrs. Walker, you promised to tell me something to change my mind about helping Amy, but you haven’t.”

“Yes, I have. I told you she had a baby to a rich man, or at least she’s going to try to make him believe that. She’s got some romantic notion he’s going to take her back or maybe even marry her. I don’t know what she’s got in her mind, but none of that will happen, I promise you. If she goes to this man with her story, he’ll . . . Well, I don’t know what he’ll do, but it won’t be good for Amy, I can tell you that.”

Sarah had a difficult time believing Mrs. Walker was so concerned about Amy that she’d come all the way over here to beg for Sarah’s help. “I’m guessing he won’t be too pleased with you, either, for letting her get out to cause him trouble. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s the real reason you want to get her back, so you can make sure he never finds out.”

“If I have reason to be afraid of him, Amy has even more. At least tell me where she is so I can talk to her. She’s confused now, but I can set her straight.”

“And if you can’t, Jake can carry her out bodily.”

“The way your people did?” Mrs. Walker countered.

“They weren’t my people.”

“Then who were they?”

“A group who helps rescue women from the streets. And before you ask, I’ll tell you that they’ve taken Amy to a safe place. I don’t know where it is, so I couldn’t help you even if I wanted to, and I don’t.”

“Where did you take the baby? Jake went back to that mission where he’d dropped you off, but they said the baby wasn’t there.”

“He’s with Amy now. I gave him to . . . to the people who helped her.”

“Who are these people? How do you know they don’t have a brothel of their own? Maybe they rescue whores to take them to their own place!”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Not as ridiculous as you might think. A good whore can earn a lot of money.”

“The people who rescued Amy are a legitimate charity. It’s called Rahab’s Daughters.”

“Rahab,” Mrs. Walker mused. “That’s slick. Oh, don’t look so surprised. I wasn’t born in a whorehouse. I went to Sunday school in my time. Rahab the Harlot. She did all right for herself, if I remember.”

“Yes, she did, and Amy will, too, with Mrs. Van Orner’s help.”

“Whose help?” she asked sharply.

“Mrs. Van Orner. She runs Rahab’s Daughters. Maybe you’ve heard of her.”

“No, never,” Mrs. Walker said quickly, but Sarah could see she was lying.

She remembered what Amy had said about the girls in the brothel always talking about Mrs. Van Orner. Certainly, Mrs. Walker would have heard of her, too.

Mrs. Walker stood abruptly. “I should be going.”

Sarah did want her gone, but something in Mrs. Walker’s manner disturbed her. “You’ll never find Amy,” she tried. “And even if you do, she won’t go back.”

Mrs. Walker sniffed again. “Fat lot you know about whores, Mrs. Brandt. You should stick to midwiving.”

A slender figure suddenly appeared in the front doorway. “What’s going on here?” Mrs. Ellsworth demanded, striding determinedly into the room. “Are you all right, Mrs. Brandt?”

“Of course she’s all right,” Mrs. Walker said haughtily. “Why wouldn’t she be?”

Mrs. Ellsworth looked the woman up and down with exaggerated disdain. “Because there’s no telling what somebody like you might get up to.”

Mrs. Walker flushed crimson, but more from fury than embarrassment, Sarah judged. She lifted her chin and stalked out, taking care to bump into Mrs. Ellsworth, making the older woman gasp with outrage.

“Just who does she think she is?” Mrs. Ellsworth demanded, color blooming in her wrinkled cheeks.

“She thinks she’s better than we are,” Sarah said. “Where are the girls?”

“I made them stay at my house.”

“You should’ve stayed there yourself.”

“I had to make sure you didn’t need help. When Maeve told me what was going on . . .” Mrs. Ellsworth shook her head in dismay.

Sarah’s first instinct was to remind her neighbor that an elderly woman wouldn’t be of much assistance if she really had been in danger, but then she remembered at least one time when Mrs. Ellsworth’s assistance had saved her life. “I appreciate your concern, but I wasn’t in any danger.”

“Is she really a madam?” Mrs. Ellsworth asked, going to close the front door. She stopped when she saw Maeve and Catherine coming up the front steps. “I told you girls to stay put!”

“We saw the carriage pulling away, so we knew it was all right to come home,” Maeve explained. “What did that awful woman say, Mrs. Brandt?”

“Nothing important,” Sarah said.

Catherine came running across the room and threw herself into Sarah’s arms. Sarah lifted the girl up. “There’s nothing to be frightened of, darling.”

“Is the mean lady gone?”

“Yes, and she’s not coming back.”

“I didn’t like her.”

“I didn’t like her either,” Maeve said.

“Well, if she comes back here, don’t open the door,” Mrs. Ellsworth advised.

Catherine didn’t allow Sarah out of her sight for the rest of the evening, and she begged Sarah to stay with her until she fell asleep.

When Sarah came back downstairs after putting Catherine to bed, Mrs. Ellsworth was still keeping Maeve company at the kitchen table. Sarah joined them and took this opportunity to tell them about her conversation with Mrs. Walker.

“I can’t believe that woman thought you would help her,” Mrs. Ellsworth marveled.

“She probably thought she could scare her into it,” Maeve said. “She doesn’t know you very well, Mrs. Brandt.”

“I’m just glad Amy is safe from her now.”

“What will happen to her? To Amy, I mean,” Maeve asked.

“I don’t know. She’ll have to find a way to support herself and her baby.”

“That won’t be easy,” Mrs. Ellsworth said. “What kind of a job can a girl like her do? And who will take care of the baby?”

“Mrs. Walker was right about one thing. Amy thinks her baby’s father is going to help her.”

“How do you know?” Maeve asked in surprise.

“She told me today. She has the idea that once he learns about the baby, he’ll want her back or something.”

Mrs. Ellsworth shook her head. “He doesn’t sound like that kind of man.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Sarah agreed. “But we can’t be sure Mrs. Walker was telling us the truth. And maybe Amy knows him better than she does.”

“I’d say Mrs. Walker only tells the truth when it suits her,” Maeve said. “And it might’ve suited her this time.”

“Yes, it might.”

“Are you going to tell Mr. Malloy that she came to see you tonight?” Maeve asked.

“Oh, yes, that’s a good idea,” Mrs. Ellsworth said. “He’ll make sure she never comes back here.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think he could.” Sarah told them both about her conversation with Frank Malloy earlier in the day.

“You mean the police would actually help her force a girl to go back to her brothel? Against her will?” Mrs. Ellsworth asked.

“So it appears,” Sarah said.

“If he was mad before, he’ll be even madder when he hears that woman showed up on your doorstep,” Maeve pointed out.

“I know, which is why I don’t think I’ll mention it. I doubt she’ll bother us again, at any rate. She knows I can’t help her.”

“Let’s hope,” Mrs. Ellsworth said fervently.

“I just wonder if Mrs. Van Orner and her friends will help Amy get in touch with the baby’s father,” Sarah said.

“If they don’t, will you help her?” Maeve asked.

“I think you should take Mr. Malloy’s advice and keep out of it altogether,” Mrs. Ellsworth said. “You did what she asked you to do and helped her escape from that place. No one can expect anything more.”

Sarah wondered if that were true.

THE NEXT DAY, SARAH WOULD HAVE PAID AMY ANOTHER visit, just to make sure she was doing well, but she was called out on another delivery. When she got back, late the following day, she found a note from Mrs. Van Orner thanking her for her help and telling her Amy was doing fine and Sarah need no longer concern herself. The news made Maeve and Mrs. Ellsworth very happy, and Sarah decided to put the episode out of her mind, as Malloy had begged her to do.

She thought about Amy several times during the next few days, but several more deliveries kept her too busy to do more than that. A week later, she had convinced herself that if Amy had needed her help, they would have sent for her.

She and the girls had just finished cleaning up the supper dishes when someone rang the bell. Maeve and Catherine went to answer it, and Sarah didn’t even bother to remind them to check who was there before opening it. All concern that Mrs. Walker would return had evaporated.

Sarah heard the rumble of a familiar voice and quickly removed her apron and smoothed her hair before hurrying out to the front room. Maeve and Catherine were making Frank Malloy feel welcome.

“We have some stew left from supper,” Maeve was saying. “We can heat it up for you.”

“No, thanks, I can’t stay.” He looked up at Sarah when she came into the room, but he didn’t smile. “I just need to tell Mrs. Brandt something, and then I have to go.”

“Girls, would you leave us alone for a minute?” Sarah asked.

Maeve took a reluctant Catherine by the hand and led her back into the kitchen.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Sarah asked, alarm prickling over her.

“It’s your friend, the one you did the rescue with.”

“Amy? Has something happened to her?”

“Amy? Who’s that?”

“She’s the girl we took from the brothel. What’s happened to her?”

“Nothing that I know of. It’s the woman, the one who does the rescues.”

“Mrs. Van Orner?” Sarah asked in surprise.

“Yeah, Mrs. Van Orner. She’s dead.”