For the Love of Mike

by Rhys Bowen

  “You do have a point there,” Gus agreed. “She does seem to attract trouble, I’ll agree. Molly dearest, you haven’t told us how you came to be involved in a fire in the first place.”

  We sat at the kitchen table, sipping brandy, while I told the whole story of the fire.

  “I must be confused, but I don’t quite see how Katherine comes into a fire at Mostel’s. I thought she left there weeks ago,” Gus said.

  “I ran away from Michael and Sadie hid me in Mostel’s attic,” Katherine said.

  “You ran away from your husband because he ill-treated you?”

  “No, he didn’t ill-treat me, but I couldn’t stay with a coldblooded murderer.” She filled in the gaps, including what she knew about Nell’s murder. It can’t have been easy for her and Sid and Gus nodded with sympathy.

  “One thing I don’t understand,” Sid said. “If you were married, then there’s nothing much your father could have done about it, is there? He couldn’t have forced you to come home.”

  “I asked that same question,” Jacob said.

  Katherine sighed. “I lied about my age. I lied about almost everything to get married. For all I know the marriage isn’t valid at all. But it wasn’t myself we were worried about, it was Michael. I knew he was with the freedom fighters in Ireland and that was one of the things that made him attractive to me. I thought it was wonderful to be passionate about a just cause. I mean, we English really have no right to rule Ireland, do we?”

  She looked at me as if wanting my personal forgiveness.

  “It’s not your fault,” I said. “You were born to it. You didn’t choose it.”

  “Go on about Michael,” Sid said. “You say he was a freedom fighter.”

  “I knew that he loved danger, but I thought that he was also noble and good. After I married him I found out that he loved violence. He had killed a police officer when the police tried to break up a demonstration. He was proud of it. And I found out something else too—he only married me as a way of getting his hands on some money and leaving Ireland in a hurry.” She put her hands over her mouth and sat fighting with emotion for a moment, then composed herself again. “I have been such a fool,” she said.

  “So Michael was scared that he could be sent back to Ireland to stand trial for killing a policeman,” I said.

  “Of course. And then this second killing. I couldn’t abide it any longer.”

  “So you ran away from him.”

  “Not at first,” she said. “He told me that I’d be an accessory to the murder. He’d tell everyone that it was my idea and that I had egged him on, so I’d hang with him. I didn’t know what to do. Then—then something else happened.”

  “Another murder?” I asked.

  “In a way,” she said. “One of the reasons I agreed to marry Michael and flee to America with him was because I was expecting his child. I knew how ashamed my parents would be and I couldn’t face them. After Michael killed that young woman, I miscarried. It was awful—and you know what Michael said when it was all over? He said, ‘Well at least that’s one stroke of luck, isn’t it? Now we won’t be saddled with a brat.’ ” She gave a big, shuddering sigh. “I had just lost my baby.”

  Without warning she began to cry, hiding her face in her hands before mastering herself again. “I promised myself I wouldn’t give in to self-pity,” she said.

  I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder.

  “Don’t worry, Katherine, you’ll be safe now,” I said.

  “You’re going to turn me over to my father.”

  “You don’t want to go home?”

  “No, of course not,” she said. “I hated that life—the boredom was awful. Hunting and parties and then over to London for more parties and inane chatter. I don’t ever want to go back to that.”

  “Your parents are very worried about you. I understand your mother is an invalid.”

  “When it suits her,” Katherine said. “So will you tell my father?”

  “Your father is my client,” I said. “I shall have to write and tell him that I’ve found you, safe and sound. What you do after that is up to you, although I beg you to write to them yourself and ask for their forgiveness.”

  “It sounds to me that the marriage wasn’t legal,” Jacob said. “And if you’re underage, they could demand that you come back to them.”

  “Then I shall go somewhere where they can’t find me until I turn twenty-one. I shall be quite a rich woman then.”

  “How will you manage until then?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I can’t think about that now. My concern at this moment is that Michael doesn’t find me. I know he’s been looking for me.”

  “He still loves you then?” Gus asked.

  “I doubt if he ever loved me. He wants me with him for his own protection. I am a bartering tool—not much more.”

  “You should tell the police what you know about Michael,” Jacob said.

  “Turn in my own husband, you mean?” She shook her head. “I can’t do that. However he has behaved toward me, I really loved him. I believed him when he said he loved me. I was carrying his child. I can’t betray him now.”

  “Even if he wants to hurt you?” I demanded.

  She shook her head. “I’m sure he doesn’t mean me harm. He’s just frightened at the moment. He doesn’t know where to go. He doesn’t know whether he can trust me or not.” She grabbed at my arm suddenly. “You won’t tell the police about him, promise me that. Not until I’ve decided what I must do next.”

  “All right,” I said. “We will say nothing until you’ve made up your own mind. But he killed somebody, Katherine. He killed a good woman. You can’t expect us to sit by and do nothing. You know in your heart that you have to tell them.”

  Katherine sighed. “I know. I’m so confused and so frightened—I don’t know what I feel anymore. But I did love him once.”

  “But you are afraid for your life. You can’t go on living this way,” Jacob said angrily. “The man must be brought to justice.”

  “The man is a brute. You were quite right to leave him,” Sid said.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll be safe here. He’ll never be able to find you. Our lips are sealed,” Gus added.

  “Thank heavens for that. Now we can all relax,” Jacob said.

  It turned out he wasn’t one hundred percent right.

  An hour or so later we were bathed, changed, and restored. Sid and Gus insisted on feeding us. After a large filling meal of roast beef, cabbage, and potatoes (the Moroccan phase having begun to wane), Jacob took his leave reluctantly.

  “You’re sure you will be all right now?”

  “You’ve said that a dozen times. How could I possibly not be all right? I am among friends and my own home is across the street, complete with large male bodyguard. Nobody would think of looking for Katherine here. We will sleep soundly tonight, believe me.”

  He went then. I crossed the street to my own house and returned with pen and paper.

  “I am writing to your father, Katherine,” I said. “I will limit my news to telling him that I have found you safe and sound if you will complete the letter yourself.”

  She chewed on her lip. “But he’ll come after me as soon as he gets the letter.”

  “Then tell him not to.”

  “You don’t know my father. He was used to ordering men around in the army for most of his life. He expects everyone else to salute and obey—wife and daughter included.”

  “Tell him that you have left Michael Kelly and it appears that your marriage might not be legal—that will make him happy. Then tell him that you are not ready to come home yet, but will keep in touch from now on. He can’t ask for more.”

  Still she hesitated.

  “Katherine, if it were your child and you were desperately worried about her, wouldn’t you want to get a message from her, saying that she was safe?”

  She nodded and sat at the table. She blotted and folded the letter before
I could read it and thrust it into an envelope.

  “That’s done then,” she said.

  She put her hand instinctively to her throat.

  “You used to wear a locket,” I said.

  She nodded. “My grandmother’s.”

  “What happened to it? How did Mr. Mostel get his hands on it?”

  “We needed money. Michael told me to pawn it. I asked Mr. Mostel if I could pawn it to him. He gave me twenty dollars for it. Not nearly enough but it kept us going. Michael drank most of the money away, of course. I wonder if it was still in Mostel’s office and it burned in the fire.”

  “No, it’s safe,” I said, “and I may be able to get it back for you.”

  Her face lit up. “Really?”

  “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try.”

  She jumped up and hugged me. “Molly, you are a miracle worker.”

  “I must go home now,” I said. “Keep out of sight and let my two trusty friends take care of you. You’ll be quite safe with them.”

  “I’m sure I shall.” Katherine looked around her. “In fact I shall be so comfortable here that I may never want to leave.”

  I smiled as I walked to the front door. I had the same warm feelings about Nine Patchin Place. I hadn’t wanted to leave either. My little home across the street still felt like a bleak substitute, but at least I didn’t have to worry that Shamey and Bridie were living in an unbearable slum.

  I stepped out into the night and pulled my wrap around me as I crossed the street. As I went to open my front door a figure stepped out of the shadows and an arm grabbed me.

  I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

  “It’s only me,” Daniel’s voice said.

  “Holy Mother of God! My heart nearly jumped right out of my chest,” I said.

  Daniel stepped out of the shadows into the light of the street lamp. “I had to see you. I’ve just called at your house but they said you weren’t home.”

  “I was across the street with Sid and Gus,” I said. “What do you mean by scaring me half to death?”

  “I heard about the fire. I got there just in time to see you in the arms of that Singer fellow. Before I could reach you, you went off in a cab with him.”

  “I was naturally upset, having just escaped from being burned to death. Jacob comforted me.”

  “Ah, so that’s all it was. That’s fine then.” The lines of concern had melted from his face. Anger welled up inside me.

  “No, that’s not all it was. I think you should know that he’s asked me to marry him.”

  He looked at me for a second, then laughed. “Of course you’re not going to marry him.”

  “Oh, and why not, pray? Does the New York police force have jurisdiction over marriages these days?”

  “You’re not going to marry him because you don’t love him.”

  “How do you know that I don’t love him?”

  “Because you love me and you can’t love two people at once.”

  “I loved you,” I corrected. “But I grew tired of waiting. Almost a year has gone by, Daniel, and still you haven’t told Miss Norton of my existence.”

  The flickering light of the gas lamp lit his face. He was wearing his greatcoat with the collar turned up and the wind tugged at his unruly curls. As usual the physical attraction of the man was overwhelming. I fought it.

  “The time has never been right, Molly. I work so darned hard that I barely have time to sleep. I have hardly seen Miss Norton for months and when I do see her, the time just goes before I can pluck up courage. I told you it has to be done properly. If I make her feel betrayed, she will stop at nothing until she has ruined me completely and utterly. She might appear sweet but she has a ruthless streak in her nature.”

  “If you chose such a person to marry—your advancement must indeed mean a lot to you.”

  “I was a young man when I first proposed to her. She seemed sweet and delicate and all that a man could want in a wife.”

  “Rich too, of course. And influential.”

  “That was taken into consideration. But I didn’t have a chance to see any of her faults until later.”

  “And now it seems you would rather live with her faults than risk her wrath. That doesn’t say much for your character.”

  “I agree. I have been a hopeless coward where this is concerned. I just beg you, do not do anything rash to spite me.”

  “If I marry Jacob, it will not be to spite you. It will be because he is kind and caring and honorable and will take good care of me.”

  “When did you ever need anyone to take care of you?” That roguish smile crossed his lips.

  “Maybe I have had enough of trying to fend for myself. And I can help him with his work too. He is making a difference, Daniel.”

  “And I am not?”

  “Of course you are, but Jacob does his work for love, and you do yours for ambition. He could make a lot of money from his photographs but chooses to take pictures to arouse the public conscience. He is actively seeking to better the lot of those poor people who have no voice of their own. It’s a noble cause.”

  “But not your cause. I don’t see you as a rabid socialist by nature,” Daniel said. “When your enthusiasm wanes, what will you have left then?”

  “Mutual respect and affection.”

  “Is that enough, Molly?”

  “It may have to be, Daniel. If you came to me tomorrow and told me that you were free of your engagement and asked me to marry you, I might well consider it, but I do not intend to become an elderly spinster while I sit at home waiting.”

  “You could always have written to Miss Norton yourself. That would have brought matters to a head.”

  I shook my head. “Oh no, Daniel. Either you come to me willingly, freely, and with your whole heart, or not at all. It has to be your choice and yours alone. You should go now. The night is cold to be standing outside.”

  “You could ask me in.”

  “That wouldn’t be proper, would it? Word might get back to my fiancé.”

  As I went to walk past him he grabbed my arm and swung me around to face him. “Don’t do this to me, Molly. Don’t taunt me this way.”

  “I assure you, sir, that I take matters of the heart very earnestly. If you think my decision to marry Jacob is merely to taunt you, then you are wrong. If I commit to him, I commit whole-heartedly, and with full knowledge of what I am giving up.”

  He grasped at my shoulders, his fingers digging into my flesh. “Don’t give up on me, Molly, please.”

  “Let go of me.” I shook myself free. “You’re not going to soften me up with your sweet-talking blarney anymore. I’m getting on with my own life without you and I’m doing just fine.”

  “Apart from almost getting yourself burned to death in a fire, shot at, captured by gangster, and arrested for prostitution?”

  “Apart from those, yes.”

  I looked at him and he started to laugh. I had to smile too.

  “I love you, Molly Murphy,” he said softly, then he reached out to stroke my cheek.

  “Good night, Daniel,” I said somewhat shakily, then I fled inside the door before I could weaken. Once inside I stood in the doorway with my hand to that cheek where his hand had been.

  Twenty-seven

  It was an unaccustomed luxury to rise with the sun the next morning, to dress and breakfast in leisure, and to get a kiss from the children as they went off to school.

  “I’m glad you’re not going to that horrid place anymore, Molly,” Bridie said, wrapping her little arms around my neck. “It was no fun when you weren’t here. All we had to eat was dripping toast and Shamey bullied me.”

  “Well, I’m going to bully you now,” I said, stroking her hair fondly. “And my first command is to bring me your hairbrush. You have a knot the size of Galway Bay in the back of your hair. And you, Shamey, haven’t washed your neck in a week. Go and do it now.”

  “Tough guys don’t need to wash their ne
cks,” he muttered as he made for the scullery.

  I waved as they ran off to school.

  “They’re turning out just grand, aren’t they?” I asked Seamus, who had come into the room.

  “Thanks to your help. Who knows where they’d have been if we had stayed with Nuala in the tenement? I wish there was some way to repay you, Molly. I’m doing my best to find a job, really I am. I’m seeing a man today at the department store called Macy’s. Do you know of it? They say it’s very grand. They take on extra help for the Christmas season—carrying packages for ladies and the like.”

  “You’ll be back on your feet soon enough.”

  He nodded as if he didn’t really believe this. “I’ve only ever been a laborer, you see, and now I don’t think I’ve the strength to swing a pick and shovel.”

  “You’ll find something, Seamus. Don’t worry about it. I’ve just concluded two cases, so I’ll have money coming in.”

  As I said that, a smile spread across my face. Two cases solved. I had become a real detective. I would go and collect my fee today. I thought it only fair to confront Sarah first and verify the truth about those papers I had seen. I had been wrong about things before—just occasionally.

  I had no idea where Sarah lived, or Mr. Mostel either. I headed for the garment factory because I couldn’t think of any other sensible starting point. As I approached along Canal Street I saw that a small crowd was still gathered around the burned-out shell of the building. Men were dragging out sorry-looking pieces of furniture from the cabinetmaker on the ground floor. On the sidewalk were stacked bolts of waterlogged, singed cloth. It was a sorry sight. I noticed that several of my fellow workers were standing among the crowd, staring at the building as if they couldn’t believe what they saw. Then Seedy Sam emerged from the ruined doorway, shaking his head. He spotted me and pointed his finger accusingly.

  “It was you, wasn’t it? You and that Sadie girl—you started the fire deliberately because I locked you in. I knew you were trouble from the first day.”

  I marched right up to him. “We started the fire?” I demanded “Is that what your addled brain has been thinking? We were almost burned alive in that firetrap. It was only sheer luck that we got out.”