Murder in Murray Hill (Gaslight Mystery)
Page 23
“It’s from Mrs. Wolfe. Franchesca,” she added, in case Malloy was confused. “I completely forgot to tell you, she was going to see an attorney this afternoon.”
“An attorney? What for?”
“For Rose, in case they tried to arrest her for killing Pendergast.”
“That was probably a good idea. What does she say?”
“She says she found out something very important and wants to tell me about it. She also says she sent her carriage to bring me back.”
“That was thoughtful,” Frank said. “Am I invited, too?”
“She doesn’t say, but I’m sure she would be glad to see you.”
“I hope so, because I’m going.”
In a few short minutes, they were in the Wolfes’ carriage on their way to see Franchesca Wolfe.
• • •
OH, Mr. Malloy, how fortunate that you’re here, too,” Franchesca Wolfe said as she welcomed them into her parlor.
Frank didn’t think anyone had ever greeted him like that, so he smiled, then nodded to Rose Wolfe, who stood beside her and looked almost as delighted to see him.
Franchesca invited them to be seated, served them tea, then sent the maid away.
“Rose tells me that you think you know who killed that horrible man and his servant,” she said to Sarah when the door was closed.
Sarah glanced at him. “Yes, and Mr. Malloy agrees. In fact, he’d reached the same conclusion himself today for entirely different reasons.”
“And this woman was also deceived by the dead man the way Rose was?”
“Deceived and held prisoner, yes,” Sarah said.
Franchesca nodded. “Mr. Malloy, did Mrs. Brandt tell you that I went to see an attorney today?”
“Yes, she did.”
“He was very informative.”
“That’s unusual for an attorney,” Frank said.
“Perhaps you’ve never seen an attorney as a paying client,” Franchesca said with a smile.
“Not often,” he conceded.
“Mr. Pennyworth had many questions for me, some of which I was unable to answer because I don’t know all the details of Rose’s ordeal, but he did grasp the importance of protecting Rose—not only from being charged with murdering that awful man but also from being called as a witness if some other poor female is charged.”
“Franchesca didn’t know that we had figured out who the killer was,” Rose added, “but she did know that there were at least two of us who might be suspected, so Mr. Pennyworth’s advice still applies.”
“It will depend upon Miss Livingston’s willingness to assist us,” Franchesca said, “but of course it is in her best interest to do so.”
“And Joanna will also have to agree,” Rose added.
“She might be more difficult to convince, since she’s actually guilty,” Franchesca said. “But on the other hand, she has the most to lose, too.”
Frank nodded. “So we’re all agreed we need to do something, but you haven’t told us what it is yet.”
“Oh my, yes,” Franchesca said. “Let me explain.”
When she was finished, Frank gaped at her. Sarah was gaping, too. It was fiendishly clever, just what he should have expected from an attorney. Justice could be maneuvered in so many ways if you had the mind for it.
Sarah turned to him. “Do you think it could work?”
“Yes, I do. I think it could work even if Joanna doesn’t want to cooperate. If she doesn’t, this could save her from herself, in fact. We have to convince Grace Livingston first, of course.”
“Will her father object?” Rose asked. “He’s very protective of her.”
“I’ll convince him,” Frank said. “When he understands it’s our only hope for keeping Grace’s name out of the newspapers, I think he’ll go along.”
“Then our next step is to see Grace,” Rose said.
“Shouldn’t we wait until morning?” Franchesca said.
“I think Grace will have a better night if she knows our plan,” Rose said.
• • •
IN the end, they convinced Franchesca not to accompany them. She longed to see the fruits of her efforts, but she had to finally agree that the presence of a complete stranger wasn’t likely to put Grace Livingston at ease.
She did insist they take her carriage, though, so they traveled in comfort through the warm evening. Sarah noted with regret that the desk clerk who had given her so much trouble wasn’t on duty this evening to see her enter the hotel with a proper escort.
Once again, Mr. Livingston opened the door to their hotel suite. “Mr. Malloy! Does this mean our ordeal is over?”
“Soon, I hope,” he replied, allowing Sarah and Rose to enter ahead of him. Grace waited for them inside, her hands twisting anxiously, a silent question burning in her eyes.
“Mr. Livingston, the ladies need to discuss some things among themselves,” Malloy said. “Maybe we could go downstairs to the hotel bar, and I’ll tell you what’s going on.”
“Grace?” Livingston said.
“Go ahead, Father. We’ll be fine.”
Malloy escorted a reluctant Mr. Livingston out, leaving the three women staring at each other.
“We have a plan,” Sarah said.
“It’s brilliant,” Rose said. “My sister-in-law, Franchesca, went to see an attorney today, and he suggested it.”
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense,” Grace said. “Please, sit down and tell me all about it.”
When they were seated, Rose gave Sarah a questioning glance.
“You tell her,” Sarah said.
“As I said, Franchesca went to speak with an attorney. Before I saw you yesterday, I was afraid I might be arrested for killing Pendergast, and she thought I would need some legal help.”
“But what could he have said that would help me?” Grace asked.
“His idea is so clever and yet so simple: He said we should both confess to killing Pendergast.”
“What? How could that help?” Grace asked. “Especially since neither of us did it.”
“You see, the police like it when a person confesses to a crime,” Sarah explained. “That means they don’t need to have a trial where the person might get judged not guilty and go free.”
“I can see that, but . . .”
“But,” Sarah continued, “if more than one person confesses to the same crime, they can’t charge both of them with it because both of them can’t be guilty.”
“And,” Rose continued, “if they have a trial for me, for instance, you would testify that you killed Pendergast and I would go free. Then if they tried you, I would testify, and you would go free.”
“But we don’t want this to go to court at all,” Grace reminded them.
“And it won’t,” Sarah said, “because if you both confess, they’ll know this would be the outcome, so they wouldn’t charge either of you for the murder.”
“But what about this Joanna, the one who really killed Pendergast?” Grace asked. “How does this help her?”
“Well . . .” Rose glanced at Sarah.
“We’ll need to convince her to go along with us,” Sarah said. “She might not be as anxious as you both are to escape a trial, since she’s really guilty. She might be afraid that if she confesses, they’ll simply throw her in prison, but if she goes to trial, she could be found not guilty.”
“But won’t she be as terrified of a trial as we are?” Grace asked. “Having to tell everything that Pendergast did to us?”
“A destroyed reputation might not seem as bad to a woman who has been living as a man’s mistress as it does to the two of you, especially when you weigh it against a prison sentence,” Sarah said.
Rose nodded. “So we’ll have to convince her to go along with us.”
“She’s not l
ikely to trust us, though, is she?” Grace asked.
“She’s not likely to trust anyone,” Sarah said. “But we’ve got to try. None of us want to see her punished, do we?”
“Of course not! She may have saved our lives,” Grace said. “I think Pendergast might well have killed us both so we couldn’t tell what he’d done to us.”
“And she definitely avenged us,” Rose added. “Nothing the law could have done to him would have been enough.”
“Then we must see her and convince her,” Sarah said. “Unfortunately, she lives with Neth. He’s one of the men Pendergast used to invite to his house.” She didn’t have to add that he may have been one of the men who’d raped Rose. “You probably don’t want to see him, Rose.”
She stiffened. “No, I’d rather not.”
“Could Mr. Malloy get him out of the house somehow?” Grace asked.
“Perhaps, but how? Without alerting her that something was going on, that is,” Sarah said.
“Or could we get Joanna away from the house somehow?” Rose asked.
“I don’t know. Is she likely to go anywhere with us without knowing what we want from her?” Sarah asked. “And don’t forget, she’s killed two men, so she’s going to be wary of being caught.”
“Do you think she might attack us?” Rose asked.
“I can’t imagine why she would, unless she feels threatened.”
“We’ll just make sure she doesn’t have a knife handy, then,” Grace said with a sly smile. It was the first time Sarah had seen her smile.
• • •
By the time Frank had finished explaining the plan to Mr. Livingston, he was frowning.
“I don’t know, Mr. Malloy. It all sounds rather dangerous to me.”
“Grace won’t be in any danger, I promise you.”
“There are different kinds of danger, as you well know. I managed to get her back from that man, but the only way she’ll ever get over what happened to her is if she can live the rest of her life in peace.”
“Which is why we need to keep her story from being made public.”
“And yet you propose that she confess to a murder she didn’t commit, which could result in her going to prison for the rest of her life.”
Frank could understand the man’s concern, but he didn’t want Grace to go to prison either. “As I said, if both she and Miss Wolfe confess and we can get Joanna to confess as well, none of them will be bothered again.”
“And Miss Wolfe has already agreed to this?”
“Yes.”
“Do you really think this Joanna woman will also agree? She has no reason to trust Grace and Miss Wolfe. She doesn’t even know them.”
He had a point, of course. “I think when she understands what it will mean for her, she’ll agree.”
“But you can’t be sure.”
Frank managed not to sigh. “No, not until we talk to her.”
Livingston did sigh. “I must confess, I’m having a difficult time accepting a plan that allows a woman who killed two men to go free.”
“One of those men was attacking your daughter,” Frank reminded him. “If Grace had been the one with the knife, would you have difficulty allowing her to go free?”
“Of course not!”
“Well, Joanna stopped him from attacking Grace in the same way. And as for Andy, he was attacking Joanna or intended to.”
“Did she tell you that?” he scoffed.
“No, but . . . his trousers were open when she stabbed him. Plainly, he was planning to take advantage of her.”
“You really have no idea what happened,” Livingston said. “Perhaps she enticed him to get him to lower his guard.”
Frank almost smiled at how easy Livingston was making this for him. “Now you’re doing exactly what we’re afraid other people will do.”
Livingston drew back, offended. “What’s that?”
“Blaming the victim. We know this Andy fellow had his way with all the women. He’d raped Joanna when she was at Pendergast’s house, and he’d raped Miss Wolfe and your daughter, too.”
The blood drained from his face. “I didn’t know.”
“You’re afraid that people will judge Grace for meeting a man she didn’t know and allowing herself to be kidnapped. You’re afraid they’ll say she’s no better than she should be and deserved what happened to her. Maybe they’ll even think she was with Pendergast by choice.”
Livingston covered his face with his hands. “Please, don’t . . .”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you protect Grace and condemn the others. All of them were victims.”
“You’re right, of course. Forgive me. But I still don’t see how you’re going to convince this Joanna to cooperate. I think when she realizes you know she killed Pendergast and that other fellow, she’ll disappear. What’s to stop her?”
Livingston was right, of course. They’d have to figure out how to keep her from running away. She wouldn’t care about Grace and Rose. She might care about Neth, but she would surely care about herself the most, so they’d have to convince her their plan was the only way to save herself.
• • •
Sarah and the other women were still trying to figure out how and where to meet with Joanna when Malloy returned with Mr. Livingston.
“Grace, have you agreed to this plan?” her father asked.
“Yes, Papa, I have. Our only problem now will be convincing Joanna.”
Malloy caught Sarah’s eye. “Have you figured out how to approach her?”
“No. In fact, we know that we don’t want Neth around when we do, but we can’t figure out how to get her away from the house without alarming her.”
“Mr. Livingston pointed out that, if we do alarm her, she might well just disappear, too.”
“Oh dear, we hadn’t thought of that possibility at all,” Rose said.
“And yet,” Sarah said, “if she did disappear and the police couldn’t find her, they couldn’t bring her to trial, so the rest of you wouldn’t have to worry.”
“But we’d worry all the time,” Grace protested, “because someday they might find her, and just when we thought we could forget it ever happened, we’d be plunged back into the nightmare again.”
“That would be horrible,” Rose agreed. “No, we must settle this now so it’s over and done with.”
“So I guess we all agree,” Sarah said. “We need to see Joanna and convince her to go along with our plan, except, short of kidnapping her ourselves, how can we get her to meet with us?”
“Actually,” Malloy mused, “I think we will have to kidnap her.”
“We can’t do that,” Sarah said.
“No,” he said, “but the police can.”
• • •
IT’S about time you showed up,” Broghan said when Frank found him in the detectives’ room at Police Headquarters the next morning. “Did you figure out who killed those fellows?” He was sitting at one of the battered desks, his feet up, smoking a cigar. Since it wasn’t yet ten o’clock in the morning, he was relatively sober.
“Not yet,” Frank lied, “but I’ve got it down to one of three people.”
“Three? I had it down to one person before you got mixed up in it!”
“I know you did, but I wanted to make sure you had the right person.”
Broghan made a rude noise. “So who are these three people, and why do you think they did it? And most important, why can’t the high and mighty Frank Malloy decide which one it is?”
Frank smiled, trying to disarm Broghan. This wasn’t going to be easy. “Let’s see. First of all, that woman in the cellar, the one who ran off. Her name is Rose Wolfe.”
“How do you know that?” he asked in surprise.
“I got her address from the letters in Pendergast’s desk.”
“And telling the family what happened to them if they didn’t,” Frank added, refusing to let Broghan make him feel foolish. “I haven’t had time to visit all the families yet, but I did manage to locate Miss Wolfe.”
“But she couldn’t be the killer. You said she was locked in the cellar. In a cage, if I remember right.”
“Yes, but the cage wasn’t actually locked.”
Broghan snorted again. “What’s the point of having a cage if you don’t lock it?”
Frank wasn’t about to explain that Rose couldn’t escape because she had no clothes. “You’ll have to ask Pendergast about that.”
“And how do you know it wasn’t locked?”
“Mrs. Brandt opened it to release Miss Wolfe. She said it only had a bolt holding it shut and Miss Wolfe could easily have opened it.”
Broghan shrugged. “All right. I suppose that’s possible. She snuck upstairs, picked up a knife in the kitchen, and sliced Pendergast’s throat when he was busy with the other girl.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“What did she do with the knife?”
“Hid it, I guess.”
“So why did she go back to the house to kill that Andy fellow? Or did somebody else do that?”
“He was blackmailing people. He sent her a note, just like he did those men, telling her he knew who the killer was, so she went back to the house to get rid of him.”
Frank could tell Broghan was impressed, even though he’d probably die before he let on. “Sounds like she’s the one, all right, but you said you had three suspects.”
“Yes, the woman Joanna who lives with Vernon Neth. You met her at Pendergast’s house.”
“That can’t be right. Why would she kill Pendergast?”
“She was one of the other women he’d kidnapped. Neth bought her away from Pendergast.”
“You don’t say.” This time Broghan did allow himself to look impressed, although Frank thought he was more impressed with the idea of buying a female than Frank’s detecting skills.
“When we followed Neth to his house that day, he ran off. In fact, he went to Pendergast’s house to tell him what had happened. He was pretty angry that Pendergast had tricked him into getting involved with his schemes, but Joanna was angry, too. She apparently cares for Neth and was even more furious at Pendergast for involving him. She sneaked into Pendergast’s house and got the knife and cut his throat.”