Murder on Astor Place

by Victoria Thompson

  “Yes, she seemed very well, under the circumstances.”

  Mina pulled herself up to her full and very imposing height. Sarah wondered that she had never really noticed what a large woman Mina was. But perhaps it was only an illusion since Sarah was sitting and Mina was standing over her.

  “I didn’t want to believe it of you, Sarah, but I’m very much afraid that your reduced circumstances have made you common. I don’t know how else to account for your lack of finer feelings, and nothing but a lack of those feelings could account for the way you imposed upon my mother in her time of grief.”

  Sarah wondered if she should be insulted, but she didn’t wonder long. Since Mina already believed her devoid of any finer feelings, she might as well prove she was. “Your mother told me something very disturbing, Mina. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t think of mentioning such a painful subject, but it was so strange, I feel I must tell you so you’ll know her current state of mind.”

  “I know her state of mind,” Mina said in disgust. “She hasn’t had a coherent thought in ages.”

  “Then perhaps that’s why she told me that you’re Alicia’s real mother.”

  For a heartbeat, Mina stood frozen with horror, and then she howled. Threw back her head and howled in agony. There was no other word for it, a sound Sarah would never forget as long as she lived, as if someone had torn loose Mina’s very soul. And then she lunged.

  Sarah understood her intention with only an instant to spare, and she threw herself off the sofa just as Mina would have landed on top of her. Their skirts tangled, sweeping Mina’s feet out from under her, and she went sprawling over the arm of the sofa, knocking over a table covered with bric-a-brac that crashed to the floor in a shower of splintering glass.

  Sarah scrambled to her feet, cursing her heavy skirts but knowing she must be ready to defend herself against another attack. Before she was fully on her feet, however, the parlor doors slammed open and Alfred rushed in. He took in the scene with one swift glance, his aged face chalk white as he saw the overturned table and the smashed figurines and Mina VanDamm struggling up out of the mess.

  “Don’t just stand there, you idiot! Help me up!” she cried, galvanizing the ancient butler who hurried to do her bidding.

  Outside, the rain slashed at the windows, and from the hallway came the sound of running footsteps. In another moment, Cornelius VanDamm appeared. He wore a smoking jacket, and his expression was alarmed.

  “What on earth happened?” he demanded of Mina, who had struggled to her feet with Alfred’s assistance. “I thought the storm had broken a window.”

  “She attacked me!” Mina shrieked, pointing at Sarah.

  Mr. VanDamm stared at Sarah in surprise, having failed to notice her standing there, since the room was so dark.

  “Sarah, is that you?” he asked, even more amazed. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came... the storm...” she tried, but Mina gave her no chance to explain.

  “I said she attacked me! Aren’t you going to do something?”

  VanDamm looked from her to Sarah and back to Mina again. “Mina, I think you should go to your room. You aren’t yourself.”

  “Then who am I?” she challenged, lifting her chin defiantly. “I told you she attacked me! Look what she did!” She gestured to the overturned table and the resulting mess.

  “Alfred, you may go,” VanDamm said, using a softer tone, to show the servant he didn’t hold him responsible for what had occurred.

  Alfred fled, although he was much too dignified to actually hurry. When the doors had closed securely behind him, VanDamm turned to Sarah. “Mina is upset. She hasn’t been herself since her sister died.”

  “Stop it, Father. She knows!” Mina shrieked.

  “Mina, there’s no reason to shout,” VanDamm admonished her.

  “I tell you, she knows! She knows about Alicia! Mother told her!”

  He needed a moment to absorb the truth of it, and as he did, his face grew slack from shock. Stunned, he turned back to Sarah, his eyes were terrible. “What did she tell you?” he demanded. “What exactly did she say?”

  For a moment, Sarah didn’t know how to reply. VanDamm’s face seemed carved from stone, and his eyes reflected a torment she could only imagine. “She... she told me that Mina is Alicia’s real mother,” she lied reluctantly, having gone too far now to back down, and braced herself for his fury.

  But instead of anger, she saw only... relief? Why would he be relieved to learn that Sarah knew their terrible family secret? Unless he’d been afraid she knew Alicia’s other secret, which of course she did.

  “I’m afraid Francisca has grown quite unreliable in recent years,” he said, making his voice quite reasonable, as if he were merely explaining a difficult geometry problem. “She hardly ever leaves her room anymore, and she spends her time weaving elaborate fantasies. You would be foolish to credit anything she said, Sarah.”

  Sarah felt her hackles rising. She hated being patronized, and she hated the way he patronized his wife, too. Her anger made her reckless. “Mr. VanDamm, I also know why Alicia ran away.”

  He stiffened again, and this time his expression closed, as if a shutter had been drawn to conceal whatever emotion he was experiencing. “And why do you think she ran away?”

  “Because she was with child. I told Mina when I was here before, and I’m guessing you already knew, which is why you sent her to the country in the first place.”

  “Nonsense,” he said, trying for outrage and falling a little short. “That’s ridiculous. If that’s what Francisca told you—”

  “She didn’t tell me. I’m not sure she even knows. I guessed it when I saw Alicia the night before she died, and the police confirmed it.”

  “The police,” Mina scoffed.

  “And we also know that an abortionist visited her right before she died,” Sarah said, stung by Mina’s contempt and wanting to sting back.

  “We?” VanDamm echoed. “Who else is involved in this with you?”

  Sarah realized she’d said too much, but it was too late. “The authorities. They’ve been investigating her death, as you well know.”

  “They aren’t investigating it anymore,” VanDamm said with a certainty that told her he had been behind the decision to take Malloy off the case.

  “But they’re still investigating the death of the abortionist, ” she countered, determined to best him in this battle of accusations. “She was murdered before the police could question her.”

  She saw at once that she’d won. His surprise was apparent, and his glance at Mina, telling. What else did they know? And how could Sarah get them to reveal it?

  “I told you, she knows all about us,” Mina reminded him with satisfaction. “And she’ll tell everyone. You know what a gossip her mother is. We can’t let her leave here. She’ll ruin everything.”

  “Mina!” VanDamm gasped, but Sarah hardly noticed. She was too busy gasping herself.

  Good Lord, what did she mean? It sounded as if Mina was threatening her life, and plainly Mr. VanDamm thought so, too. Outside the thunder roared again, reminding her of the storm that had stranded her here. But as dangerous as it might be outside, she knew she had put herself in even more danger inside. Someone closely connected to the VanDamms had killed two people already to protect Alicia’s secret, and if that someone was in this room, Sarah might very well be next.

  “Detective Sergeant Malloy knows I’m here,” she lied. “And he knows everything that I do.”

  “She’s bluffing, Father!” Mina cried.

  He ignored her. “I can pay you,” he said to Sarah. “Anything you want. I know your family cut you off when you married. I know you’ve had to work to support yourself, but I can take care of you. You’ll never want for anything again.”

  “Stop it!” Mina screamed. “She won’t keep our secret! Don’t you understand? She hates us! She wants to ruin us!”

  He hardly seemed to hear her. “And if you insist on being stubborn,
I can make your life very uncomfortable, too,” he continued, not missing a beat and not even bothering to change his tone. “If you choose to ruin us, you will regret the day you were ever born.”

  “Father!”

  At last he turned back to Mina, his expression livid. “She’s Felix Decker’s daughter!” he reminded his daughter coldly. “Do you expect me to have her killed?”

  Sarah decided not to wait for her answer. Storm or no storm, she slipped out the door and into the hallway. Just as she reached it, she realized that someone was pounding on the front door. They hadn’t been able to hear it in the parlor above the noise of the storm, but whoever was knocking was determined to get in. Perhaps it was just another passerby, desperate for refuge, but Sarah didn’t care who it was. She was going to let them in.

  “Don’t open the door!” Mina shouted behind her. “Stop her, Alfred!”

  The ancient butler had just entered the hallway, but he wasn’t quick enough. Sarah pushed past him, nearly knocking him over. She’d just turned the lock when Mina collided with her, determined to bar the way, but whoever was on the other side of the door wasn’t going to be denied. The door burst open, slamming the two women against the wall behind the heavy oaken door.

  The storm washed in on wind-driven waves, carrying their visitor with it. He was drenched and buffeted, but in the split-second of the next lightning flash, Sarah saw his face.

  “Malloy!” she cried, unable to remember being so happy to see anyone in her life.

  Behind her, Mina swore a colorful oath, shocking Sarah, but only for a moment. Galvanized, she instinctively tried to shut the door against the storm again, pushing with all her weight. Suddenly, someone was with her, and between the two of them, they got the door closed again. Glancing up, she saw it was Alfred who had rushed to assist her. Everyone else remained where they had been as if frozen.

  When Sarah turned, Malloy saw her for the first time.

  “What are you doing here?” he snapped as water ran from his clothes, pooling on the polished floor at his feet, and she heard Mina’s cry of triumph at the evidence of Sarah’s lie. Not that it mattered now.

  “I found out something about them,” she told him with a triumph of her own. She wasn’t going to let him know that just moments ago she’d feared for her life and especially not that he had probably rescued her.

  Malloy removed his bowler hat and shook the water from it. “Do you know who Alicia’s lover was?” he asked with mild curiosity, eliciting another cry from Mina, this time of protest.

  Sarah felt her blood quicken. Malloy knew. He knew who the killer was.

  “It was Mattingly, wasn’t it?” she guessed, almost forgetting about the others in her desperation to know the truth at last.

  But Malloy only shook his head and turned to face VanDamm. “I found Alicia’s diary,” he told him.

  VanDamm’s face lost every ounce of color, although he managed to hold himself perfectly erect. But Mina gave him no chance to reply.

  “He’s lying! Her diary was lost! Even Mattingly’s man couldn’t find it when he searched her room! Don’t believe him, Father!”

  “Believe me, VanDamm. I know who seduced Alicia and got her with child. I know everything.”

  VanDamm reached out a hand and braced it against the wall, as if he no longer trusted his legs to hold him steady.

  “Father, don’t!” Mina cried, rushing to him. “No one will believe him!” She tried to take his arm, but he shook her off.

  “They’ll believe Alicia,” Malloy said, placing his hat carefully back on his head. “I told you, I’ve got her diary.”

  Sarah had lost patience. “I don’t understand. Who was Alicia’s lover if it wasn’t Mattingly?”

  “It was that groom,” Mina insisted. “He was with her every day. I told Father it wasn’t right, but he wouldn’t listen to me. Harvey was an adventurer who thought he’d make his fortune if he—”

  “Stop it, Mina!” her father snapped.

  “It’s true, I tell you!” she continued, ignoring him. “He’s at Greentree. He killed her, too, when he found out he wasn’t going to get any of our money!”

  “And then he killed himself out of remorse, I guess,” Malloy said mildly.

  “What?” Sarah asked.

  “Harvey is dead,” Malloy said, still addressing the VanDamms. “Looks like he hanged himself.”

  “Good heavens!” Sarah murmured, but no one paid her any attention.

  “You see,” Mina said. “That’s it. He killed her, and out of guilt, he hanged himself.”

  “Except he didn’t hang himself,” Malloy said, confusing Sarah even more. “And he didn’t seduce Alicia. But you already knew that, didn’t you, VanDamm?”

  VanDamm shook his head. His mouth worked but no sound emerged.

  “Then who was it?” Sarah asked, at the end of her patience. “Who fathered Alicia’s child and killed her and Harvey? There’s nobody left!”

  Malloy’s face twisted with distaste. “Her father is left. Her own father.”

  “No!” Mina wailed as VanDamm seemed to shrink right before Sarah’s eyes. “No one will believe them, Father ! No one will take their word over yours!”

  “The diary,” VanDamm croaked, as Sarah tried to grasp what Malloy was saying. It couldn’t be true. It was too horrible.

  “Where is it?” Mina turned on Malloy like a tigress, as if she intended to take it by force from his person.

  “I put it in a safe place,” he said. “You didn’t think I’d bring it here, did you?”

  VanDamm seemed to be having trouble breathing. “If it’s money you want ...”

  “We’ll pay you,” Mina finished for him. “We’ll make you a wealthy man. Just give us the diary.”

  “And let him get away with incest and murder?” Frank scoffed.

  “I never killed anyone,” VanDamm insisted. He was gasping for breath.

  “You’re wasting your time,” Frank told him. “A witness saw you coming out of the house after Alicia was killed.”

  “No, that’s impossible!” he insisted weakly.

  “Who is this witness?” Mina asked disdainfully.

  “Someone very reliable,” Malloy said.

  “It must be a cat, if he was able to see in the dark and identify my father,” Mina said. “No one will believe him.”

  “What about this abortionist that you say was there?” VanDamm asked, rallying a bit as he grasped at this straw. “Couldn’t she have killed Alicia?”

  “If she did, then why did someone kill her?” Malloy countered. “No, I think she went there with the man who killed Alicia, and then he killed her to keep her quiet. Mr. VanDamm, you’ve been very busy.”

  “I didn’t... I wasn’t... I was at my club that night,” he finally managed, his hand pressed to his heart as if he was in pain. “Playing whist with Sarah’s father.”

  He looked at Sarah as if for confirmation, but she could only stare back at him, seeing him now for the very first time as what he truly was.

  “A dozen men saw me there,” he added when he received no help from Sarah. “They’ll tell you. I didn’t even know where Alicia was until the next morning.”

  Malloy glanced at Sarah. “Would your father lie to protect him?”

  “No.” Her father had many faults, but he valued his reputation as a man of his word, and he certainly wouldn’t protect a killer.

  “Then that’s a foolish lie, VanDamm,” Malloy tried, but VanDamm didn’t blink.

  “It’s the God’s truth, I swear it. I’d never hurt Alicia.”

  “You’d never hurt Alicia!” Sarah echoed horrified. “You raped her and got her with child! Your own daughter!”

  “It wasn’t rape!” he cried in anguish. “Alicia was willing. She loved me, and I loved her. She was everything to me.” His voice broke, and he covered his face with one hand, still supporting himself with the other.

  “Father, don’t!” Mina pleaded, wrapping her arms around him. “Y
ou still have me!”

  He tried to push her away, his discomfort obvious. “Mina, please,” he tried, but she clung to him fiercely.

  “I love you, too!” she insisted. “I’ve always loved you! We still have each other, and now it can be just like it was before she came!”

  Sarah watched in horrified fascination as the father and daughter each struggled to prevail, but before the battle could be decided, a voice said, “Can’t you see he doesn’t want you?”

  They all looked up in surprise to see Mrs. VanDamm on the stairs. She wore a frilly dressing gown which she clutched to her throat with one of her clawlike hands. With the other, she held onto the banister, as if afraid she might pitch headlong down the stairs if she let go.

  “He doesn’t want you anymore, Mina,” she told her daughter again. “He hasn’t wanted you for a very long time. You’re too old. When are you going to accept that?”

  “Shut up, Francisca,” VanDamm said, a little more vigorously. “Go back to your room.”

  “What do you mean, he doesn’t want her anymore?” Malloy asked before Sarah could.

  Francisca VanDamm lifted her chin, savoring the novelty of having such a large audience. She had probably not enjoyed this much attention in years. “You didn’t think Alicia was the only daughter he used, did you?”

  Plainly, Malloy hadn’t thought of this, and Sarah hadn’t had time to. She needed only another moment to determine something else. “Did he get Mina with child, too? Is that how Alicia was born?”

  “What are you talking about?” Malloy asked.

  “She’s crazy!” Mina cried. “Don’t listen to her!”

  “He told me I’d have to pretend she was mine,” Mrs. VanDamm said, “or else he’d give the baby away to strangers. Now I realize he was only trying to frighten me. He had no intention of giving her away. He wanted her for himself, especially when he saw how beautiful she was. He used to stand over her cradle and unbutton his pants—”

  “Stop it, Francisca!” VanDamm shouted. “Have you no shame?”

  “Have you no shame?” she countered. “You’re the one who used your own children like whores!”

  “And when you couldn’t pass off Alicia’s baby as your wife’s the way you did Mina’s,” Malloy guessed, “you hired an abortionist to get rid of it. Except she refused to operate because Alicia was too far along.”