Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue

by Victoria Thompson

  “What do you want to know?” she asked. “I’ve had a very long day and I’d like to retire soon.”

  “Did you have a nice visit with your mother?” Mr. Decker asked.

  Her face tightened. “Yes, thank you. Miss Smith was kind to bring her.”

  “We understand you haven’t been able to locate your husband’s bank account,” he went on as he and Gino had agreed during the trip uptown. “I would be happy to assist you with that. It’s easier if you know what bank he dealt with, of course.”

  “I . . . I’m not sure. Randolph never discussed such things with me.”

  “A mistake many men make, unfortunately,” Felix said. “And you see where it leads. But I can make some inquiries. I can’t believe Pollock left you penniless.”

  Felix could see her trying to judge his motives. Was he sincere or was he tormenting her?

  “You said you had something to discuss with me. I’m very tired.”

  “Yes, I was concerned, you see, when Miss Smith said you were alarmed over some funds you felt were missing.”

  She was wary now, taking care with every word. “Yes, as you said, I haven’t found my husband’s bank account.”

  “Miss Smith understood that this was money you thought should have been here in the house. In Mr. Pollock’s office, in fact, which confused me. When I told you about the robbery the other day, you weren’t concerned at all. At that time you didn’t think there had been anything of value that might have been taken.”

  “I . . . I’ve since reconsidered. I’ve been under a lot of strain lately, as you know. First Randolph’s violent death and then the time I spent in that horrible jail. I don’t think you can hold me responsible for anything I might have said the very day I was released from that place.”

  It was a good argument. Felix felt sure that gentlemen sitting on a jury would be happy to give her the benefit of the doubt. “Miss Smith was quite upset that you accused her of taking this missing money.”

  “I did no such thing,” Una insisted. “If she thought so, then I’m sorry. I’m simply trying to find the truth.”

  “So are we, Mrs. Pollock.”

  Mercifully, someone tapped on the door, and Felix gave a sigh of relief. He didn’t know how much longer he could keep circling the issue they really wanted to discuss.

  Una told whoever it was to enter, and Eddie stepped in. He looked absolutely terrified, his eyes wide in his handsome face and his hands clutched into fists by his sides.

  “Don’t be frightened,” Una said kindly, or was she really warning him? “You haven’t done anything wrong. Mr. Decker just wants to ask you something.”

  Eddie’s gaze darted to Felix and away again. He hung his head and hunched his shoulders as if expecting a blow.

  “Come closer, Eddie. We’re not going to hurt you,” Felix said.

  Eddie looked to Una for approval, and she nodded. He stepped forward on stiff legs until he stood at the end of the sofa where Una sat. His gaze kept darting to Una, who tried to smile reassuringly.

  Felix glanced at Gino, giving him silent permission to begin. Felix’s part had been to put them at ease, although he didn’t think he had done a very good job of it. Gino’s part was to question them.

  “We know what happened to Pollock,” Gino said. Una stiffened slightly but Eddie’s whole body gave a little jerk.

  “Good,” Una tried. “I hope you will tell me, because I still have no memory of it.”

  “I should go back a bit, to explain how we came to this knowledge. You see, we know Pollock used to hit you, Mrs. Pollock. You must have been terrified of him, and who could blame you? You must have been desperate to get away from him but afraid to leave. You knew as long as he was alive, he’d come after you and bring you back, so you enlisted the help of a young man who had fallen in love with you.” Gino glanced at Eddie, whose eyes seemed to glow with some intense emotion Felix didn’t even want to name.

  “This is a fascinating fairy tale,” Una said, not sounding the least bit fascinated. “I just hope it has a happy ending.”

  Unfortunately, Felix knew it didn’t. “You asked this young man to kill your husband, because that was the only way to be free of him. I don’t know what you promised him.” Gino watched Eddie carefully, but the boy still refused to meet his gaze. “Maybe it was money, but more likely it was other . . . favors.”

  “Really, Officer, this is very distasteful.”

  Gino ignored her protest. “You waited until the next time Pollock started hitting you, and then Eddie rushed to rescue you. That way he could claim he was only protecting your life. You decided not to take a chance, though, so afterward you claimed you were in shock and couldn’t remember what happened. That way you wouldn’t have to mention Eddie at all. Except you didn’t expect the police to arrest you for the crime, did you?”

  “That part is certainly true,” Una said with a little of her usual confidence. “Who would believe a lady could murder her husband in such a way? It’s ridiculous.”

  “But killing Pollock was only half the plan, wasn’t it?” Gino continued. “The other half was to keep the money he’d cheated honest people out of for yourself.”

  “What are you talking about? Randolph didn’t cheat people, and as you already know, I haven’t found any of his money at all.”

  “But not because you didn’t try, eh, Eddie?” Gino asked.

  Eddie watched Gino the way you’d watch a poisonous snake slithering toward you. Felix almost felt sorry for him.

  “Yes, Eddie followed your instructions to the letter, didn’t he? He must have been scared when you got arrested, but he went ahead and set up the fake robbery just like you’d planned. He broke the basement window, then messed up the office and opened the safe, using the combination you’d given him.”

  “Why would I do a thing like that?” Una asked. “I don’t even know the combination to the safe.”

  “The person who opened it did, though. How do you suppose they got it?”

  “I have no idea!”

  “Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it, because you went to all that trouble for nothing. The money wasn’t in the safe, was it?”

  Una was looking a little frantic now. Her gaze darted around the room as if she were looking for a means of escape. “I told you, Mr. Decker,” she said, making Felix wonder why she’d chosen to appeal to him, “my husband kept his money in the bank.”

  Felix just smiled, and Gino went on.

  “Eddie, you must have been terrified when you saw the safe was empty. Then you remembered the package you’d taken to Mr. Truett the morning Pollock died, and you thought Pollock must have sent the money to him for some reason. You must have wanted to go to his hotel that very night, but you couldn’t because I was here all night, guarding the house. Then, luckily, Mrs. Pollock was released from jail and came home. Did you tell her about the missing money? Is that why she didn’t want me to stay the next night?”

  Felix saw the hateful glance Una gave Eddie and the way he cringed. Yes, Una was furious about the missing money and blamed Eddie.

  “I remember you couldn’t wait for me to leave the house that night, Eddie. Then you went to Truett’s hotel and snuck in the back door, which you knew wasn’t locked because you’d been there many times before. Did you think you could search his rooms without waking Truett or did you plan to kill him all along?”

  Eddie had no answer for that, of course, although Felix noticed beads of sweat had formed on his upper lip.

  “But you didn’t find the money there either, did you? The package you’d taken to Truett was just a bunch of contracts. And when you told Mrs. Pollock this morning, she was furious.” Gino turned to Una. “But maybe you were so furious because that was the first you knew the money was missing at all. We can’t blame Eddie for being afraid to tell you it wasn’t in the safe, especially becaus
e he thought he could still get it from Truett and you’d never have to know.”

  Felix had to give Una credit. She’d hardly batted an eye in the face of Gino’s condemnation.

  “This is all very interesting, Officer, but . . . Well, you’re right about one thing. My husband was a violent man. He often let his temper get the best of him, and then he would strike me. He was always sorry for it afterward, of course. He didn’t mean to hurt me, and I loved him, so I would always forgive him. And now you’re saying that the morning he died was one of those times when Randolph . . .” She hesitated, her voice breaking a bit. “. . . when Randolph lost his temper and became violent? And Eddie here—dear, sweet Eddie who has been so devoted to me—decided to come to my defense?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Oh!” Una cried, raising a hand to her head dramatically. “I . . . I just remembered. I remember it all!” She looked wide-eyed at Gino. “You’ve brought it all back to me. Yes, it was just like you said. Randolph hit me and I was crying and Eddie rushed in. He picked up the Egyptian statue that Randolph loved so much and hit him with it. I was screaming for him to stop, but he wouldn’t stop. He kept hitting him and hitting him until Randolph was dead. I crawled over to where my darling lay bleeding on the floor and took his head in my lap. I think I thought I could fix him somehow, but he was too broken. And”—she closed her eyes and sighed—“I’m afraid that’s all I remember.”

  “That’s a beautiful story, Mrs. Pollock,” Gino said.

  “Yes, it is,” Felix said. “But we can’t help wondering why, if Pollock treated you so badly, you didn’t just leave him.”

  She smiled at that, a grotesque expression that held no trace of happiness. “I couldn’t leave him, Mr. Decker, because he’d kill me if I did. Oh, I can see by your face that you don’t believe me, but it’s true. He told me that every time he beat me, and I believed him because he’d already killed one wife. That’s right, little Cecelia. She’d tried to run away, but he caught her and brought her back, and then he choked the life out of her. He told me all about it, every gruesome little detail.”

  “How could he get away with something like that?” Felix asked, horrified.

  “Because nobody knew. He buried her in the cellar and moved out of the house. Her family tracked him down, wanting to know where she was, and he told them she died in childbirth. They didn’t believe him, but they had to check anyway, and as soon as they were gone, he left Chicago and came to New York. He thought he’d never see them again, and then the brother showed up here one morning. I’ve never seen Randolph so angry, and he somehow blamed me for them finding him. He was going to kill me, I’m sure of it, and then Eddie came in and saved me.”

  That really was a good story, and it might even be true, as far as it went. “Then why did he kill Truett?” Felix asked.

  “Because he was yelling at her,” Eddie cried.

  “Eddie, don’t!” Una tried, but she couldn’t stop him.

  “He came here and started shouting at her. I couldn’t let him treat her that way, not when . . .” His eyes widened again as he realized what he’d revealed.

  “When what?” Gino asked softly. “When you loved her? When she was your woman?”

  “Don’t be absurd!” Una snapped.

  “You had to go to his apartment anyway, to find the money,” Gino said. “You could’ve gone when he wasn’t there, but you didn’t. You went there when you knew he’d be home and fast asleep. You wanted to kill him, didn’t you, Eddie? Or did she tell you to, like she told you to kill Pollock?”

  “No, Mr. Truett was my idea,” Eddie said.

  “Eddie, stop!” she cried.

  “It’s no use!” he said. “They already know everything. They even know about the money.” Eddie turned to Gino. “We were going to use it to run away. She knows a place that’s far away from here where we can get married and no one will care that she’s white and I’m not.”

  “He’s lying!” Una said, jumping to her feet. “I never told him any such thing. I can’t help it if he fell in love with me. He’s been moping around here for months. I felt sorry for him or I would’ve let him go. But he killed my husband and he killed Truett, and I can’t forgive him for that. You need to arrest him and take him away before he harms someone else.”

  Felix and Gino were on their feet now, too.

  “You said you loved me,” Eddie said, his face twisting with the agony of her betrayal. “You said we’d get married!”

  “I never said any such thing!” she said to Felix, whose opinion she seemed to consider most important. “You must believe me. I couldn’t possibly love someone like that!”

  Eddie cried out in anguish, and before Felix could guess his intent, he grabbed the empty glass from the table and slammed it into Una’s face.

  Felix and Gino lunged to stop him, but he’d already hit her again by the time they dragged him off her. Gino grabbed Eddie’s hand to get the glass away from him, but it had shattered, and the pieces fell onto the floor. His hand was covered with blood, but before Felix could see where he’d been cut, Una began to scream.

  She held both hands to her face as blood poured out between her fingers.

  “I’ve got him,” Gino said, so Felix went to where she had collapsed back onto the sofa.

  “Dear heaven, what happened?” someone cried.

  Felix looked up to see Hattie and another woman had run into the room and were staring in horror at the blood and the sight of Gino still struggling with Eddie.

  “Do you know where to find a doctor?” Felix asked.

  “And get a policeman if you see one,” added Gino.

  Hattie nodded and ran out again.

  “I’ll get some towels,” the other woman said. Felix recalled vaguely that she was the cook.

  Una was still screaming and holding her face. Felix pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and said, “Here, put this on it.”

  She instantly stopped screaming and met his gaze with the eye she didn’t have covered. “How bad it is?”

  “Let me see.”

  Slowly, she lowered her bloody hands to reveal a terrible gash from her temple nearly to her lips. His stomach lurched, and she must have seen his horrified reaction on his face because she began to scream again. He placed the handkerchief over the wound as gently as he could, but it was almost instantly soaked with blood.

  Fortunately, the cook quickly returned with an armload of towels, and she took over, laying Una down on the sofa and tending to the wound as best she could while calming the injured woman.

  Felix turned his attention to Gino and Eddie, and found Gino had everything under control. Eddie had ceased struggling, and Gino had hauled him up from the floor to sit in one of the chairs. The boy had begun to weep as the truth of his situation began to sink in. Gino was wrapping his own handkerchief around Eddie’s bleeding hand.

  Felix stood helpless for a while, watching the others, until he heard someone shouting in the hallway. A police officer had wandered in the open front door.

  “Has there been another murder?” he asked with a puzzled frown.

  16

  Elizabeth had wept when Frank and Sarah Malloy first came in the front door. She couldn’t believe how happy she was to see them. Or how happy they looked. Part of it was being glad to see Brian and Catherine, she knew, but it was more than that. They were happy with each other in a way she’d never expected to see again. Between that and the approach of Christmas, the joy in their house was almost unbearable.

  For this reason, no one spoke a word about the Pollock case to them for several days, until they’d run out of stories about their travels in France and Italy. But then Frank and Sarah began to notice that Felix and Elizabeth had developed a very close relationship with Gino and Maeve and that nothing was quite the same as when they’d left. Elizabeth could see it in their eyes,
the way they watched everyone and then exchanged knowing looks.

  Finally, on the night before Christmas Eve, after they’d tucked the children into bed and finished decorating the Christmas tree in preparation for surprising the children tomorrow and had plugged in the electric lights and were sitting marveling at this wonderful new invention, Frank Malloy finally said, “Now tell me what happened to all of you while we were gone.”

  “What do you mean?” Elizabeth said with as much innocence as she could muster.

  “I think you know what I mean. Gino obviously isn’t working for the police department or anybody else anymore. He spends too much time here. And all of you keep smiling at each other like you know a secret that you can’t wait to tell.” He glanced at Sarah, who nodded in a way that told Elizabeth they’d discussed this already. “So what have you been up to?”

  Elizabeth glanced at the others, wondering which of them should start the tale. Felix chose himself.

  “Well, Frank, I’ve been meaning to offer you a business opportunity.”

  “A business opportunity?”

  “Yes,” he said. “You see, while you were gone, we’ve started a private detective agency. We have successfully completed our first case, and we’re willing to bring you in as a partner if you’re interested.”

  The expression on Malloy’s face was priceless, and everyone burst out laughing. Then they started telling their story. Elizabeth and Felix and Gino and Maeve took turns telling their parts in the tale, often interrupting or talking over one another in the process. Even Frank’s mother chimed in once or twice with her opinions. Frank and Sarah would stop them occasionally to ask a question, but for the most part they listened in fascination.

  When they were finally finished, Sarah said, “I have to feel a bit sorry for Una. She must have been truly terrified of Pollock. It’s no wonder she did such a desperate thing to escape him.”