“I’d buy the bullet if it wouldn’t upset Aunt Nell so. She’s very attached to him. But your arithmetic is off.”
“How so?”
“I deserve credit for bringing Elizabeth and Tibbitts together, as well. If I hadn’t engineered your job in Washington, they never would have encountered each other there and become reacquainted.”
“Are you sure that should be credited as a success? Their marriage seems to be in a precarious state. She may not have gone to Bangkok, but she is on her way to Europe.”
“Oh, she’ll be back,” Emmie assured me.
“You think Tibbitts has mastered the art of taming her?”
“That’s not very likely. But I think Elizabeth derives some satisfaction from an adversarial relationship.”
“Even when she doesn’t always come out on top?”
“Especially then.”
Kitty Graham’s next alumnae letter alluded to Mrs. Rhodes’ predicament:
Lena (Spire) Rhodes (’99) will be spending the autumn season on a nearby island resort, recuperating from a recent encounter with the Molly Maguires. Erin go bragh.
It also contained the piece on Emmie and me that Elizabeth had mentioned:
Emmie (McGinnis) Reese (’99) and her husband, Harrison, have taken it upon themselves to resurrect the old Brooklyn branch of the Oneida Community and are looking for converts. They assure us that their sect will remain true to the guiding principles on which the original community was founded. Ergo, applicants need be of a forthcoming disposition and possess an appropriate appetite for the good work to be done. Semper Libidinosae.
That elicited a good deal of correspondence from Emmie’s fellow alumnae, their spouses, their friends and relatives, and even their servants. Most of them were merely playing it for fun, but more than a few were in earnest. Including a comely parlor maid who helpfully included a photo. I still have it tucked away.
The next week, Carlotta and Thibaut left us for the road, and in the months to come their act became a staple of the second-tier vaudeville houses. With her baby’s colic having cleared up just as Emmie had predicted, Mrs. Harwood began regularly consulting her for pediatric advice.
Meanwhile, Ainslie and Aunt Nell began touring with Mme. Sahlumie, scalping rich mothers and widows. It seemed out of character for Nell, but perhaps it was her life in Buffalo that had never fit right.
Xiang-Mei sent us regular briefings from the farm, where the Corinthians and Chinese lived in harmony for some time. Then, gradually, the girls married, and the old folks went to their maker, leaving her and Lou alone with their growing broods of children and crickets.
Emmie’s interest in murder seemed to wane in the months that followed. She now devoted almost all her time to literary pursuits. But not until that summer did she share the fruit of her efforts with me. It would be unfair for me to reveal more about that here, but rest assured, the tit for tat with Elizabeth is still running hot.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
The End
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
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If you’ve enjoyed this book, I hope you’ll take a look at the others in the series:
The Harry Reese Mysteries
A Charm of Powerful Trouble
Kalorama Shakedown
Crossings
Always a Cold Deck
Emmie Reese Mystery Short Stories
Psi no more…
Hidden Booty
The Birth of M.E. Meegs
For more information on the books—including a glossary, list of characters, maps and chronology—please visit my Web site at: StreetCarMysteries.com
A Charm of Powerful Trouble (A Harry Reese Mystery Book 4) Page 23