“Does it? That’s funny, because the reason I paid him off was because I was sure Harvey had done it. I couldn’t let them arrest him.”
Which made perfect sense. “I’m sure Mrs. Pritchard would be grateful if she knew.”
Bergman frowned. “You won’t tell Ilsa and Theda, will you? About me being Lawson, I mean,” he asked. For the first time, he actually looked uncertain.
“No, I won’t, although I’d advise you to. If they ever find out some other way, it will be much worse than if you tell them yourself.”
His expression hardened. “But it’s much better if they never know at all.”
Frank had no answer for that. “Let me know when I can talk to White.”
“I will.”
Bergman escorted him to the door and opened it for him. George was instantly on his feet, but Bergman gave him some kind of signal that caused him to relax. Miss Denson’s expression told him how little she appreciated his unexpected visit. Just to annoy her, he pulled one of his calling cards from his pocket and laid it on her desk. “In case you need to get in touch with me.”
The look she gave him would have drawn blood on a leather boot.
George opened the outer door for him and closed it behind him with a little more force than necessary.
Frank found Gino waiting in the hallway, just where he’d left him.
“Was that Miss Denson? Bergman’s girl secretary?” Gino asked in an excited whisper.
Frank nodded and started walking to the elevator.
“Does she work for Lawson, too?”
“I’ll explain when we get downstairs. What did Robinson say?”
“That he’d wait for us in his carriage.”
“Good.”
As soon as they reached the first floor and exited the elevator where the operator might have overheard them, Gino grabbed Frank’s arm and stopped him in his tracks. “Now, tell me why Miss Denson also works for Lou Lawson.”
“Because Lou Lawson is also Otto Bergman.”
Gino’s expression made Frank smile, in spite of everything, and Frank had to take Gino’s arm to get him to move again. “Let’s see if we can find Robinson’s carriage.”
That was no problem, since it was sitting right where they’d left it. When they’d climbed in, he asked, “Would you like me to take you somewhere?”
“Our office,” Frank said, not wanting to have to explain to Sarah how they’d met up with Robinson.
Robinson instructed his driver, and the carriage pulled out into traffic.
“So how do you know Lawson?” Robinson asked with great interest.
“Through a client, although I knew him by another name, and don’t bother asking what it was, because I’m not going to annoy Mr. Lawson by telling his secrets.” Frank gave Gino a warning look that he could not misinterpret. “He did convince me he didn’t personally murder either of the Pritchards, though, and he promised to let me talk to one of his men who might know more about all this.”
“Then you found this to be a profitable encounter,” Robinson guessed.
In many ways, but Frank only said, “Yes.”
“Do I now need to hire a bodyguard to protect me from George?” Robinson asked with the ghost of a smile.
“I don’t think so. Lawson has his own reasons for wanting these murders solved, so if we can do that, I don’t think he’ll even care that you brought me to him.”
“And can you solve them?” Robinson asked.
Frank exchanged a look with Gino. “We’re certainly going to try.”
* * *
• • •
Oh, Mrs. Malloy, I don’t know how we’re going to get through this,” Mrs. Ellsworth said as she and Sarah sat in Mrs. Ellsworth’s kitchen, waiting for the water to boil for tea.
Sarah had brought over some food for their supper tonight. With the funeral tomorrow, Sarah didn’t think they would feel much like cooking. Or eating, either, but at least they’d have something available if they did.
Mrs. Ellsworth shook her head in despair. “Theda can hardly go half an hour without crying, and with the funeral tomorrow . . .”
“Is she resting?” Sarah asked, having seen no sight of Mrs. Ellsworth’s daughter-in-law.
“She’s gone to visit her mother, although I don’t think that will help anything. Mrs. Pritchard is suffering just as much, I’m sure, but they needed to discuss the funeral plans for tomorrow.”
“I know it’s distressing, seeing her like that, but I don’t think her reaction is unusual. She lost two people whom she loved dearly.”
“You’re right, I know, but still, they were such violent deaths and so sudden.”
“And so close together. I think it would be a wonder if she wasn’t shattered. But at least she has Nelson.”
Mrs. Ellsworth dabbed at her eyes. Sarah noticed her handkerchief had a black border, which meant she was sharing in Theda’s mourning. “Poor boy, I know he feels helpless. I certainly do.”
“What Theda needs now is someone to love her, and I’m sure you’re both doing a beautiful job of that.”
“We’re trying. I hope once the funeral is over, she can at least start to recover.”
“She’ll need some time, I’m sure.”
The doorbell rang, and Mrs. Ellsworth’s maid went to answer it while Mrs. Ellsworth got up to pour the boiling water into the teapot.
The maid came back looking a little puzzled. “There’s a gentleman here. Says he wants to see Mrs. Nelson.”
“Didn’t you tell him she’s out?” Mrs. Ellsworth asked.
“I did, but he said he’d wait.”
Sarah and Mrs. Ellsworth exchanged a puzzled glance.
“Did he give his name?” Mrs. Ellsworth asked.
“Mr. Bruno, he said.”
Mrs. Ellsworth frowned in confusion.
“He works at the dairy,” Sarah said. “I think he worked directly under Mr. Pritchard, in fact.” Sarah also remembered he’d once been in love with Theda and had spoken to her at her father’s funeral. How interesting.
“Why would he be calling on Theda, though?”
“Probably just to pay his respects,” Sarah said, deciding not to distress Mrs. Ellsworth by reminding her of Bruno’s history with Theda. “I believe he was the one who found Harvey.”
“Then we definitely don’t want him talking to Theda. People always think the bereaved want to know every detail of their loved one’s death, but that isn’t always true.”
“No, it isn’t.” Sarah also remembered how distressed Theda had been when Bruno spoke to her at her father’s funeral. She’d have to ask Theda about it. “I think the best thing would be to send Mr. Bruno on his way.”
“Oh dear,” Mrs. Ellsworth said, wringing her hands. “What if he refuses to leave?”
“I’ll go with you. Surely, he won’t dare defy both of us,” Sarah said with forced enthusiasm.
“You’re so kind to me, Mrs. Malloy.”
Sarah followed Mrs. Ellsworth out to where Amelio Bruno stood in the foyer. He was holding a bouquet of flowers, of all things. His head jerked up expectantly when he heard their approach, but his expression grew grim when he realized neither of them was Theda.
“Mr. Bruno, is it?” Mrs. Ellsworth said. “I understand you’re here to pay your respects to my daughter-in-law, but I’m afraid she isn’t home just now.”
“I told that girl I’d wait,” he said. For some reason he seemed angry.
“That’s very kind of you,” Mrs. Ellsworth said, “but she has gone to visit her mother, and she’ll probably be gone for hours. I would be happy to tell her you called and . . . are those flowers for her?”
He glanced at the bouquet as if he’d forgotten he had it. The flowers were wrapped in a paper cone, the way florists wrapped them, and they looked a little the worse for
wear for having been carried through the streets on a January afternoon. “I . . . I wanted to give them to her myself.”
“Then you could bring them to the funeral tomorrow, but they might not keep well,” Mrs. Ellsworth said practically. “If you leave them, I can put them right in some water. I’ll make sure she sees them first thing.”
“And you’ll tell her I brought them?” he asked with another doubtful glance at the flowers.
“Of course.”
Plainly, he hated the idea of leaving without seeing Theda, but Mrs. Ellsworth had skillfully left him with no other choice. “Can you tell her . . . ?”
“Tell her what, Mr. Bruno?” Mrs. Ellsworth asked when he seemed unable to continue.
“Tell her I’ll see her tomorrow, at the funeral.”
“I would be happy to.”
He looked at the flowers again, obviously loathe to turn them over, but after another moment’s hesitation, he thrust them in Mrs. Ellsworth’s direction. She took them awkwardly, almost dropping them, but Bruno didn’t seem to notice. He turned abruptly, opened the front door himself, and hurried down the front stoop, leaving it to them to close the door behind him.
“What an odd young man,” Mrs. Ellsworth said as Sarah hurried to shut the door.
“I think he just isn’t used to dealing with things like this.”
Mrs. Ellsworth smirked. “You mean he doesn’t know how to behave in polite company.”
“I’m sure that’s what my mother would have said.”
Mrs. Ellsworth eyed the flowers suspiciously. “I suppose I better put these in water, although it looks like some of them are actually frozen.”
“Theda will appreciate the thought, I’m sure.”
“I’m not sure at all. I just realized that’s the young man who once tried to court her.”
So much for sparing Mrs. Ellsworth. “Now that you say it, I remember Theda mentioned him. It never came to anything, though.”
“Oh yes, it did.” Mrs. Ellsworth turned and headed back to the kitchen, leaving Sarah to follow. “She told me about it after you left. He made rather a nuisance of himself, too, I understand.”
“I did see him speaking to Theda after her father’s funeral. Nelson had to come to her rescue.”
“I don’t think she really required a rescue, but Theda did feel uncomfortable with his attentions. She didn’t want to speak to him, but she also didn’t want to have to worry about someone else’s feelings when she was grieving her father.”
They’d reached the kitchen, and Mrs. Ellsworth laid the flowers on the table while she searched for a vase.
“Why would she have to worry about his feelings?” Sarah asked, sitting down at the table again.
“He’s apparently still a little tender about being denied the opportunity to win her, although he couldn’t have imagined for a moment that Mr. Pritchard would let his daughter marry one of his employees.”
“But I gathered Mr. Bruno held an important position at the dairy.”
“Maybe he does. I have no idea. I only know what Theda said.” Mrs. Ellsworth had filled the vase with water. She set it on the table and began to unwrap the flowers and arrange them in the vase, discarding the ones she judged to be beyond saving.
“What exactly did Theda say about him?”
Mrs. Ellsworth’s nose wrinkled as she tried to recall. “As a matter of fact, she tried to make it sound like her mother’s ill-fated childhood romance with Mr. Bergman. Mr. Pritchard didn’t consider Bruno a suitable husband for Theda and advised her to marry someone else.”
“Are you saying Theda was really in love with Bruno and only married Nelson because her father insisted?” Sarah asked in surprise.
“Oh no!” Mrs. Ellsworth assured her. “It wasn’t like that at all, even though Theda compared it to her mother’s situation. Theda assured me she had no feelings whatsoever for Mr. Bruno. In fact, she had hardly even noticed him before he came calling one Sunday afternoon.”
“And she gave him no encouragement?”
“I’m sure she wouldn’t have—Theda is too kind for that—but I don’t think she even had the opportunity to discourage him. Her father sent him packing immediately, with orders never to try something like that again.”
“So he might be excused for imagining she returned his regard.”
But Mrs. Ellsworth was shaking her head. “Perhaps at first, but certainly not after she married Nelson.”
“No, not after that,” Sarah said, but she couldn’t help thinking that young men in love often delude themselves. Mr. Bruno’s gesture indicated he still had feelings for Theda. Did he know the story of the Pritchards’ marriage? Unlikely, but even still, maybe he imagined that Mr. Pritchard had forced Theda to marry Nelson when she might have chosen him if she’d been free to do so. How sad. Someone should tell him he was making a fool of himself, but even Sarah couldn’t think who that should be. Bruno would hardly take Nelson’s word for it. The most logical ones would be Mr. Pritchard or Harvey, but with them dead . . . A shiver crawled up Sarah’s spine and she told herself to stop worrying about it. She’d seen obsessive love before, but surely Bruno wasn’t afflicted with it. He also wasn’t the first young man to be disappointed in love, and he was no business of hers.
* * *
• • •
I can’t believe you went to see Lou Lawson without telling me,” Sarah said, not sure whether to be furious or terrified.
Malloy had waited until after supper, when Maeve had put the children to bed and he and Sarah had retired to their private parlor, before telling her about his visit with Lawson. He had obviously been expecting her to be furious.
“Jack Robinson was with me, and Gino,” he reminded her.
“And I suppose you think the fact that nothing happened to you makes it all right that you didn’t even mention it to me.” She’d decided to be furious since the time for terror had clearly passed.
She was sitting on the love seat they had placed comfortably close to the fireplace in their private parlor, but she had her arms crossed in a very unwelcoming way. No one had ever accused Malloy of lacking courage, however, and he gingerly sat down beside her. “I was pretty sure Lawson wouldn’t murder me right in his office.”
“Don’t joke. Nothing about this is funny.”
“I’m perfectly serious. And besides, it turns out Lou Lawson is actually Otto Bergman.”
Nothing about that sentence made any sense at all. “What?”
He tried a little grin, but she was having none of it, so he sobered instantly. “It seems that when Ilsa Pritchard’s parents refused to allow them to marry, Otto Bergman decided he needed to find a way to make a lot of money very fast. He took up with some men who showed him the ropes, and before he knew it, he was rich. But he also figured Ilsa’s parents wouldn’t approve of a gangster, so he made up Lou Lawson to be the gangster, and Otto Bergman went on pretending to be a tailor.”
Sarah couldn’t even think of a response to such an amazing story. “He . . . he told you all this?”
“He had to give me some kind of explanation when I walked in and recognized him.”
“What did Mr. Robinson have to say about it?”
“Nothing. He could see Bergman and I knew each other, so I had to tell him I knew Lawson through a client, but I didn’t tell him anything else.”
“Not even Bergman’s real name?”
Malloy had the grace to wince at her tone. “Especially not Bergman’s real name. And Robinson had the good sense to excuse himself when he realized Bergman and I knew each other.”
“You see, even Jack Robinson is afraid of this Lawson.”
Malloy chose not to comment on that. “At least now we know that Lawson is just as interested in solving the murders as Otto Bergman.”
“I thought we’d decided Lawson was the one w
ho had both men killed, and now that we know he’s also Bergman, he’s got even more reasons to want Mr. Pritchard dead.”
“But not Harvey.”
“Are we sure about that?”
“I don’t know how he personally felt about Harvey, but he really does care for Ilsa, and I don’t think he would have killed her son. In fact, he pointed out that in spite of his reputation, he doesn’t resort to murder, since it’s very bad for business.”
“Bad for business? Did he actually say that?” Sarah scoffed.
“Yes, he did. Dead men can’t pay their gambling debts, apparently. So you see, I was never in any danger.”
“Since you don’t have any gambling debts, I don’t think you can assume that.”
Malloy sighed in defeat. “You’re right, Sarah. I should have told you I was going to see Lawson. I just didn’t want you to worry.”
“Oh no, far better for me to be surprised when they find your body.”
“Well, they didn’t find my body, and I’m very sorry I didn’t consult you. How long are you going to be mad at me for this?”
“I don’t know exactly, but it will be a while. Meanwhile, now that you’ve exonerated Lou Lawson, who is left who could have killed the Pritchards?”
“I have no idea. I was hoping you’d have some.”
“None at all. I did learn a few new things today, but I don’t see how any of them relate to the murders.”
“Let me be the judge. What did you learn?”
“My mother came by this morning. She’d seen the notice of Harvey Pritchard’s death in the newspaper, and she wanted to express her condolences.”
“Did she think you’d be grieving Harvey Pritchard?”
“No, but Theda had lost her sibling, so she knew I’d be thinking about my own sister.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I should have realized that myself.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders, and even though she still didn’t feel like she should uncross her arms, she did allow him to pull her close as she blinked at the sting of tears.
“Anyway, Mother had some interesting observations about the case.”
“You know I have great respect for your mother’s observations.”
Murder on Trinity Place Page 23