Murder Will Speak

by Penny Richards

  When she finished, she looked up, folded the message, and said a word Lilly had never heard before. From the expressions on Seamus’s and Cade’s faces, she surmised that not only was it derogatory, it was vulgar. Seamus’s face was a dull red, and Cade looked both disgusted and furious.

  “Mind your mouth, sister,” he said. “We’ve a lady present.”

  Erin shrugged and shot Lilly an indifferent look. “I supposed as an actress she’d be well acquainted with that sort of language.” She offered Lilly an unrepentant smile. “My apologies.”

  “Certainly.”

  “I’m assuming you want to go and get your friend out of that nightmare,” Erin said.

  “Yes. We want to bring her home as well as find out who’s snatching women and children and selling them into . . .” Lilly’s voice trailed away. She was reluctant to say the word describing Erin’s occupation.

  “ ‘Prostitution’ is the word you’re looking for, I believe,” the dark-haired woman supplied. A bleak look crept into her eyes. “No child should have to endure what those children will experience,” she said. She looked toward her brother. “What did you have in mind?”

  Cade explained their plan to go in as prospective dance hall owners, so that they would have more freedom to ask questions about the workings of the businesses in the Acre.

  “If it’s my opinion you’re wanting, the idea has merit,” Erin said.

  “That’s fine, then,” he said. “As you know, Lilly and I play various roles to bring criminals to justice, and it occurred to me that you might be willing to take a little break and give us a hand.”

  Lilly thought she detected a glimmer of interest in the other woman’s eyes.

  “How?”

  “I thought that we could say that one of your favorite ‘clients’ won the place in a poker game and gave it to you as a thank-you for giving him so much pleasure through the years. As a prospective business owner, you’ll be checking things out, getting the lay of the land, feeling out the law, all those things, before deciding if you want to move west and open a place of your own.”

  “Go on.”

  “I can go as your protection, and Lilly can play your best friend and my paramour. Perhaps among the three of us we can get some solid information in a short time. We’ve only got a bit over two months to wrap things up.”

  “Why?” she asked. “I’m not certain that’s enough time to do all that.”

  “I tend to agree, but that’s what we’re up against.” He explained their financial limitations. “If you go, the only thing you’ll get is a trip to a different place and your food. There’s no proper pay involved.”

  “I see.”

  Erin glanced at Lilly. “Are you ready to play a fellow prostitute, Miss Long, since even speaking the word seemed so difficult?”

  Lilly felt as if she were being tossed a challenge. “I’m a fairly accomplished actress, Miss McShane. I believe I can pick up the behavior of the ladies in no time. And if you’re referring to the imaginary intimacy between me and your brother, we shared a room for several weeks in New Orleans, and I’ve grown accustomed to his snoring.”

  If she hadn’t known better, Lilly might have thought she saw a hint of laughter in Erin’s eyes. But this was no laughing matter.

  “So, I go as . . . ?”

  “Erin O’Toole,” Cade suggested.

  “Mother’s maiden name.” She gave a slow nod. “Why not? It will be easy to remember.”

  “Good,” Cade said. “We go playing the people I’ve suggested and try to find out as much as we can about how things work in Hell’s Half Acre, bust the organization wide open, get the offenders arrested, and bring back Nora Nash.”

  “I’m tellin’ ya it won’t be that easy,” Erin said, her attitude toward her brother softening for the first time. “Even with the best intentions, things can go bad fast, if you’ll recall.”

  Cade’s face drained of color. “I’ve forgotten nothing.”

  Ignoring the coldness in his voice, she asked, “Do you think your Miss Long is ready for what might happen?”

  “Miss Long knows the dangers that go along with this job. She signed up for it.”

  “But she’s never been to a place like Hell’s Half Acre, has she?”

  “I’m no shrinking violet,” Lilly said, weary of them talking about her as if she weren’t hearing every word. “I can take care of myself.”

  Erin did smile then. “We’ll see, won’t we?”

  “You’re going to help?” Seamus asked, clearly surprised by the decision.

  “Against my better judgment. There’s a . . . situation I need to think long and hard about,” she said. “And being away from it for a time might give me a better perspective. Besides,” she added, “it seems the very least I can do under the circumstances.”

  “You’re right,” Cade snapped. “It is. We’ll be leaving in a day or two. Be ready.”

  “Ever the bossy one,” Erin said, and this time she did smile, albeit sadly.

  * * *

  When Erin left, Cade and Lilly took Robbie out for a walk and to buy him a scoop of ice cream. They chose a small table near the ice-cream parlor’s window where they could watch the pedestrians pass. The usually crowded streets were almost deserted. Most had gone home to their families.

  “So how are things going with Seamus and Meagan?” Cade asked.

  Robbie, who had just popped a huge bite of the vanilla ice cream into his mouth, swallowed quickly and then grabbed his head and gave a loud groan. “I’m dying!”

  Cade and Lilly exchanged a smile. “You’re not dying, though I’ll agree it feels as if you might,” Cade told him.

  “And for a moment, you wish you would,” Lilly added.

  Somehow managing to keep a straight face, Cade said, “It’s just a cold headache. The good Lord’s way of telling you not to eat your ice cream so fast. Or take such big bites. It lasts longer.”

  Robbie just glared at him. After a moment, he recovered. “Things are going okay. Like I said before, Meagan’s a bit of a nagger, and likes to keep tabs on me, but she’s a right proper cook, and she keeps my clothes mended and washed.” He shrugged. “What more could a boy want?”

  “What about Seamus?”

  “Seamus is a very important man. Did ya know he made sergeant and got a pay raise?”

  “He told me.”

  “That’s nice with the wee babe coming soon. I worry that me staying there will put too much of a strain on their pocketbook.”

  Cade and Lilly exchanged another smile. If Robbie had reached the point that he was concerned about other people, he was coming along very well.

  “Don’t worry about that, lad,” Cade said. “I give them some money along to help out.”

  “That’s good, then.” Robbie took another bite of ice cream.

  “I’m glad you’re happier there than you were before,” Cade told him. “At least I know you’re fed and warm and have clean clothes. And I don’t have to fret so much about something happening to you. I worried before, especially after you followed us to New Orleans.”

  Robbie looked chagrinned. “I’ll admit that weren’t the smartest thing I ever did, but I met Mrs. Fontenot and Bernard and the others, and I’m glad for that.”

  “So am I.”

  “The girls seem very attached to you,” Lilly said.

  “They are a royal pain in my behind. Always wanting me to do something when I’m there. Read to them. Play hopscotch. Build a fairy house. Have a tea party.” He cast his eyes toward the ceiling. “Girls!”

  This time, Lilly and Cade didn’t even try to hold back their laughter.

  “The whole family cares for you, and those little girls look up to you, Robbie,” Lilly told him. “See that you’re a good example.”

  “I’m doin’ my best.”

  Lilly reached across the table and gave his hand a pat. “I know you are.”

  “Ya know, it’s really not so bad. I admit it’s nice knowin’
someone would worry if you didn’t come home at night.”

  That was as close to his admitting he was happy as Lilly and Cade were likely to get. They finished their ice cream and walked him back to the apartment. On the way, he regaled them with a tale of Isibeal’s picking up the dead mouse that Callie, the calico cat, had left in front of the door as a gift. Meagan had managed to snatch it from her hand just as she was about to put it in her pinafore pocket.

  It was just the sort of tale a boy like Robbie would find funny. Neither Lilly nor Cade missed the twinkle in the child’s eyes as he told the story. They left him, satisfied that, at least for the moment, everything was all right in his world.

  CHAPTER 4

  With their tentative plans in place, they caught a cab, and Cade instructed the driver to take Lilly home first. He sat next to her, his arms folded across his chest, his outstretched legs crossed at the ankle. Now and then, whenever the buggy hit a depression in the road, his shoulder brushed hers.

  She took a great deal of satisfaction in the fact that she no longer panicked at his merest touch, nor did she go all atwitter and breathless. They’d spent so much time together that his occasional, casual touch seemed almost natural. Thank goodness! She did not think she could maintain a working relationship in a constant state of awareness.

  “Robbie seems well, don’t you think?”

  “What?” He turned toward her. The blank expression in his eyes told her that his thoughts had been far away.

  “I said that Robbie seems to be doing very well with your brother and Meagan.”

  “He does, and I’m thankful for that.”

  “He seems serious about his schooling.” She gave a lift of her shoulders. “He seems serious about everything, really. Even though he complains, I think he’s happy.”

  “Yes,” Cade said with a slow nod. “More than anything, he needed some stability, and to feel wanted and cared for. And purpose. A boy who’s grown up the way he has needs purpose, or he’ll fall back into old habits. Helping the neighbors, keeping an eye on Erin, and doing what he can for Seamus keeps him out of trouble.”

  “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop?” Lilly queried.

  “Something like that.”

  “Tell me about Erin,” she asked for the second time.

  He scowled. “Have I told you lately that you ask too many questions?”

  “You have.”

  “Then what about the answer that it’s none of your business?”

  “Perhaps it isn’t,” she countered, “but Meagan and Seamus had no problem talking about this new client of hers in front of me.”

  “Nosey, are ya?”

  “Curious.” Without waiting for him to comment, she launched into a description of what she’d been told while Cade went outside to play with the girls before he left. “While we were doing the dishes, Meagan told me that Erin stopped working the streets several months ago, choosing to wait in the lobbies of the better hotels until some gentleman of means showed up. Most of them tended to be more than a one-night stop. Seamus confirmed it. Then Robbie says this new fellow has been around for a few months now and seems to be her only client. What do you make of that?”

  “That she’s getting more money for her services,” Cade said. “And that he’s probably helped with her flat, as well. It also tells me that our story that one of her gents gave her the saloon isn’t too far off base.” He faced Lilly. “Why this morbid interest in my sister’s life?”

  Lilly’s natural curiosity had been piqued by the older woman, who was at least four years her senior. She wanted to know everything about Erin McShane, who was in some ways very much like Lilly’s mother. Why would a woman sell her body? Even more thought provoking was why a woman would give away her favors for nothing, as Kate had done? Lilly could hardly tell Cade she hoped to get a better perspective on her mother’s behavior by learning more about his sister’s.

  “I’ll be working alongside both of you,” she improvised. “And I can’t be worried that every little word I say may set one of you off whenever we are together.”

  “All right. If ya must know, I don’t approve of her lifestyle.”

  “I gathered that. You haven’t mentioned any of your other siblings having gone to the wrong side, as you call it, so why did she choose that path?”

  “I really don’t know. But I suppose four out of five staying on the straight and narrow is splendid, considering.”

  “Tell me about them.”

  “What?” he asked, frowning.

  “Tell me about your family. After all these months, you know a lot about me, but I hardly know anything about you. Tell me about your parents. What brought them here from Ireland?”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Never more so.”

  After regarding her with a searching gaze, he nodded. “All right. Not that I understand why you want to know, and it’s really none of your business.”

  “So, you’ve said. Humor me. Please.”

  “Fine. My parents were Padraig and Margaret McShane. Da always called my ma Maggie. They came to America in 1844, a year before the potato blight.”

  “Why?”

  He cut his blue gaze to her. “Why does any man do what he does? Things happen. Change. I dinna have any idea. Looking for the promise of a better life, I suppose.”

  “They’re both gone now?”

  “For a while now,” he said with a nod. “Ma married a nasty piece of work named Josep Boguslaw a year or so after Da passed. Everyone was out on his or her own except me and Erin.”

  “How old were you?”

  “I was sixteen and she was fourteen.”

  “There are five of you?”

  “Aye. Madden’s the eldest. He’s a family man who owns a little grocery shop a few blocks from Seamus’s. Fiona—Fee—is two years younger than Maddy. She works in a textile factory. Seamus came along just a year after Fee, and there are two years between him and me. Erin’s the baby.”

  “Tell me about your father?”

  The expression in Cade’s eyes turned to nostalgia. “He was big and fun lovin’, and he loved Ma and his whiskey and crackin’ heads if necessary.” He shot Lilly a pointed look. “He was never mean when he drank, though, and never missed a day’s work.

  “He served in the War. I was just eight when it broke out, and when he left, Ma was devastated. She was afraid she’d never see him again. He wasn’t in but a bit over a year when he got shot in the leg and couldn’t march, so they let him come home. It destroyed him. He wanted to fight for his new country.”

  “I’ve heard the Irish fought hard.”

  “How would you know that?”

  “Pierce and I had long talks about a lot of things while I was growing up.”

  “War hardly seems a fit topic for a girl to be discussin’.”

  She flashed a grin. “I know. He and Rose could never have children, and I think, since I was all he had, he treated me like the son he always wanted.”

  “He seems like a good man.”

  “He is.” She turned to Cade. “Do you ever see the others?”

  “Oh, yes. On holidays and such. Whenever I’m in town.”

  “So, you’re on good terms with everyone except Erin,” she stated.

  “We’re not on bad terms,” he argued.

  “Well, it certainly seems that you are. The tension between you is as thick as the fog on the lake in the early morning.”

  Once again, Cade regarded her with a composed expression. She refused to move or look away.

  “She tried to kill herself more’n a year ago. Erin.”

  The news hit Lilly like a blow to her middle. It was hard to imagine the vivacious Erin cold and lifeless. Even harder to imagine her losing hope enough to take her own life.

  She realized that most Catholics considered suicide a mortal sin, which would explain Cade’s anger and disgust with his baby sister. Lilly thought he should try to be more forgiving, but as he often said, it was none o
f her business, and she had no intention of offering him advice.

  He looked away, watching the buildings go by. She suspected he saw nothing but the past. “It’s no way to live, the life she’s chosen.”

  “She has other options, I’m sure.”

  “O’ course she does. My da used to say we’re all one choice away from a completely different life. Fee could get her on at the factory, or Erin could go to work for Madden at the grocery. We don’t understand it, but there’s nothing we can do.”

  “Has she ever talked about why she chose that lifestyle?”

  “No. It almost killed the lot of us when we found out, and then, when she cut her wrists . . .” He swallowed and couldn’t seem to find the strength to finish the sentence.

  “What about your stepfather?” she asked, hoping to change the topic. “Why was he a nasty piece of work?”

  “No more questions.” Almost simultaneously, the buggy pulled up in front of her boardinghouse. Cade leaped to the sidewalk, and she placed her gloved hand in his so he could help her alight. Instead of letting go, she clung to it for a moment longer than good manners dictated, taking comfort in its strength and warmth.

  “Thank you for telling me. I believe that if I understand Erin better we’ll be able to form a better working relationship once we get to Ft. Worth. And perhaps I won’t irritate you with some little misstep.”

  Without commenting, he turned and walked her to the door.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” she said.

  “Nine sharp. Don’t forget to secure your door.”

  She recalled Timothy’s forcing his way into Rose’s room, attacking them both, and stealing the money she had kept hidden there. It was a painful memory, yet something she never wanted to forget.

  “I always remember to lock it.”

  CHAPTER 5

  When Lilly stepped into the Pinkerton office the next morning, Cade was already ensconced in one of the leather side chairs. His legs were crossed ankle to knee, one foot bouncing in a nervous rhythm, just as Erin’s had the day before.

  When he saw Lilly, he stood at once, proving he’d garnered some manners somewhere along the way. Harris, the Pinkerton secretary, followed suit.