“Everyone thinks I hurt her.” His eyes filled with tears. “I wouldn’t do that to her. Not Nora. I tried to make her better. She was my friend. I liked her.”
“I liked her, too.” Knowing McShane would have a conniption if he found out, she asked, “Would you like some coffee?”
“Coffee is for breakfast,” Monty said. Then, after thinking a second, he said, “Sometimes Nora would want a cup in the afternoon, so I guess it’s okay.”
Smiling tentatively, Lilly stepped aside. “Take a seat there at the table,” she said, gesturing toward the main room. “I’ll make a fresh pot.”
After she stirred up the fire and set the coffee on to brew, she joined Monty in the other room. She found him thumbing through the Pinkerton novel she was reading.
“You must really like detective novels,” he said.
“Why is that?”
“This one has been read a lot.”
“Yes, it has. What about you? Do you like Mr. Pinkerton’s stories?”
“I ain’t got much use for readin’,” he said, then grinned. “Nora told me about the ‘eye that never sleeps.’ She said you worked for them. But you sleep, don’t you?”
“Yes, Monty, I sleep.”
“Boy, you are smart,” he said with an even wider grin.
“Why is that?”
“I never told you my name, but you knew it.”
Lilly laughed so that she wouldn’t break down and cry. There was something incredibly refreshing about Monty Newton. An innocence and purity of thought not often found in so-called “normal” people.
“I have a confession to make, Monty,” she said. “The grocer told me your name.”
“Oh. Well, are you smart enough to find out who kilt Nora?”
“I have some people helping me,” she told him, “so I certainly hope so.”
* * *
A card game was the last thing on Cade’s mind. Ignoring the players, he chose a seat at an empty table and went to take a book from the shelf that he had no intention of reading. Then he sat down to think.
As he’d known it would, his talk with the bartender had given him new perspective. He’d wondered if Nora’s death and the vicious slaying of the other woman—Dottie—were connected in some way. That line of speculation had been put to rest, at least or until some new bit of evidence brought him back to it.
Unlike most of the town, he didn’t think Monty Newton had anything to do with Nora’s murder, for the reasons he’d explained. Erin and the others might speculate that Monty had gotten angry with Nora because of his sexual limitations, but if that was the case, why befriend her? Why wait until he’d saved her life to kill her? No, it just didn’t add up.
There were only a few reasons for murder. If it wasn’t about the sex, that left gain. Who stood to profit from Nora’s death? She had no money, and it wasn’t as if she was such a great hooker that she’d be murdered to cause harm to Velvet’s business.
That left revenge. His gut told him that revenge was the basis for her killing . . . even for the rape. The question was, who hated her enough to want to get back at her? Velvet or one of the others? Any of the madams would have been furious over her trying to get the women to leave.
Or maybe it had something to do with helping those kids escape. If so, that could implicate any of the people who were interested in acquiring them. And was the rape connected to her war against the Acre, or just one of those unfortunate things that happen in places like this? It wasn’t called Hell’s Half Acre for nothing.
From what he’d heard about her, Cade could see Velvet setting up the rape, but why go back later and finish off the job when it seemed apparent that if Nora lived, she would suffer for the rest of her life? So far, the only person with a direct connection to the children was Elijah Wilkins, who boasted that he could get “whatever the client wanted.” If he was robbed of his chance to sell them to the highest bidder, that would certainly be enough reason to kill whomever had robbed him.
Another question nagged at Cade: Did the houses keep children around just in case someone came along who wanted one, or had they been acquired for someone special, someone who liked abusing children for his own sick pleasure? If so, who could it be?
Good question, McShane. Good luck in finding that out. In a place where secrets were guarded and people injured and killed for much less, it would take some real sleuthing to unearth that person.
This was one of the times he didn’t mind having Lilly as a partner. He was a big enough man to give credit where credit was due. The fact was that, because of their feminine qualities, women thought differently than men. They looked at a situation through a different lens. In a case like this, that was a good thing.
Lilly.
He sighed. He still hadn’t decided how he felt about being her partner. Over the weeks, his initial resentfulness had grown into a grudging acceptance. He was accustomed now to her presence, yet her combined innocence and hardheadedness was enough to drive a cigar store Indian crazy. She baffled him. Angered him. Could annihilate his anger over her impulsiveness with her determination and her drive to do the right thing.
Doing the right thing was important to her, and something she’d said about lack of choices in life had him thinking about his relationship with his sister. Had Erin thought that prostitution was her only choice when they were younger? If so, why?
He’d been so furious and ashamed when he found out, that all he’d done was lambast her and try to make her guilty enough to give up that life and repent. That hadn’t worked. Age had taught him that it never did. Repentance had to come from inside. From the heart. There was no turning away until you were convinced that you were wrong and realized that there was a different, better path.
They were both adults now, and his own experiences had taught him that things weren’t always black-and-white. As he’d told Lilly, there were a lot of shades of gray in between.
Spending time with Erin made him realize how much he’d missed her. Was it time for him to get past his anger and try to establish some sort of relationship with her again? His bruised heart whispered yes. The devil sitting on his shoulder said, “What about Glenna?”
A sharp pain clutched at him. Although it was approaching two years since she’d been killed, the grief from losing her was as fresh as it had been when he’d stood staring at the smoking, burned-out shell of their home.
When the officials had come to look for her in the ashes, Seamus and Madden had had to forcefully remove Cade from the area. Madden, his older brother, had given him a sharp uppercut to the chin to knock him out so they could haul him away.
They knew him well. If he’d seen the charred remains of her body, swollen with child, he might never have recovered.
Sweet Meagan had insisted that he did not need to be alone, so he’d gone home with Seamus. His sister-in-law had given him the children’s room, and he’d pulled the curtains shut and collapsed onto the bed, weeping for the loss of a future. Of fatherhood. Of the chance to grow old with the woman who had captured his heart with her first hesitant smile.
Leaving Cade to his sorrow, Seamus had gone to break the news of Glenna’s death to their sisters. When he’d gotten to Erin’s, a neighbor said she’d been rushed to Cook County Hospital after attempting to take her life.
Cade was still wild with grief and wondering how he would get through the rest of his life when Seamus returned with the news. Despite his feelings about how his sister made a living, Cade loved her, and the possibility of losing both her and Glenna was unbearable.
He recalled how all the McShane siblings had descended on the charity hospital. The moment he’d seen her lying so still and white beneath the sheet, he’d almost broken down again.
“Excuse me, sir.”
The sound of the man’s voice pulled Cade from his dark pit of memories. Feeling somewhat dazed, he said, “Yes?”
“I hate to disturb you,” the well-dressed, pudgy man said, “but we need another player f
or a game of monte. Are you interested in joining us?”
Not really, but it would be better than wallowing in misery and bitterness. He slammed the book closed and smiled. “Yes, I believe I am.”
As it turned out, his sister had lived, but he’d lost her anyway.
CHAPTER 17
Cade got back to Dusty’s soon after lunch. When he opened the front door of the boardinghouse, he saw Lilly sitting at one of the tables, her hands clasped together as if she were waiting for him, a tattered copy of one of Allan Pinkerton’s dime novels lying next to her. She must have read those blasted books dozens of times, but she still brought them with her wherever they went. He’d have to see if he could find her something new.
He was about to ask what she’d been doing to pass the time, when he realized there was no smile of welcome on her face. Instead, she looked troubled. Vulnerable.
“Did you win lots of money?”
Sensing that something was amiss even though she seemed fine outwardly, he answered more sharply than was called for. “No!”
“Well, my goodness. There’s no need to sound so grumpy about it,” she said in a testy voice.
That was much more like her.
“Did you manage to get any new information?”
“Aye, I did,” he said, tempering his tone.
“Tell me,” she urged, gesturing toward one of the chairs.
“I’ve decided that we need to go somewhere outside of town and work on your self-defense skills.”
Was that surprise in her eyes?
“Right now?”
He rested his forearms on the tabletop and leaned toward her. “Yes, now. There’s plenty of daylight left.”
“What brought this on after all this time?” she asked.
“A combination of things, I suppose. Hearing all the stories about what can happen to women here made me realize we shouldn’t put it off. We’ve been busy the past few months, and this is the first time we’ve had so much spare time on our hands.”
“That’s true.”
“And then, you have that meeting with Monty tonight. . . .” He gave a nonchalant shrug. “It wouldn’t hurt if you had a few tricks up your sleeve.”
“There won’t be a meeting with Monty tonight.”
“What? What happened?”
“He came while you were gone.” She cast a glance over her shoulder. “I told him to wait in the kitchen until I let you know he was here.”
Cade’s initial reaction was raw terror. His second was anger. What was the silly chit thinking, asking a potential killer inside? If something had happened to her, he would never have forgiven himself for leaving her alone.
She reached out and placed a hand on his forearm.
Common sense reasserted itself, and as he realized that she was unscathed, the panic abated. Aware that his hands were trembling ever so slightly, he pulled free of her touch, curled them into fists in his lap, and reacted in the age-old way of men: respond to fear with anger. “Did ya think I’d shoot him?”
She smiled then, but just a little. “I wasn’t sure.”
Feeling old suddenly, Cade scraped a hand down his face. “Go get him.”
Lilly went into the kitchen and returned a couple of minutes later with the man they’d seen in Velvet’s a few nights before.
Cade stood for the introductions.
“Monty, this is my partner, Mr. McShane. He’s going to help me find the man who hurt Nora. McShane, this is Nora’s friend, Monty. The one who found her in the alley.”
The men shook hands, and Monty took one of the empty chairs.
“What can you tell us about what happened?” Cade asked. He knew that a lot of what Monty would tell them would be a repetition of what they’d already learned in bits and pieces, but hearing it from him might add new information. It would certainly give the episode cohesiveness. He’d been there and witnessed much of what had happened, and he had no reason to lie . . . unless he was guilty, and Cade just couldn’t see that.
“Nora was my friend,” Monty said. “She didn’t make fun of me the way the other girls did. And she didn’t mind that I . . .”
“We understand,” Cade said. He didn’t really want to get into Monty’s problems. “So, the two of you spent a lot of time together.”
“Yes. As long as I paid Velvet, I could spend time with Nora. Mostly we talked.”
“Talked? About what?” Cade asked.
“Everything. She told me about performing on stage and about her friends. She told me about Lilly.”
Cade glanced at his partner. “Did she?”
“Sometimes she would sing funny songs to me. We laughed a lot. She talked to me about God. She didn’t like being here, but she couldn’t get away,” Monty said. “Velvet found her and saw to it that she got a whupping.”
“Who hurt her?”
“Most likely Elijah Wilkins. He does whatever Velvet tells him to.”
“Does he now?” Cade said, sharing a look with Lilly. “Do you think he killed her, Monty?”
Monty shrugged. “Probably. He isn’t a nice man.”
“What can you tell us about the children?” Lilly asked.
“It made Nora real mad when she heard about that.”
“Where did they come from?” Cade pressed.
“I’m not sure,” Monty said with a shake of his head. “Nora told me that sometimes those kids on the orphan trains were handed over to men like Elijah. Ain’t that awful? Anyways, he went on a trip and come back with two of them in tow.”
“Did he take them to Velvet’s or one of the other houses?” Cade asked.
“Oh, no. He kept them at his place, but when the sheriff went to look for them after Nora raised Cain, they weren’t there.” A sly smile lit Monty’s eyes. “I know where he took them, though.”
“How do you know?” Lilly asked.
“I followed him to that old warehouse over by the train tracks, and then I helped Nora get them away from here. She said it was our good deed.” He smiled again. This time the smile was pure and sweet. “Jesus loves children, you know.”
* * *
An hour or so after Monty left, Erin returned. Unlike Lilly and Cade, she’d learned little from the time spent with Wilkins, except that both Velvet and Rosalie did their best to keep the marshal happy, which Lilly and Cade already knew.
“Nothing else?” Cade asked.
Erin shrugged. “He’s convinced that he is God’s gift to womankind, and intent on proving it to me.”
Cade looked furious, and Lilly felt her stomach sink. Something in the statement held a note of menace.
“I certainly hope you didn’t ply your trade in hopes of getting information in return, sister dear,” Cade snapped, taking the bait she’d offered.
She laughed. “Give me a little credit. You may not believe it, but I am somewhat discriminating. I stopped ‘plying my trade’ with men like Elijah Wilkins a long time ago. He has nothing to offer me except a few dollars and a roll in the hay, and I don’t need either. His kind are a dime a dozen. Besides, my guess is that he isn’t nearly as . . . accomplished . . . as he thinks he is.”
“Enough! I really don’t care to hear any more about your opinions of the man’s . . . prowess. Real or imagined.” Cade’s voice was sharp, gruff.
Erin smiled, a bright smile that failed to reach her eyes. “Fine. How did the two of you spend the morning?”
Anxious to change the subject, Lilly said, “Your brother went to find that card game he mentioned earlier, and my meeting with Monty Newton was moved up to this morning.”
“What?” Erin’s eyes widened in surprise. “How did that happen?”
Lilly gave a shake of her head, as if she still couldn’t believe what had happened. “He showed up at the kitchen door.”
“And she let him in. Silly woman.”
Lilly glared at him. “He didn’t seem like the kind of person who would try to attack me. I had him wait here until McShane came back, and then we asked
him a few questions.”
“What did he want?”
“Mostly, he just wanted to make sure I was the friend Nora had been expecting. She’d described me to him, and he’d been waiting for me to arrive. He asked me what took me so long to get here, and wanted me to assure him that we would catch her killer.”
“And you don’t think it was him?”
“I really don’t, Erin.”
“I agree,” Cade said. “Sit down, sister. Let’s see what else we’ve learned today, and then I want to get your opinion on a couple of things.”
Lilly and Erin exchanged astonished looks, then Cade’s sister said, “You spent quite a while with Bonnie before I came downstairs earlier today. I’m sure you didn’t chitchat about fashion.”
“No, we didn’t. Waiting for you gave me the perfect chance for a good talk. Somehow the conversation turned to her friend, Nora, and, when I mentioned that I’d like to hear about her, she told me the whole story. It was as if God arranged the whole meeting.”
“Perhaps He did,” Cade suggested.
“Perhaps. Anyway, she told me how Elijah had lied to get Nora here and about her running away when she found out what he really wanted. He gave her a beating at Velvet’s request. She started talking to the girls about God, and encouraging them to leave, to go somewhere else and start over.”
“Well, that was foolish!” Erin snapped. “It sounds as if your friend had a lot of guts and little sense. I’ve spent enough time with him to know he has a vicious streak a mile wide, and I get the feeling that he likes the power he has over women.”
Lilly understood what Erin was talking about. She’d witnessed it while working the New Orleans case.
“Nora was gutsy,” she said. “And when she got something in her head, she wouldn’t let it go.” Lilly went on to tell her companions how those efforts had gotten Nora fired. When she told them about the child who’d run away from one of the other houses and been hit by the train, both Erin and Cade were shocked.
“Are you saying that there was a child—a boy—who took her advice and left?” Erin asked.
Lilly looked from one to the other. “Yes. He had a sister, and she blamed Nora for his death because Nora had filled his head with a lot of nonsense about having a better life. Of course, Nora already blamed herself.”
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