Deadly Proof: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery

by Locke, M. Louisa

  It sounded to Annie like the partnership between Catherine Rashers and Jack Neppier was a match made in heaven—and that she didn’t think she would find working for them as an accountant to be very congenial.

  More to the point, what if Mrs. Rashers’ alliance with Jack Neppier had actually begun before her husband’s death? Could they have schemed together to kill Joshua Rashers? This could explain why Annie had never felt Mrs. Rashers was sincerely that upset about his death or fearful about her economic future.

  As Annie was about to announce that she needed to leave, she remembered she had promised Laura that she would try to find out what Mrs. Rashers’ attitude towards Seth and his future employment was—if she even knew about his arrest yesterday. So as she rose, she said, “Mr. Griggs mentioned that you were going to make an announcement this afternoon to the whole staff. I hope that he also alerted you to the fact that Mr. Timmons might be late arriving for his shift. He is taking his university entrance exams today—several of my young friends are taking these exams as well—and they happened to mention that he’d gotten permission from his foreman to come in later than usual.”

  “Oh yes, I do believe Griggs mentioned that last Friday, but I thought that Mr. Timmons was helping the police with their inquiries into Miss Childers’ death.”

  Annie looked over at the widow but saw no hint that she saw the questioning of one of her employees for the murder of another as particularly worrisome. She replied, “Yes, but it was my understanding that since he left work at eight on Saturday night, before Miss Childers arrived, he wasn’t able to help them.”

  “Well then. That is all right. When I was going over the list of employees with Jack, he pointed out that he’d actually interviewed Mr. Timmons—and was very impressed. Felt that his expertise with the Babcock printer would help us take care of the Alta California account. We will have to expand, of course. Mr. Glasser is looking into whether or not we can take up some of the empty space across the hall.”

  As Annie got to the office door, she turned and said, “I did want to extend my condolences to you on the loss of Miss Childers. So distressing, especially for you so soon after the death of your husband.”

  She expected a similar reaction to Griggs’ own patently insincere response, but it appeared that she underestimated the widow’s honesty. Mrs. Rashers simply shrugged and said, “I am afraid she wasn’t much of a loss. As far as I could tell, the only thing she was good at was distracting the male employees. Now I don’t have to fire her.”

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Monday, evening, August 2, 1880

  “We also condemn the practice of allowing visitors at the jail at all hours of the night and in large numbers, as been the custom.” San Francisco Chronicle, November 6, 1880

  Annie almost fell asleep in the cab on her way to Old City Hall, lulled by the rapidly darkening twilight sky, the sway of the carriage, and the steady clip, clopping of the horse’s hooves. She tried to calculate how much sleep she’d gotten since yesterday morning and only came up with three hours.

  Last evening, she and Laura hadn’t made it back to the boardinghouse until after two in the morning. As a result, she’d only been asleep three hours when Kathleen came into her bedroom with her morning tea. After dressing, Annie took her cup and piece of toast downstairs to the kitchen to let Beatrice and Kathleen know the bare bones of what was going on—including the warning to Kathleen that Sergeant Thompson was going to come by at about seven to interview her about seeing Seth deliver Laura home.

  By that time it was nearly six and the sun was, thankfully, well up, so she had no trouble finding a cab at Taylor and Market to take her to Kitty’s house on the western edge of Nob Hill to deliver a note from Laura asking her to bring the carriage to the jail. She handed the note to Kitty’s startled butler and was home in time to accompany an impatient Laura back to the city jail to meet Nate.

  After leaving her meeting with Mrs. Rashers, Annie had a full day of appointments with clients. She’d hoped to get a nap in before her last appointment of the day, but Mrs. Stein, who’d heard from Beatrice about Laura’s crusade to free Seth Timmons (and her scandalous few hours alone with him in his rooms) knocked on her bedroom door, all upset. It took Annie a good half hour to assure the kind woman that Laura’s reputation wasn’t ruined beyond all help and that they didn’t need to spirit the girl home to her parents in disgrace. By that time all chance of a nap was gone.

  Sighing, Annie admitted to herself that this felt like one of the longest days of her life, and all she really wanted was to go to bed and sleep. But she’d told Nate she would meet him at seven this evening to talk to Florence Sullivan. And while she could have sent a note saying she was too tired...this case was so important to Nate, she couldn’t not be there. Maybe Mrs. Gross, the women’s matron, would offer her some strong tea and she wouldn’t embarrass herself by falling asleep in the middle of a jail cell.

  *****

  Nate gave Annie a swift kiss on the cheek when she alighted from the cab at the back entrance of the jail. The lights from the cells illuminated the alley, and they could hear the rise and fall of men’s voices, punctuated by the raucous sound of singing by one inmate who’d clearly reached the social stage of his inebriation.

  Troubled by the dark smudges under her eyes, he said, “Sweetheart, thanks so much for coming. I know you must be exhausted. But you are so much better with Mrs. Sullivan than I am, and I really need her help if I am going to convince the police there is a killer out there responsible for both Rashers’ and Miss Childers’ deaths.”

  “I am tired, but you know me,” Annie said. “I can’t stand the idea of missing out on anything. Which seems to be a similar trait in your sister. She is going to stop by here after she finishes up at the WCPU tonight. Said it was because she couldn’t wait to hear what we learned.”

  “How did her exam go? And did they get Mr. Timmons there in time for his?”

  “I saw her very briefly this afternoon because she only came home long enough to change and get a bite to eat before heading off to work. But they did get him there in time. Laura said he returned to the city as soon as his exam was over so he could get in a few hours sleep himself before starting his night shift. I gather he didn’t indicate how he felt the exam went. And she said she had no idea if she answered a single question correctly...it was all such a blur...and that her friend Ned swears he started translating a piece into Latin when they had asked for Greek.”

  “I bet they all did fine. If I remember my own undergraduate exams, it seemed like there was an inverse ratio between how I thought I did and how I really did. The more despair I felt after the exam, the better grade I got.”

  “Well, they can always take the exam over, and if either she or Seth fail—they certainly will have a good excuse. But it would be a shame.”

  A few minutes later, they were being led down the corridor to Mrs. Sullivan’s cell, which after nearly a month of incarceration, seemed like her permanent home. The matron told them that Mr. Sullivan had been with his wife for most of the day—just going off a half an hour earlier to make it to work at seven.

  Mrs. Gross said, “I don’t know what you two said to her this morning to get her to see him...but I thank you. For most of the women under my charge, their husbands are the reason they are here...and a little time away from the beatings and the drink—with three square meals and no responsibilities—is a gift. But I could see Mrs. Sullivan was just wasting away. Even the visits from her mother weren’t helping much. This evening I saw the first smile from her, and it did my heart good. Whatever happens from now on...I think she’ll make it through.”

  As they entered Mrs. Sullivan’s cell, Nate had to agree that the change in his client was remarkable. There was color in her cheeks and a warm smile of greeting.

  “Mr. Dawson, Mrs. Fuller, thanks for coming this evening.” Florence Sullivan indicated that they should sit as usual on the bed opposite as she sat down. “Now that I have bee
n able to see beyond my personal fears, I am ready to fully cooperate with you. I am sorry I was being so difficult. Will you forgive me, Mr. Dawson?”

  Nate said, “Of course. I can’t even imagine what all this has been like for you. However, the trial is less than ten days away. We need to make some decisions. First of all, I assume you have no reason now to reconsider changing your not guilty plea. Mrs. Fuller did tell you about Mrs. Rashers’ suggestion that she would try to get the district attorney to change the charge to manslaughter if you agreed to plead guilty.”

  “No, no, I wouldn’t consider it. I should never have even contemplated admitting to something I didn’t do. I sincerely thank you, Mr. Dawson, for making sure I didn’t commit such a sinful and stupid act.”

  Nate, not comfortable revisiting this topic, said, “Unfortunately, even if Mrs. Rashers is now regretting the publicity, she will be expected to testify.”

  “I suppose it wouldn’t be good for me to testify, myself?” Mrs. Sullivan asked. “I guess the jury wouldn’t believe me if I said that at the time of his death I no longer cared for Joshua and wanted nothing more than to leave his employ. All they would hear is that I did in fact have an illicit relationship with him at one time.”

  Nate, remembering his instructions from Mrs. Emily Pitts Stevens to avoid turning the trial into a debate over free love, nodded and said, “I am afraid you are correct. I believe my best tactic in defending you is to get various employees to testify to your general character and the responsibility that Rashers gave you—taking care of the books, training the apprentices, and so forth—rather than have anyone speak to your personal relationship with Rashers. And of course to point out that it would have been possible for someone else to enter the shop and attack him before you even arrived there.”

  Annie added, “Mrs. Sullivan, Mr. Dawson is hoping you might be able to suggest other viable suspects. If he can provide evidence that someone else had the motive and opportunity to kill Rashers—and Miss Childers—this would help tremendously.”

  Mrs. Sullivan shook her head and sighed. “You see, the difficulty is that while Joshua wasn’t an honorable man—he was extremely charming. Most people, like the young apprentices he paid so badly, steadfastly refused to see his culpability.”

  “He didn’t charm Iris Bailor,” Annie said. “In fact, it was my impression that because she knew about his treatment of you—and her fears that her friend Miss Granger was falling under his spell––that she positively hated him.”

  Mrs. Sullivan looked surprised. “Oh, Iris did hate him.” She paused then said, “I suppose I can think of circumstances where she might strike out at him in anger. But to let me take the blame for the murder? I just don’t believe it. I know her so well that I feel sure I would be able to detect if she were carrying around that sort of guilt.”

  Nate thought to himself that a year spent helping Annie investigate a series of crimes had ruined any illusions he might have had about the ability to spot who was capable of what actions. But he said, “One group of individuals who weren’t charmed by him is the businessmen he ruined.”

  Mrs. Sullivan replied, her voice registering her sadness, “I kept telling Joshua that he would reap what he sowed. He couldn’t expect to engage in such sharp business practices and not have it come back to haunt him. But I never expected it to lead to his death.”

  Annie leaned over and said, “I know this is difficult for you. But you do see that it is possible Rashers might have had a meeting that Friday with a businessman who had a grievance during pick the time when the shop would be empty. The discussion could have gotten out of hand. In that case, the attack on Rashers wouldn’t have to have been premeditated. Then, if Orrie Childers saw that individual either enter or leave the premises...it wouldn’t be hard for her to track the man down and blackmail him.”

  Nate added, “After a time, the man might feel he couldn’t keep paying her. Perhaps he agreed to meet her at the shop Saturday night, planning on killing her. My law partner, Cranston, says that often people who kill once, even accidentally, find it easier to make the decision to kill again.”

  Annie nodded her agreement. “Seems to me the Orrie’s murder was definitely be premeditated since whoever the person was, he used the note, purportedly from Orrie, to frame Seth Timmons of her death. Didn’t the note say to come at eleven...but the night porter said she arrived at ten? What if the murderer changed the time on the note (or forged the whole thing) to get Seth to come after he knew Orrie would be dead? We need to get a look at the note to see if it looks like the ten was changed to an eleven.”

  Nate took out his notebook from the folder of trial material he’d brought with him and made a notation then said, “He would probably hope that if Timmons was the one to find the body—he would be blamed for the murder—just the way you were blamed for Rashers’ death. Thank goodness Mr. Timmons didn’t see the note and he had an alibi for the time period of her murder.”

  Nate could start to see how he could weave the similarities in the two murders into his opening statement.

  Then Annie interrupted his thoughts, saying, “But wait, how could some business rival put the note in Seth Timmons’ jacket pocket earlier in the day? Or even know that Seth would be a good person to frame because Orrie had been flirting with him? Seems to me this just proves that the murderer is someone who works at Rashers—or is a confederate of someone from Rashers.”

  The three of them sat silently for a moment, thinking. Then Annie said, “You know, if it wasn’t Orrie who died, I would think that she would be the perfect murderer. From all accounts, she had that kind of ruthlessly practical way of looking at the world. If Rashers stepped over the line with her or failed to live up to a promise, I can just see her taking up a bodkin and stabbing him to death. Then quite cheerfully letting you, Mrs. Sullivan, take the blame.”

  Mrs. Sullivan actually chuckled, which shocked Nate.

  He kept being surprised by how brutally honest women could be about life. For some reason, before he met Annie, he thought that most women were like his sister-in-law, Violet, who would faint dead away if you even mentioned murder—much less laugh at the idea that another woman might frame you for the act.

  Mrs. Sullivan said, “Yes, poor girl. She didn’t have any morals. I remember trying to talk to her about this—and she said she didn’t see the point. But I can certainly picture her slipping back into the shop to see Joshua when Mr. Timmons and Dunk went out to dinner and discovering he was already talking to someone.”

  “She could have hidden in the supply room until they were gone,” said Annie. “Then she could have gone into the office and seen Rashers dead or dying on the floor. She would have run away and later decided to blackmail the person she’d seen leave. Oh, Mrs. Sullivan, I’m sorry.”

  Nate saw that his client had begun to tear up.

  Annie put out her hand towards her, saying, “That was terribly insensitive of me. Seeing Mr. Rashers like that must have been terrible for you.”

  Mrs. Sullivan straightened up. She said, “That’s quite all right, Mrs. Fuller. You know, at the time, all I could think of was my husband. While it is very possible Joshua’s own actions brought on his demise...no man deserved to die in that fashion. Let us continue to figure out who might have done this reprehensible thing.”

  Nate wanted to remind her that they needed to do so to make sure she didn’t end up in prison for life...but he realized that, for this woman, finding Rashers’ murderer was a moral duty—not a self-serving one.

  “One of the persons we do need to consider is Joshua Rashers’ wife,” replied Annie. “If Mrs. Rashers could blame Florence so readily, I do think we should consider the possibility that she did the deed and consciously put the blame on the woman she saw as her rival.”

  “I don’t have any particular affection for Catherine Rashers,” said Mrs. Sullivan. “But wouldn’t the police have already checked to see if she had the opportunity? She very seldom came to the office. Why wou
ld she have come that night?”

  Nate said, “Actually, Mrs. Fuller has found out that no one saw her at her home during the crucial times. And it is possible she came to make sure that her husband was going to go through with her demand that he fire you.”

  “Fire me? Oh, if he’d only been willing to do that!”

  Annie said, “But you see, Mrs. Sullivan, I think she did feel threatened by you. Not just because she knew about the earlier affair, but because her husband kept her in the dark about his business decisions. I suspect that his dependence on you to help him run the shop was a large part of her jealousy. And if she was worried that he was taking up with you again...this might have made her angry enough to kill him.”

  Nate added, “If Miss Childers saw her leave the shop...she would also be an excellent target for blackmail. She could probably get her hands on three hundred dollars easily enough.”

  “But would Mrs. Rashers have the strength to kill Orrie?” exclaimed Mrs. Sullivan. “Didn’t you say the girl was strangled?”

  Annie said, “Yes she was. And you are correct, it might be hard to get a male jury to believe Mrs. Rashers could knock her out with a wrench or strangle her to death. But this is where I think we really need to consider if two people were involved. Mrs. Rashers and someone else. A man. And I have just the possible suspect.”

  She went on to tell them about her meeting with Catherine Rashers that morning and the startling announcement that the younger Mr. Neppier was going into partnership with the widow.

  “Oh my,” said Mrs. Sullivan. “I don’t know why I am so surprised. We already knew that Joshua was targeting the Neppier firm. And Mrs. Rashers said that Joshua’s plan had always been to form a new partnership?”

  “Yes. And what I thought was—what if she found out about her husband’s plans before, not after, he died. And what if she approached Jack Neppier...maybe innocently at first...but then perhaps a relationship developed. I gather he is a very handsome young man. And from what Mrs. Richmond confided to me about Mrs. Rashers, she often felt neglected by Joshua.”