The Family Way

by Rhys Bowen

  “It depends if this Mrs. Mainwaring matters or not then,” Gus said. “Most people can afford a maid or two.”

  “So what would you do if you wanted to locate somebody?”

  “Go to City Hall and take a look at the electoral roll. That is if there is a Mr. Mainwaring; women, of course, not being on anyone’s electoral roll.”

  “Yet,” Gus finished for her.

  “That’s a good idea,” I said, cheering up immensely. “I can do that.”

  “Providing the Mainwarings are citizens and can vote in elections,” Sid pointed out.

  “Sid, you’re making difficulties,” Gus said. “If they are not on the electoral roll, they’ll be on some other kind of list. If they own a house, they’ll pay property tax. City Hall will have them listed somewhere.”

  “And then there are the electoral rolls in the other boroughs too,” Sid added. “People with money are moving out of the city these days to the new suburbs.”

  “Other boroughs,” I said. “I don’t think Daniel would want me to go charging off to the Bronx.”

  “Molly, you’re beginning to sound like the dutiful little wife,” Sid said. “Where is that spunky girl we used to know? Surely Daniel doesn’t monitor your every movement.”

  “No, but…” I began.

  “She did agree not to take on any more cases, Sid,” Gus added for me. “And she shouldn’t get too tired, rushing all over the place.”

  I shot her a grateful smile.

  “Maybe we can take on that for you too,” she added.

  “I really can’t expect you to run all over the place for me,” I said. “I’ll go to City Hall and if the Mainwarings don’t show up there, I’ll hand over the case.”

  “We’ve made the offer, Molly. We’re at your disposal, but I really don’t think you should take on too much to worry you at the moment. I read something recently in a journal of medicine, written by a professor of psychology that claimed unborn children can pick up all kinds of stimuli in the womb that may affect their later life. They recommend mothers think kind and beautiful thoughts all the time.”

  I laughed. “Oh, dear. I don’t think I’m the sort of person who only thinks beautiful thoughts. But you’re probably right about taking on too much. I’m certainly feeling the heat this summer.”

  “Why don’t you go out to your mother-in-law?” Gus said. “It’s lovely and leafy out in Westchester.”

  “For the same reason that you returned from those cool ocean breezes in Newport,” I said. “A day or so of my mother-in-law and I’d rather endure the heat. Besides, it’s cooler today. I think it’s going to rain.”

  “Then we should get going, Gus,” Sid rose to her feet. “We have to buy food or we’ll starve tonight.”

  “I’d invite you to dine here,” I said, “but I’ve only two pork chops and I don’t think they’ll stretch to four.”

  “We need to stock up the pantry anyway,” Sid said. “The larder is bare and the poor dog will have nothing if we don’t get going. Come over for a glass of wine later. Thank God we still have a well-stocked cellar awaiting us.”

  I escorted them to the front door and watched them cross the alleyway to their own house. Then I went to the desk in the front parlor and thought carefully before I composed a note to Liam. Sid was right. It had to contain nothing that might implicate me, but he had to know that it came from me. Something from our childhood … Then I remembered that my brother Joseph always teased him by calling him Freckle Face. Liam hated it. Our mother told him to stop and threatened the strap if he used the words again, so he resorted to calling Liam FF.

  Dear FF, I wrote.

  They know you’re here. They are looking for you. Leave the city immediately. God be with you.

  There. Nothing that could tie it to me, but would make it quite clear to him. I put the letter into an envelope and carried it across the alley to Sid and Gus who promised to set out on their quest the next morning. I felt as if a great load had been lifted from my shoulders. My friends were home and everything was going to be all right from now on.

  Nine

  The rain started that evening and when Daniel came home he was drenched to the skin. Then in the middle of the night there was a thunderstorm with lightning flashing and rain drumming hard on the roof. I lay awake, waiting for the next flash and crash while my mind raced with so many worrying thoughts. Would Liam be caught before Sid and Gus could find him and deliver my warning? What if they called his name out loud and thus gave him away? And what if that woman couldn’t come up with the money to ransom her kidnapped baby? Would the kidnappers kill it? In the end I went downstairs and made myself some warm milk, and drank it sitting in the cold empty kitchen while the thunder raged outside and Daniel slept on peacefully.

  In the morning it was still raining and I decided to wait to pay my visit to City Hall. No sense in getting crushed in a crowded El train. By afternoon the sun was out again and when I set off the sidewalks were steaming. Little boys took great delight at stomping in puddles and when a carriage went past me at a great clip it sent up a spray of muddy water, spattering my skirt. I made it down to City Hall on the trolley and then was made to wait while clerks decided if I was important enough to be helped, before one of them disappeared into the cavernous filing rooms, only to return empty-handed. It became clear that there were no Mainwarings of note living in the borough of Manhattan—at least not able to vote or be affluent enough to own their own homes.

  Reluctantly I turned my steps for Patchin Place. I had done everything I could at the moment and would have to rely on Sid and Gus to contact Liam. I’d have to check my housekeeping account to see if it would stretch to an advertisement in the Times as Sid had suggested. Then I decided that I had to learn to let go of my former life. I was no longer private detective Molly Murphy. I was Mrs. Molly Sullivan, soon to be a mother. There was no turning back now. A nagging thought whispered that if I didn’t take on the case, who would? I hated the thought of those people in Ireland sitting there worrying and waiting while nobody worked on their behalf.

  I didn’t get a chance to mention it to Daniel that evening as he didn’t come home until I was asleep and was gone again at crack of dawn. I heard nothing from Sid and Gus all day and made constant trips to the front window in vain to see if they had returned. When they did, they had no news.

  “No sign of your brother or of any kidnappers,” Sid said. “We walked our feet off to no avail. Really that part of the city is too tiresome for words. Too many people and one has to look so carefully where one puts one’s feet. And my dear, the smells! I don’t think anyone we saw ever washes.”

  “Don’t feel you have to go back,” I said. “Please leave the letter with Sarah on the off chance that she spots him and that’s all we can do.”

  “Never let it be said that a Walcott deserted her post,” Gus said. “We’ll keep going until we succeed, Molly.”

  I felt awful that I had asked them to do such a loathsome task while I sat at home, trying not to worry. The problem with not having enough to do is that one has too much time for worrying thoughts.

  The afternoon post brought a letter from Daniel’s mother. I opened it with trepidation and was relieved to read that she would keep her eyes open for a suitable girl but that we’d probably have more luck with finding a servant through one of the employment agencies in the city. At least that brought a smile to my lips. The next day was Sunday and Sid and Gus informed me regretfully that they had a luncheon to attend out on Long Island. I asked them to inquire after any Mainwarings who might live on Long Island, since it was an area of impressive mansions.

  “Put the advertisement in the Times, Molly. So much simpler,” Sid said.

  Daniel had left early on Sunday morning, having to work again. He apologized when he kissed me good-bye, as I still lay in bed.

  “I know it’s hard on you,” he said, “but this is a policeman’s life.”

  He looked so weary. I longed to take him int
o my arms. “I don’t suppose it’s much fun for you either,” I said, stroking his cheek. “Are you still working on those kidnappings?”

  “They are the least of my worries,” he said.

  “Did that poor woman get her baby back yet?”

  “Not that I heard. I don’t even know if they managed to come up with the ransom money.”

  “Are your men not watching her house to catch the kidnappers red-handed?” I asked indignantly.

  “We have to be very careful, Molly,” he said. “We can’t jeopardize the safety of the child. We have a constable keeping an eye on the place, but it won’t do any good. The ransom note came through the mail and the woman didn’t want to show it to me, because it said clearly, ‘Do not show this to the police, or else.’”

  “How terrible,” I said.

  He nodded. “So we’re no nearer to catching them. I have put my feelers out with all the known gangs and so far nothing.”

  “Will the baby be returned to the parents’ address? Maybe you can nab them then.”

  He started for the stairs. “The last child was dumped in a basket outside the Foundling Hospital,” he said. “Others have been left in churches. I have to go.” And he blew me a kiss.

  The frustration had returned. I could really be helpful if only he’d let me. I’d stand watch outside the woman’s house. I could follow her when she went out and nobody would be any the wiser. Why did Daniel have to be so protective and so insistent that I not get involved with his work? I knew he was acting this way to keep me safe, but it still irked.

  Two more frustrating days dragged on with no sightings of Liam and no sign of kidnappers, and no Daniel around from dawn until late at night. When I asked him questions he answered with a snapped monosyllable, clearly exhausted and frustrated himself. I had an advertisement written and ready to put in the Times, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Then on the Wednesday I was just returning from shopping for Daniel’s evening meal when I heard my name being called and saw Sid and Gus hurrying toward me, waving excitedly.

  “Molly, listen to this. Great drama.” Gus called.

  “You’ve found him?” I asked.

  “No, sorry. I’m afraid we haven’t. Still no sign of him. But big excitement with the kidnapping you told us about.”

  “Was the baby returned safe and sound?” I asked, filled with hope. “Were the kidnappers caught?”

  “More dramatic than that,” Sid said. “We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. It was on Broome Street, wasn’t it, Gus?”

  Gus nodded. “We were just feeling rather hot and tired and had decided to make our way home when we saw a police wagon pull up and a policeman got out, carrying a basket, covered with a cloth, looking for all the world like a picnic basket. Well, naturally we were intrigued so we hung around to watch. While he was asking for confirmation of an address a young woman came running down from a tenement above—pretty little thing, very fair and German-looking. And she screamed out, ‘You’ve found my baby?’

  “And the policeman said, ‘Safe and sound, ma’am. Left right outside police headquarters on Mulberry.’

  “He pulled back the white cloth that was over the basket. She rushed forward and then she stopped dead and said, ‘That’s not my baby.’”

  “Then she got quite hysterical,” Sid continued. “The police were trying to calm her and telling her that she’d forgotten what her own child looked like and all babies look alike, but she was quite insistent.”

  Gus leaned closer. “She said, ‘My baby is beautiful. Everyone says so. This baby is ugly. Take it away. I don’t want to see it again.’”

  “And she was right, wasn’t she, Gus?” Sid said with the hint of a smile. “The baby was a homely little creature, all red and wrinkled the way some babies are, like little old men.”

  “How strange,” I said. “What can have happened? Do you think they kidnapped more than one baby at once and mixed them up?”

  “I’m sure I don’t know,” Gus said. “The woman and the policeman got into the wagon and went off with the baby, so we can’t report what happened next.”

  I went on home, and started to prepare Daniel’s supper. But I found it hard to do the task at hand as I felt quite sick with worry about what Sid and Gus had told me. I knew it didn’t concern me and was none of my business, but I couldn’t get the woman’s face out of my mind. Surely any woman knows what her own child looks like. What would happen now? And more to the point where was her baby?

  I held off from cooking dinner until about eight and was rewarded at eight-thirty with the sound of the front door opening.

  “You’re home. What perfect timing,” I said, going to greet Daniel. “I’m so glad. I’ve made you liver and bacon because I think you need building up and…” I broke off. “What’s the matter?” He looked as if he might explode with anger any second.

  I went up to him, touching his lapel gently, “Daniel, what on earth is it?”

  “I have been betrayed by my own wife, that’s all,” he said in a clipped voice he was fighting to control. “Exposed, made to look a fool. Betrayed.”

  “What are you talking about?” I demanded. “I have never done anything to betray you.”

  “Come into my study. We need to talk.” He was glaring at me in a way that made me feel almost sick. He took my arm and manhandled me into the front parlor.

  “Let go, you’re hurting me,” I shouted angrily. “I don’t know what this is about, but you are behaving like a boor.”

  “Sit.” He pushed me down to the sofa. I was actually rather frightened. I’d never seen him like this, but I certainly wasn’t going to let him see it.

  “All right,” I said. “In what way am I supposed to have betrayed you?”

  “Because you failed to mention to me that you knew your brother Liam was in town and failed to mention that you had been meeting secretly with him, when half the police force in New York has been looking for him.”

  “Just a moment,” I said, now as angry as he was. “Who exactly told you I had had secret meetings with my brother?”

  “You were seen with him, Molly.” His voice was rising now, loud and frightening. “Talking together on the corner of Broome and Elizabeth. While I’ve been trying to catch him, you’ve been undermining my efforts and warning him off, haven’t you?”

  “I have absolutely not been undermining your efforts.” I was shouting too now. “If you’ll listen for a minute, I’ll tell you exactly what happened.”

  “Go on.” He sat opposite me, arms folded and still glaring. I took a deep breath, fighting to remain calm and reasonable. “Remember you told me you wanted me to cancel my request for a maid with the employment agency? I went back there to tell them I didn’t need their services after all, came out into the street, and the first person I bumped into was my brother. I was stunned, as you can imagine. I tried to greet him the way you’d greet a long-lost family member, but he made it quite clear that I was the last person in the world he wanted to see and my meeting him was putting him in danger. I told him he was stupid to be here and to go straight back where he came from. We parted. I haven’t seen or contacted him since. End of story.”

  “You could have mentioned it to me,” he said, more quietly now.

  “I could have. I chose not to for Liam’s sake. He is my brother, after all.”

  “Did he tell you what he was doing here?”

  “He told me nothing. As I just said, he wanted nothing to do with me and told me to forget I’d ever seen him. I tried to give him my address, but he wouldn’t take it. I guessed he was probably over here to raise funds for the Republican cause.”

  There was a long silence then he said at last, “I’m sorry. I should not have behaved in that way.”

  “No you should not,” I said.

  Another long pause before he said, “I was caught wrong-footed at a meeting with John Wilkie and several Secret Service men. They asked how I was getting on with trying to locate
the anarchist group and then one of them told me, with great satisfaction, that my wife had been meeting secretly with her brother—one of the men we were trying to find. Imagine what a fool I felt.”

  I continued to give him a frosty stare. “I would have thought that any loyal and devoted husband would have said that he couldn’t comment on the statement until he had asked his wife in person.”

  “You’re probably right.” He sighed.

  “I know I’m right. You’re always going on about husband and wife having to trust each other and now it’s quite clear that you don’t trust me.”

  “I wouldn’t have gotten so upset but it’s such a crucial matter, Molly.”

  “Do you know that Liam is involved in some kind of anarchist plot or are you just putting two and two together because he’s here at the same time as a new anarchist group has sprung up?”

  “I’m afraid we have good information that this plot is somehow linked with the Irish Republican Brotherhood. And your brother’s name is on John Wilkie’s wanted list.”

  “John Wilkie asked me to report to him if my brother tried to make contact,” I said.

  Daniel looked up, suspicious. “He did? When?”

  “He came back to the house after that luncheon. He asked me to report straight to him.”

  “The devil he did.” Daniel’s face flushed with anger again. “Going behind my back with my own wife. I see it now. They want my cooperation and the use of my men, but it’s still their case and they want all the glory when it’s busted open. Typical.”

  “Then leave them to it. Withdraw your men.”

  “I’d love to, but the directive comes from President Roosevelt himself. I can hardly go against him on a matter of national security.”

  “Do they think the anarchists might be plotting to strike here in America?”

  “We just don’t know. They are working in utmost secrecy and we haven’t managed to get anywhere near them yet. We only have hints of names but not where they might be meeting or what they might be planning. I’m just praying we don’t have to wait until a bomb explodes on the president before we find out.” He looked up at me. “So did you report your encounter with your brother to Wilkie?”