"Of course. Where are the kids?"
"Gustav is with them in the TV room. The boys are playing with your wooden soldiers and we found some dolls in the closet in that room for Tricia to play with. They're fine. I'm going to stay up here with them so Gustav can—"
I shook my head. "No, you are not. You're going to be down there for the ceremony. This is as much your masterpiece as anyone else's. Besides, I know someone who would probably love to stay with them."
She smiled. "Thank you, Nicholas."
I offered my arm and said, "Shall we?"
She put her arm through mine and said, "It would be a pleasure."
. . .
Once we were downstairs, I found Mr. Whitcombe. He was standing by the bar, talking with Mr. Verdier, the owner of The City of Paris Department Store.
I walked up and, without waiting for an opening, asked, "Mr. Whitcombe, may I speak with you?"
He looked at me and, in a slightly chilly voice, said, "Must be something frightfully important."
I nodded and looked at Mr. Verdier. "I'm sorry but it is."
The older man nodded. "I look forward to continuing our conversation, Lord Gerald." He bowed as Mr. Whitcombe and I walked over towards the dining table which was covered in wedding gifts.
"How may I help you, dear boy?"
"I'm sorry to bother you but we have a sort of emergency on the second floor."
"That so?"
I nodded and looked around the room, which was full of guests milling around. "Did Mrs. Dewey come with you?"
"Why yes." He looked around. Using his chin, he pointed to the fireplace. "She's speaking with your father, I believe."
I could see that she was, so I nodded and said, "Thank you." I walked over without saying anything else.
As I made my way across the room, I saw Marnie heading towards me with a grin. She caught up with me before I could get to Mrs. Dewey. She asked, "How are you, Nick?"
I nodded. "Fine. Look, doll. We have a problem. Can you follow me?"
She nodded as I led the way to my father. As we walked up, he was saying, "Yes, I find the entire situation perplexing." He saw me and smiled. "Ah, I believe you know my son, Nicholas?"
Mrs. Dewey turned and smiled. "Of course." She offered her hand which I shook. "And, Mrs. LeBeau."
Marnie nodded with a smile.
My father said, "Nicholas, I was hoping—"
I put my hand up, which made him stop talking. "I'm sorry, Father. I need to speak with Mrs. Dewey and it's urgent. Do you mind?"
He frowned at me for a moment and then said, "Of course, not." He bowed to Mrs. Dewey. "It was a pleasure to have met you, madame."
She said, "And you, Dr. Williams."
I took her by the elbow and steered her towards the stairs. "I'm sorry, but we have an emergency upstairs that I'm hoping you can help with." Pulling Marnie in close, I quietly explained what was happening. When I was done, I asked, "I know it's a terrible imposition, but would you mind?"
Mrs. Dewey looked slightly horrified at the story I'd told. "Not at all. I work for you, Mr. Williams."
"Well, this is outside of your job description. It's just that every other woman I would ask—"
She put up a gloved hand. "It's fine."
Marnie looked at Mrs. Dewey and said, "I'll go with you."
I said, "Doll, you don't—"
She shook her head. "Please, Nick."
There was something in her voice that caught my attention. I looked at her and saw an expression I didn't recognize. "Of course, doll. Thanks."
She nodded and turned to Mrs. Dewey. "It's just to the right at the top of the stairs."
As they walked up, I heard Mrs. Dewey say, "These Nob Hill mansions are so fascinating to me, coming from a rambling farmhouse out on the prairie."
"Really?" asked Marnie.
. . .
I walked up to Mike who was standing by the garden door with Greg Holland, his lover and one of our employees. They were talking to John and Roger. Mike grinned down at me. "Hi, Nick. Swell party."
I nodded and said, "I need to talk to you, right now."
His electric blue eyes widened. "Problem?"
"Yeah. Come on." I turned and made my way through the crowd towards the office. I looked at my watch. It was 12:25. The wedding was going to start in five minutes.
Once we were in the office, I closed the door.
"What's up?"
I briefly explained the story. As I did, Mike's thick brow furrowed with concern. When I was done, he asked, "Where are they now?"
I glanced up at the ceiling. "Upstairs. Mrs. Dewey and Marnie are with them."
"I can't believe they walked here from the Presidio."
I nodded. "I know. I need you, or someone, to get on the horn and find out what happened."
Mike leaned against my desk and thought for a moment. "Best way to do this is to contact Rostenkowski." He was a police lieutenant at the North District station. He and Mike had a good working relationship. He tolerated us, although Mike had told me we had funneled a lot of good leads his way so he owed us quite a few favors.
I suddenly remembered Alicia Grossman. "There's one other thing." I told him about her mother's visit. "Can you also check on her? Alicia, that is? Carter and I were headed to a payphone to call Alicia at her dorm when we found the kids."
"Why a payphone?"
"Wedding? Remember?"
He grinned. "Yeah. Speaking of which, you better get out there."
I nodded and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, Mike."
He laughed as I walked towards the door.
"What?" I asked as I opened it.
"I would have paid good money to see a couple of kids jump out of the bushes and hug you from out of nowhere. I'm surprised you didn't start running down California Street."
I grinned. "I almost did."
Chapter 24
1198 Sacramento Street
Saturday, October 15, 1955
Ten minutes before 1 in the afternoon
"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride."
I watched as Ed reached over and very gently kissed Louise. There was a very polite round of applause followed by the bride and groom walking through the crowd and letting everyone congratulate them.
I quickly made my way back to the office, grabbing Carter along the way. As we walked in, Mike was sitting in Carter's chair and talking to someone on the phone.
"Yes, I understand," he said as he looked up at us. He wasn't happy, whatever was happening. "They're—" He looked down at the desk and ran his free hand over his head. "Yes." A brief pause. "No, but—" Nodding to whomever he was talking to, he listened. "Fine. We'll be here."
With that, he slammed the receiver down on the hook and said, "Damn!"
"What?" I asked.
Looking up at Carter and me, he said, "The Army is sending someone over to get the kids."
"Really?" I asked, feeling very disappointed.
He nodded. "I was just talking to the officer, I don't remember his name, who works for the General who runs the base. They were very clear." He looked down and pounded his hand on the desk. "No children anywhere near faggots!"
He looked up at me. His eyes were red, which meant he was crying. I walked over and put my arm around his shoulder. He sighed. "They really do hate us, don't they?"
Carter quietly said, "Not everyone."
I nodded. "Carter's mother actually watched us hold hands last night without saying anything."
Mike shook his head. "I guess that's good." He ran his hand through his hair again. "I wish you could have heard the tone in the man's voice, though."
I nodded. I knew exactly what he meant. We all knew what he meant. "What are they going to do with the kids once they have them?"
"They've put in a call to Lackland. That's the base in San Antonio where Major Chapman was stationed." He looked up. His eyes were still red.
"What happened to them?"
"Last night he pushed her off the bridge and then jumped in after her. It was around 2 in the morning. A diver recovered the bodies this morning."
Carter walked over and put his hand on my neck. He said, "Good God. Why?"
Mike sighed. "They don't know. But there was a witness who saw them fighting. When he saw her fall over, he ran towards them but was about twenty feet away when the major jumped." He snorted. "The bastard had the presence of mind to leave his wallet behind along with a note that just said, 'Call the Presidio.'"
"I know why," I said.
Mike looked up at me. "You think he did it because he was a faggot?" His voice was hard and bitter.
I shook my head. "No. Because he didn't see a way out." I could see Mrs. Chapman clearly in my mind as she was looking at the City off in the distance. I took a deep breath and wondered why I didn't want to cry. There were no tears. Just an image of a woman I met once in passing. I was sad but I wasn't crying.
Right then, there was a knock on the door and it opened a bit. Louise, still in her stylish yellow wedding dress, poked her head in. "Carter?"
"Yes, Mama?"
"We want to get some photographs..." Her voice slowed down as she caught site of Mike. She walked in and closed the door. "What's happened?"
Mike said, "Business. I'm sorry to have been keeping Carter from you, Mrs. Richardson."
Louise looked around the room in momentary confusion and then laughed. "Yes, that's my name now, isn't it?"
Mike nodded with a wry grin. "Yes, ma'am."
She frowned a little. "Are you alright, Mr. Robertson?"
I said, "We just had some bad news, Louise. Carter will be right out."
She said, "Well, I need all my children with me, so y'all come out as soon as you can."
I nodded. Suddenly the tears were there. "Yes, ma'am," I said, with a catch in my throat. "We'll be right out."
After she left, Mike pointed to the door, looked up at Carter, and said, "That... That..." He couldn't finish his sentence.
Carter finished it for him. "Yeah, that was something else."
. . .
Thirty minutes later, we had taken all the photographs Louise and Ed wanted. Carter then gave the first toast, which was short and sweet. Kenneth gave the second toast, which was a little longer and very funny. My father gave the third toast, which was effusive but correct in every way. Aunt Velma rounded things out by saying a couple of mildly bawdy things which made Louise blush and hide her head in Ed's shoulder. That was my favorite.
I was talking with Alex, Marnie's husband, about some of the kids we went to school with at St. Ignatius, when Gustav tapped on my shoulder. I turned and, over by the door, I could see a man and a woman, both in Army uniforms and both holding their hats in their hands. They looked surprised and a little bewildered.
I turned back to Alex and said, "Sorry, I need to go take care of this."
He frowned slightly. "I know that woman in the uniform. She used to work at City of Paris. Do you mind if I come with you?"
"No, that's fine."
We walked towards the door and, as we did, I saw the woman's face light up when she saw Alex. He walked around me and stopped just short of hugging her. "Carol? What are you doing here?"
She grinned. "Alex LeBeau! I could ask the same of you."
He smiled. "I'm here for a wedding. Mr. Veladier is here. And my parents. They would all love to see you."
She nodded as the man standing next to her cleared his throat. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir."
He smiled briefly. "Quite alright, Captain." Looking at me, he asked, "Are you Mr. Williams?"
I nodded. "Yes, sir."
He offered his hand. "I'm Colonel Mark Houghton." We shook. "This is Captain Carol Cross. Captain Cross is here from our morale and welfare unit. She'll be taking charge of the Chapman children."
Alex looked at me. "Are those the kids that Marnie is looking after?"
I nodded but looked at the colonel. "What's going to happen to them?"
He said, "We're waiting to find the next of kin from Major Chapman's commanding officer in San Antonio. They'll be flown back to Texas as soon as arrangements can be made."
I nodded. "If there's anything we can do to help..."
The colonel nodded briefly. "Fortunately, the Army has a procedure for everything and the procedure here is to bring the dependent children back to the base until we receive instruction from their family members."
Captain Cross asked, "Pardon me, Mr. Williams, but do the children know what happened?"
I shook my head. "No."
She frowned. "How did they know to come here?"
"I had met Major and Mrs. Chapman on Wednesday over on the Marin side of the bridge. I was having a sandwich when they drove up. It was obvious they, the parents, were having some marital problems. I told Mrs. Chapman that, if she needed any help, she could contact me."
The colonel frowned and asked, "Why did you feel the need to tell her that?"
I looked at him for a moment. He was about my height, had steel gray hair, and the usual square face of an army officer who probably drank too much. He was somewhere around 50. I didn't recognize all of his medals but I could see that he'd fought in Germany during the war. I figured that, since he was a colonel and not a general, he was spending the rest of his Army time doing administrative duties at the Presidio. It was a prestige appointment, so he must have done something during the war that got him the job. Or he knew the right people up the chain. "Do you want the whole story, Colonel?"
He nodded. "Yes."
"Well, Major Chapman made a pass at me and made some very derogatory statements about his wife. I could tell she was in a lot of distress, so I gave her all the cash I had and suggested she find a lawyer. She knew who I was. I said she could find my address and phone number in the book if there was anything she needed."
Colonel Houghton coughed and said, "Are you certain that the major approached you in this manner?"
I nodded. "Without a doubt."
"Why did you offer to help her and not him?"
That was a fair question. "Because I've seen these kinds of marriages before. It's always the wife who suffers. Not the husband." I wasn't sure that was exactly true, but it was obviously the case with them.
He nodded. "I understand the children walked here?"
"That's what they told us."
"And no one stopped them to ask what they were doing?" That was Captain Cross.
I shrugged. "Apparently not. When you meet Ronnie, you'll probably understand why. He's way too smart for a kid his age."
She nodded sympathetically.
Colonel Houghton said, "Will you please bring the children down here, so we may escort them to the base?"
I grinned. "They're not your prisoners, Colonel."
He nodded contritely. "Of course. This is, uh, rather outside my scope of knowledge."
I nodded. "Mine, too." I thought for a moment. "I think the best thing would be for the two of you to go upstairs with me."
"I can wait right here, Mr. Williams," said the colonel.
Looking at him in the eyes, something I was trained in the Navy to never do, I said, "If you want to be surrounded by four screaming children and then be confronted with Mrs. Leticia Williams in the middle of all that, be my guest."
He paled slightly when I mentioned Lettie's name. "You know Mrs. Williams?" he asked very hesitatingly.
I nodded. "She's my stepmother and, even though my back is to the room, I imagine she already has you in her sights." I grinned at him. "So I would be very careful, if I were you, Colonel." I knew Lettie had raised hell at the Presidio about something to do with something. I couldn't remember the topic, but I knew he would know her. Or, at least, he would know of her.
. . .
As we walked up the stairs, I heard the colonel say to the captain, "Williams is a very common last name. If I'd have known, I would have told General O'Connor."
The captain asked, "Would he have come?"
The colonel chuckled, "Oh, no. He would have sent Major Watkins."
When we got to the door to the TV room, I could hear one of the boys making cannon noises. I stopped and said, "Colonel Houghton?"
"Yes?"
"The boys are in there playing with my wooden soldiers. My father bought these in Berlin in the early 30s. I think they're probably Prussian. From the Napoleonic Wars. Maybe you could sit down with the boys and play with them for a moment?" I saw the captain cover her mouth to keep from laughing.
The colonel looked at me for a moment and then began to unbutton his coat. "If they are what you say they are, then you have a very valuable set indeed. They're quite rare. The faces of the officers were modeled after actual officers in the Prussian Army."
I nodded. "That's why they look so realistic."
He handed his coat to the captain. He suddenly looked much more relaxed. "Lead the way, Mr. Williams."
. . .
"Now, Ronnie, if you build your flank here, on this ridge..." The ridge was a mound of pillows. "What do you think will happen when your brothers bring their cannon around?"
Ronnie looked at what the colonel, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to him, was pointing to. "They can shoot my men?"
"That's possible. But it was hard to aim the cannon up a hill. It was much better to have a cannon above a position so they could aim downward. The cannon won't help your brothers."
The light went off over Ronnie's head. "Oh, yes, sir. I see."
Captain Cross clapped her hands. "OK, children. We need to get back to the Presidio."
The colonel rubbed Ronnie's head as he stood.
Tricia, who was sitting in Marnie's lap, asked, "Will mommy and daddy be there?"
Ronnie said, "I told you, Tricia. They're gone and they're not coming back."
Digging her head into Marnie's neck, I could hear her begin to cry.
Just then, there was knock on the door. I walked over and opened it. Gustav was there. "There is a call for the coronal."
I smiled wanly at his mispronunciation and said, "Thanks, Gustav."
The Childish Churl (A Nick Williams Mystery Book 15) Page 21
