Gabe couldn’t help laughing. “If you don’t walk faster we will be late.”
They moved past a line of office doors, a frosted window set in the middle of each shellacked pine frame painted with a detective’s name. The hall was dimly lit this time of day. All the offices were closed up and the shades pulled over the windows, shutting out any light that might leak in from outside. Day shift was headed home and the men working nights were already out on the streets.
The station lobby was quiet, too. A few people sat patiently on the battered oak benches waiting to speak to an officer, while others unable to sit still paced near the front desk. Gabe viewed change of shift as the eye of a hurricane, an hour of calm before the storm winds hit again. The drunks and rowdies brought in for fighting, and pickpockets preying on tourists would fill the holding cells before dawn. All of them would come through the lobby first, fill the benches, and kick up a fuss. Quiet never lasted.
Luck was with them. A cab pulled up to drop someone off in front of the station house as they stepped outside. Jack gave the driver Sadie’s address and they were off.
Gabe stared out the cab window. Dusk settled over the city, the thin layers of salmon-colored clouds that streaked the sky gradually darkening to indigo. Windows on shopfronts began to glow and street lamps came on one by one, their light shimmering up the steep hills like earth-bound stars. The bright glass globes lured swarms of moths as twilight deepened, an attraction that ended in death.
He looked away. Too much death stalked his city in darkness.
“So.” Gabe cleared his throat. “What do I need to know about Sadie’s friend before I meet her?”
“I’ve never met Delia. She took a teaching job in New York the year before I met Sadie. I know Sadie dotes on her and thinks of her as a sister, not a friend.” Jack pulled on the end of his mustache, deep in thought. “She’s very protective of Delia, too. I know Sadie was really concerned about how Delia would react to the way Esther has deteriorated in the last year. She wrote letters to soften the blow, but she knew Delia would take her mother’s condition hard.”
He picked at the crease in his trouser leg and frowned. “Is she that close to Mrs. Larkin?”
“Delia was on a trip with Sadie and Esther to San Diego when the quake hit. She lost both her parents. Esther took her in and adopted Delia as a second daughter. They are that close.”
“That is rough.” Losing those you loved once was bad enough. Twice seemed unfair. “Did Sadie say how she was handling it?”
“We haven’t had time to talk, just quick notes. This will be the first time I’ve seen Sadie since Delia came home.” Jack gathered his coat and plaid cap. “We’re here.”
The cab parked in front of the house and Jack hopped out to ask the driver to wait. Gabe stood on the walk staring at the front door and rooted in his pocket for a handkerchief. It took a moment to remember he’d left the handkerchief in his office. He stuck his hands deep in his trouser pockets to wipe his sweaty palms dry, annoyed and chiding himself. Meeting and having supper with Sadie’s maid of honor shouldn’t make him that nervous. He scowled and wiped his hands again. Maybe Jack was right, maybe he did spend too much time alone.
Jack clapped him on the shoulder and he flinched. “Relax, Gabe. No matter what Sadie might be scheming, there’s nothing riding on this evening. Just try to remember that Delia’s not a suspect. Don’t interrogate her.”
Gabe stared and the knot in the pit of his stomach pulled tighter. “Do I do that? Interrogate people, I mean.”
“Sometimes. I think it comes from spending too much time in a garret. You forget how to talk to people outside of work. Sadie adores you anyway.” Jack shoved him toward the front door. “Let’s go. Just say hello and leave the rest to Sadie. She’ll talk enough for all of us.”
Delia
The cab ride to the fairgrounds was both amusing and strained. Sadie chatted away as always, steering the conversation and determined not to let silence linger for more than a few seconds. Jack let her talk, casting amused glances my way when she focused her smile on Mr. Ryan. He knew exactly what she was up to but he wasn’t going to spoil her fun. I liked him a great deal. He really was perfect for Sadie.
I didn’t know what to think of Gabriel Ryan. Sadie had neglected to mention Lieutenant Ryan was tall and good looking, with a strong jaw and eyes that changed from brown to hazel depending on the light. A small bump suggested his nose had been broken sometime in the past. That and a crooked smile rendered his face handsome rather than pretty.
He didn’t smile much, added little to the conversation and did his best to politely deflect Sadie’s onslaught of charm. That only encouraged her to put forth more effort to draw him out. He was losing the battle and didn’t seem to notice.
Shadow hovered next to Sadie, poised on the edge of the seat and watching all of us. That the ghost heard and understood everything was clear. Her eyes were always aware, but now her whole face was animated and expectant. Twice she reached toward Jack, pulling back before touching his face or his hand. Each time the ghost brushed Sadie’s cheek in passing. Sadie remained oblivious.
“Delia!” Sadie laughed and grabbed my hand. “You’re not listening to me at all.”
“Sorry.” The poor light in the cab hid the rush of heat to my face. Or so I hoped. Everyone was staring at me, including Shadow. She faded, tattering around the edges and growing thinner until she vanished. I swallowed and met Sadie’s eyes. “I was thinking of something else and didn’t hear you. Could you please say that again?”
Sadie knew the ghost held my attention; it was always the ghost. Her smile dimmed, but didn’t disappear. “Remember the spiritualist I mentioned when you first came home? I’d tried to get in touch with her, but she didn’t answer my notes. Jack’s just told me that she’s working at the fair. Isn’t that marvelous? We can go talk to Madame Bobet about your problem with Shadow right after supper.”
“Shadow?” Mr. Ryan hadn’t spoken to me before, but now I had all his attention. “That’s an unusual name, Miss Martin, not one I’ve heard before.”
Jack cleared his throat and Mr. Ryan glanced over at him. He turned back to me, suddenly sheepish. “I don’t mean to pry. It just struck me as odd.”
“I don’t really know her name. Shadow is just what I call her.” I looked to Sadie for rescue, but I saw right off I’d get no help from that quarter. The smile on her face as she looked on was positively blissful. Now that Mr. Ryan had made the first conversational move, she’d sit back and be quiet. I clung to my own brittle smile and stumbled onward. “Sadie believes her spiritualist friend can help me discover Shadow’s real name and who she was.”
“I see.” He brushed at his trouser leg and glanced at Jack again. Sadie was whispering in Jack’s ear and if Mr. Ryan sought his own help, he didn’t find any. “How do you know … Shadow?”
She chose that moment to reappear, hovering in the space between seats in the cab. Shadow’s green eyes bored into mine, relentless in demanding my attention. She wanted me to tell him, I was certain of that. I was just as sure he’d scoff. “Do you believe in ghosts, Mr. Ryan?”
He half turned on the seat so he could look at me straight on. “I’m not sure in all honesty. There was a time I’d have said no, but you see strange things working the streets late at night. I can’t explain all of them and a good detective learns to keep an open mind.”
Sadie and Jack had stopped whispering. The two of them held hands, watching me and Mr. Ryan. I couldn’t interpret the expression on Jack’s face, but there was no question with Sadie. She was perched on the edge of the seat, no longer smiling, but vibrating with controlled eagerness. “Tell him, Dee. No one here will laugh.”
“You won’t laugh, Sadie. Best not to make promises for others.” With Shadow staring at me I couldn’t deny her existence. I took a breath and set about finalizing my humiliation. “Shadow is a ghost, Mr. Ryan. I can’t explain her either and I’d dearly love to. I’ve seen strange
things most of my life, but I never really wanted to believe in ghosts haunting people. Unfortunately, Shadow leaves me little choice but to believe in her.”
“I won’t laugh at you, either.” He smiled, rueful and appearing a little embarrassed. “If we’re going to exchange ghost stories perhaps you should call me Gabe.”
“I’d like that.” I didn’t know anything about Gabe Ryan, other than he was Jack’s best friend. But if Sadie was determined to throw us together, first names would be easier. “Call me Delia.”
Gabe sat back and listened to my tale of how Shadow came to be with me six months before and why I’d journeyed home. He nodded when I hesitated, but otherwise let me tell the story my own way. Jack listened intently, but didn’t ask any questions. They took me seriously, that much was obvious, but what they thought of the story still made me nervous. A good detective took all witnesses seriously; at least to their face.
Before I’d gotten to my nightmare, the cab was at the front of a queue of horse-cabs and motorcars waiting to drop people at the fair entrance. No one spoke until we’d all climbed out. I was just as glad not to be the center of attention, at least for the moment.
Jack squeezed Sadie’s hand. “Wait here with Gabe and Delia. I’ll pay the cabbie and see if I can get him to come back for us later.”
Sadie wore another fashionable broad-brimmed hat of blue silk to match her outfit. Peacock feathers bobbed on top and her perfect curls just peeked out round her face. She tipped her head to one side and blew Jack a kiss, flirting playfully. “I promise not to run off with strangers. Hurry, darling. I’m famished.”
I expected him to melt at her feet. Instead, Jack exchanged looks with Gabe, his smile suddenly strained, and hurried toward the driver.
We moved back from the curb to wait, Shadow hovering behind my shoulder as always. I tried my best to ignore the feel of eyes on the back of my neck and enjoy the sights. The crowd was larger than I’d imagined for a weekday evening. Men, women, and youngsters streamed through the entrance, all smiling in anticipation of an evening of wonders. I’d read in the papers that people from all over the world had come to San Francisco for the Panama-Pacific Exposition. That was an easy thing to believe.
Conversations around us were held in a variety of languages, French blending with German and Japanese, or even what I guessed might be Italian. Faces and costumes were just as varied, kimonos and saris as prevalent as skirts and evening wraps.
Spotlights played over the tallest building just inside the entrance. Multicolored glass gems hung on all the walls and tiered columns, and continued to the top of the central tower. Mounted on a mirrored backing made to sway freely in the breeze, each jewel sent sparks of light in all directions. Aptly named the Tower of Jewels, the effect was dazzling. Other buildings, each in a unique style, could be glimpsed through the entrance.
The excitement in the air was contagious. Like the wide-eyed children all around us, I didn’t know where to look first. I’d never been abroad to tour the Continent or ventured to the Near East. But if I closed my eyes and listened to the voices of the crowd, the music carried on the wind from The Zone and other attractions, I could well imagine I was in an exotic country rather than San Francisco.
I threaded my arm through Sadie’s. “This is marvelous; I’ve never seen anything like it. You were right to drag me out for an evening. What shall we do first?”
Jack rejoined us and Sadie took his arm, abandoning me with an apologetic smile. “Supper first, I really am starving. Then we can find Madame Bobet. Didn’t you say her tent was in The Zone, Jack?”
“That’s what Officer Finlay told me. She’s supposed to be in a red tent with gold banners.” He patted Sadie’s hand. “We’ll find her after supper. I have a café all picked out in the Court of Flowers. The Zone is a bit of a walk from there, but that will give us a chance to see more on the way.”
Once we got through the press near the entrance, the crowds thinned. People headed off in all directions, some rushing straight for The Zone on the far end of the fair, while other groups strolled leisurely or made their way toward one of the main exhibits.
Jack and Sadie led the way, Gabe and I a few yards behind. She always brimmed with good cheer and stood ready to take on any adventure, but in Jack’s presence Sadie positively glowed.
“They get on well.” Gabe strolled with hands stuck deep in his pockets, looking relaxed for the first time. “I’d given up hope Jack would find someone he could be himself with. I’m glad to be wrong.”
I studied my friend and her beau, head-to-head and pointing out the sights to each other. In the presence of strangers and those she didn’t know well, Sadie wore charm like armor, but she’d no need for protections or defenses with Jack. The two of them were comfortable in each other’s company. I smothered a spark of jealousy, ashamed I’d allowed the feeling to sneak in. “Sadie’s never lacked for suitors, but they all expected her to change for them. I knew right off Jack was different. She gets this besotted smile on her face at the mention of his name. I’ve never seen her so content.”
“Jack’s over the moon for her, too.” He looked away, chewing his lip. “I hope nothing happens to change that for either of them. They deserve to be happy.”
A shimmer of movement caught my eye, resolving itself into the ghost of a young woman. Her ghost was tied firmly to this world and appeared near as solid and lifelike as Shadow. She was no more than nineteen or twenty with long, dark hair loose around her shoulders. Her round face wasn’t overly pretty, but open and good natured, with large hazel eyes. Barefoot and dressed in a nightgown, she was visibly pregnant. She followed Gabe. The way she watched him and the longing in her face almost brought me to tears.
Telling Gabe would be cruel. He had no idea she followed.
Only someone he’d loved deeply and lost suddenly would haunt him that closely. Shadow appeared at the girl’s shoulder, her face a picture of sadness. I stared into Shadow’s eyes and the certainty I’d guessed right settled on me. Gabe’s wife and child had died in the quake, along with my parents.
His reticence to socialize in the face of Jack and Sadie’s happiness came into focus. Gabe wished our friends well, but their joy was a painful reminder of all he’d lost. He still grieved. I understood that all too well.
Shadow touched the young woman’s face. The ghost looked away from Gabe, startled and confused until Shadow took her hand. Light flared and they were gone.
My ghost continued to remind me how little I knew about spirits or how they moved through the world. Shadow was like the puzzle box my father kept in his study, all the secrets locked inside until you found the key piece. Talking to Madame Bobet might give me the key I needed and begin to answer some of my questions. Guessing only frustrated me.
Gabe peered at faces in the crowd, looking hard at the people we passed and unaware of ghosts, or that I blinked back tears. He noticed me watching and blushed, embarrassed at being caught out. “Sorry. Jack’s always telling me I need to learn how to be a civilian.”
“Don’t apologize. I’m curious about what you’re looking for.” The crowd was a sea of men, women, and their children to me, a few with the faint wisp of a ghost hovering near. I gestured at a couple on a bench. They sat shoulder to shoulder, but neither looked at the other. “That man and young woman sitting under the streetlamp. What does a policeman see that I don’t?”
Gabe stared for a moment and went so far as to take my arm to walk closer, stopping right in front of them. He pointed at the building behind them. “Nod and pretend I’m telling you all about the architecture.”
I did as he said, amused and wondering at the bit of playacting. We didn’t stand there long before Sadie noticed we’d stopped and called to me. “Delia, whatever are you doing? Hurry or all the tables will be spoken for.”
Gabe took my arm again, smiling and tipping his hat to the woman on the bench before we hurried to catch up with Jack and Sadie. I managed not to laugh until we were out of e
arshot. “Well, what did you see? Don’t keep me in suspense.”
We closed the gap with Jack and Sadie before he told me. “They’re married. I saw matching wedding bands, but no engagement ring. I’d guess they’ve quarreled and that’s why they aren’t looking at each other. Judging from his boots and her hat, I’d say they might be from someplace out of the country.” Gabe grinned. “Tourists in other words, and lucky you pointed them out to me. A pickpocket was sizing them up. I stood there that long to make sure Harry knew I was on to him. Once he got a good look and realized who was watching, he ran off.”
“Harry is the pickpocket?” I looked over my shoulder. Shadow was back and followed me, but the bench and the couple were out of sight. “I didn’t see anyone.”
“You’re not trained to notice those things.” He took my arm again briefly, putting himself between me and the crowd around a knot of musicians. “With a little practice you’d learn. Besides, I know Harry from my foot patrol days. I thought he’d retired, but I guess this crowd is too rich for him to pass up.”
Gabe was right; the temptation for a retired pickpocket would be enormous. Crowds became larger the deeper we went into the fair grounds, and it became obvious that many of the men and women around us were people of means. I could well believe that half of San Francisco society had decided to visit the exposition on the same evening. The organizers had chosen the location not only to draw in visitors from all over the world, but to entice the citizens of San Francisco to come see the sights.
Chestnut Street marked the southern edge of the fairgrounds, a wide avenue that allowed a steady stream of cabs and motorcars. San Francisco Bay bordered the northern side and on clear days gave visitors a spectacular view of sailboats skipping before the wind, or majestic steamers bound for Oakland to unload cargo from all over the world. The Presidio nestled tight against the fences to the west. Monterey cypress and redwood trees graced the slopes of the military cemetery overlooking the fairgrounds, both a beautiful and sobering sight. I’d read in the papers that they’d considered holding the Pan Pacific in Golden Gate Park, but settled on filling in the mud flats on the northern end of the city instead. Three years had gone into constructing the grounds and the buildings, a major undertaking that did San Francisco proud.
Delia's Shadow Page 5
