“Garnet? What makes you think that?”
“Because that was her only connection to Devries. And the more I think about it, the more I think Devries ruined Richmond on purpose.”
“That’s ridiculous! Do you think he talked his friends into investing in a scheme he knew would fail?”
“Why not? You said yourself you didn’t have much confidence in the scheme. And none of his other friends got ruined. They’re like you. They can afford to take a risk and lose now and then, but not Richmond. And why go to Richmond in the first place? The man wasn’t rich. He couldn’t even get into your club.”
Decker tapped a finger on his desk for several moments. “I did wonder about that afterwards, but perhaps Chilton didn’t know his true situation. Remember they met when Richmond applied to join the Knickerbocker. One would assume he had the means for such a venture, even if he didn’t have any social standing in the city yet. And don’t forget, Chilton seemed very confident. He managed to convince several of us to take a chance. Maybe he thought he’d do Richmond a good turn by letting him in.”
“Have you ever known Devries to do somebody a good turn for no reason?”
Decker had no answer.
“I’ll tell you what I think. I think he ruined Richmond on purpose so he could get Garnet.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean he wanted a wife for his son.”
“Chilton didn’t have to scheme to bring that about. Paul Devries could marry anyone he wanted.”
“Could he?”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you met Paul’s friend, Hugh Zeller?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m talking about. Paul and Hugh Zeller are very close friends. They’re such close friends that Paul would probably not be interested in women.”
Decker simply stared back at Frank across his desk, his expression stony.
“I think Devries wanted his son comfortably and safely married, but he couldn’t take the chance of marrying him off to a girl who might be disappointed in Paul and reveal his secret.”
“A girl whose family would be outraged,” Decker said. “A family with power and influence who would make sure Devries and his family were socially ostracized for tricking a young woman like that.”
“Then he met Garnet Richmond, and he decided she would be the perfect wife for Paul, if he could make her desperate enough that she would take him and stay with him under any circumstances.”
“Good God,” Decker said, this time in a horrified whisper. “But he’d already gotten what he wanted. Why did he want to kill Mrs. Richmond?”
“I’m not sure yet, but Paul told me Garnet wanted a divorce. Mrs. Richmond came to New York to see her daughter, and maybe Devries thought she would help Garnet leave.”
Decker shook his head as if trying to clear it. “But does this have anything at all to do with why somebody stabbed Chilton?”
“I don’t know yet. The question is, do you want me to keep on trying to find out?”
9
WHEN SARAH WOKE UP, SHE WAS DELIGHTED TO FIND HER mother had stopped by for a visit. Mrs. Decker had been only too happy to join Catherine and Maeve upstairs for some make-believe involving the dollhouse while she waited for Sarah to finish her nap.
Maeve and Catherine had fixed her a sandwich to tide her over until supper, then the girls went back upstairs so Sarah and her mother could speak privately. They shared the details of their respective visits with Malloy while Sarah ate her sandwich at the kitchen table.
“Do you think Father will allow him to continue the investigation?” Sarah asked.
“I have no idea, although I will certainly encourage him to, if I can. I simply can’t get over Garnet being with child, though. Why wouldn’t she have told Paul and Lucretia? I gathered that her failure to produce a son to carry on the family name was a major source of Lucretia’s disappointment in her.”
“Maybe she didn’t want to say anything until she was certain. Claiming to be with child when you’re not can cause even more resentment.”
“Perhaps, but still…You said she wasn’t happy about the baby.”
“No, and that’s puzzling. Of course, if she wanted to end her marriage, a child would complicate matters tremendously.”
“Yes, it would. Although she would be a fool to divorce Paul; if she wanted her freedom badly enough, she might be willing to tolerate the disgrace and being left with nothing.”
Sarah tried to remember anything she might know about a society divorce. Alva and William Vanderbilt, Consuelo’s parents, were divorced, but Alva had somehow managed to remarry another millionaire almost immediately, so their situation was hardly comparable to Garnet and Paul Devries. Besides the Vanderbilts, she couldn’t think of any other examples. “Garnet could go back to her family, I suppose, if they would take her in, but Mrs. Devries would never allow her to take her child.”
“Heavens, no, and the law would support that. Paul would get the child, and Garnet would never see it again. That would explain her unhappiness about the baby, at least.”
“The choice between staying in an unhappy marriage or never seeing your child again is awful.”
“Women stay in unhappy marriages for far less noble reasons all the time,” her mother said. “And how unhappy can she be? Lucretia is a harridan, to be sure, but I can’t believe Paul is a problem. Surely, he doesn’t beat her or starve her or keep her locked away in the cellar. The worst I can imagine is that he neglects her, and many women would consider that a benefit.”
Her mother was right, of course. Chilton and Lucretia Devries apparently had just such an arrangement. She and her mother had reached no conclusions a few minutes later when the doorbell brought Catherine and Maeve clamoring downstairs to greet the visitor.
“Just as I hoped,” her mother said when they recognized Frank Malloy’s deep voice. “I knew he wouldn’t dare come to our house again, but I felt sure he’d be here sooner or later.”
Sarah bit back a smile. Her mother was obviously enjoying the novelty of having a murder to investigate. Or perhaps she had simply grown fond of Frank Malloy.
In a few more moments, Malloy appeared in the doorway, carrying a delighted Catherine. Sarah felt her smile growing at the sight. She had grown very fond of Frank Malloy herself.
“Mrs. Decker, I was hoping you’d be here,” he said with a grin.
“Great minds think alike, Mr. Malloy,” she replied.
“What does that mean?” Catherine asked.
“I’ll explain it to you later,” Maeve said. “Now tell Mr. Malloy good-bye. The grown-ups need to talk for a while.”
“Then can I come back?”
“Of course,” Malloy said. “Now give me a kiss before you go.”
Catherine giggled and pecked him on the cheek. Children, Sarah reflected, are excellent judges of character.
When the girls were gone, Malloy took a seat at the kitchen table. Without asking, Sarah poured him a cup of coffee.
“Have you been busy today, Mr. Malloy?” her mother asked.
“Yes, I have. I visited Mrs. Richmond and Miss English.”
“Miss English is Mr. Devries’s mistress, Mother.”
“I don’t suppose you would need me to see her as well,” her mother said. “I’ve never actually met anyone’s mistress before.”
“No, I would not,” Malloy said quite firmly.
“Pity. Oh, well, at least you can tell us what you’ve learned from these two ladies. Oh, dear, does one call a mistress a lady? I don’t believe this was covered in my deportment classes at Miss Lydia’s Finishing School.”
“Behave yourself, Mother. Poor Mr. Malloy doesn’t know you’re teasing him.”
“I think he probably does, but I should allow him to tell his story. That was covered in deportment classes. One always defers to the gentleman in conversation.”
“Which means you have to suffer through a lot of dull co
nversations, I’d guess,” Malloy said.
“But never when I am in your company, Mr. Malloy.”
Malloy raised his eyebrows, but he said, “I am happy to report that Mrs. Richmond is alive and well.”
“That’s good news,” Sarah said.
“What is her first name? I keep thinking I must know her.”
“Terry, she said.”
“What an odd name. I suppose it’s short for Theresa or something. It still doesn’t ring a bell, although the Richmond part does.”
“I don’t think you’d know her, except that she’s Garnet Devries’s mother.”
Sarah and her mother gaped at him. “Her mother?” Sarah said.
“Yes. Remember when I told you that Angotti went to see her, and when he heard her story, he decided she didn’t deserve to be murdered? That’s what he told Devries the day he died, at least.”
“I can’t believe Chilton would want to harm his son’s mother-in-law. That doesn’t make any sense,” her mother said.
“It makes more sense when you find out how Garnet came to marry Paul Devries.”
“Was it an arranged marriage as you suspected?”
Sarah looked at her mother in surprise. “Was that how you got on the subject of Consuelo Vanderbilt?”
“Don’t interrupt, dear.”
Sarah could see that Malloy tried very hard not to smile, but he failed. “It was an arranged marriage, but the circumstances were a little different than we thought. It turns out Devries got Garnet’s father to invest all his money in a business deal, and he lost everything. Her father killed himself, and left Garnet and her mother penniless.”
“We’ve heard stories like that before,” Sarah said.
“This one is a little different, though, because Devries offered Mrs. Richmond a settlement if Garnet would marry Paul.”
“How odd,” her mother said.
“And not at all how things are done,” Sarah said. “If money changes hands, it’s usually the other way around. The bride pays a dowry to the groom’s family.”
“But why would Chilton have to pay someone to marry his son? None of this makes any sense.”
Both women looked to Malloy for an explanation, but he just stared back at them, looking extremely uncomfortable. Casting about for a reason for his unease, Sarah said, “Does Paul have some unspeakable disease?”
Malloy studied his coffee cup for a long moment. “Maybe you already know this, but some men prefer the company of other men.”
“Of course they do,” her mother said. “That’s why they have all those clubs where no women are allowed.”
But Sarah knew that wasn’t what he meant. “Do you mean romantically?”
He continued to study his cup. “That’s one way to put it.”
“And you think Paul…?”
“He has a friend named Hugh Zeller. Do you know him?”
“I know his family,” her mother said, frowning. “What do you mean romantically?”
Malloy gave Sarah a desperate look. She rescued him. “Mother, some men are attracted to other men in the same way most men are attracted to women.”
“You mean…romantically?”
Sarah nodded.
“But that’s ridiculous! It’s…It’s not even possible!”
Sarah would save explanations for sometime when Malloy wasn’t present. “Nevertheless, it’s true.”
Sarah’s mother needed only a few moments to come to terms with such an amazing fact. “So you think Paul is one of these men?”
“I suspect it, yes,” Malloy said.
“But if he prefers men, why would he get married at all?”
“To conceal it, Mother. Men like that usually find themselves the subject of ridicule and worse. Paul would probably be ostracized from society if people suspected.”
“Oh, my, now that you say it…Is that why Harold Lake went off to Europe and never came home?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Oh, my. I always wondered, but no one would ever tell me a reason. How awful for him.”
“And Paul would suffer, too,” Sarah said.
“So it would also explain why Devries chose to marry his son off to a girl whose family had no power or influence,” Malloy said.
“And who wouldn’t complain or cause a scandal when she found out her groom preferred the best man,” Sarah said.
“But Garnet is with child. You told me so yourself,” her mother said.
Malloy cleared his throat. “Just because Paul prefers the companionship of men doesn’t mean he wouldn’t fulfill his marital duties, too. I understand his mother is anxious for a grandson to carry on the family name, so he probably felt a…a duty.”
“Mother and I have been trying to figure out why Garnet would have wanted a divorce. This would explain it.”
“But we still don’t know why Chilton wanted to kill Garnet’s mother,” her mother said.
“I have a theory about that, too,” Malloy said.
Sarah and her mother both looked at him expectantly.
“Mrs. Richmond said that Garnet had written to her asking if she could come to live with her. Mrs. Richmond had moved back to Virginia and was staying with her own mother. She said she knew Garnet was unhappy, but she wouldn’t tell her why, so Mrs. Richmond came to the city a few weeks ago to find out what was wrong. Garnet still wouldn’t tell her, but Devries might’ve been afraid Mrs. Richmond knew about Paul and would cause trouble and maybe even help Garnet get away.”
“That’s not much of a reason to murder someone,” her mother said.
“There really aren’t many good reasons to murder someone,” Malloy said. “Most times it’s some stupid thing nobody else cares about. Protecting his family’s good name was probably important to Devries, though, so it might’ve been enough for him.”
“I should like to meet this Italian gentleman who refused to kill Mrs. Richmond,” her mother said. “How interesting that he seems to have more honor than Chilton Devries.”
Malloy rolled his eyes, but her mother didn’t notice.
“I don’t suppose you learned anything useful from Miss English,” Sarah said.
“Just that Devries wasn’t stabbed through any of the clothing he kept there either.”
“But wouldn’t a man sometimes be undressed when in the presence of his mistress?” her mother asked. “I mean, that is the nature of their relationship, isn’t it?”
Malloy managed to maintain his composure, although his face grew extremely red. “Miss English isn’t the sort of girl who could stick a knife into a man.”
“Nonsense. Every girl could stick a knife into a man with the right provocation.”
“But Miss English also isn’t the sort of girl who could lie about it afterwards. I wish I thought she did it, but she’s just not that clever.”
“What about the maid?” Sarah asked. “You said she might be capable.”
“She’s not really the maid. She’s Miss English’s stepmother.”
“How interesting,” her mother said. “I had no idea that one could bring along family members when one became a man’s mistress.”
This time Sarah rolled her eyes. “I’m sure there’s a lot you don’t know about mistresses, Mother.”
“Quite the contrary, my dear. Mistresses are often the topic of conversation among my friends. I know a great deal about them, although this Miss English sounds a bit out of the ordinary. Most of them, I’m told, are wicked and scheming women whose primary interest is using their charms to amass jewels and money from rich, besotted men before their beauty begins to fade.”
“Maybe Miss English will learn to be wicked and scheming as time goes on, but for now she’s just a silly girl whose protector is dead and who doesn’t know where her next meal is coming from.”
“Good heavens! You make her sound pathetic.”
“She is.”
“Sarah, isn’t there someone who could help her?” her mother asked. “One of those charities you�
��re always getting involved with?”
“She would be welcome at Hope’s Daughters, but I can’t imagine she’d be willing to go there,” Sarah said, naming the mission where she volunteered.
“We could visit her and suggest it,” her mother said.
Sarah and Malloy both stared in admiration at the way she had so neatly contrived a way for her to visit the girl. “Mother, Father would murder me if I allowed you to call on Chilton Devries’s mistress.”
“Only if he found out,” her mother said slyly.
Malloy cleared his throat again, drawing their attention. “I do have a visit you can make. I need for you to call on Mrs. Devries again, Mrs. Decker.”
“Whatever for?”
“To distract her, because I really need Sarah to visit Garnet Devries. Mrs. Richmond doesn’t know what drove Garnet to consider divorcing Paul, but maybe Sarah can find out now that we’ve figured out Paul’s secret.”
“How can I distract her? Lucretia will never allow Sarah to be alone with Garnet.”
“She won’t know about it. I’ve been thinking about this, and I think it will work, but you’re the ones who know all the rules about rich women visiting each other, so tell me if you think so, too. Mrs. Decker, you call on Mrs. Devries alone. While the two of you are busy in the parlor, Sarah arrives and asks to see Garnet. I’m going to guess Garnet will be happy for a visitor, and Sarah can insist she doesn’t want to bother Mrs. Devries or something. Is that possible?”
Her mother frowned, but Sarah thought of a way she could get in. “What if I was bringing her something?”
“What could you be bringing her?” her mother asked.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t even have to be anything real. I could carry a basket filled with towels and covered with a napkin. I don’t have to say what I’ve brought her, just that it’s important for me to give it to her myself, and the maid won’t dare question me.”
“Could you ask to see Garnet privately?” Malloy asked.
“Of course I could. I could say it was personal. The only problem would be if Garnet refuses to see me.”
“And we won’t know that until you try,” her mother said. “We need to hurry, too. I saw Chilton’s obituary in the newspaper today. The funeral is set for Monday, and I’m sure Lucretia will leave the city immediately afterwards.”
Murder on Fifth Avenue: A Gaslight Mystery Page 14
