Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue

by Victoria Thompson

  Which struck Elizabeth as an odd thing to say, but Felix was still entranced. “Yes, they are,” he said. “We think whoever broke in was looking for something.”

  “Inside the chairs?” she asked, still oddly obsessed with the ruined chairs and missing the larger implications.

  “Yes, but more importantly, in the safe.” He gestured toward the safe, which stood empty, with its door wide open.

  “Oh.” She batted her eyes again. “They robbed his safe, too.”

  “I’m afraid so, and whatever was inside is gone.”

  Elizabeth had to admire the way he’d managed to tell the complete truth. Perhaps he wasn’t as entranced as he seemed.

  “Oh, that’s . . . terrible,” Una said faintly.

  “Do you know what was inside?” Felix asked.

  “I . . . Valuables, I’m sure.”

  “Money?”

  “Perhaps. Mr. Pollock never discussed such things with me, you understand. But wouldn’t he have kept his money in the bank?”

  “That seems likely,” Felix said. “We didn’t contact the police about the robbery because we didn’t know what might have been stolen, if anything, and we didn’t know your wishes. We left the room just as we found it, though, so if you’d like to send for them now . . .”

  “Oh no,” she said. “I’ve seen quite enough of the police, thank you. And I can’t imagine there was much of value here.”

  Not much of value? Could she really have not known about the money in the safe? Even if she didn’t, however, shouldn’t she be upset about the robbery itself? Elizabeth tried to imagine coming home to discover someone had broken into her house. She would have been hysterical merely at the violation of it, even if nothing at all had been stolen.

  Eddie and the cab driver were bringing the trunk in, so Elizabeth had to step into the office to get out of their way. As she did, she saw Una look sharply at Eddie but he seemed intent on his task and didn’t even glance in her direction.

  The other servants had dispersed, except for Hattie, who waited in the hall. When the men had started up the stairs with the trunk, Una stepped out of the office.

  “Hattie, you can put that room to rights now.” She turned to Elizabeth and Felix. “Thank you so much for taking the time to see me, but I’m sure you’ll understand when I tell you that I am exhausted after my ordeal and really unfit for company.”

  “Of course,” Elizabeth said. “Please let us know if you need anything at all. Hattie has my card.”

  “I’m sure the cabbie will be happy to take you home as soon as he’s finished,” Una said.

  “That won’t be necessary,” Felix said. “We have our carriage.”

  “Oh,” Una said as something seemed to register with her. “I saw it outside, but I had no idea it belonged to my own visitors. I must thank you again for your concern. You have been very kind.”

  So, Una had finally decided the Deckers were worth cultivating. “Don’t thank us,” Elizabeth said. “You should thank your mother for bringing your case to our attention. Come along, Felix. We’ll leave Mrs. Pollock to recover from her ordeal.”

  Hattie followed them to the door to help them into their coats. By the time they reached the sidewalk outside, their coachman had drawn up to receive them. When they were tucked inside, Elizabeth decided to test the waters. “She’s a lovely young woman, isn’t she?”

  Felix smiled. “I liked her much better after she realized we were wealthy.”

  This made her laugh, as he had intended. “Oh, Felix, I was afraid you were completely besotted.”

  “I’m sure I wouldn’t be the first.”

  “No, she must have had a lot of admirers when she worked in the cigar store. I think it’s interesting that the one she chose mistreated her, though.”

  “Yes, that was unfortunate, although he seems to have gotten his just deserts.”

  Elizabeth sighed. “I wonder if that will have any influence on a jury if she does go to trial.”

  “I’d like to think so. If she was acting in self-defense, they would have to let her go.”

  “So you would think. But here we are, assuming she’s guilty.” Elizabeth shook off her dark thoughts. “We need to go see Maeve. She was going to send a message to Gino to stop there after he’s finished work today.”

  “Why don’t we invite them to our place for supper instead?”

  “What a good idea, although that means I don’t get to see the children.”

  “Tomorrow is another day,” he reminded her with a smile.

  * * *

  Gino wasn’t surprised to see the Deckers’ carriage outside the Malloy house when he arrived. The coachman tipped his hat and Gino waved. Maeve opened the door before he knocked. The children, she told him over their squeals of delight, had been watching for him.

  “Sorry I’m late. I got stuck on a case.”

  “That’s all right.” She explained the Deckers’ invitation to dinner.

  “I thought I was supposed to go see Yorke this evening.”

  “I guess that can wait. The Deckers have some important things to tell us. They eat dinner late, so you’ve got time to play with the children for a bit before we leave.”

  When Gino had paid adequate attention to the children, he and Maeve finally were able to make their escape in the carriage, heading uptown.

  “This is so much nicer than a cab,” Maeve said, stroking the fine wool lap robe.

  “Much more private, too,” he said, remembering his claim that Maeve was his girl and wishing it were true.

  He thought she gave him a look, but it was too dark to be sure. “Yes, we don’t have to worry about little ears hearing what we say. I think that’s why Mrs. Decker suggested we go to their house.”

  Gino managed not to sigh his disappointment that she didn’t get his hint. Or had chosen to ignore it. “Your note said Mrs. Pollock got released today. How did that happen?”

  “Nicholson got them to hold a bond hearing, and Mrs. O’Neill posted it.”

  “How much?”

  “Just four hundred, which was good, because that’s all she had left of what I gave her. The funny thing was, Una didn’t even ask her where she got the money to pay it.”

  “That is funny. What did she say when she found out Pollock’s safe was empty? Or did you tell her you have the money?”

  “I didn’t tell her any of that. I asked Mrs. Decker to meet her at her house and break the news to her, so she’ll tell us what happened this afternoon. Gino, Una isn’t as . . . as nice as we thought.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean she was mean to her mother after the poor woman got her bailed out of jail, and she wasn’t very nice to me when she found out I had all her belongings.”

  “Maybe she was out of sorts from being in jail. The Tombs isn’t the nicest place to start with, and now there’s all that construction noise going on . . .”

  “I tried to make excuses for her, too, but . . . Well, even Mrs. Malloy said she was a sly one.”

  “Mrs. Malloy doesn’t like anybody.”

  “That’s not true. She likes me and Mrs. Brandt—”

  “She’s Mrs. Malloy now.”

  “Mrs. Frank Malloy,” she corrected herself, “and Brian and Catherine, and she adores you.”

  “She does not!”

  “Of course she does. Why do you think she tries to feed you every time you walk in the door?”

  Gino had no answer for that. Women were always trying to feed him. He’d never thought of it as a sign of adoration.

  “Anyway,” Maeve said, “Una wasn’t nice to me or her mother today, for whatever reason. She also told me she doesn’t need a detective agency, even though Nicholson told her the only way to avoid a trial is to find out who really killed her husband.”

  “So are we
going to quit?”

  “Una didn’t hire us. Her mother did, so until Mrs. O’Neill fires us, I say we keep on working. Even if she isn’t nice, Una shouldn’t go to prison if she’s innocent. Did you find out anything interesting last night?”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the list of names he’d copied from the ledger. “I got addresses for all the men who invested in the Panama deal.”

  “That’s wonderful!” she said. “Where did you find them?”

  He told her about spending the night in Pollock’s bedroom.

  “I should’ve thought to search it when I was there,” Maeve said, “but the maid was with me the whole time. Do you know Una warned me that she’d better find all her belongings in the trunk, as if I’d steal something from her?”

  “No wonder you don’t like her.”

  She seemed pleased by that, although he couldn’t be sure in the dark. “What else did you find out?”

  “I found out Yorke really was at Pollock’s house the morning he was killed. The maid Hattie told me.”

  “And Una remembered that, too.”

  “You mean she remembered what happened? Did she say who killed Pollock?”

  “She still claims she doesn’t remember what happened to Pollock, but at least we know for sure that Yorke was there that morning.”

  He told her about his conversation with Broghan and the maids’ descriptions of the murder weapon, and by then they were at the Decker house.

  The maid took them right up to the Deckers’ family parlor. Mr. Decker offered Gino a whiskey, which he accepted, and Maeve a sherry, which she declined.

  When they were settled, Mr. Decker handed Gino a section of newspaper. “I happened to see this just now.” He pointed to a small headline on page three of the World: “Widow Released on Bond.”

  As Gino scanned it, Maeve leaned over to read it, too. It said little beyond the fact that Una had been charged with murdering her husband, but they all knew what it meant.

  “The reporters will be beating down her door tomorrow,” Gino said.

  “And all the people who invested in Pollock’s railroad scheme will know he’s dead,” Maeve said.

  Mrs. Decker said, “Then we need to make plans. Dinner will be ready shortly, so why don’t we start sharing the information we have? Perhaps we should share it in the order in which we received it. That means, Gino, you go first, then Maeve, and then us.”

  Gino didn’t like being the center of attention, but he told them about meeting the Pollocks’ servants.

  “What did you think of the boy, Eddie?” Mrs. Decker asked.

  “He’s moony over Mrs. Pollock.”

  Maeve made a disgusted noise, and Gino bit back a grin.

  “You’re right,” Mrs. Decker said. “She encourages it, too.”

  “Does she?” he asked with interest. “I guess he’ll never say a bad thing about her, then.”

  “Or tell anyone if she killed Pollock,” Maeve said.

  The Deckers gaped at her in surprise.

  “Do you really think she did?” Mrs. Decker asked.

  “Maeve doesn’t like her,” Gino said.

  “Neither does Elizabeth,” Mr. Decker confided, earning a swat from his wife.

  “I can’t wait to meet her,” Gino confided back, earning a glare from Maeve, which heartened him to no end.

  “Tell them about the list,” Maeve said, sounding a little testy.

  Gino explained how he’d toured the house and then searched the master bedroom. “I wrote down all the addresses for the men on our list. Those were the only names in the book except for Truett, so I wrote down his address, too.”

  He pulled out the list and handed it to Mr. Decker.

  “We already have Mr. Truett’s address,” Mrs. Decker said. “He tried to get into the Pollock house, so the servants sent him here.”

  “What did he want?”

  The Deckers exchanged a glance. “He said he wanted some important papers from Pollock’s house,” Mr. Decker said. “But we think he probably wants the money.”

  “Did you tell him about the robbery?” Maeve asked.

  “Yes, and he seemed very surprised to hear about it,” Mr. Decker said.

  “Surprised and upset,” Mrs. Decker added, “so I’m sure he knew about the money.”

  “Of course he did,” Maeve said. “He was Pollock’s partner, after all, which is why I thought he was most likely the one who broke into the house.”

  “But he just found out Mr. Pollock was dead this morning when the servants told him,” Mrs. Decker said.

  “That’s what he told you,” Gino said, “but we don’t know if that’s the truth.”

  “He seemed quite upset when I told him about the robbery, though,” Mr. Decker said. “I’d wager he didn’t know about that until then.”

  “If he’s involved with a phony investment scheme, he knows how to be convincing,” Maeve said.

  “Do you think he could have been the one who broke into the house?” Mr. Decker asked.

  “It could’ve been anybody, as far as we know right now,” Gino said. “We can’t rule anybody out yet.”

  “Could he be the one who killed Mr. Pollock, too?” Mrs. Decker asked.

  “If he was the one who broke into the house, then he certainly killed Pollock. How else would he have known Pollock was dead?” Maeve said.

  “Maybe,” Gino said. “But somebody else might’ve killed Pollock, and if Truett found out somehow that Pollock was dead, he’d want to get the money out of the house as soon as possible.”

  “And if he was the one who killed him, he’d still want to get the money,” Maeve argued.

  “And maybe poor Mr. Truett really did just find out Pollock was dead today and just found out the money is missing,” Mrs. Decker said.

  “So the truth is that we still don’t have any idea who killed Pollock,” Mr. Decker said.

  “Well, I also found out from the servants that Yorke did visit Pollock on the very morning he died,” Gino said.

  “And Una said she remembered that when I mentioned it to her today. So he could have done it.”

  “I can’t believe he did,” Mrs. Decker said. “You didn’t see his face when we told him Mr. Pollock was dead. He was devastated.”

  “But he hated Pollock,” Gino said.

  “I’m sure he did,” Mr. Decker said, “and I honestly think he might have wanted to murder Pollock himself, but not until he found out what happened to his sister. Oh, I just remembered, you were going to see him tonight, weren’t you?”

  “Yes, and now that we know he was there that morning, we need to at least ask him if he saw anybody else. But I guess that’ll have to wait until tomorrow,” Gino said. “Do we have any other ideas about who could be the killer?”

  Mr. Decker held up the paper Gino had given him. “It could also be anyone on this list.”

  “Any of them who found out the scheme was a fraud, at least,” Mrs. Decker said.

  “I see you found first names, too. That will help,” Mr. Decker said, scanning the list. Then he suddenly stiffened and his face went white.

  “Felix, what is it?” his wife asked.

  “One of these men . . . he’s dead.”

  8

  “What do you mean, he’s dead?” Mrs. Decker asked.

  “He killed himself,” Mr. Decker said. “Last week. He’s a member of my club, and that’s all anyone was talking about for days.”

  Mrs. Decker took the list from him. “Oscar Norwalk?” she guessed. “I thought he had heart failure.”

  “That’s the story his family gave out, but the truth is that he hanged himself.”

  “Good heavens!”

  “His valet found him in his dressing room.”

  “Why did he do it?”

&
nbsp; “No one knows, or at least no one did know. Now I’m wondering if he found out he’d been cheated by Pollock.”

  “How awful,” Maeve said.

  “How much had he given Pollock?” Gino asked.

  Mrs. Decker looked at the list again. “Five thousand.”

  “Would that be enough to ruin him?” Gino asked.

  “You wouldn’t think so, unless it was the last in a long line of bad investments,” Mr. Decker said. “I’ll have to see what I can find out.”

  “We should call on his family,” Mrs. Decker said.

  “That’s a good idea,” Maeve said.

  “Do you know anyone else on the list?” Mrs. Decker asked.

  “Lawrence Zimmerman, although I only know him slightly. I think Oscar introduced us, as a matter of fact.”

  “You should go see him, too,” Mrs. Decker said. “At the very least, you can suggest that he might get some of his investment back.”

  “I would be happy to reassure all of these men of that very thing,” Mr. Decker said, gesturing to the list.

  “Caroline Norwalk might be very grateful for that news,” Mrs. Decker said. She carefully laid the paper down on the table beside her, as if afraid of further damaging the men listed on it. “What else did you learn, Gino?”

  Gino was only too happy to talk about something besides suicide. He told them what he’d learned from the servants and from Broghan.

  “Do the police have the statue that killed him?” Mrs. Decker asked.

  “Probably the district attorney has it by now.”

  “I’d like to see it. It sounds like an interesting piece,” she said.

  “Probably Egyptian,” Mr. Decker said.

  “That’s what Broghan said.”

  “Many people like the Egyptian style, but I’ve never cared for it,” Mrs. Decker said.

  “If the maids couldn’t tell if it was a frog or a lizard,” Gino said, “I don’t think I’d care for it either.”

  “What else did you learn?” Mr. Decker asked.

  “I think that’s everything. Maeve had an interesting day, though.”

  Maeve told them about her early-morning visit from Mrs. O’Neill and the bond hearing. “Nicholson was very interested to hear the story about Pollock’s first wife disappearing and her brother coming to see Pollock. He thinks he can convince the jury that Mr. Yorke had more reason to kill Pollock than his wife did.”