“Thank you, Eddie,” I said, trying not to let him see my amusement. Being looked up to as a demigod, even by a fifteen-year-old boy, was a new experience for me. “I have no intention of failing. That’s a terrible attitude, Robert.”
“It’s reality, Sarah. San Francisco is filling up with lawyers faster than you can say ‘jurisprudence.’ Every arriving boat and train spews out another bushel of them. How can you hope to compete with that?”
“Cream always rises to the top, Robert,” I replied, placing a vase of cut flowers on a cherry wood table opposite my desk. As I stepped back to judge the effect, I added, “I shall compete by offering exceptional service for a reasonable fee.”
That elicited a loud guffaw from my former colleague. “As I said, living in your parents’ home has its advantage.”
I started to retort, when I heard footsteps running up the flight of stairs from the street. A moment later, a young boy about Eddie’s age came bursting into my office. He slid to a stop when he saw me and, looking a bit pink in the face, quickly scooped his cap off his tousled hair.
“Is there something I can do for you?” I asked, regarding him questioningly.
The boy’s eyes went to Eddie, then to Robert, and finally back to me. “I, ah, I come to see you, miss.”
“To see me?” I repeated in surprise.
Eddie slid off my desk. “This here’s Archie, miss, a pal of mine from the cab company. I told him you was just the person to help him.”
Eddie was eyeing me with such faith, I decided being a demigod had a downside. “I’ll do my best, Archie. What seems to be the problem?”
Archie’s expression was one of fear mixed with hope. “It’s this way, miss. I had this gent in my cab yesterday. Today he comes back sayin’ he left his wallet on the seat and that I must of took it. Says he’s gonna go to the police. But I didn’t take it, miss. I swear I didn’t.”
Robert, who’d remained silent since Archie’s entrance, chuckled and moved toward the door.
“I think you’ve just been handed your first cup of cream, Sarah,” he said. “Be sure you give exceptional service. Oh, and don’t spend your reasonable fee all in one place.”
His laughter echoed all the way down the stairs to the street.
ALSO BY SHIRLEY TALLMAN
Murder on Nob Hill
HISTORICAL NOTE
After receiving several inquiries regarding the role of the San Francisco Coroner’s Office in the early 1880s, I decided a brief history of this noble, if not always pleasant, institution would not come amiss.
It is a matter of record that the San Francisco Coroner’s Office came into being in 1850. While it is true that not all coroners in the state are physicians, I’m proud to boast that since 1857, starting with J. M. McNulty, M.D., San Francisco has solely selected medical doctors for this position. In fact, Levi L. Dorr, M.D.—the coroner who appears in this narrative—served in that office from 1878 to 1882.
As early as 1830, chemical analysis could detect most mineral compounds during an autopsy, although not organic poisons. By 1851, however, Jean Servais Stas, a Belgian chemist, discovered a process for extracting alkaloid poisons from postmortem tissue. Since then, the science of detecting poisonous substances in victims thought to have met with foul play has steadily improved.
I am pleased to add that since its humble beginning in 1850, the San Francisco Coroner’s Office has become a forerunner for such systems throughout the state of California, if not the country.
Yours sincerely,
Sarah Woolson
THE RUSSIAN HILL MURDERS. Copyright © 2005 by Shirley Tallman. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
eISBN 9781429932806
First eBook Edition : April 2011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tallman, Shirley.
The Russian Hill murders / Shirley Tallman.—1st St. Martin’s Minotaur ed.
p. cm.
ISBN: 0-312-32858-3
ISBN:978-0-312-32858-0
1. Women lawyers—Fiction. 2. Russian Hill (San Francisco, Calif.)—Fiction. 3. San Francisco (Calif.)—Fiction. 4. Attorney and client—Fiction. 5. Chinese Americans–Fiction. I. Title.
PS3620.A54R87 2005
813′.6—dc22
2004066407
PI
The Russian Hill Murders Page 26
