Murder on Pleasant Avenue

by Victoria Thompson

  Gino threw his hands up in surrender. “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s at least possible.”

  “Or maybe the person was so angry, he just didn’t think to take a weapon,” Maeve said generously.

  “So it is at least possible,” Malloy said, equally generous.

  “And let’s not forget the mistress or whatever she is—the woman who was in the flat with Esposito,” Sarah said. “She might also have a family member or husband or lover with a very good reason for hating Esposito.”

  “So we need to find out more about Mrs. Esposito, and who the woman was that Esposito was keeping in the flat, and which ones of the kidnapping victims’ family members were brave enough that they might have confronted Esposito,” Malloy summarized.

  “How are you going to do all that when you can’t even communicate with most of the people in Italian Harlem?” Sarah asked.

  “Gino is going to help me.”

  Sarah frowned when she saw Gino’s smirk. “I thought we were afraid the Black Hand wanted to murder Gino.”

  “Verena Rose came by for a visit today,” Maeve reported sourly.

  Sarah could understand Maeve’s disgust at such an event. Gino had seen Verena a few times after they had finished the case in which she’d been involved. Sarah and Malloy had privately remarked on how jealous that had made Maeve, although Maeve would never have acknowledged such a weakness. But what did Verena’s visit have to do with any of this?

  “She fixed Gino up with a disguise,” Malloy reported. “I didn’t recognize him at all when I got home, and he even fooled Maeve.”

  “Only for a minute,” Maeve claimed, but Gino gave a snort of derision that earned him a glare.

  “I had to take off the beard so I could eat supper,” Gino said, “but you can see it when I get dressed up tomorrow. You can still see the gray in my hair.”

  “Is that what that is?” Sarah asked, looking more closely. “I thought it was just the lighting in here.”

  “But he won’t be able to question Mrs. Esposito,” Malloy said. “A new widow isn’t likely to accept a visit from two men she doesn’t know, so we’re going to need you to go to East Harlem tomorrow.”

  “What makes you think she’ll accept a visit from me?” Sarah asked.

  “Nothing, but we thought we’d try sending Teo with you and have you pretend you’re a nurse from the settlement house, the way you did with Mrs. Cassidi,” Malloy said.

  “What makes anyone think she’d need a nurse?” Sarah scoffed.

  “Nothing, of course,” Malloy admitted. “And if she killed her husband, she’s probably not exactly prostrate with grief, but we thought it was worth a try.”

  “Does she have children?” Sarah asked.

  Gino and Malloy exchanged a questioning look.

  “Not that we know of,” Gino said.

  “Teo will know,” Maeve said.

  “Of course she will,” Sarah said. “Maybe she can also figure out why Mrs. Esposito would need to see me. How can we find out who the woman at Esposito’s flat was?”

  “Gino and I are going to question the neighbors and also talk to Mr. Cassidi.”

  “And if Mr. Cassidi killed Esposito, do you expect him to admit it?” Sarah asked.

  Malloy grinned at that. “Not at all, but we’ll see his reaction and we might be able to judge from that if it’s possible. In addition, he can probably tell us about anybody else who might’ve been foolish enough to confront Esposito.”

  Sarah held out little hope Mr. Cassidi would identify the killer for them, but who knew? “Maeve, how did your visit with the Donatellis go?” she asked to change the subject.

  “They took the news about Gino’s arrest pretty well, although they were upset, as you can imagine.”

  “Aren’t you going to tell her my brother proposed to you?” Gino asked with a smirk.

  “What?” Sarah and Malloy said in unison.

  “Enzo was quite charming, and I’m afraid he got the wrong idea when I asked if he was married,” Maeve said primly.

  “Enzo can’t be trusted,” Gino said grimly.

  “I’m sure he can’t,” Maeve said. “But maybe he just felt sorry for me. You see, Gino’s parents assumed I was there because I was in a family way and wanted their help in forcing Gino to marry me.”

  Sarah burst out laughing and Malloy joined her. Gino was not at all amused, but Sarah was glad to see Maeve was.

  “How awkward for you,” Sarah said when she could speak again.

  “I think they were more embarrassed than I was. They actually suspected that Gino didn’t come home last night because he’d run out on me.”

  “I’d never do that!” Gino cried, outraged.

  “Of course you wouldn’t,” Sarah said, although Maeve just gave him a skeptical glare. “So what are you going to do next?” she asked Malloy.

  “I guess I’ll go back to East Harlem with Gino and see how effective his disguise is. We need to question the people in that tenement where Esposito was killed and talk to Mr. Cassidi. I’d also like to question Miss Harding, to see if she was the woman Esposito was keeping in his flat, but McWilliam said she was pretty upset when her cousin came for her yesterday morning.”

  “Why would she be upset?” Maeve asked. “She got just what she wanted.”

  “I don’t know. I guess she wasn’t expecting Mrs. Prince to come for her so soon, so she wasn’t ready or something. McWilliam hinted that she gets emotional when things don’t go her way.”

  “Then he should be happy she decided not to marry him,” Gino muttered.

  “Let’s not judge her too harshly,” Sarah said. “She has been through a lot in the past few days.”

  “Maybe she needs to see a nurse,” Maeve said with feigned innocence.

  “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Malloy said.

  But Sarah was shaking her head. “I can’t just barge into the Princes’ house again. At best they’ll decide I’m a busybody and at worst they’ll refuse to see me at all. The most I can do is offer my services, which I’ll do in a very nice note in which I express my hopes that Miss Harding is faring well.”

  “Do you think Miss Harding will want to see you again?” Maeve asked.

  “Probably not, but I think I made a friend in Mrs. Prince, and if Miss Harding is still being emotional, Mrs. Prince might appreciate a sympathetic ear.”

  “But if Mrs. Prince refuses your help, won’t that end your chances of visiting her again?” Malloy asked. He’d learned a lot about the way people in society behaved since they’d been married.

  “Probably, but as a last resort, I can always ask my mother to go with me for an unscheduled visit. Not many New York society matrons would turn her away.”

  * * *

  * * *

  In truth, Gino hadn’t been too sure about his disguise, but it seemed to be working. He and Mr. Malloy had taken the El up to East Harlem the next morning after deciding that having Gino drive the motorcar would only make people notice and perhaps figure out his ruse. They stopped at the settlement house first, and no one batted an eye at him when he asked for Teo, but she wasn’t there. They made their way over to Teo and Rinaldo’s tenement, and they found her just finishing up her housework before heading over to the settlement.

  To Gino’s delight, she didn’t recognize him.

  “I was lazy this morning,” she explained to Mr. Malloy, a little chagrinned at being caught making such a late start to the morning. She gave Gino a quizzical glance, obviously wondering who he was.

  “This is Detective Sergeant Salvatore Pizzuto,” Frank told her with a perfectly straight face. “He’s going to be heading up the investigation into Esposito’s death. I was hoping you’d take him over to Pleasant Avenue and introduce him.”

  She didn’t like that idea at all. “The police? I
don’t know. Rinaldo thinks I should stay away from there now.”

  “Ah, signora, we would not ask you to do anything dangerous,” Gino said in his fake voice. “All I need from you is to show me who to speak with.”

  Teo frowned. “People will wonder why I’m helping the police.”

  “But don’t you want to save your brother-in-law?” Gino asked plaintively. “He is in danger, and he needs your help.”

  “He wouldn’t be in danger if he hadn’t put himself there,” Mr. Malloy said, making Gino wince. “But I’m sure his parents would be grateful for any help you can give him.”

  Mention of the senior Donatellis obviously swayed her. “I can show you who you should talk to, but I will not do more than that. The Black Hand will be watching now.”

  Gino sighed dramatically. “Thanks, Teo. The whole family will appreciate it.”

  Teo stiffened and took a closer look at him. “Gino?” she asked, still not quite sure.

  “What do you think? Will I fool the people on Pleasant Avenue?”

  She called him a few choice names in Italian, probably not wanting Mr. Malloy to hear her acting unladylike, and when Gino laughed, she gave him a swat. “I should let the Black Hand have you for pulling a trick like this.”

  “Mr. Malloy isn’t going to get anybody to talk to him up here, and I can’t show my face in case the Black Hand is looking for me, so . . .” He shrugged.

  “All right, but Rinaldo will be angry. He told me to stay away from Pleasant Avenue.”

  “I’ll protect you, Teo,” Gino promised with mock sincerity, knowing full well his brother would never harm her.

  “I won’t protect you, though,” she replied.

  * * *

  * * *

  Sarah spent a little time on her note to Mrs. Prince, trying to get it just right. When she had, she put it out for the postman to collect when he delivered the morning mail. Mrs. Prince should get the note tomorrow, and Sarah had suggested she could telephone if she needed Sarah’s services quickly. People didn’t usually use the telephone to arrange social visits, but this was a special case. Besides, Mrs. Prince might be feeling desperate if Jane Harding was as difficult as people had indicated.

  Sarah was finishing up her own correspondence when she heard the mail coming through the slot in the front door. Before she could get up, her maid, Hattie, brought it in to her. Sarah thanked her and flipped through the missives quickly, not seeing anything of importance until she found an envelope addressed to her in a feminine hand. She recognized the return address immediately and tore open the letter from Mrs. Cassidi.

  Her written English was not quite as good as her spoken, but Sarah had no trouble at all understanding her request for a visit from Sarah, nor did she miss the underlying tone of desperation.

  “Hattie, I’ll be going up to East Harlem this morning,” she called.

  * * *

  * * *

  Frank knew his presence on Pleasant Avenue would only make people less likely to tell what they knew, so he headed over to Mr. Cassidi’s office. He and Gino had decided that Frank’s time could best be used approaching the businessman who was the most likely of all the people involved to answer Frank’s questions.

  Unless, of course, Cassidi himself was the killer.

  Cassidi plainly wasn’t happy to see Frank, though, especially after Frank introduced himself as Gino Donatelli’s partner. In fact, he actually seemed angry. “What do you want?” he asked when Frank had been escorted into his office. “I already told Donatelli everything I know.”

  “I was hoping you could give me some information that would help me figure out who killed Esposito.”

  “And why should I even care about that? It is enough that bastardo is dead after what he has done.” Cassidi turned back to the work he had been doing when Frank walked in, silently dismissing him.

  “I know it’s a lot to ask, Mr. Cassidi, but you may have heard that my partner has been accused of the murder, and even though I can probably get him off, I can’t stop the Black Hand from taking revenge if they think he did it.”

  Cassidi looked up impatiently. “I do feel bad for Gino. His brother is a good employee, but I do not know how I can help you, Mr. Malloy.”

  “I don’t either, but maybe you know something that will help me figure it out, maybe something you don’t even realize you know.”

  Mr. Cassidi’s expression told him he doubted this very much, but he reluctantly gestured for Frank to take a seat.

  Frank cleared his throat. “I understand that the Black Hand has kidnapped children from the neighborhood.”

  Cassidi’s dark eyes narrowed dangerously. “Yes. This is true. Some of them are still missing.”

  “Has anyone . . . Or rather, have you heard anyone making threats or promising to get revenge for a kidnapping?”

  Cassidi glared at Frank for a long moment, making him want to squirm in his chair. What right did he have to ask a question like that, after all? “Even if I did hear such a thing, why would I tell you? You would just try to blame that man for killing Esposito.”

  “But if he really did kill Esposito—”

  “I do not care. Esposito was scum. He should not have been allowed to live. He stole children from their parents and violated women—” He caught himself, obviously realizing that he had said too much.

  So he knew what they had done to his wife. No wonder he was angry. And now he had an even better reason to have killed Esposito himself. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have asked you to implicate your friends, Mr. Cassidi, but Gino is my friend and I don’t want him to take the blame and possibly get himself killed for something he didn’t do.”

  “Are you sure he did not do it?”

  “Oh yes. Positive. The trouble is that I know a lot of people wanted Esposito dead. I just don’t know who all of them are.”

  “You know one of them, Christopher McWilliam.”

  Frank blinked in surprise. “McWilliam? Why do you say that?”

  Cassidi shifted uneasily. “You should ask him.”

  Frank didn’t have to ask. Jane Harding’s kidnapping would be reason enough, but how did Cassidi know it was Jane who had been taken? Or at least it appeared he did, since that’s the only reason McWilliam would want Esposito dead. They had been careful not to tell either of the Cassidis who had been kidnapped in an effort to keep it secret, though. “I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know if you hear anything that could help Gino.” Frank laid one of his cards on Cassidi’s desk.

  He made no move to pick it up. “Have you asked Balducci? He had the most to gain from Esposito’s death.”

  Frank smiled grimly at that. “He’s on my list.”

  “Don’t go alone.”

  Frank had no intention of it.

  * * *

  * * *

  Sarah took the El up to East Harlem and walked over to the Cassidi home. Mrs. Cassidi answered her knock after peering out the front window to identify her caller. Sarah wondered if the woman would ever feel comfortable opening her front door again. It seemed unlikely.

  “Thank you for coming, Mrs. Malloy,” she said, ushering Sarah in quickly and closing and locking the front door carefully behind her.

  “I was happy to do it. Are you all right?”

  “Come inside.” She led Sarah into the parlor, which was a room obviously kept just for company. “Let me get you some lemonade.”

  Mrs. Cassidi served the tall glasses on a silver tray, obviously anxious to impress her visitor. Sarah thanked her and waited patiently for her hostess to gather herself enough to tell her why she had been summoned.

  “My husband knows what they did to me,” she said at last.

  “Telling him must have been very difficult.”

  Mrs. Cassidi shook her head. “He knew. He said it was his biggest fear the wh
ole time I was gone. He did not think they would kill me because they wanted the money, but there was nothing to stop them from anything else. He said he knew as soon as he saw me what had happened.”

  So Mr. Cassidi had a good reason to go after Esposito. “I’m sorry. I hope . . . If there’s anything I can do . . .”

  “He is very angry.”

  Of course he was. “If you don’t feel safe, I can arrange—”

  “No, he is not angry at me.”

  Thank heaven for that.

  “He is angry at Esposito and the men who did this. He . . . I am afraid.”

  “What are you afraid of?” Sarah asked as gently as she could.

  Mrs. Cassidi looked away, her face twisted in pain. “He was so angry and then Esposito was dead.”

  Sarah’s nerves prickled. “Do you think your husband had something to do with it?”

  “No! He could not do that. He would never . . . My Arturo, he could not kill, no matter how angry he was, but he went out that night. He said he went to the settlement house, but . . .”

  “Do you know why he went to the settlement house?”

  “He wanted to warn Mr. McWilliam, to tell him they must get the young woman back at all costs and quickly, before . . .”

  “Yes, of course. He was very kind to do that, and he couldn’t have known she’d already returned to the settlement.”

  “But you see, that means he was out that night. I am afraid someone will accuse him. I know they arrested Gino Donatelli, but they say he did not kill Esposito either.”

  “No, he didn’t. My husband and Gino are partners. They are private investigators, and my husband is investigating Esposito’s murder. He’s trying to find the real killer because he’s afraid the Black Hand will kill Gino in revenge.”

  “Sì, that is something they would do. You must find the real killer, Mrs. Malloy, to protect Gino and my husband both.”

  But Sarah was shaking her head. “I’m afraid we don’t even know where to start. So many people wanted Esposito dead. We even heard that his wife was seen on Pleasant Avenue the night he died.”