Murder on Pleasant Avenue

by Victoria Thompson

  “But you had the necklace. Why did you need to kill her?”

  “I didn’t know she’d gone to the flat that night until you told me. I had to be sure she didn’t see me there.”

  “Did she know who you were when you knocked on her door?”

  Jane’s smile was almost feral. “I told her, but she wasn’t jealous. I expected her to be jealous, but she was only interested in the necklace. I found out she had no idea I’d killed him, but it was too late by then. I’d already put the arsenic in her tea.”

  “Where did you get it?”

  “From here. Every well-run home in New York has some on hand to kill rats. You should know that.”

  She did know that. “So Mrs. Esposito didn’t see you at the flat?”

  This time Jane’s smile was sweet. “No. She got there after he was dead and she never even knew I was there. I asked her.”

  Why had Mrs. Esposito lied about finding him alive? Probably to cast suspicion away from herself. Sarah sighed again, wearily this time. “Mrs. Esposito may not have seen you that night, but Christopher McWilliam did.”

  “How could he?” Jane scoffed. “He wasn’t there. You said yourself he was in his office when he saw me leave.”

  “He also followed you. He was worried about your safety.”

  “You’re lying!”

  “No, I’m not. He followed you to the tenement on Pleasant Avenue. He was in the stairwell when you argued with Esposito and stabbed him, and he saw you running out.”

  Jane frowned as she considered this. “Then why did he say he’d killed Nunzio?”

  “Like I told you, to protect you.”

  “Stupid fool. Well, there’s nothing I can do about that. If he wants people to think he did it, I can’t stop him.”

  There was plenty she could do, and she knew it, but Sarah also knew she wouldn’t. “No, but I can stop him. I already told him that you weren’t kidnapped and that you’d gone with Esposito willingly. He also knows you killed Mrs. Esposito and now I can tell him why, and you also tried to kill your cousin, Lisa.”

  “I told you, I wasn’t going to kill her,” Jane protested.

  “The police may see things differently. We’ve sent for them, Miss Harding,” Sarah said, rising from her seat on the bed.

  “No!” Jane cried in anguish. “That’s not fair!”

  Sarah started walking to the door, and Jane began to scream. She flung herself at Sarah, nearly knocking her down, but Malloy had been listening and he was there in a trice, helping Sarah wrestle the girl away. Sarah’s cheek burned where Jane had scratched her as she staggered back, out of Jane’s reach.

  “Get out,” Malloy told her, holding Jane’s hands so she couldn’t reach Sarah.

  Jane was sobbing now, great heaving gulps, and when Malloy released her hands, she sank to the floor in a heap.

  He followed Sarah out into the hall and locked the door behind them. Joe Prince had come out into the hall to see what was happening.

  “She’s crazy,” he said, listening to Jane, who now was wailing incoherently.

  “Yes,” Sarah said. “I’m very much afraid she is.”

  XV

  What will happen to the girl now?” Mrs. Ellsworth said when Sarah had told her the whole story of Jane Harding. The two women were sitting in Sarah’s breakfast room, enjoying a cup of coffee.

  Several weeks had passed since that awful day at the Prince home, and Sarah’s neighbor had come over early on this morning to borrow some sugar and ended up staying for a visit. Mrs. Ellsworth had somewhat of a reputation for knowing everything that happened in the neighborhood, although having a new daughter-in-law living with her had proven somewhat of a distraction, so she was a bit behind the times.

  “What would happen to Jane was a big concern, as you can imagine. Mr. Prince insisted that the police arrest her for trying to poison his wife. The tea did contain arsenic, and while Jane might have only intended to make Lisa sick, she certainly wasn’t experienced at that, and she’d put in more than enough to kill her.”

  “How awful! I hope she’s all right now.”

  “She hadn’t drunk any of that batch yet, thank heaven, and Jane really hadn’t put too much arsenic in the tea she had given her the night before. Lisa recovered quickly and it seems she has recovered completely.”

  “She was very lucky her husband came to chasten you,” Mrs. Ellsworth said. “But you were going to tell me what happened to Jane.”

  “Yes, well, Lisa and Joe Prince had to notify Jane’s parents, who were naturally distraught. In spite of everything she’d done, the very idea of a young woman like Jane Harding going to prison was unthinkable, particularly when she was obviously no longer in her right mind, or at least she was giving every indication of it.”

  “Do you think she was just pretending?” Mrs. Ellsworth asked.

  “She was quite hysterical the last time I saw her, and I’m sure she was terrified when they put her in the Tombs, which would probably have caused even more hysteria. In any event, they couldn’t let her go free either, after she poisoned her own cousin. Who knows what she might have done if her parents took her home with them to the town she’d fought so hard to escape? So the parents compromised and put her in an asylum.”

  “Somehow I can’t help thinking that would be worse than a prison.”

  “If you really were in your right mind, I think you’re right, but who knows? At least Jane won’t be able to hurt anyone else.”

  “What do you think of my new hat?” Maeve asked, coming into the breakfast room to model it. She turned slowly so they could get the full effect.

  “It’s very nice, dear,” Mrs. Ellsworth said a little hesitantly.

  Sarah understood. Something wasn’t quite right. “Do you have it on backward?”

  Maeve reached up to touch it, as if she could tell by feel if it was right or not, and Mrs. Ellsworth gasped.

  “What’s wrong?” Sarah asked, hoping her dear friend hadn’t suddenly been taken ill.

  She should have known better. “It’s very bad luck to wear your hat backward, Maeve dear,” Mrs. Ellsworth said. As Sarah had learned, Mrs. Ellsworth seemingly had a superstition for every occasion.

  Maeve quickly removed the hat pin and pulled it off her head. “I don’t need any bad luck today, not when I’m spending it with Gino’s family.”

  At Mrs. Ellsworth’s surprised look, Sarah said, “Gino has invited Maeve to the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in East Harlem.”

  “It’s not really a feast,” Maeve said, examining her hat with a critical eye to determine where the front really was. “It’s a festival, with a parade and lots of food and games and that sort of thing.”

  “With Gino’s family?” Mrs. Ellsworth said archly.

  “Just his oldest brother and sister-in-law,” Maeve said, still studying her hat.

  “Although Maeve did recently meet Gino’s parents,” Sarah said with a wink.

  “Which did not go well,” Maeve said, “so you can save your matchmaking superstitions. They want Gino to marry a Catholic girl.”

  “And here you are, going to a Catholic festival,” Mrs. Ellsworth said, winking back at Sarah.

  “Only because I like Teo and Rinaldo,” Maeve said, “and the food. Does this look right?” She set the hat gingerly on her head so as not to mess up her carefully pinned hair.

  “Yes, much better,” Sarah said. “Have a wonderful time.”

  Maeve rolled her eyes and was gone.

  “And speaking of bad luck,” Mrs. Ellsworth said when Maeve was gone. “What does Mr. Malloy think of Governor Roosevelt being nominated for vice president?”

  “He’s disappointed because he thinks Theodore is doing a fine job as governor, and Theodore isn’t best pleased either. My mother told me that he believes certain people pushed for him to be nominate
d because they didn’t like his efforts to clean up corruption in New York state.”

  “He didn’t have to take the nomination, did he?”

  “He felt he had to, I think. His nomination was approved unanimously, but everyone knows the vice presidency isn’t a very important job. If McKinley is re-elected, poor Theodore will be stuck in Washington for the next four years with nothing much to do.”

  “Unless the president dies,” Mrs. Ellsworth said.

  “McKinley is a relatively young man and in good health, so I don’t think that’s very likely, and we’ll have lost Theodore as governor and his efforts at reforming New York.”

  “You’re right. Poor Mr. Roosevelt.”

  * * *

  * * *

  Maeve had to admit the festival was more fun than she had expected. The streets had been decorated with gold bunting, and electric lights had been strung everywhere. The parade was noisy and they were mostly carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary, whom Maeve had learned was the real Lady of Mount Carmel. What Mount Carmel had to do with anything, Maeve wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t interested enough to ask.

  Teo and Rinaldo seemed thrilled to have her there, though, and they didn’t even tease her very much about coming with Gino. Enzo and several of Gino’s younger brothers and cousins had also come up from Little Italy for the festival, and they had done a lot of teasing. Fortunately, it was all in Italian, so she didn’t even have to pretend not to understand.

  As the day wore on, the wine flowed more freely and people laughed a lot more. Maeve noticed men making donations at the statue of Mary, dropping money into a basket at her feet and not even trying to hide how much they were giving. One man in particular stepped up to the statue and paused, making sure everyone was looking before making his donation. He was wearing an expensive suit and a diamond stick pin that glittered in the bright July sun. When he had everyone’s attention, he dropped in an enormous wad of greenbacks. The gasps from the crowd were his reward as he smiled beneficently at everyone and then made his way slowly through the crowd to wherever he was going.

  “Balducci,” Gino whispered to Maeve. “Trying to be a big man in front of all these people.”

  “Is that what Esposito would have done?” she asked.

  “Probably. But his gift isn’t so generous when you realize that it was extorted from all the people here.”

  Maeve glanced at the faces of those watching Balducci leave, and she didn’t see admiration or respect. She saw only fear and hatred. How many of them had paid a ransom for a kidnapped family member? How many had paid money for protection from the very men who were collecting it?

  Some of Gino’s younger brothers and cousins came running up and started jabbering at him, obviously trying to get him to do something.

  “He’s very good at darts,” one of them told her in English. “We want him to win us a prize over there.” He pointed to the area where the game booths had been set up.

  Gino was shaking his head and making excuses, but Teo said, “Go on. Maeve and I will look around here. They have some beautiful things in the stalls that she might want to buy.”

  Maeve happily agreed and the boys dragged Gino away.

  “If you are looking at lady things, we will go find some vino,” Rinaldo said cheerfully, and he led Enzo and some of the older cousins in a quest for wine.

  Maeve and Teo started examining the goods for sale at various stalls, brightly colored fabrics and elaborately embroidered linens and delicately carved statues of saints.

  “What do you think?” Teo asked, holding up a bolt of fabric.

  “Beautiful.”

  “I think I will buy some. I will need new clothes soon. I am going to get very fat,” she said with a twinkle, lightly touching her stomach.

  Maeve needed only a moment to figure out what she meant. “Oh, Teo, that’s wonderful. When are you due?”

  “In February, I think.”

  “Does Rinaldo know?”

  “Yes, but not his family. We have not told anyone yet. Only you.”

  “I’m honored, but why did you tell me?”

  Teo smiled. “Because I think you will be part of our family soon.”

  Oh no, was this the bad fortune Mrs. Ellsworth had predicted? Maeve’s face felt as if it were on fire, and she shook her head as fast as she could, but that only made Teo laugh.

  “Gino and I are just friends,” Maeve protested.

  “We will see,” Teo said, and turned to the vendor to ask her to cut a length of the fabric for her.

  They wandered out of that booth and on to the next, but Maeve hardly saw the goods that were on display. Was this what Gino’s family was expecting? Did Gino know? Surely he didn’t or he never would have brought her here today.

  “Teo! Teo!”

  The shout caught their attention, and both women stepped out of the stall to see who was calling her. At the sight of them, a young boy came running over to them. Maeve recognized him as one of Gino’s younger brothers. Or was he a cousin? She wasn’t even sure. There were so many of them to keep straight.

  Teo said something to him in Italian, and he answered in a rapid patter of words and many wild gestures that told Maeve something truly bad had happened. Teo’s eyes were terrified when she turned to Maeve. “Someone has taken Gino.”

  “What do you mean, taken?”

  “Kidnapped, I think, from what Alonzo says. They were taking turns, throwing darts to win a prize. Gino stepped back to let the other boys have their turns, and when they looked for him again, he was gone and there was a letter on the ground where he was standing.”

  “What kind of letter?”

  “A letter, in an envelope,” Alonzo said. He obviously spoke English as well as Teo when he wanted to. “It has a black hand on it.”

  This was the bad fortune Mrs. Ellsworth was talking about.

  Teo made a distressed sound and crossed herself. “Where is this letter? Who has it?”

  “Come,” Alonzo said. “Rinaldo said you should come.”

  The women followed him, making their way through the crowds with agonizing slowness.

  They found the Donatelli men and boys gathered in a cluster, all looking furious and frustrated.

  “What does the letter say?” Maeve demanded of Rinaldo, who held a white envelope as gingerly as if he expected it to explode at any minute.

  “I don’t know. It has Mr. Malloy’s name on it.”

  Maeve snatched it from his hand. It did indeed have a crude drawing of a hand in heavy black ink and Frank Malloy written across it in uneven block letters. Without hesitation, she tore it open. The Donatelli men and boys gasped in unison at her boldness, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t going to wait for Mr. Malloy to find out what it said.

  What it said was very simple. They would release Gino if Mr. Malloy paid fifty thousand dollars in ransom. Teo was reading over Maeve’s shoulder.

  “They want fifty thousand dollars in ransom,” she told the others.

  This caused more than a gasp. An angry murmur quickly became shouted imprecations, mostly in Italian. Finally, Rinaldo hushed them. “Why do they want so much? They must know we cannot pay.”

  “Mr. Malloy can pay,” Maeve said, holding on to her temper with difficulty. Getting angry wouldn’t help Gino. She had to keep her head. “They must have found out he’s rich, and they want some revenge because Gino and Mr. Malloy embarrassed Balducci.”

  “Will he pay it?” Enzo asked.

  Maeve turned all the strength of her fury on him. “No, he will not, because we are going to find Gino and bring him back today and put an end to this nonsense once and for all.”

  It was an empty promise and an impossible task, but the males in their group didn’t think of that. The older ones had been drinking enough to feel invincible and the younger ones still thought th
ey were.

  “How will we find him?” Rinaldo asked.

  “They have a house where they take the people they kidnap,” Maeve said. “It’s not in the city, but it’s not far away either.”

  “Where is it?”

  Maeve’s mind was racing. How could they find it? She and Gino had been driving the motorcar out in the country off and on for weeks now, looking and looking, and hadn’t located it. She knew who could tell them, though. They had just never had the ability to ask before. “Someone at Esposito’s saloon will know, and if enough of you demand it, he will tell us.”

  Rinaldo’s eyes lit with understanding, and he nodded. He explained the plan to everyone in Italian, and all the brothers and cousins agreed with shouts.

  “You’ll probably need more men,” Maeve said. “They’ll need to see that the whole community is turning against them. Who else will help?”

  “Mr. Cassidi,” Rinaldo said with confidence.

  “I just saw his wife a few minutes ago in one of the stalls,” Teo said.

  “Go find her,” Maeve said. “He’ll help, and tell him to bring everyone he can find.”

  “All the men who work for Mr. Cassidi will come, too, and men whose businesses have to pay protection,” Rinaldo said, then switched to Italian to issue orders to his motley crew. Men and boys instantly scattered in all directions to find reinforcements. Rinaldo turned to Maeve. “I told them where to meet and to bring what weapons they can find.”

  “Balducci’s men will have guns,” Maeve said.

  “They probably won’t shoot in their own saloon, and even if they do, they can’t kill us all.”

  Maeve had no reply for such bravado.

  They saw Teo and Mrs. Cassidi making their way back to them, and Rinaldo raced toward them, with Maeve in his wake.

  “Teo told me what happened,” Mrs. Cassidi said. “I will find my husband. He will bring more men.”

  Rinaldo told her where they would be meeting, and Mrs. Cassidi hurried off.

  “Teo, you should not be involved in this,” Rinaldo said with a concerned frown. Naturally, he would be worried about her condition.