Murder on St. Mark's Place by Victoria Thompson

Author:Victoria Thompson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin USA, Inc.
Published: 2011-03-01T14:28:10.246000+00:00

MALLOY CAME BY that evening. He looked tired. Sarah wished she felt more sociable, but she was too worried about meeting with her father the next day. Her mother had been wise enough not to allow her too much time to change her mind. Her only salvation would be if someone summoned her to deliver a baby. Malloy certainly hadn’t come for that.

“I hope you have some news,” she told him as he stepped into her office.

“I was hoping you did,” he replied.

The rain had finally stopped, and the air was fresh and cool, so they went out to the back porch. Sarah poured him some lemonade, and then she waited to hear what he had to tell her.

“That fellow Robert, the one on the list, he got married,” he said. “He hasn’t been going out to dance halls since before Gerda Reinhard died.”

Sarah pretended to be hearing this information for the first time. “So that probably means he’s not our killer.”

Malloy sipped his lemonade. “You might want to call on him, though. His wife will be needing your services soon.”

Ah, so that explained the hasty marriage and sudden domesticity. “I should give you some of my cards,” she teased him. “You could pass them out in your travels.”

Even in the fading sunlight, she saw his quick smile, gone in a moment. “What did you find out?” he asked, surprising her.

“Me? How would I find out anything?”

“I don’t know,” he said, settling more comfortably in his chair. “Maybe by questioning some of the other girls’ friends again, just like I did.”

“Malloy, you’re too suspicious.”

“And you’re a bad liar. What did you find out?”

She sighed in defeat. So much for keeping her activities secret from Malloy. “I found out that Luisa met the man named Will, the one from the list, at Coney Island. He spent a lot of money on her, and he bought her a gift.”

“What kind of gift?” She had his interest now.

“I don’t know. Her friend told me about it, but her sister denied it. She didn’t want me to think Luisa was a Charity Girl.”

“Can’t blame her for that, but it does make it hard when they won’t tell you what they know. Nothing can hurt the dead, but people forget that. You’d think they’d want to find the killer more than they’d want to protect the victims, but they never do.”

Sarah remembered the first case they’d worked on together and knew he was right. “They also said this Will could be rough when a girl didn’t do what he wanted.”

“Rough? You mean he beat them?”

“Luisa’s sister said he slapped them around. Not beat. She was clear that he didn’t really hurt them.”

“Since when doesn’t a slap hurt?” Malloy wanted to know.

“Since women want to pretend it doesn’t mean anything,” Sarah countered.

Malloy grunted. “What do we know about this Will?” he asked.

“He’s handsome, dresses well, and has a lot of money to spend. I haven’t met anyone who knew him personally yet. Or at least no one who will admit it.

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