The Orchid Hour: An Unputdownable 1920s Manhattan Murder Mystery by Nancy Bilyeau

Author:Nancy Bilyeau [Bilyeau, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lume Books
Published: 2023-08-09T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

ZIA

I woke up even more determined to take on the challenge than I’d felt in Tompkins Square Park. First, I needed to smooth things over on Mulberry Street. I had upset my mother-in-law and son when I’d rushed out of the apartment and disappeared for close to two hours. After I returned, my dinner was cold; they were worried. I succeeded in persuading them both that I was okay. I think they could hear the new-found strength in me. It reassured them.

My period of confusion was over. I knew what I needed to do.

The first hurdle was locating my cousin Sal. He moved around a lot. I feared the phone number I had for him was useless, and sure enough, the number had been disconnected when I tried it.

Massimo was the only person I could think of who would know where to find Sal. He’d gotten wine for my birthday party through our cousin a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to put my plan into motion with all speed, but unfortunately, I had to wait for my brother to get home from work. And then I knew it was best to let him have his dinner with Bianca and the kids before disturbing him. I’d have to wait to call.

Mama had another visitor that afternoon. Her church friend, Loretta, came by to offer comfort and support. Her concern had wandered from the spiritual to the earthly before she’d been in our apartment for an hour. I was taking in their coffee cups when a question confirmed something I’d suspected for the last couple of days.

“Luigi always took care of everything so beautifully, did he make sure you will be taken care of going forward?” asked Loretta.

“Oh, yes, he went to see a lawyer after Armando died in the war. The store comes to me. Thank the Lord I have my brother Roberto to run it. I know I’ll be fine.”

Why was it so unthinkable that I manage the shop? I persuaded Papa to buy the refrigerator and to focus on selling the highest-quality food we could find. I came up with the bookkeeping system that kept us on track with bills.

Hearing this made me want to reach Massimo on the telephone even more. He reacted as I predicted.

“Why do you want to talk to Sal?” my brother demanded. “You should keep your distance, Zia. We all should.”

“I have a question for him. It’s absolutely nothing to do with Joe the Boss or anything along those lines.”

Which was true. Joe Masseria had nothing to do with The Orchid Hour. Sal had been pretty convincing on that point at the cemetery.

After more argument, Massimo finally gave me the phone number. I tried it right away. No answer. I waited a half hour and tried again. Still no answer. After six more attempts, I decided to give up for the evening. Who knew what Sal was up to? He kept extremely late hours. He’d only go to bed before one in the morning if he were deathly ill.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.