A Bride So Fair by Carol Cox

Author:Carol Cox [Cox, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aspen Hill Press
Published: 2020-04-18T16:00:00+00:00

13

“Were you able to find out anything for me?” Stephen glanced at the pedestrians wending their way along the street outside the precinct house and kept his voice low, trying to look like a passerby asking directions from the uniformed policeman beside him.

Patrolman Elliott Ferguson nodded. “Somebody recognized her when they brought the body in. Her first name is Rosalee. We don’t have a last name at the moment.”

Stephen drew his brows together. “Recognized her? You mean she’s been in trouble with the law before?” He thought about the fallen women who plied their trade in the Levee. Had she been one of their number? Surely not. Everything about Adam indicated a much more refined upbringing than he could possibly get in such a setting.

“Not in the way you’re probably thinking. But some of the boys in the precinct know the man she kept company with.”

A prickle of foreboding ran up Stephen’s back. He braced himself, certain his friend was about to impart some highly unpleasant news. “Tell me more.”

Ferguson strode a few steps farther from the precinct house and pointed down the street, as if guiding Stephen to some fictitious destination. He spoke out of the corner of his mouth. “Have you ever heard of a man named Ian McGinty?”

Stephen’s head whipped around. “McGinty?” At Ferguson’s stern look, he dropped his voice to a whisper. “Everyone in Chicago knows that name. He has his finger in every pie, from politics from prostitution. How the man maintains his social connections and keeps from being brought up on charges is something I’ve never understood.”

Ferguson grimaced. “You just answered your own question. If you have connections in high enough places”—he lowered his voice further—“including some in this department, you can pretty well consider yourself protected from prosecution. Grease enough palms, and you’ll find people are willing to overlook almost anything.”

“So this Rosalee was his—”

Ferguson shrugged. “‘Kept woman’ is probably the kindest term I can think of. He maintained her in her own home for the past five years. Didn’t live there himself, but she was available as an ornament on his arm whenever he attended a social function. From what I’ve heard, she seemed surprisingly refined for someone in her position. But you can imagine how the hostesses in the social register felt about having to invite her to any of their soirees or about having their husbands anywhere near her.

Stephen searched for a question that wouldn’t tip his hand. “Did she have any family that you know of?”

Ferguson shook his head. “No one to come claim the body, if that’s what you’re asking. And apparently McGinty is keeping a distance. There are rumors of a child, but I couldn’t press for more without arousing suspicions.”

“Is there any way to tie McGinty to her death?”

Ferguson let out a short bark of laughter. “You know better than that. He never dirties his hands himself. If he ever did, maybe then we’d have the wherewithal to nab him and bring charges against him. No, if he was connected with this in any way, he had one of his underlings carry it out.

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