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The watch on her lapel said seven-thirty when she saw a familiar figure hurrying down the street, but not the one she’d been expecting. She rushed to the front door and threw it open.
“Gina!” she called, and the girl turned toward her voice.
“Oh, Mrs. Brandt, I’m so glad to see you!” she cried. She ran over and stumbled in her haste to climb Sarah’s front steps. “I didn’t think I’d ever find you.”
“What are you doing here?” Sarah asked as she ushered the girl inside.
Gina needed a moment to catch her breath. “Mrs. Wells sent me. I’ve got a message for you.” She searched in her pocket and produced a crumpled envelope. Her name had been scrawled on it. “Mrs. Wells told me you lived on Bank Street,” she explained as Sarah tore it open. “She said to just go up Seventh Avenue and ask people until I found the street. She said someone there would tell me which house was yours.”
Sarah quickly sca
“How did you get this note?” Sarah asked her.
“Somebody brought it to Mrs. Wells. It’s from a priest, she said. He didn’t know how to find you, but he thought she would. What does he want?”
“I have to go meet him.” The note urged her to come as soon as possible, since he was worried the killer might harm herself or someone else. “I’m expecting some visitors, though, so I need to leave them a message before I go.”
Gina sat down to rest from her frantic mission while Sarah found paper and a pencil and began to compose her notes to Malloy and Richard. The one to Malloy was the most difficult. How could she explain in a few words that Mrs. Donato was i
The note to Richard was easier. She apologized for her rudeness and explained she had to meet with someone to save an i
When she had inserted the notes into envelopes and addressed them to each man, she was ready to leave. “How did you get here?” Sarah asked.
“I walked,” Gina said. No wonder she was tired.
Sarah put on her hat and took her cape from the hook by the door. “Let’s see if we can get a Hansom.” She didn’t think a cab would take them all the way to the mission, but they could probably get a lot closer than the El would take them. She stuck the notes in the door for the men to find and then led Gina down the street toward Seventh Avenue, where they would be most likely to find a cab.
Frank knew he should feel at least a little guilty, but he didn‘t, not one bit. Sarah had sent for him, so he had a perfectly legitimate reason to be calling on her. He’d happened to hear Richard De
Even though the city clocks hadn’t yet struck eight, Frank could see De
As Frank reached him, he looked up. His puzzled frown dissolved into recognition. “Mr. Malloy,” he said. “Good evening. Mrs. Brandt has left you a message, too.”
Frank glanced up and only then realized the lights were out in her flat. He saw what appeared to be an envelope stuck in the crack between the front door and its frame. He realized she must have gone out and left a similar note for De
Frank quickly retrieved his own message and carried it back to the coach light. His feeling of satisfaction had long since evaporated. Now he was uneasy and growing more so by the minute. By the time he’d finished the note, he was deeply troubled.
“What does she say?” De
“She’s gone off to meet some priest,” Frank said, wondering if he’d have any trouble getting De
“She apologizes for canceling our engagement. We were going to have di
Frank could have taken offense, but De
“If the mother isn’t the killer, then who could it be?” De
A good question. “Mrs. Brandt thought it might be someone at the mission, or at least she did until it looked like the mother did it.”
Frank could see that De
“She doesn’t say, but I know she went to St. John’s the other day to ask them to pay for the girl’s funeral. That must be where she’s gone.”
“How would a priest know who the killer is, especially if it’s someone at the mission?”
Frank had been trying to figure that out himself. “Maybe the killer made a confession to the priest. A lot of those girls are Catholic, or they were before Mrs. Wells got them. But priests aren’t allowed to tell anyone what they hear in the confessional.”
De
Frank considered the question. From the tone of De
Something changed very slightly in De
Now Frank knew it wasn’t idle curiosity. “I’m not sure, but it seems likely.”
De