“Very well.” Captain Kear looked long and hard at Daniel, then said, “And I take it you’ll know where to find Miss Murphy, if we need to ask her any further questions.”
Twenty-one
It was a good parting blow as Captain Kear walked away and I saw Daniel’s mouth twitch. The moment we were out of earshot Daniel grabbed my arm and spun me to face him.
“What the devil do you think you were doing?” he demanded. “Do you realize what you’ve done? You’ve made me the butt of jokes in the police department for years to come, not to mention starting up the tong wars again single-handedly.”
He was shouting loudly and his voice echoed back from the tall tenements and the empty street. He was glaring at me, his eyes blazing. “Did you or did you not promise me that you’d give up this ridiculous nonsense?”
I decided that this time fighting was not going to get me anywhere. “I did promise, Daniel, and I’m sorry. I never intended to get involved in something like this. Only the man who came to see me was so persistent and said his employer wouldn’t take no for an answer and would pay me generously, so I went to see him, just out of curiosity, and to start with all he asked me to do was to locate a piece of jade jewelry that had gone missing. That seemed like a harmless enough commission, didn’t it?” The words came flying out in a torrent. “It was only later I found out that he was really looking for a missing woman.”
“And yet you continued to look for her.” His eyes were still blazing.
“You’re very attractive when you’re angry, you know,” I said, attempting to lighten the mood.
“Don’t try to make light of this, Molly. It’s a very serious matter,” Daniel said. “You betrayed my trust. You broke a promise. What sort of start to a marriage is that?”
All right, I had tried being meek and it hadn’t worked. My usual fighting spirit could not be suppressed any longer. “Maybe if you hadn’t insisted that I stay at your mother’s house, sewing undergarments all day and hearing over and over how I didn’t measure up to any of your other lady friends, I wouldn’t have been so anxious for a little excitement,” I said, my own voice rising now.
“That’s beside the point,” he began, then stopped. “My mother actually told you that you didn’t measure up to my other lady friends?”
“All the time. In a very subtle and genteel way, of course. ‘Dear Miss So-and-so. Daniel was so fond of her when they were growing up and such a good family too. And the way you sew, your poor children are going to run around in rags.’”
“She said that?”
“I didn’t mean to tell you,” I said. “But you pushed me into a corner. That’s why I couldn’t wait to escape. But I’m sorry I took this stupid case. I’m sorry I deceived you. If you want to know the reason I was at Mr. Lee’s house this morning, it was to hand him a letter tendering my resignation. Only I arrived to find Captain Kear in charge and Mr. Lee lying dead in the street.”
“A tricky business, Molly,” he said, speaking quietly now. “You know nothing of the way things work in Chinatown. This Lee was a wily old fox and a powerful figure in one of the tongs. Until a year ago there was the most awful bloodshed on a daily basis—men gunned down as they ate in restaurants, firebombs thrown into shops. We worked hard to bring about a peace that was beneficial to both sides. This death could start the whole thing off again. That’s why I felt I had to step in.”
He was frowning down at me, like an earnest schoolmaster giving a pupil a stern lecture. “And I really don’t want to be known as the police officer whose fiancée started a new tong war.”
“Daniel, that’s absurd,” I said angrily. “I was asked to look for a missing girl. How could that have had anything to do with Mr. Lee being killed?”
“We’ll just have to see, won’t we?” He started striding out around the corner into Pell Street. “I’ve always been suspicious of coincidences. Something happened to make a person choose last night to kill Lee Sing Tai, rather than any other night. So the immediate thought that comes to mind is whether the girl realized you were hot on her trail and took the ultimate step not to be returned to the old man.”
“I don’t believe that,” I said.
“Oh. Why not?”
I hesitated, debating whether to tell him that I knew where the girl was. “If she was frightened enough to face being alone in a big city rather than staying where at least she got food and shelter, then I can’t see she’d want to risk going back there,” I said. “And for another thing, how would a young girl be strong enough to throw a man off the roof?”
“Then Kear was probably on the right track. She and Frederick Lee formed an attachment on their way to New York and he carried out the murder with her help. Let’s hope that’s how it turns out. At least it will satisfy the tongs.”
We reached the corner of Pell. A crowd was still milling around. Daniel turned back to me. “I’m going to take a quick look at the body and then get it moved off the street. We don’t want the whole world gawking at it and spreading rumors of tong killings. However, you don’t need to come any farther. I will spare you having to look at an unpleasant sight.”
“I’ve already seen the body,” I said. “Captain Kear asked me to make a positive identification because none of the Chinese would do so. And when you look at it, take note of the wound to one side of the head. He was obviously struck before he was thrown off the roof. I didn’t have a chance to examine the apartment carefully, but I’m sure if you go back there you’ll find blood spatters—on the bedding would be my guess.”
“Good God,” Daniel muttered. He shook his head. “You never fail to astonish me, Molly. No wonder my mother thought you were different. Most other women I know would swoon at the very mention of blood spatters.”
I chuckled. “You see, there will be some advantages to having a wife who understands your profession.”
“I don’t doubt it. Now if I can just persuade that wife to stay home and not go rushing out to solve my cases for me, I’ll be happy.” He reached out to touch my cheek in a playful half-slap. “Go on, off to home with you, and for mercy’s sake, stay well away from any crime scene in the future. This is now in the capable hands of the police.”
“Yes, Daniel,” I said in my dutiful bride voice. “And don’t forget that Sid and Gus are giving a party for me tonight. I’m sure you’ll be too busy to attend and it’s a costume affair, so I’m sure it wouldn’t be your idea of fun, but it would be nice if my friends could at least meet my bridegroom.”
“I can’t promise anything,” he said. “I have enough on my plate already, but given the potential for serious repercussions in this case, I have no alternative but to assign some of my men to assist Captain Kear.”
“I take it you don’t think much of him?”
“I have my reasons,” he said. “I especially have reasons for not giving him carte blanche with a case involving the Chinese tongs.” He looked up. “Ah, here’s the morgue wagon now. Off you go and enjoy your party.”
Then he hurried off, leaving me standing there. I knew I should do as he said and go straight home, but I couldn’t. I had been too late to save Frederick Lee, but it would only be a matter of time before they found Bo Kei if every policeman in the city was looking for her. I had to go and warn her immediately. I made my way with all haste to Elizabeth Street. Hermione wasn’t on duty and I was surprised to find Sarah coming down the stairs toward me.
“Molly!” she said. “How nice to see you.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I thought his lordship had forbidden you from coming here.”
“He changed his mind,” she said. “He said that he could see how much this work meant to me and it was wrong of him to deprive me of these last weeks of satisfaction, so he would not object as long as I allowed him to escort me. Wasn’t that sweet of him?”