Blessed are the Merciful (9 page)

Edgar turned and waved and soon had the Masons’ attention. When he pointed to the Zimmermans, Joseph Mason nodded.

“Who are those people, Edgar?” Ralph Zimmerman asked.

“Joseph and Nancy Mason and their daughter, Rachel. They live a few blocks from us … nice people.”

“My, what a pretty girl!” said Louise, fixing her gaze on Rachel.

“Not only that,” Doris said, “she’s very charming.”

When the Masons walked up to the table, Edgar made the introductions, and pointed out that Joseph Mason owned Philadelphia’s most successful brokerage firm.

“Oh, really?” Ralph said. “What’s the name of your company, Mr. Mason?”

Joseph reached into his shirt pocket, took out a business card, and handed it to Ralph. “American Securities Company. The address is here on the card. If I can ever be of service, please come and see me.”

“I do a lot of investing,” Ralph said. “You’ll see me very soon.”

“Well, why don’t you let me take you to lunch whenever you’re free?”

“Well, let’s see. Tomorrow’s Thursday … how about Friday?”

“Friday it is. Why don’t you come to my office just before noon and we’ll walk to a nice restaurant close by.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Daddy, I really think you should be honest with Mr. Zimmerman.” Rachel said.

“Be honest with him about what, honey?”

Rachel had an impish twinkle in her eyes. “Mr. Zimmerman, I hate to tell you this, but my father is the janitor at American Securities. He has these moments when he thinks he’s the head of the company.”

“Well, Miss Mason, I appreciate this information. Who, then, actually is the head of the company?”

Rachel giggled. “Why, me, of course! If you want to make some investments, see me in my office on Friday. My father even had his name painted on the door and had mine taken off. But this is the kind of thing I’ve had to put up with since I was nine and became president of the company.”

“All right, Miss Rachel Mason,” said Ralph, laughing, “I’ll be at your office just before noon on Friday.”

“Oh! I just remembered that I already have a luncheon engagement on Friday. I’ll have to let you go to lunch with my janitor.”

Joseph tweaked his daughter’s nose and said, “Okay, boss, I’ll take Mr. Zimmerman to lunch for you.”

There was more laughter, then Doris said, “Nancy, you’re still planning on coming to my house next month to attend the fund-raising meeting for the Philadelphia Orphanage, aren’t you?”

“Of course. Thursday, September 13. I’m looking forward to it. Is Louise coming?”

Doris glanced at her friend. “I haven’t asked her yet.”

“Sounds interesting,” Louise said. “You can fill me in on it later, Doris.”

“Well, wife and daughter,” Joseph said, “the waiter is at our table, wanting to take our order. We’d better go oblige.”

When the Masons were out of earshot, Ralph said, “Now there’s a sharp little gal, that Rachel!”

“Isn’t she, though?” Louise said. “Is Nancy not well? She looks a little peaked.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Ralph said.

“Nancy was quite ill as a girl,” Doris said. “She’s never looked
healthy since we’ve known her. Joseph told us one time that Nancy had a very hard time carrying and giving birth to Rachel and was never able to have any more children. She’s quite frail and has some bad days.”

“Poor dear. She seems to be a very sweet person.”

“That she is. And she loves children. She and Joseph give heavily to the orphanage.”

“They both love children,” Edgar said. “It’s too bad they couldn’t have had more. They once seriously considered adopting another child, but Nancy’s doctors warned them against it unless they were willing to hire a nanny. But Nancy wouldn’t do it. Told them that if she couldn’t be a mother to an adopted child, they wouldn’t adopt one.”

“So the Masons found another way to show love to children,” Doris said. “They’ve poured themselves into the work of the orphanage and are quite active in helping to raise money for it, as well as giving very liberally to it themselves.”

“Doris, I really would like to come to that fund-raising meeting at your house,” Louise said. “You see, I was orphaned at six years of age. I was fortunate to be adopted by a well-to-do family, but most orphans aren’t as blessed as I was. I’d like to help raise funds as well as contribute to the orphanage.”

“Agreed,” Ralph said. “We’ll give liberally, I promise.”

“Wonderful!” Doris replied. “I have some printed material on the orphanage at home. I’ll make sure you get it.”

Louise nodded. “And the meeting is at your house on September 13, right?”

“Yes. We’ll start about two that afternoon.”

“I’ll be there.”

Seth Coleman was excited about his first day back on the police force. He arrived for duty a bit early, and most of his fellow officers greeted him with smiles and words of encouragement.

When he entered Chief Mandrake Bennett’s office, the chief
stuck out his hand and said, “Good morning, Officer Coleman! Ready for duty, I see.”

“Yes, sir.”

Bennett lifted a pay envelope off the desk and handed it to Seth. “Here’s that back pay I promised you.”

“Thank you, sir.” Seth slipped the envelope into his hip pocket.

Bennett noted a look of concern in the young officer’s eyes and said, “Hey, is something bothering you?”

Seth nodded. “There is something bothering me. Some of the men gave me the cold shoulder when I came in. Though no one said it, I get the impression they still think I murdered Lawrence.”

The chief sighed. “Well, son, some of Lawrence’s closest friends are finding it difficult to accept his death. But they’ll get over it in time.”

“I understand the difficulty of getting over his death, sir, but why give me the cold shoulder? The very legal system they work for has exonerated me of the crime.”

“You’re right. And those men who shunned you will wake up to that fact shortly and realize how wrong they’ve been.”

“I sure hope that happens soon, sir. It’s pretty hard to work with other policemen who think I murdered one of our own.”

When Seth went out on the street, he found that some of Philadelphia’s citizens had not accepted the jury’s verdict either.

By the end of the day on the following Monday, Seth entered his apartment very discouraged. He sat in an overstuffed chair by the window that overlooked the street and watched the traffic below. People were going about their normal lives, but his life had been anything but normal since the day of his arrest.

After a few minutes, he went to a dresser drawer, took out an envelope, a pen, and some paper, and sat at the kitchen table. He addressed the envelope to the Chief United States Marshal’s Office in Washington, D.C., then wrote the letter, asking for an application to become a deputy U.S. marshal.

The next morning Seth mailed the letter on his way to the police station.

On the evening of August 15, Adam Burke and Philipa Conrad were seated at a table with her parents and other lawyers and their wives, enjoying a lavish meal.

The convention had proven profitable and enjoyable for the three hundred lawyers who had gathered in Philadelphia to sharpen their skills, learn from one another, and enjoy the social functions that went with it.

Everyone knew there was to be a special after-dinner speaker that evening, but the leaders of the convention had kept it a secret. George Benson, who was chairman of the convention, had not divulged the speaker’s identity even to his partners in the firm.

When the meal was over, Benson stood to his feet, lifted his voice above the rumble of conversations that filled the room, and called for attention. Adam helped Philipa position her chair to face the head table, then turned his chair around. He glanced at the head table and saw a familiar face next to his boss, then leaned close to Philipa and whispered, “I just saw the speaker for the first time. It’s Dr. Manfred Welles, my favorite professor at Harvard!”

“Oh, really? I recall you mentioning his name to me several times.”

“Brilliant man,” Adam said.

Welles spotted Adam, and when their eyes met, they smiled and nodded at each other.

George Benson finished his introduction of Manfred Welles, and several attorneys—including Adam Burke—quickly rose to their feet, applauding. Soon the entire crowd was standing and applauding enthusiastically.

Welles smiled and waited patiently for the applause to run its course. When everyone was seated, he thanked them for the warm welcome and began recounting some of his experiences with law students at Harvard. Pointing to Adam, Welles told of an experience in class that had made it clear to him Adam was going to be an outstanding attorney.

Philipa reached over and took Adam’s hand, whispering, “He’s talking about my future husband! I’m so proud of you, darling.”

Adam raised her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.

Dr. Welles looked at Adam, then said to the crowd, “Chairman Benson is Adam Burke’s boss, folks. During dinner he told me of Mr. Burke’s success thus far in his firm, especially the case he recently won involving a Philadelphia police officer who had been falsely accused of murder.”

There were cheers and applause.

“I have to tell you, folks, that except for my help, Mr. Burke would never have made it in the legal field. He would probably be pushing a broom in some Boston warehouse!”

Everyone laughed.

Welles went on with his speech, addressing the problems facing lawyers and challenging every lawyer present to serve his clients better than ever before.

When the speech was finished, the crowd applauded vigorously. George Benson made a few remarks and then announced the end of the convention.

Adam took Philipa by the hand. “Come on, honey, I want you to meet Dr. Welles.”

They had to wait a few seconds for others who had reached Welles first, but soon Adam was able to introduce his former professor to his fiancée. Welles greeted Philipa warmly, saying he always knew Adam would find a beautiful and charming young woman to marry. He was also impressed when Adam told him that Philipa was the daughter of Philip Conrad III.

“Sir,” Adam said, “I notice that Mrs. Welles isn’t with you. I hope she’s not ill.”

“Oh, no. Martha would’ve come with me, but our youngest daughter, Patricia, is about to give birth, and Martha felt she should stay with her.”

“I don’t blame her. Please greet her for me when you get home, sir.”

“I’ll do that.”

“So when are you putting the ball and chain on this young man?” Welles said, looking at Philipa.

“October, sir.”

“We sure would be honored if you and Mrs. Welles could come,” Adam said.

“We’d love to come, Adam, but it might not be possible.”

“Oh?”

“Mmm-hmm. Say, my train doesn’t leave until late afternoon tomorrow. I’m staying at the Pennsylvania Hotel. Could you meet me at the hotel dining room at noon? I’d sure like to spend a little time with you.”

“I’ve got a court date in the morning, sir, but the judges in this city like to eat at noon, so I’m sure there’ll be an adjournment at about eleven-thirty. I’ll look forward to having lunch with you.”

“Wonderful!” Welles shook hands with Adam, told Philipa how glad he was to have met her, and turned to other people who were waiting to talk to him.

At noon the next day, Adam Burke and Manfred Welles sat at lunch, enjoying their time together. After talking about Adam’s days at Harvard, Welles said, “Last night when you said you would like for Martha and me to come to your wedding, I said it might not be possible. I’d like to explain what I meant.”

“Good. You’ve had me wondering about that.”

“I haven’t told anyone here about it, Adam, but I recently resigned my position at Harvard.”

“You … you resigned your professorship, sir?”

“That’s right.”

“But you’re too young to retire.”

“I turned fifty-one in May, Adam, but my resigning at Harvard doesn’t mean I’m retiring.”

“Well, good, I’m glad to hear that. What are you planning to do, sir?”

“Let me preface my answer by first telling you that several years ago I took Martha on a trip to Cheyenne City, Wyoming. We had some friends who moved there, and they asked us to come visit them. Well, we did … and I fell in love with the West.”

Adam inched forward on his chair. “Really, sir?”

“I’ve had a hankering to move out to the wide open spaces ever since.”

Adam smiled. “So you’re going out west?”

“That’s right … to Grand Island, Nebraska. We had to cross Nebraska to get to Cheyenne City, and that big sky and the openness of it captured me. I have a lawyer friend who has been in Grand Island for some fifteen years. The town has grown steadily, and so has my friend’s practice. He wrote me a couple of months ago, asking if I would come out and become his partner. I took him up on it. This is why I couldn’t commit to coming to your wedding.”

Welles looked closely at Adam and said, “You seem excited about something I’ve said. What is it?”

“Well, sir, right after I graduated from Harvard, my uncle in Boston took me with him on a trip to California. Those wide open spaces captured me, too. I see the western frontier as a place where a man can breathe free. I’ve made up my mind that I’m taking Philipa out there to start our married life. I’m going to find a growing town and establish my own law firm. The way people are moving west, I’m sure if I choose the right town, I can build a successful firm. It’s my dream.”