Hush Now, Don’t You Cry (32 page)

“I will tell him,” I said. “I presume he’ll be running the business now, unless the alderman left everything to another family member in his will.”

“Even if he did, they were partners,” Brady pointed out. “To be sure Mr. Joseph was the junior but he’d still be involved in the running of the company.”

I held out my hand to Brady. “Thank you for your help,” I said.

“I wish we could have come up with more,” he replied. “But he was all efficiency at the office. If anything was happening in his life outside of his work, we’d never have heard about it.”

“I’ll do my best,” I said, and went down the stairs, wondering where on earth to go next.

Thirty-three

I spent a frustrating hour visiting first Alderman Hannan’s accountant and then his attorney. The former told me in a cold and patronizing voice that he did not intend to discuss Hannan company business with anyone, least of all an unknown woman. For all he knew, I could be yet another member of the press, digging for scandal.

I assured him I was not only staying at the estate at the invitation of Alderman Hannan, but that my husband was a New York policeman. Didn’t he want to help solve Mr. Hannan’s murder, I inquired? If the police came to him, naturally he would answer their questions, he replied impassively. Until then … and he personally escorted me to the door.

The attorney was even more frustrating. His clerk informed me that he was not in the office, in fact he had gone out of town, and he couldn’t say when he would return. I came out onto Pearl Street and stood, letting the commerce of the city flow around me, wondering what else I could do. So far I had come all this way and accomplished very little. Dr. Birnbaum would not visit Kathleen. If Donald Brady knew anything, he had not divulged it to me. The accountant wouldn’t even speak to me. I was tempted to go to police headquarters and find out which officers had been working with Daniel on the investigation into the tunnel collapse and whether negligence had been found, but Daniel would not be happy that I was investigating without authority, and had kept salient facts from him. Besides, I couldn’t expose him to ridicule by his peers, that he now had his wife do his work for him.

So reluctantly I turned in the other direction, toward Hester Street and the address of the former Mr. Frederick Hermann who had died in the tunnel collapse. Hester Street was all bustle and noise as usual, a jumble of pushcarts, crying babies, grubby children dodging in and out, laundry flapping. I steered my way through the crowds and entered the stairwell of a tall, grim tenement building. The smell was the same as in all those buildings—lack of good plumbing mingled with the lingering odor of various ethnic foods—garlic, cabbage, boiled fish, fried chick peas. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say to his widow when I knocked on the door of the third floor apartment, and all thoughts went from my head when the door was opened by none other than the young man I had seen at the gate in Newport.

“Yes?” he demanded. Then he squinted, frowning at me. “I know you, don’t I?” he said. “Weren’t you the woman I spoke to at the gate? Did they send you down with more bribes to keep me quiet?”

For once words failed me. I was suddenly all too aware that I might be facing Alderman Hannan’s killer and I was alone with him on a dark third floor landing that smelled of boiled cabbage and bad drains.

“I came because you might be the one who can help us,” I said. “You must have heard that Alderman Hannan was killed.”

“I did hear something about it,” he said. “Fell off a cliff, didn’t he? Good riddance to bad rubbish.”

What on earth do I say next? “Then you must realize that the Newport police are looking for you as a possible witness,” I said.

“Why would they think that?”

“Because you came to the gates of the house at about the same time that Alderman Hannan arrived,” I said. “It is estimated that he was killed soon after that. So we wondered…”

“If I came up there to kill him?” he demanded. He took a step toward me and I realized that a steep flight of steps was right behind me. One good shove and I’d go flying down it.

“We wondered if you saw anyone on your way to or from the house,” I said. Even to me it sounded weak. Suddenly I decided to stop beating around the bush. I was in a tenement building, for the love of Mike. If I screamed, doors would open on all sides. “Why did you go there?” I asked. “You must realize that it looks bad for you.”

“And who is going to identify me?” he demanded. “Who is going to say I was there, apart from you?”

“It won’t do any good to threaten me,” I said, sticking out my chin more bravely than I felt. “I’ve already talked with the police about you, and Mr. Hannan’s secretary gave me your address. They all know I was on my way to speak with you.”

I saw the air go out of him like a deflated balloon. “You’re right,” he said. “I’ve thought about that. When I heard he had died, I knew it would look bad for me. I just hoped that nobody would be able to identify me.” He sighed. “I should never have gone up there. I’ve always been too impulsive.” He glanced back into the room. “Do you want to come in? I’ve no doubt that there are half a dozen ears glued to their doors at this moment, listening to what we have to say.”

I hesitated.
“Will you walk into my parlor,” said the spider to the fly?
And yet my instinct was to trust him. The matter was decided by a small blond head poking out of the door and saying, “Uncle Josh. Whatcha doing?”

He wasn’t likely to kill me in front of children. “Thank you,” I said and accepted his invitation. The room was well furnished by tenement standards, and trust me, I have seen enough of the other kind. A table, chairs, even an armchair by the stove, curtains at the window, a print from a magazine on the wall. This was a well-cared-for home.

“You live here too, do you?” I asked.

“I moved in to take care of Trudi and the kids,” he said. “This is no city for a woman alone.” He pulled out a chair for me and I sat. I was conscious of three small faces watching me from a backroom doorway.

“I’d offer you coffee, but I’m not sure where she keeps her things,” he said. “She’s out, working in one of the garment shops. Seeing as how I don’t have a job at the moment, someone had to bring in money.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Not nearly as sorry as I am,” he said. “My brother and I were both working on the subway, you know. Then it caved in, my brother was killed, and I was laid off. Work stopped until the investigation was completed. No money to tide us over, just good-bye and see you later.” He pulled up another chair and leaned closer to me. “I was planning to kill him, you know,” he said in a low whisper. “Because it was shoddy materials that caused that cave-in. I’ve worked on enough construction sites. I know about these things. I took a look at that collapsed tunnel. I could tell they had skimped on the rebar and poured the walls too thin. I tried to get people to listen to me, but I was warned to back off—roughed up, in fact by Hannan’s bully boys. I got the feeling that the Hannan brothers were not going to be held responsible for anything, because of who they were. So I followed him to Newport. I thought it would be easier to get him alone out there. Then he had a vehicle waiting and he took off and I lost him. And when I found the house, the gates were locked. I suppose that brought me back to my senses. I couldn’t even find a way into the damned house.”

“What did you do then?”

“I turned around and went home. Pathetic, isn’t it? I feel like such a fool.”

“And you didn’t see anyone else anywhere near the house?” I asked.

“It was dark,” he snapped. “And all I wanted to do was to get out of there and back to New York. It was foolish on my part to think I could do anything to harm people like the Hannans. But I tell you one thing. I’m glad he’s dead. I hope his family is suffering the way Trudi and the little ones are. The way I am.” He looked directly at me and I saw tears in his eyes. “We were twins you know. There’s a special bond between twins. I feel as if part of myself is missing now.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “My husband was part of a police task force looking into the tunnel collapse. If they can prove negligence or even corruption, then I’m sure you’ll get compensation.”

“It won’t bring him back, will it?” he said.

“No. It won’t bring him back.” I stood up. “Mr. Hermann, I’ll probably have to give your name to the police and they’ll come and question you, but I’ll delay as long as I can. Maybe they’ll have found the real culprit by then.”

“Thanks,” he said. “Because if they throw me in jail, then who will look after these little ones?” And he pointed toward the towheads in the doorway.

So I had established one thing—we could cross Joshua Hermann off the list of suspects, and since he was the only outsider who had been observed, again it was narrowed down to family. I couldn’t think of anyone else I could question, I made my way back to the station. With any luck I’d be back in Newport in time for tea.

As the train huffed and puffed its way along the coast I thought again about the family. Brian Hannan had had a falling out with his brother Joseph. Presumably Joseph was to blame for the substandard materials that caused the subway collapse that Daniel was investigating—and that was why he was so anxious to get Daniel out of the cottage. And that might also have been just one incident that led Brian Hannan to discover his brother had been cheating the company, But would that have made Joseph kill his brother? They were partners, after all. Brian couldn’t just throw his brother out. So my thoughts moved on to Terrence and then to Sam and I remembered something that Eliza had said. When Colleen fell from the cliff Sam had come running up late, looking guilty. If only Daniel was well enough, I’d leave the questioning of Sam to him. Men are so much better at extracting confessions from young boys.

My thoughts then turned to Kathleen. What would happen to her now that her protector had gone? Surely the rest of the family members would want her back in the asylum. How could I ever persuade them to leave her where she was in Mrs. McCreedy’s care, or better still, to let someone like Dr. Birnbaum see if he could help her.

It was only when I was on the train that I realized I had failed to do what I had claimed as my reason for going to New York—find a way to transport Daniel back home. That would look suspicious. So when the train came into Newport, I made first for the harbor and inquired about passenger ships that sailed to New York. I found there was a regular service up and down the coast and I could book a cabin with ease. My conscience thus cleared, I threw caution to the winds and took a cab to Connemara.

There were still a bevy of reporters milling around the gate. I had to push my way past them. Policemen were still guarding the gate, but they recognized me and let me in. I noticed more police outside the main house. Had something else happened? My heart beat a little faster as I walked up to the front door of our cottage. What if Daniel had taken a turn for the worse and I wasn’t there? I started walking faster and had almost broken into a run by the time I pushed the front door open. It was dark in the hallway and it took time for my eyes to accustom myself to the light and to see the figure standing at the bottom of the stairs. He spun to face me and I saw that it was Sam.

Thirty-four

“What are you doing here?” I blurted out.

His eyes darted nervously. “She said I could,” he said.

“
She?
”

“The old lady. I smelled the baking and she said I could come back when it was out of the oven.” He glanced back into the kitchen. “When I get scared I like to eat.”

“What are you scared about?” I tried to sound casual.

“You know. All the things that have been happening. Uncle Brian and now this. I want to go back to New York but the policeman says we have to stay.”

Mrs. Sullivan’s head poked around the kitchen door. “Oh, Molly, you’re back. Just in time for tea. And this young man too. I can see he needs fattening up and I’ve just been baking all of Daniel’s favorites—my soda bread and buns and Barmbrack.”

“Daniel is all right, isn’t he?” I asked.

“Oh, yes. Making splendid progress now he’s had a chance to eat some proper food,” she said. “He was talking of coming downstairs and sitting outside for a while. I gather the family is taking tea on the lawn. Well, poor things, I expect they are really shaken up by the latest developments.”

“What’s happened?” I asked.

She leaned closer to me. “It turns out that the owner of the place, the one who was murdered, was keeping his insane granddaughter up in that tower, and all this time the rest of the family thought she was safely in an asylum.”

I was finding it hard to breathe. “How did they find out?” I asked.

“The man’s lawyer came to read the will and as I understand it, there was a large sum of money left for the care of this granddaughter, provided she was looked after properly in a family home. I don’t know the rest of the details but that’s what Martha told me.”

“It’s Kathleen,” Sam blurted out. “You know, the one who pushed her sister over the cliff. Nobody knew where she was. Uncle Jo sent a telegram to the asylum where they thought she was and they sent a telegram back saying she had been taken away years ago.”

“So how did they find her?” I could hardly make the words come out.

“They found Mrs. McCreedy,” he said. “One of the maids found her early this morning when she was cleaning. She was lying on the floor dead. She’d fallen from a trapdoor and broken her neck. So Terrence and Uncle Jo got a ladder and they went up and do you know what they found? Kathleen had been living up there all this time and we never knew. So of course then they reckoned that she’d pushed Mrs. McCreedy just like she did her sister.”

“And where is Kathleen now?” It was all I could do to remain calm and not go rushing over to her.

“She’s still up there and there are policemen guarding her until they can come and take her away,” he said. He had his arms wrapped around himself, shivering as if he was cold.

“And your friends are with her,” Daniel’s mother said. “The two women who were your bridesmaids. Apparently she can only communicate in a strange language and they are experts in such things.”