Murder on Amsterdam Avenue (22 page)

“Who would want to poison Daisy, though?”

“And most of all,
why
?” Sarah added.

“Maybe Daisy knew who had poisoned Charles.”

“Why didn't she just tell someone then? Gino gave her every opportunity.”

“Maybe because it's someone she wants to protect.”

“Like her sister.”

Malloy straightened in surprise. “What sister?”

“Jenny Oakes is Daisy's sister, or was, I mean.”

“Who told you that?”

“Reverend Nicely. When she first came to New York, Daisy told him she was trying to find her sister. Well, her half sister, I guess. It seems some slave owners fathered children with their slaves as well as with their lawful wives.”

“So Jenny was his daughter by his wife, and Daisy was his daughter by a slave.”

“Which would make them half sisters.”

“And when Jenny married Gerald Oakes, she left her sister behind.” Malloy shook his head in wonder.

“We already suspected Daisy was bitter about being left when we thought she was just Jenny's servant. But if they were sisters . . .”

“She must've been really angry about that.”

“I don't know if she was or not. Would a slave expect her mistress to take her North with her, even if they were related? She was apparently very certain Jenny would take her in when she got to New York, though.”

“And she was right about that. But could she really forgive Jenny for leaving her behind?”

Sarah sighed. “I don't think I could, especially if my own sister did it, and if she still hated Jenny, Daisy had a good reason for killing Charles.”

“But who had a good reason for killing Daisy?”

Sarah had to think about this for a minute. “We're back to the same old theory: Maybe Jenny figured out what she'd done to Charles and took some revenge of her own.”

“But why not just turn Daisy over to the police for killing Charles?”

Sarah instantly knew the answer to that. “Because a case like this would be a sensational story for the newspapers, and she didn't want people to find out that she had a colored half sister.”

“If Daisy killed Charles, that explains why she was so scared when Gino questioned her, too.”

“Yes, it does.” Sarah sipped her coffee and considered all the facts again. “Except . . .”

“Except what?”

“Except how did she poison Charles the first two times, when he was away from home?”

This time Malloy considered. “Maybe she gave him something to eat that he took with him when he left the house.”

“The same thing Daisy brought with her today?”

Malloy frowned. “That doesn't make sense, does it? Unless Daisy wanted to commit suicide.”

“And even if she did, why would she poison her friends, too?”

“You're right, that doesn't make sense. But maybe somebody figured out how Daisy had poisoned Charles and played the same trick on Daisy.”

“That seems possible,” Sarah agreed. “Maybe someone at the Oakes house will know what Charles was likely to have taken with him.”

“Of course, we're just assuming that Daisy and the Nicely women were poisoned with arsenic.”

“Can we find out for sure?”

“Yes, we can. That's the main reason I brought Wesley
here. He's going to check Daisy's body for evidence of arsenic poisoning.”

Sarah glanced at the door behind which the Reverend Nicely slept and lowered her voice. “What about Mrs. Nicely?”

“He'll check her body, too. I told him the Oakes family wanted Daisy embalmed, so he'll do the same for Mrs. Nicely.”

“Did the Oakes family really say they'd pay for Mrs. Nicely's funeral?”

“No, but I'll put it on their bill.”

Sarah thought that was probably fair. Mrs. Nicely wouldn't have died if someone hadn't killed Charles in the first place. “How on earth are we going to figure out who is responsible for all of this?”

“One way is to find out how Daisy and the Nicely women were poisoned. Could someone else have visited the Nicelys while Reverend Nicely was out?”

“I don't know. They do have a lot of friends. Mr. Zeller said the house was full of women helping when he got here this morning. All but one of them had left by the time I arrived, though.”

“If there were a lot of women here, then that explains it.”

“Explains what?”

“What happened to the poison or whatever the poison was in. The one thing women can't resist doing is cleaning up.”

“Oh my, I didn't think of that! Of course. They would have washed up any dishes and cleared away any trash.”

“Can we find out who was here? Somebody will remember.”

Sarah glanced at the bedroom door again. “Reverend Nicely probably could, but I couldn't bear to disturb him.”

“I suppose it can wait until he wakes up.”

Sarah went back in to tend to Isabel, and when she was
finished, she found Malloy facing off three women. One of them was the woman who had been there earlier when Sarah had first arrived. She recognized Sarah, and nodded. They were all carrying plates covered with cloths, obviously supper for the Reverend Nicely.

“She's a nurse,” the woman she recognized said to the others, nodding to indicate Sarah. “Where's Reverend Nicely?”

“He's resting,” Sarah said.

“Who's he?” one of them asked, nodding at Malloy.

“This is Mr. Malloy, my fiancé,” Sarah said.

“He looks like police,” the woman said.

“I'm not with the police,” he assured them. They didn't look like they believed him.

“How's Isabel doing?” the first woman asked.

“She's still unconscious, but I've been giving her milk. The doctor was here, and he said it's important to give her liquids.”

“We can do that now. You don't need to stay.”

The message was plain. Sarah and Malloy were unwelcome here. Or perhaps they were simply not trusted. No one in this neighborhood had any reason to trust white people, least of all one who looked like he might be with the police.

“May I show you how to give Isabel the liquids without choking her?” Sarah asked.

The three women exchanged glances and some silent communication, and then the first woman said, “I suppose that'd be all right.”

“I'll wait outside,” Malloy said, and Sarah bit back a smile at his cowardice.

Sarah gave the woman a quick lesson, then collected her things. The women had already set out the supper they had prepared for the Reverend Nicely. She only hoped they wouldn't wake him up to feed him. She was at the door before
she remembered what she and Frank had wanted to know. “Were any of you ladies here earlier, helping out?”

None of them answered. Their dark eyes simply stared at her suspiciously.

She tried again. “We were wondering if anyone noticed anything strange, something that didn't belong here.” The question sounded odd even to Sarah, and the women acted like they hadn't even heard it. She gave up and said, “Please tell Reverend Nicely to send for me if he needs anything.” She offered her calling card to the women, but none of them would accept it, so she left it lying on the table.

Malloy was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. He took her medical bag, gave her his arm, and they started down the street. They were the only white people visible in any direction. People stared at them from windows and doorways, and children stopped their play to watch them walk by. Malloy waited until they were a block away from the church building before he asked, “Why do people always think I'm a policeman?”

“They don't always think that.”

“Yes, they do, even when I'm wearing a tailor-made suit. Do you know how much this suit cost?”

“I'm sure it's just your imposing manner.”

Malloy made a rude noise and let the subject drop. “Did you find out anything from those women?”

“I asked if they were here earlier and if they'd noticed anything out of the ordinary, but they didn't even reply. This is going to be much more difficult than I expected.”

“I could have told you that. Colored people in this city learn pretty quickly that the best way to stay out of trouble is to keep quiet, and even that doesn't always work.”

“But we're trying to help.”

“They don't know that. They probably think you want to blame one of them for making those women sick.”

“That's what Jenny Oakes warned me about. She said Daisy would think she was being blamed for Charles's death, no matter what we told her. If only I'd gotten to talk to her.”

“She probably wouldn't have told you any more than she told Gino.”

“We'll never know now, will we?”

He sighed. “No, we won't.

•   •   •

T
he next morning, Sarah set Maeve and Catherine to the task of packing a basket of food for the Reverend Nicely. As she'd lain awake last night, too distraught over the tragedy she'd seen at the Nicely house to sleep, she'd decided she had to go back this morning. She would check on Isabel and enlist the Reverend Nicely's help in questioning the women who had been at his house on Sunday to care for the sick women. He was probably the only one who could discover what they knew, since she was sure none of those women would speak to her, and they certainly wouldn't tell Malloy anything either.

Malloy would probably want to go with her, but she would have to go alone if she had any hope of finding out the truth.

“I could go with you,” Maeve said as they were wrapping food for the basket. “So you wouldn't be alone and Mr. Malloy could stay with the workmen.”

“Who would look after Catherine?” Sarah asked.

Catherine grinned. “Mrs. Ellsworth.”

“Did you two already discuss this?” Sarah asked.

Maeve smiled innocently. “Of course not, but when I go someplace, Mrs. Ellsworth always watches Catherine.”

“She gives me cookies,” Catherine said.

“We'll see,” Sarah said, thinking she'd keep it as an option if Malloy simply refused to let her go alone.

•   •   •

F
rank and Gino were in the kitchen discussing Gino's fruitless visits to the various pharmacies yesterday and making their plans for the day when Frank heard the oddest sound. “What was that?”

“It sounded like a doorbell,” Gino said.

Frank made his way down the hall toward the front door, and sure enough, he heard it again. It really was a doorbell. He threw the door open to find Sarah, Maeve, and Catherine on the stoop.

“The doorbell works,” he said.

“Yes,” Maeve said. “I had one of the workmen fix it yesterday. And did you know they finished the bathroom? It just needs a good cleaning now.”

Frank stood back while the females entered. He felt a little stunned.

Gino greeted Catherine warmly, Sarah politely, and Maeve shyly.

“Did Brian already go to school?” Catherine asked him.

“I'm afraid so. What are you going to do today?”

“Eat cookies with Mrs. Ellsworth.”

Frank gave Sarah a questioning look.

“I need to go see Reverend Nicely and check on Isabel,” she said. “Maeve said she'd go with me, so you don't have to leave the house.”

“Gino and I were going to find Mrs. Peabody's nephew to see if we can figure out all the places Charles Oakes was the day he first got poisoned. I was going to ask if you could stay here with the workmen, but now . . .” He eyed Maeve, sure he'd never really seen her clearly before.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

“Because I don't think I ever really appreciated your talents, Maeve. You're going to stay here with the workmen today, and maybe we can get them to finish with the house before New Year's.”

Maeve started to protest, but Catherine beat her to it. “I wanted to eat cookies with Mrs. Ellsworth.”

“I'm sure Mrs. Ellsworth can bring cookies over here,” Frank said. He turned to Sarah. “As for you going to see Reverend Nicely—”

“I can go alone,” she said. “I'll be less intimidating that way.”

“Gino can go with you,” he said, not liking the idea of her going off to that part of town by herself.

“Don't be silly. Gino looks as much like a policeman as you do. Nobody will tell me a thing if he's with me. The person who killed those women won't be down there today, I promise you. I'll be perfectly safe.”

Frank tried pointing out that no one in New York City was ever perfectly safe, and Sarah pointed out that she wouldn't be in any more danger today than she was on any other day, and in the end, he had to admit she should probably go by herself.

Maeve and Catherine stayed behind to supervise the workmen, although they were both pouting. Frank and Gino went in search of Percy, and Sarah set out for the Reverend Nicely's house.

•   •   •

W
hen Sarah arrived at the church and climbed the outside staircase, she found the door still standing open to the warm breeze. She knocked on the doorjamb. “Hello?”

A woman came out of Isabel's room. It was the woman she had first met yesterday. She didn't look happy to see Sarah. “What do you want?”

“I brought some food,” Sarah said, holding up her basket
to prove it, “and I thought I'd check on Isabel. How is she doing?”

“She's doing just fine. We don't need your help anymore.”

“Did she wake up?”

Plainly, the woman didn't want to give her any information at all, but she said, “She asked for her mama.”

How horrible, Sarah thought. “May I come in and examine her?”

“I don't know what Reverend Nicely would say about that,” the woman said.

“Where is he? Can we ask him?”

“He's right here,” the Reverend Nicely said, coming out of the other room. He was just shrugging into his suit coat. “It's nice of you to come, Mrs. Brandt. Sister Mary, why don't you take that basket from Mrs. Brandt and get her a cup of coffee?”