He took a step closer and loomed over me. “Stay out of this, Molly. This is not child's play. Paddy was a cunning old man who knew how to take care of himself. If someone managed to kill him—”
“Wolski thinks it was a hired assassin,” I said.
Daniel nodded. “Could be.”
I looked around the room, remembering the chaos, the file cabinet on its side. “But not a revenge killing. If you were hired to kill someone in revenge, you'd stab them and go. The killer was still here, remember. He was still looking for something.”
“And you were having your own little snoop to find out what?”
“And what if I was? Someone has to use their brains around here. That pale, arrogant Wolski wasn't making much effort to get to the truth. Couldn't you get someone else assigned to the case?”
“Ah, well, that wouldn't be easy. Take an officer off a case and you're saying essentially that he's not up to the job. One day you may need that officer to cover your back. And I don't think I could drum up much enthusiasm for a full-scale investigation anyway. Everyone at Mulberry Street HQ expected to find Paddy's body floating in the Hudson one day, given the life he led.”
“But you—you must think it's worth investigating, or you wouldn't be here.”
“As I said, Paddy was doing a little business for me. If he had managed to come up with the facts I wanted— they might be around here somewhere and I'd sure like to have them.”
“What kind of facts?”
“I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything at all. More than my job's worth. It was strictly hush-hush, between Paddy and me.” He glanced around the room.
I remembered something I had forgotten until now. “The day before he was killed he told me he'd like to speak to you.”
“And you didn't pass on the message?” he demanded angrily.
“It wasn't put like that. He just mentioned, casually, as I was going out of the door,‘Oh, and if you happen to see Captain Sullivan, you might tell him I'd like a word with him.’ Something like that. Of course, he didn't know that it wasn't likely I'd be seeing you in the future. I didn't think any more of it at the time.”
“Damn,” he muttered, then cleared his throat. “Sorry for the bad language. It just slips out occasionally. So he had found something.”
“He certainly had,” I said. “He spent the evening at Delmonico's, spying on a couple in a private dining room, I think. But then, on his way home he overheard something that really rattled him. He babbled on to me, which wasn't like him. Usually he wouldn't discuss his cases with me.”
“Did he say what it was that had rattled him?”
I shook my head. “I can't even remember the words he used now. I got the impression he'd seen someone he recognized, but the person hadn't recognized him because he was in one of his disguises. And the person didn't think he could be overheard. I think he said‘he.’ That's right. He said‘Him of all people.’ He said things had taken an unexpected turn and he'd need to look into it further. He sent me away. He didn't want me around.”
“He was on to something dangerous then,” Daniel said, and nodded as if confirming his own suspicions. “He wanted you to stay away and I'm telling you the same thing now. I want you to go home now and stay there. No more thoughts of snooping, or even of cleaning up until we know what we're dealing with.”
“So you will be looking into this yourself?”
“I'm going to have my own little snoop around here, ask some discreet questions in the right places, but it's still Sergeant Wolksi's investigation, and he certainly wouldn't take kindly to any interference from a woman.”
“Sergeant Wolski couldn't detect his own nose on a foggy day. He didn't even bother to search the room properly.”
“May not have been necessary. The police have feelers in a lot of places. If it was anything to do with the gangs, one of our informants will tip us off.”
“And then what will you do?”
“Probably just let it go. No, don't look like that—we probably don't have a hope in Hades of pinning it on anyone.”
“And if it wasn't a gang killing?”
“We'll look into it. In our own way. In our own time.” He grabbed me suddenly by the shoulders. “Either way you are to stay out of it. It's police business, do you hear me?”
I shook myself free from him. “You can't tell me what to do. I work here. I have every right to come and clean up this office as soon as the police have released it as a crime scene. And they took one evening to do that. They didn't even bother to pick up the papers on the floor. They are not going to take die trouble to find his killer, Daniel.”
“And neither are you!” His voice had been getting louder and angrier. “Go home, Molly. That's an order.” He grabbed my shoulders again. “My God, I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to you.”