In Like Flynn (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #4)

“I suppose the Hudson Dusters pay you off, like the other gangs do,” I said.

He glared at me. “Contrary to popular belief, the New York police force is not in the pay of the gangs. We just learn which battles are worthfightingand which aren't. If Nobby is charged with picking a pocket hell be away for a few months at the most. I'd rather wait to pin the big one on him.”

He attempted to steer me toward the curb.

“Wait,” I said. Tm not going home. I still have my shopping to do.”

“I don't want you going back to that store.” Daniel continued to scowl at me. “You go straight home and 111 have one of our men do your shopping for you. What was it you were buying?”

I wasn't going to let Daniel know that myfinanceswere rather precarious recently, owing to a distinct lack of work, and that I was going to buy a couple of slices of cold tongue for our evening meal.

“It’s all right. Nothing that can't be purchased in the morning, I suppose,” I said. “But I'm a big girl now. I can cross streets by myself.”

“Sometimes I wonder about that,” he said and he smiled.

The aggressive Daniel was easier to handle than the smiling one. I went to pull away from him. Hisfingersslid down my arm until he held my hand in his, examining my fingers.

“No ring yet, I see,” he said. “Not yet promised to the bearded wonder then?”

“If you are referring to Mr. Singer, we are not exactly promised but we have an understanding,” I said stiffly.

“Molly—” he began in an exasperated voice.

“And I take it you are still affianced to Miss Norton?”

“I think she tires of me at last,” Daniel said. “She told me I was boring and lacked ambition the other day. That’s a good sign, wouldn't you say?”

“Good for whom?” I asked. “Really, Daniel, my life is too busy for idle thoughts about you and Miss Norton.”

“Are you still pursuing thisridiculousnotion of being an investigator?”

I nodded. “Doing rather well at it, if you want to know. Almost as good as Paddy Riley was.”

“Paddy Riley got himself killed,” he reminded me.

“Apart from that.”

He crossed the street beside me and stopped at the entrance to Patchin Place, the small cobblestoned backwater where I lived. “I have to go back, but you'll be all right from here, won't you?” he asked.

“I was perfectly all right before,” I said. “I really can take care of myself, you know, Daniel. You need not worry about me.”

“But I do. And I think about you often. Don't tell me that you never think of me?”

“Never have time,” I said briskly “Good day to you, Captain Sullivan. Thank you for escorting me home.”

I left him standing at the entrance to Patchin Place.





TWO


I did not look back as I walked down Patchin Place. I had handled that encounter rather well, in fact, I was pleased with myself. I had shown Daniel Sullivan that he no longer had a hold over me. I had come across as a confident, successful woman. Maybe I should change my profession instantly and ask my playwright friend Ryan O'Hare for a part in his next play on the basis of that convincing performance.

Because if truth were known, I wasn't exactly flourishing at the moment. I can't say I was making a fortune as a private investigator. P. Riley and Associates still received a good number of inquiries, but when they found out the investigator was a woman, the interest often waned. The general opinion was that you couldn't trust a woman to be discreet. Women were known for not being able to hold their tongues. That had been Paddy’s opinion too, although I think he was changing his mind about me when he was killed. I still missed him. I was still angry that he had gone before he could teach me all the tricks of the trade.