Murphy's Law (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #1)

That caused him to smile. "Now I have to ask you the following questions: have you ever been convicted of a crime?"

"No, sir," I replied, dropping my eyes. I was glad that he hadn't asked me if I had ever committed a crime. I was sure my face would have given me away.

"And I have to ask also--are you an anarchist?" "No to that also."

He handed the papers back to me. "Here you are, Mrs. O'Connor. You have your twenty-five dollars, do you? I'll have you escorted down to the baggage room. If your husband is outside, you can go."

Then I was passed and a free woman, almost. And he hadn't even looked at the five-pound note I had in my pocket. I glanced back to see if Michael was anywhere in sight but a young official motioned me to follow him.

"You'll change your money here," he said. "I'll wait."

It wasn't a query, it was an order, and he stood there, leaning against the wall, watching me. I decided it wouldn't hurt Michael to have his pounds changed into dollars for him. I went up to the barred counter and handed through my five-pound note. The man behind the bars gave me an encouraging smile. "For you," he said, "For the lovely lady, nice shiny new coins. Here you go."

He handed me a pile of silver and copper coins. I took them, five pennies and some small silver coins. Less than a dollar in all. The man must take me for an idiot!

"Very nice," I said, "And now I'd like the rest of it, please. Dollar coins will do very nicely for the other twenty-four that you owe me."

"I'm getting it. I'm getting it," he snapped and slammed the coins down on the counter. I took my time to count them. I was angry enough to explode. It was perfectly obvious the fellow

had been trying to cheat me. He hadn't reckoned on my reading English so well and having a quick brain. How many poor devils were cheated out of their savings here, and out on the street with no money for the train fare or a room? I glanced around. I could go back and find Captain Sullivan. He might be interested to hear that wholesale trickery was going on at Ellis Island. But on the other hand, he might not. And if I made a fuss, these people might change their minds and come up with an excuse to send me straight back to Ireland.

"Thank you so much, sir," I said with a smile that let him know that I knew. "Twenty-four silver dollars it is. How lucky my old father taught me to count, wasn't it? Come children." I went to take Bridie's hand, then I exclaimed, "Don't tell me she's left her favorite doll back in there. I'll have to go back for it or she'll not sleep tonight. Watch the little ones please. I won't be a tick."

Then I ran back past the astonished inspector, past the inspection station before anyone could stop me. I was in luck. Michael was just coming out of a side room. He stood looking around in a rather dazed manner. I rushed up to him and shoved the pile of coins into his hands. "Michael! Am I glad to see you--I've been looking everywhere. Here. Twenty-five dollars. I had them changed for you," I closed his hands around the coins. "There's rather a lot. Don't drop them. I have to go. Meet you at that park. Noon tomorrow."

"Kathleen, wait," he called after me. "I can't ... you don't understand ..."

"Noon tomorrow," I mouthed, and ran back to the waiting children.

We retrieved our bundles and came out onto the dock. A fierce, bitter breeze was blowing, splashing up waves over the side and dotting the harbor with white caps. We stood, blinking in the light of the setting sun. Seagulls were screaming and the American flag was flapping like crazy. Suddenly we were thrust into a world of noise and motion and color. It was hard to adjust.

"Is your husband here, missus?" our escort asked.

I bent down to Seamus. "Do you see your daddy?" I whispered.

A short, stocky man was eyeing us with interest, half taking a step forward from the crowd that stood

on the dock.

"I--I think that's him," Seamus whispered.

"Go and run ahead to him. See if he recognizes you."

Seamus took a couple of hesitant steps. "Daddy?" he asked.

"Seamus? My boy?" The man's face broke into a delighted grin and he also started to trot forward. "I'd not have recognized you. You're all grown up. Come and give your old daddy a hug."

Seamus flung himself into his father's arms. Bridie and I followed.

"And where's my little girl?" Seamus the elder looked up. I pushed Bridie forward but she clung to my skirts. "And where's Kathleen?"

The inspector was still hovering. I took the plunge. I rushed up to him and flung my arms around his neck. "Pretend you know me or they'll be taking the little ones back to Ireland again," I whispered. "Pretend that I'm Kathleen. I'll explain all when we're alone."

His arms came awkwardly around my waist. We stayed like that until the inspector had gone back into the building.