Oh Danny Boy (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #5)

I passed Matilda with a smile on my face.

“Miss Murphy, what a delightful surprise.” The old lady reached out her hand to me. In the year since I’d seen her she had shrunk a little, her face becoming more birdlike with that fierce, prominent beak and those sharp, black eyes. I took the fragile hand.

“How are you, Miss Van Woekem?”

“Bored, as usual, but otherwise well enough. And yourself? When I heard nothing more from you, I began to wonder whether you had returned home to Ireland or left town.”

“Nothing of the kind.”

“Take a seat, please, do. And Matilda, we’ll take coffee and some of Cook’s gingerbread.”

Matilda shot me another hostile stare as she curtseyed and left the room.

“Now do tell me, Miss Murphy—” Miss Van Woekem had not let go of my hand. For all its apparent fragility she had a grip like a talon—“are you still pursuing your career as a lady investigator?”

“I am.”

“And how is it going? Any juicy cases to report on?”

“I’m afraid not at the moment. I’ve just returned from a case on the Hudson River.”

“So I heard,” she said dryly. Well, of course she would have heard. I waited to sense her reaction.

“So Daniel Sullivan finally showed that he has some spunk after all,” she said at last. “I was wondering how long he’d allow himself to be led around on a leash by my goddaughter. Quite an unsuitable match. I said so from the very first. But she wouldn’t listen, of course. Always been head-strong.” She eyed me, head tilted to one side, making her look even more birdlike. “No, you’re a far better choice for him, even if you don’t have Arabella’s money. You’re both Irish for one thing. Like should marry like.”

“I’m not intending to marry Captain Sullivan,” I said.

“You’re not? But I thought…”

The coffee and cake arrived. The maid placed the tray on the table between us. “Do you want me to stay and pour, madam?” she asked.

“That’s all right. Miss Murphy can take care of me,” Miss Van Woekem said.

The maid departed with a rustle of starched skirts.

I picked up the coffeepot. “Do you take your coffee with milk in the afternoons?”

“Cream, please. I am still digesting what you just told me,” she said. “I had always assumed that you and Captain Sullivan had some sort of understanding, or would have had had he not been committed to my goddaughter. Did I make a mistake on that? I am most surprised. I’m usually a very good observer of human nature.”

I poured the coffee and handed her a cup. “No, you weren’t wrong. There certainly was—a spark, shall we say—between the captain and myself. But even if I were prepared to forgive his past behavior, Captain Sullivan is in no position to marry anybody. He has been arrested and is in prison awaiting trial.”

“In prison, you say?” The old lady’s reaction made me sure that this was indeed news to her. “On what charge?”

“On a trumped-up charge, Miss Van Woekem. Money slipped into an envelope to make it appear that he was accepting a bribe. And this in full view of the new commissioner.”

“Mercy me.” Miss Van Woekem put her hand to the cameo at her throat. “In jail for accepting a bribe? From what we hear half the New York police have feathered their nests very nicely in a similar manner.”

“But Daniel says he has never accepted a bribe in his life. Someone is out to discredit him.”

“Has he retained a good lawyer for himself? He should at least be out on bail.”

Good lawyer. Out on bail. Those words echoed in my head. I had little knowledge of the law, but surely this was exactly what Daniel needed right now. I was surprised he hadn’t thought of it himself. “All I know is that his fellow officers have turned against him, and he doesn’t want his father to know of this because of the father’s weak heart. He has asked me to help him clear his name.”

Miss Van Woekem stared at me over the coffee cup. “And how, exactly, do you propose to do this?”

“I have no idea,” I said. “A matter like this is beyond my sphere of experience. But I thought I’d start off by talking with your goddaughter.”

“Arabella? Do you think that’s wise? I don’t think she’d entirely welcome a visit from you.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t,” I said, “but I have to know whether this business started with her.”

“How do you mean?” Her voice was sharp.

“Whether this might have been intended to pay back Daniel for breaking their engagement.”

“Arabella might be a spoiled miss, but she has been brought up properly,” Miss Van Woekem said. “She would never even consider such a lowly action. I’m surprised at you, Miss Murphy.”