Oh Danny Boy (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #5)

He nodded. “Desperate people do desperate things. Give me your address, Miss Murphy. I’ll do what I can for you.”


I got to my feet. “I much appreciate it, Sergeant O’Hallaran. To tell you the truth, I’ve started feeling it’s a hopeless case. I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing and if I don’t get Daniel out soon…” I had to look away, horrified that I might start crying again.

He put a clumsy hand on my shoulder. “Don’t you worry yourself, my dear. I’ll do my very best for you and Captain Sullivan. It will all come out right in the end. Truth will out, don’t they say?”

I nodded as he escorted me to the front door. It doesn’t always come out right in the end, I thought as I walked away. Sometimes there is no justice. Sometimes good people die and villains go free.





THIRTEEN




I could tell, as I climbed the stairs to the legal offices of J. P. Atkinson, that a top-notch lawyer had not been selected for Daniel. The office was on the fifth floor of a building on the corner of Lower Broadway and Wall Street, the other floors being taken up by a tailor’s shop, a dentist’s office (J. BLOGGETT. PAIN-FREE DENTISTRY. WE PULL ’EM—YOU WALK AWAY SMILING), and various types of small commerce. There was no elevator. The floors were covered in worn linoleum, and I was quite out of breath by the time I reached the top landing.

“I’ll see if Mr. Atkinson can see you,” a rather slatternly woman receptionist said, although through the half-open inner door, I could already see that Mr. Atkinson was not with a client. She went through to the office, a low conversation took place, then I was ushered in. The inner office was no more comfortable than the outer one had been. It had the austerity of a schoolroom.

Mr. Atkinson looked almost painfully young and skinny, straight out of some college in a suit that could have been passed down from his big brother. He had a rather fishlike expression, and the hand that shook mine felt equally cold and fishlike.

“I understand you have come about Captain Daniel Sullivan? You are a friend of his? Obviously you are concerned. We all are. But I’m not sure what exactly I can do for you.”

I had managed to keep my frustration and fear in check until now. But everyone has a breaking point, and I’ve never been known for my even temper at the best of times. His unctuous smile and limp handshake were too much.

“Do for me? More to the point, what are you doing for him?” I shouted. “If he hasn’t yet been charged with a crime, then why in heaven’s name isn’t he out on bail? Why aren’t you doing more to prove his innocence?”

He stepped back, eyeing me warily. “I assure you, my dear Miss Murphy, that I am doing everything within my powers. And as to bail—bail would have been granted, except that the captain’s assets have been frozen until it can be proven that they are not the proceeds of gang payoffs. All we can hope for is a speedy trial.”

“He’s already been in jail over a week with no charge. I don’t call that speedy. Why aren’t you doing something about it?”

He spread his hands in a gesture of futility. “It’s summertime. Many of the judges leave the city for the worst of the summer heat. Cases pile up, and we just have to wait our turn.”

I noticed that he hadn’t invited me to sit. I sat anyway.

“I have to tell you, Miss Murphy,” he said, resuming his own place at his desk, “that the captain could make it much easier on himself if he were more cooperative.”

“You mean if he pleaded guilty to a lesser offence.”

“That is exactly what I mean. Captain Sullivan doesn’t seem to realize the severity of the case against him. Accepting a bribe is one thing. Being in the pay of a known gang, betraying fellow officers—they’ll throw the book at him for those.”

“And what if he is innocent of all the charges against him? What if the money in the envelope was planted and the commissioner deliberately brought to witness the transaction? What if this whole thing were orchestrated with one thing in mind—Daniel Sullivan’s ruin?”

“That’s what he has tried to tell me.”

“Because it’s the truth.”

He smiled again—that patronizing smile made me want to punch him in the nose. “You’re a pretty young girl and the captain is a good-looking man who has a way with women. Of course you’d believe anything he told you.”

“And so should you, if you’re being paid to represent him. If you don’t start off with the belief that he’s innocent, Mr. Atkinson, then who does he have on his side? If you believe he’s guilty, then for God’s sake find him another lawyer who does believe him.”

“You’ve no doubt heard the phrase ‘beggars can’t be choosers,’ Miss Murphy? I’m doing the best I can with the limited resources given to a court-appointed defense counsel.”