Oh Danny Boy (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #5)

“I suggest her parents hire a private investigator in California.”


“I had hoped that you’d come to the house and let me show you her room, then you’d see for yourself. And you’d know the right questions to ask people at the station and all that sort of thing.”

“I’ll try to do that for you as soon as I have time,” I said. “I know you must be feeling frustrated that wheels are not being put in motion.”

“I am. And I am itching to do more myself, if only I had a direction to follow. So let me ask you, Miss Murphy. Now that you’ve heard her story—what do you think could have happened to her?”

“I don’t know her. If she claims she has run away with a penniless young man, where would she have met him? You know how strictly she was chaperoned at home. You know her interests and at whose houses she was welcome.”

“I have already done what I can,” she said. “Of course none of our friends entertain penniless young men. I can’t even think of any gardeners or grooms or tutors who have recently vanished from the neighborhood. And Letitia is not the type who would go out riding or shopping alone to the kind of places where she could have met young men. She was well chaperoned and was actually afraid to go anywhere alone.”

“You mentioned that she might have been abducted by an unscrupulous man. Where would she have met him?”

“I have no idea. Unless—” She paused and looked up suddenly from her teacup. “I hadn’t thought of this before, but her mother is one of those ladies who does good works and helps at a settlement house here in the city. Sometimes she took Letitia with her, so it’s just possible that the penniless young man or the unscrupulous abductor met her there.”

“Yes,” I said, “and that is something I can investigate for you.”

Her face lit up. “I knew it was a good idea to come here.”

“I can’t promise anything,” I said, “but I have friends who are active at the settlement houses. Do you have Letitia’s picture with you?”

“Yes, I do,” she said. She opened her purse and produced a framed sepia print. It was of two young girls, sitting side by side on a wicker chair, with a white lapdog between them. One of them was an enchantingly dimpled Arabella Norton, the other a paler, less vibrant girl, her light hair held back from her face with a big black bow, and then cascading over her shoulders. She looked exactly like Mr. Tenniel’s illustrations in Alice in Wonderland, which used to be my most treasured possession.

“That was taken about five years ago now when we were leaving Miss Marchbank’s Academy,” Arabella said. “But I don’t think we’ve changed much. Except that Letitia now wears her hair up.”

“It’s strikingly fair,” I said. “You’d expect people to remember if they’d seen her.”

“Yes, her hair is her finest feature,” Arabella said. “When she wears it up, it’s like a great golden halo. Everyone says she looks like those old pictures of saints.”

“I wonder how she communicated with this man,” I said. “Have you asked her family whether she received any mail recently?”

“They are all completely in the dark. Letitia was not a girl with a wide social circle, and her friends were all in the neighborhood. I’m sure her family would have noticed if she’d received letters from someone whose name they didn’t recognize.”

“You know what I’m wondering, Miss Norton,” I said. “You’re saying she was a quiet, mousy type of girl. When you were together, everyone would pay attention to you, would they not?”

“I’m afraid they would.” She couldn’t resist a little smile at this thought.

“Then might this not be an action to draw attention to herself? Maybe she wanted her fiancé to pay her more attention; she wanted to seem more glamorous and exciting. Don’t you think it’s possible that she staged this dramatic event and is now hiding out at a friend’s house or at a hotel in the city waiting for a triumphant return?”

“Oh,” Arabella put her hand to her mouth, “I never thought of that, but you could be right. That might be in Letitia’s nature.”

“I could show her picture at suitable hotels in the city.”

“Yes. That would be wonderful of you.”

“How soon do you sail for Europe?”

“Next Monday. I come to the city again on Thursday to pick up my new wardrobe from the dressmaker. I’ll be staying with my godmother, Miss Van Woekem, so you know where to find me.”

“That doesn’t give me much time, considering the effort I have to put into Daniel’s case.”

She lifted her purse from her lap. “I should pay you a retainer in advance. Isn’t that what’s normally done in these circumstances?”