Tell Me, Pretty Maiden (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #7)

Then there was the girl we had found in the park that morning. I knew she was no longer my business, but I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I had to make sure she was all right and safely home among her loved ones. And I was dying to know exactly what had happened to her. My mother had always warned me that my curiosity would be the death of me—if one of my other sins didn’t put an end to me first.

So how could I possibly juggle two assignments at once? I couldn’t be in two places at once, that was sure. Miss Lovejoy would presumably be at the theater primarily in the evenings, which was exactly when I should be following Mr. Roth. What I needed was an employee. Then suddenly it came to me. I had the perfect person to work with me. Instead of mounting the steps to the Twenty-third Street El station, I kept walking on Twenty-third until I came to the brownstone where Daniel had rooms. His landlady, Mrs. O’Shea, was delighted to see me.

“Why, Miss Murphy. You’re a sight for sore eyes, and that’s a fact. You’ll no doubt cheer the poor man up,” she said. “Grumpy and gloomy doesn’t describe it these days, does it?”

“He’s going through a bad time,” I said. “Is he home?”

“Just got in some ten minutes ago,” she said. “I was just about to ask him if he’d like to join us for supper. I don’t like to think of him brooding alone up there.”

“I’ll go on up then,” I said.

“You’re most welcome to stay for supper, too,” she said. “I’ve made enough Irish stew to feed half of New York.”

“Thank you, but I have to be somewhere else this evening. But I’ll pass on the invitation to Daniel then, shall I?”

“Most kind of you.” She beamed as I went to climb the stairs. “I bet you’ll be glad when this is all over and you and the captain can get on with your lives again,” she muttered confidentially. “He’s of an age when he needs to settle down with a family of his own.”

“I will be glad when his current problems are over,” I agreed, and went up the stairs before she could ask any questions I couldn’t answer.

Daniel looked startled as he opened his front door and saw me standing there.

“Molly, what on earth are you doing here?”

“Well, that’s a fine way to greet the woman who is supposed to be the love of your life,” I said.

“But we parted only two hours ago,” he said. “Even the most ardent lovers wouldn’t miss each other in such a short space of time. Unless, of course, you regretted sending me out into the snow last night with only one chaste kiss and have come to make amends?”

“I’ve come to do no such thing,” I said. “It’s a business proposition I have for you.”

I didn’t wait any longer to be invited but pushed past him into his rooms. It’s funny how you can always tell a man’s residence from a woman’s. That lingering herby smell of pipe tobacco, the austere polished wood, rows of serious-looking books, leather armchairs with no fluffy cushions, nothing frivolous or unnecessary. I swear, if Victorian men had been responsible for decorating their houses, there would never have been a solitary stuffed bird or aspidistra in sight.

I seated myself into one of the leather armchairs on either side of his fireplace without being asked.

“You saw Miss Sheehan?” Daniel asked. “Did you get the money she owed you?”

“She was conveniently out of checks,” I said. “She promised to mail it to me. I’ll believe it when I see it, but she did offer me another job.”

“After what she put you through the first time? I hope you turned her down.”

“It’s not for her but for a friend. And I have to admit that it sounds intriguing. Another actress. Blanche Lovejoy.”

“Blanche Lovejoy?”

“You know her then?”

“Know her? She’s a big star, or rather she was a big star a few years ago. There was a time when a Blanche Lovejoy musical comedy was always playing on Broadway. And before that she made her name in vaudeville. I remember seeing her when I was a college student. Some of her songs were very risqué. So what does Blanche Lovejoy want you to do for her?”

“I’m not quite sure yet, but I’d like to pay her a visit at the theater this evening. However, this is where I run into a problem. I already have an assignment. I should be shadowing Mr. Roth in the evenings.”

“You certainly can’t do two jobs at once,” Daniel said.

“No, I can’t. Unless—” I paused for dramatic effect. “—unless I take on someone to help me. A business associate.”

“Really? Can you afford to do that? And would they do a good enough job?”

“I hope so,” I said. “It was you I was thinking of, Daniel.”

“Me? You’re asking me to come and work for you?”

“You have the right qualifications for the job,” I said, trying not to smile, because I was actually enjoying this moment. “And you told me yourself that you’re sitting home twiddling your thumbs while I have more work than I can handle. I’m offering you a chance to keep your hand in at your detective skills. I’ll give you seventy-five percent of the fee.”

“Only seventy-five?” He was smiling too now.