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

TEN

I had a dream about the girl in the snowdrift that night. It was strange and nebulous, the way dreams are, but it was permeated with fear and I awoke feeling that I needed to visit the hospital to see if there was any news. I had expected Daniel would report on last night’s assignment, but there was no sign of him before it was time to get ready for lunch with my friends and with Elizabeth, aka Nelly Bly. I also remembered he had expressed interest in meeting Nelly Bly, so I waited for him as long as I dared before I went across Patchin Place and knocked on their door with Gus’s fur-lined cape over my arm.

“Molly, come in, we’re dying to know all,” Gus said, sweeping me through to the kitchen at the back of the house. “How did the skating go? Was the cape all right? Did it keep you warm?”

“It was perfect, thank you, and I hope I’ve returned it in good condition,” I said, “because it was put to a use I hadn’t expected.”

“Really?” The occupants of the kitchen looked up with interest. Sid was stirring pots on their big kitchen stove while Elizabeth, or was it Nelly, sat at the table with a glass of sherry in her hand. “Dare one ask what kind of use? I hope you were sensible, Molly dear.”

“More than sensible. I helped save a life. We found a girl in a snowdrift in Central Park. She was scarcely alive so we wrapped her in the cloak and whisked her to the nearest hospital.”

Elizabeth leaned forward in her seat, her face alight. “My dear, how very interesting. Who was she and what was she doing in a snowdrift?”

“We don’t yet know,” I said. “She regained consciousness but didn’t say a word. It was almost as if she didn’t understand us. We thought that maybe she spoke another language.”

“I wonder what she was doing alone in Central Park then,” Sid said. “Young ladies who speak no English don’t usually wander around alone, especially in the swank uptown area. They stay in their neighborhoods, don’t they?”

This was a valid comment. “It’s all very intriguing,” I said, “because she was not dressed for an outing in the snow. She wore no coat, and only a flimsy white silk dress.”

“Maybe she had been robbed and her coat had been taken. The criminal element in this city would kill for less than a winter coat in weather like this.”

“I would agree,” I said, “except that she only had dainty little evening slippers on her feet and they were soaked through. She wouldn’t have intentionally gone out at all in those.”

“What a fascinating mystery,” Sid said. “So will you find out more?”

“She can’t walk away from something so delicious,” Elizabeth said. “It’s an investigator’s dream. If she doesn’t pursue it, I shall do so myself.”

“I’m going back to the hospital today,” I said. “I hope to hear good news. That she has recovered her faculties and her family has been contacted.”

“Do keep us informed, won’t you, Molly,” Gus said. “You know how we love a good puzzle.”

“And you can drop me a note and keep me informed as well,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll give you my card. I’m moving into the Fifth Avenue Hotel while I carry out my research.”

She took out a calling card and wrote the Fifth Avenue address on it.

“You plan to come in and out of the Fifth Avenue Hotel in your newsboy’s rags?” I asked. “Won’t that attract attention, to say the least?”

“I think I’ve given up wearing a disguise,” Elizabeth said, “especially such a chilly one. I’ll do my research in future by interviewing boys at those awful hovels where they live like little rats. And then I’ll feel guilty when I come back to the warmth and civilized comfort of the hotel.”

“You know you don’t have to leave us, Elizabeth,” Gus said. “You know you are welcome to stay on here as long as you like.”

“You are very kind, but you more than anybody should know that I like my independence and don’t wish to be beholden to anybody. You should rejoice that one woman in the universe beside yourselves is her own woman, comes and goes as she pleases and is not slave to the dictation of a male, or of a male-dominated society.”

“Add me to that list,” I said.

“So how was your little outing yesterday morning, apart from finding the girl in the snowdrift?” Sid asked with a sweet smile. “Did you get your skating in first?”

“Unfortunately not,” I said. “I was running away from Daniel when I stumbled over the girl.”

“Running away? My dear, had he tried anything improper?” Elizabeth asked.

I started to laugh. “On the contrary, I had just aimed a snowball rather accurately and he was seeking revenge.”

Amid our laughter Gus asked, “Sid, dearest, how is lunch coming along? I’m sure our guests are getting hungry. Maybe we should move our conversation to the dining table.”