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

He took out a little notebook. “I will write a prescription for a sedative. I think sleep may just be the best medicine for her at the moment.”


I went to tuck in the sheets and blankets that she had kicked off and recoiled when I saw her feet. The nurses had obviously bandaged them, but she had partially kicked off the bandages. Her poor toes were bruised and bloody. She must have suffered frostbite, walking in those delicate shoes through the snow. I wondered how far she had walked. She had come from the north. How far north, I wondered. From the swank area near the park or beyond, in the not-so-respectable area of Harlem? It was possible that she had been brought to the park in a vehicle of some kind and then left there to die. If she had gone there on her own two feet, why? And where was she heading when she collapsed?

I put the bandages back in place and tucked the blankets around her feet again. Maybe the next day’s post would bring us some clues.





TWENTY

As we were coming downstairs there was a loud knock at my front door, then I heard it opening and Daniel’s voice calling from the hallway, “Molly? Where are you?”

“Upstairs,” I shouted back. “I’ll be down right away.”

I hadn’t thought about how strange it must look to see me coming downstairs with Dr. Birnbaum at my heels, but I read it instantly in Daniel’s surprised face.

“Hello, Daniel,” I said brightly. “Dr. Birnbaum has been visiting my patient upstairs.”

“Your patient?”

“The girl from the snowdrift. I brought her here in the hopes that Dr. Birnbaum can restore her speech and her sanity.”

“You brought her here?” Daniel’s impressive eyebrows rose. “As if you don’t have enough on your plate right now without looking after invalids.”

“I realize that,” I said, “but I had little alternative. I had to stop them from carting her off to the lunatic asylum.”

Daniel shook his head. “Molly, sometimes I despair of you. The word sensible just isn’t part of your vocabulary. What were you thinking? We know nothing about this girl and you are certainly not in any way equipped to take care of someone who may very well prove to be insane.”

“With all respect, Captain Sullivan, I don’t believe so,” Dr. Birnbaum said. “I have just tried hypnosis on the young woman and I think I can verify that she led a normal life until some recent and grave trauma, the shock of which was so terrible that she has retreated from the present, blocked all memories, and is protecting herself by existing in a safe cocoon of not knowing. With patient and gentle care I think we may well be able to bring her back.”

“And in the meantime who is to pay for her food and her care?”

“I shall not charge for my services,” Dr. Birnbaum said frostily.

“And I don’t mind feeding her.”

“But who looks after her when you are rushing around doing the thousand and one other tasks to which you have committed yourself?” Daniel demanded.

“That is a wee bit of a problem,” I agreed, “but let us hope it won’t be for long. Dr. Birnbaum has placed advertisements in the newspapers. We are hopeful that someone will be looking for her and glad to have her safely home.”

“And if not?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” I said firmly. “I have taken on this responsibility, Daniel, not you. It’s up to me to handle it.”

I saw him frown, but he said nothing.

“And I should bid you farewell, Miss Murphy,” Dr. Birnbaum said. “If I hurry I will be in time for the next mass at St. Joseph’s and still be able to make a luncheon appointment with friends.” He gave his funny little bow.

“Thank you so much, Doctor. I know you’re going to be able to help her.”

“We shall have to see,” he said cautiously. “Until tomorrow, then.”

And he went.

Daniel was still frowning.

“Molly, what am I going to do with you?”

“Nobody is asking you to do anything with me,” I said, “except cherish me, perhaps. Love me.”

“You know I do,” he said. “But I can’t help wanting to keep you from all these difficult situations you get yourself into. It’s human nature, Molly. The man wants to protect the woman.”

“I don’t need protecting, Daniel,” I said. “At least not most of the time.” Then I grinned, the frown left his face, and he wrapped me in his arms.

“You really are the most infuriating woman, do you know that?”

“Possibly,” I said. “but I’m glad you’ve come. You got my note about Miss Van Woekem?”

“I’ve already been to see that lady prior to coming to you,” Daniel said. “I understand that you volunteered my services—as your employee, I gather.”

“I didn’t put it like that,” I said, “and anyway it was Miss Van Woekem who suggested that you might have time and expert knowledge to help her.”

“As it was she left me little chance to refuse,” he said. “I thought that today, being Sunday, we might take a trip to New Haven together. It is a day on which one usually finds people at home.”