The Edge of Dreams (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #14)

Daniel gave a half snort, half chuckle. “I can’t answer that one, Molly. We can tell a person has been smothered by the broken blood vessels in the eyes and the flush on the face, but if the face is badly charred?” He shook his head. “I’d think not. But you’re not suggesting that a young girl could smother both her parents? They’d struggle. The other would wake up. You need considerable strength to smother someone.”


Mrs. Sullivan gave a little grunt of what I took to be disapproval.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Do you have everything you need? Some more beans?”

“No, thank you,” she said stiffly. “Sit up straight, Bridie.”

We sat for a moment in silence. But I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I had to make the most of having Daniel to talk to, for once. “Well, I’m thankful you’re going to put pressure on that obnoxious Yeats person to exhume the bodies. At least then we’ll know more.”

Daniel drained his beer glass and put it down. “You realize that might not go well for your young girl,” he said. “If it transpires that her parents were killed or drugged first, it will be assumed that she did it. It will be taken as proof that she’s guilty.”

“Unless the form of death was impossible for a young girl to carry out.”

Daniel’s eyebrows raised. “You are now talking of killing by person or persons unknown? That has never been mentioned before, has it?”

“No, it hasn’t,” I said.

“So you’re now suggesting that a stranger managed to gain access to a house that had servants in it, made his way upstairs, and killed two people in their beds, before setting fire to the house? What would the motive be, Molly, since this possibility has never come up before?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “But maybe I should have a talk with Mrs. Hamilton, the girl’s aunt. She might know of a family feud, or another reason that someone might have wanted Mabel’s parents dead.”

Daniel shook his head. “It would take a significant family feud to cause someone to kill two people before setting fire to their house. That sort of thing doesn’t normally happen to respectable middle-class people.”

“It happened to us,” I said. “I would never have believed it either, but it did happen to us.”

“My circumstances are rather different,” Daniel said. “I was dealing with a ruthless gang at the time. They were trying to teach me a lesson. What did Mabel’s father do? What was his profession?”

“I don’t know, but it was something respectable and middle class, I expect. Mrs. Hamilton didn’t mentioned it. But Mabel’s mother came from a wealthy banking family. Her name was Susan Masters. Does that mean anything to you?”

“Masters?” He paused. “Of Deveraux and Masters? Yes, I’m familiar with that firm. Merchant bankers on Wall Street, I think. But banking is usually only a dangerous profession if one is the clerk behind the counter at the time of a robbery.” He grinned. Then his face became serious again. “I think you should leave well enough alone, Molly,” he said. “And besides, this speculation does not address the primary piece of evidence—how did the girl escape without any signs of having been in a fire?”

Daniel’s mother put down her fork with a clatter. “Is the dinner table conversation in this family always to be about murders?” she asked. “It’s most unhealthy for young Bridie, and not too good for my digestion either.”

“I don’t mind,” Bridie said. “I think it’s exciting.”

“It’s quite unsuitable for a young girl like you,” Mother Sullivan said firmly. “In my day dinner table conversation centered on socially acceptable subjects like balls, and parties, and…”

“And scandals, Mother,” Daniel said. “Don’t forget I’ve been at enough of your dinner parties to know that the conversation often touched on infidelity and other delicate topics.”

“Really, Daniel.” Mrs. Sullivan sniffed in indignation. Daniel and I exchanged a knowing grin and went back to our food. Later, when we were alone in the privacy of our bedroom, he said to me, “I really want to warn you about getting involved in your friends’ problem. You have no experience with insanity and the forms it can take. I have seen people who appear to be quite normal one moment and raging demons the next. It is out of your league and your friends’ too. And from what I know of young Yeats, you might well find yourself locked in the Tombs for obstructing justice.”

“He’s a horrid man, Daniel. I just hate to see that young girl bullied by him,” I replied. “The very least you could do is to suggest the exhumation. Then Mabel couldn’t be arrested until the results are known. And by then, Gus may have found a qualified alienist, who would be taken seriously in court, to treat her.” I pulled my nightgown over my head and slid into bed.

“Enough about murders and courts,” he said. “I come home to let the cares of the day slip away, not to discuss them into the night.” And he climbed into bed beside me.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “But you know me. I can’t help being interested.”