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

He nodded, holding out his hand to pull me to my feet. “All the same, he comes with powerful friends in the right places, Molly. I’m highly aware of that. The commissioner may be glad that he now has someone to report on my failings.”


“You’ll solve the case and they’ll all be impressed,” I said, slipping my arm through his. “This may be the one link that we needed to start to make sense of this.”

“As always I admire your optimism,” he said, “but it does give me more people to question, and a renewed drive to stop this man. If he is capable of such heartless evil, then he can’t be allowed to kill again.”

We went back to the kitchen then and enjoyed the rest of our tea without a single mention of unsuitable subjects. I felt unreasonably happy and energized—happy that Mabel did not have a hidden dark side, and energized that I had been able to fill in one piece of the puzzle. Although, we hadn’t proven the connection yet, and how a staid middle-class couple could be linked to the simple woman and the student was still a complete enigma.

“You must interview the Hamiltons’ former servants, Daniel,” I said, as he prepared to return to work. “Find out if the Hamiltons had any enemies or secrets. Servants always know everything. I did have Sid and Gus ask Mrs. Minnie Hamilton, Mabel’s current guardian, if she could think of anyone who might have wished them harm, but she couldn’t. She said that Bertie was an affable, harmless sort of fellow, devoted to his family, without any vices that she knew of.”

When Daniel had gone, I took out a map of New York and stuck pins in the sites where the murders had occurred. But I saw no pattern to them at all. They weren’t equal distance apart, they didn’t share the circumference of a circle around a given point. Nothing. Completely random. I got up and paced the room. I could no longer keep out of this. Now that I suspected what the same monster had done to Mabel’s parents, and how Mabel was suffering because of it, I had to do whatever I could to help find him. My trip to Brooklyn had revealed no new clues, as far as I could tell. No links to the other deaths. But I should still go forward with my plan to visit the next of kin of the other victims. Perhaps one of them would reveal something that gave us the link we needed. As to my own aches and pains, I’d grin and bear them.

It seemed as if I had an immediate affirmation of my decision, because right after I had made it, we had another visitor. It was Dr. Werner, standing on my doorstep in his immaculate black suit and tall black hat, monocle in his eye. “Mrs. Sullivan.” A nod and click of the heels punctuated this. “I am passing through the area so I come to deliver the mixture I had promised. It should help ease the headaches and help you sleep.”

“You’re very kind, Doctor,” I said. “Thank you. What do I owe you?”

He held up a hand. “Consider it a gift from me. I am glad to help. Take it right before bedtime, as it will make you sleepy.”

I took the bottle from him. “My friends are also grateful that you saw Mabel Hamilton,” I said. “It now seems that she witnessed something so shocking that she had blocked it from her conscious mind.” I wasn’t sure how much of this Daniel would want me to reveal, and his findings had also not yet been confirmed.

“This young lady must be treated with the utmost delicacy,” Dr. Werner said slowly, deliberately. “Her memory must not be forced, do you understand? She must be given time to heal.”

“Perhaps you would be good enough to write a note to that effect, that her aunt can show to the police. The young officer in charge of the case has been threatening to lock her up to make her remember.”

“But that is unthinkable. Barbaric,” he said. “It must not be allowed. The child can only heal in peace and serenity. Away from this place. I recommend a fine clinic in Switzerland. I could personally supervise her treatment there. But her family, they do not like to send her away. I fear for her, Mrs. Sullivan. And I will be happy to report my findings and recommendations to your ignorant police.” Then he clicked his heels again in that very Germanic way. “I have taken enough of your time. I bid you adieu.” And he strode off.

I went inside and put the bottle carefully on the mantel in my bedroom, out of the reach of small hands. Now that I had it, I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to take it. If it made me too sleepy, would I hear Liam if he woke and cried in the middle of the night? I decided to take only a fraction of the dose tonight and see what effect it had.





Twenty-five

I was conscious of dreaming, but this time they were pleasant dreams. I was floating in a sea of colors, and I was warm and I could fly. I came to slowly, like a diver coming to the surface from deep water, as I felt myself being shaken.

“Molly, are you all right?” Daniel’s voice was demanding from far away.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, forcing my eyes open.