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

“We’ve got it, Daniel.” I stood up now and wrapped my arms around his neck. “It’s him. Edward Deveraux. He felt he was unjustly accused, and he’s escaped and is punishing those involved.”


“We would have been notified if he had escaped. And I always understood that the facility was quite secure—out in the Catskill Mountains, with a high wall around it. But I have to agree that we may have a perfect suspect. I’ll talk to Marcus Deveraux first thing tomorrow. He’d have been notified if his brother had escaped. We should have been too. Of course the department may have been, and the news somehow never was reported to me. I wasn’t the lead officer at the time, and old Boyle has retired. If Edward Deveraux has escaped, it will just be a question of finding him in a city of a million people.”





Twenty-seven

In the morning, Daniel was gone at first light. Part of me wanted to wait home to see if he would bring me any news, but the other part wanted to find out what connection the various other victims might have had to Edward Deveraux and his father’s murder. Daniel’s mother simply rolled her eyes when I told her I’d be going out again.

“And I thought I was called to look after an invalid,” she said. “Here you are running around like a mad thing. Well, I won’t be responsible if you have a relapse. And I won’t be staying on to help you either. I’ve my own life to lead, you know.”

I went over and kissed her on the cheek. “I know you have, and I’m truly grateful,” I said. “Believe me, I do still hurt and I should be resting, but this is just too important. Thanks to what I’ve found out, Daniel might be closer to solving a case that has kept him baffled for months.”

She stared at me, then said, “And if you’re a smart girl, you’ll not go rubbing that in. You’ll let him think it was all his work and let him take the credit. That’s the way to keep a happy marriage.”

“And it’s what you did with Daniel’s father?” I asked, smiling now.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” she said. “I would no more have dreamed of helping out in his police work than of flying to the moon. No, he left his cases behind at the front door and we never discussed them. I provided the safe and happy home that he could look forward to each evening. That was my job.”

“I try to do that too,” I said, “and usually Daniel keeps his police work from me. But it was a piece of luck that that young girl Sid and Gus were asked to help was actually tied in to the crime that has stumped Daniel for so long. It opened a chink in a door that may lead somewhere.” I put a hand on her shoulder. “So I can’t stop now. There is a very dangerous man at large, and if I can help in my small way to catch him, I will.” Then I checked myself. “That is, if you’re willing to look after your grandson for one more day.”

She smiled then. “It’s not as if I have much to do. Young Bridie has taken him over as her personal charge. He only wants her now to feed and change him.” She glanced down the hall to see if Bridie was in earshot. “Have you had a chance to ask Daniel yet about what we discussed?”

“I haven’t, I’m afraid.” I shook my head. “Whenever we meet the conversation has been entirely about police matters. But I think it’s a splendid idea, so I don’t see any reason why he won’t go along with it.” I saw Liam starting to totter out of the kitchen, with Bridie in hot pursuit.

“I should go,” I said, and I snatched up my hat from the hallstand before Liam could decide that he wanted his mother rather than Bridie after all.

The weather had turned bleak and blustery after yesterday’s rain, and I battled with my brolly as the wind threatened to turn it inside out after I dismounted from the streetcar in Brooklyn. On the ride over the East River, I had decided to come clean with Miss Willis, now that I had nothing to hide. I didn’t think she’d have gone out on such a disagreeable day, and I was right. She opened the front door, wrestling with it as the wind threatened to snatch it out of her hands, and stared at me in surprise.

“Why, it’s the lady from the magazine, isn’t it? Fancy seeing you again. What could you be wanting now?”

“I’m sorry to trouble you again, Miss Willis,” I said, “but if I could just come in for a minute, I’ve something really important to ask you.”

“Very well.” She didn’t look too sure. “Although I can’t see what else I could tell you about my poor sister that hasn’t already been said.”

This time she didn’t offer me coffee and cake. The small parlor felt damp and cold, and I suspected that in weather like this she herself stayed in the kitchen, where the stove gave off continued warmth. I know that’s what I would have done.

I took a deep breath. “Miss Willis,” I said. “I wasn’t quite honest with you before. I was actually helping the police to find out who pushed your sister, but I wasn’t allowed to tell you that.”