The Family Way (Molly Murphy, #12)

“I really can’t expect you to run all over the place for me,” I said. “I’ll go to City Hall and if the Mainwarings don’t show up there, I’ll hand over the case.”


“We’ve made the offer, Molly. We’re at your disposal, but I really don’t think you should take on too much to worry you at the moment. I read something recently in a journal of medicine, written by a professor of psychology that claimed unborn children can pick up all kinds of stimuli in the womb that may affect their later life. They recommend mothers think kind and beautiful thoughts all the time.”

I laughed. “Oh, dear. I don’t think I’m the sort of person who only thinks beautiful thoughts. But you’re probably right about taking on too much. I’m certainly feeling the heat this summer.”

“Why don’t you go out to your mother-in-law?” Gus said. “It’s lovely and leafy out in Westchester.”

“For the same reason that you returned from those cool ocean breezes in Newport,” I said. “A day or so of my mother-in-law and I’d rather endure the heat. Besides, it’s cooler today. I think it’s going to rain.”

“Then we should get going, Gus,” Sid rose to her feet. “We have to buy food or we’ll starve tonight.”

“I’d invite you to dine here,” I said, “but I’ve only two pork chops and I don’t think they’ll stretch to four.”

“We need to stock up the pantry anyway,” Sid said. “The larder is bare and the poor dog will have nothing if we don’t get going. Come over for a glass of wine later. Thank God we still have a well-stocked cellar awaiting us.”

I escorted them to the front door and watched them cross the alleyway to their own house. Then I went to the desk in the front parlor and thought carefully before I composed a note to Liam. Sid was right. It had to contain nothing that might implicate me, but he had to know that it came from me. Something from our childhood … Then I remembered that my brother Joseph always teased him by calling him Freckle Face. Liam hated it. Our mother told him to stop and threatened the strap if he used the words again, so he resorted to calling Liam FF.

Dear FF, I wrote.

They know you’re here. They are looking for you. Leave the city immediately. God be with you.

There. Nothing that could tie it to me, but would make it quite clear to him. I put the letter into an envelope and carried it across the alley to Sid and Gus who promised to set out on their quest the next morning. I felt as if a great load had been lifted from my shoulders. My friends were home and everything was going to be all right from now on.





Nine

The rain started that evening and when Daniel came home he was drenched to the skin. Then in the middle of the night there was a thunderstorm with lightning flashing and rain drumming hard on the roof. I lay awake, waiting for the next flash and crash while my mind raced with so many worrying thoughts. Would Liam be caught before Sid and Gus could find him and deliver my warning? What if they called his name out loud and thus gave him away? And what if that woman couldn’t come up with the money to ransom her kidnapped baby? Would the kidnappers kill it? In the end I went downstairs and made myself some warm milk, and drank it sitting in the cold empty kitchen while the thunder raged outside and Daniel slept on peacefully.

In the morning it was still raining and I decided to wait to pay my visit to City Hall. No sense in getting crushed in a crowded El train. By afternoon the sun was out again and when I set off the sidewalks were steaming. Little boys took great delight at stomping in puddles and when a carriage went past me at a great clip it sent up a spray of muddy water, spattering my skirt. I made it down to City Hall on the trolley and then was made to wait while clerks decided if I was important enough to be helped, before one of them disappeared into the cavernous filing rooms, only to return empty-handed. It became clear that there were no Mainwarings of note living in the borough of Manhattan—at least not able to vote or be affluent enough to own their own homes.

Reluctantly I turned my steps for Patchin Place. I had done everything I could at the moment and would have to rely on Sid and Gus to contact Liam. I’d have to check my housekeeping account to see if it would stretch to an advertisement in the Times as Sid had suggested. Then I decided that I had to learn to let go of my former life. I was no longer private detective Molly Murphy. I was Mrs. Molly Sullivan, soon to be a mother. There was no turning back now. A nagging thought whispered that if I didn’t take on the case, who would? I hated the thought of those people in Ireland sitting there worrying and waiting while nobody worked on their behalf.