“Well, I’m arranging for a photographer, and a schedule of lectures throughout the summer and fall, and a few advertisements in the newspapers. Which brings me to you. Now, Bob assures me he’s spoken to you about this already, but you must know how important it is to stay out of the papers during an election year.”
“I suppose so,” Constance said, although she hadn’t thought at all about how she ought to behave in an election year. She wasn’t accustomed to having to pay attention to such things, and Sheriff Heath certainly didn’t encourage it: he told his deputies to ignore political skirmishes and to do the best job they could without worrying about what the voters might think. But their jobs depended upon Sheriff Heath winning his election, so it mattered a great deal.
Cordelia pressed on. “I can’t seem to stop him from lecturing the Freeholders, or feuding with the prosecutor’s office, or turning a lady deputy loose on the streets, but I can try to keep it out of the papers, can’t I?”
She didn’t bother to apologize for the remark about the lady deputy, as she’d made her views entirely clear already and there wouldn’t be any reason to pretend otherwise. Constance, for her part, didn’t bother to take offense. She thought it a waste of her time to cosset and fuss over every fresh injury Mrs. Heath tried to inflict upon her.
“Yes, ma’am. You needn’t worry. I’d be perfectly happy to stay out of the papers. You wouldn’t believe the letters I’ve had.”
Cordelia laughed brightly. “Bob told me! Marriage proposals! What kind of man wants to marry a woman in uniform?”
“I can’t imagine,” Constance said agreeably. “There won’t be any trouble about the papers.”
To her relief, Sheriff Heath’s footsteps came down the hall. She was still standing in the doorway, and when he spotted her, he called, “I heard there was quite a crowd in Paterson for Miss Fleurette’s show.”
She started to answer, but then he came around the corner and saw Cordelia. “Dear, if you sit at my desk, people will think you’re running quite a bit more than my campaign.”
Cordelia stood up and cleared her papers away. “I haven’t any other place to work.”
“We’ll find you something. Did Miss Kopp tell you that her youngest sister had an audition with May Ward?”
Cordelia wrinkled her pretty little nose. “Isn’t May Ward a sort of vaudeville act?”
“She is,” said Constance, “but it’s what you might think of as light comedy. It wasn’t really an audition. It was more of a talent show with May Ward in attendance. The girls had a good time and there was no harm in it.”
“Then they didn’t offer Miss Fleurette the part?” The sheriff took his seat behind the desk as his wife moved away.
“Of course not. Just as Norma suspected, there were no parts on offer. But what I came to tell you is that I have been to see the Davises. It wasn’t at all what I expected.”
Cordelia took a seat, gingerly, as if she hoped no one would notice that she was still there. But both Constance and Sheriff Heath turned to look at her.
“This is the white slave case, isn’t it?” Cordelia asked.
Mrs. Heath wasn’t in the habit of putting herself in the middle of her husband’s business like this. Constance could see that it annoyed him. There was an uneasiness between the sheriff and his wife that Constance wished they would keep behind the closed doors of their residence.
Sheriff Heath very deliberately turned away from his wife and said, “Tell me what happened up in Catskill.”
“They’re very strict,” Constance said. “I believe they think Minnie’s gone and ruined herself. They don’t want her back.”
“And what does Miss Davis say?”
“Well, she knows she’s not wanted, and she wants nothing to do with them either. She seems to think she can make a clean breast of it with the judge and go free.”
“The prosecutor expects her to testify against Anthony Leo. Is she prepared to do that?”
“She doesn’t want to,” Constance said. “She insists that she wasn’t coerced. I suppose she has some affection for Tony—Mr. Leo—and doesn’t think he’s to blame.”
“Well, someone’s to blame,” Cordelia put in, with a nervous laugh.
The sheriff sighed and dropped a pencil on his desk. “I thought you had quite a busy day, dear.”
Cordelia twitched a little at that but stood up gracefully. “These are exactly the kinds of cases that could hurt your campaign. If you’re against arresting girls over morality crimes, then what are you for?”
The sheriff rubbed his forehead and pushed his hair back. “It’s not as simple as that.”
“It will be for the voters. But I won’t interfere.” She swept out of the room without another word. Constance allowed herself a flutter of relief: every word she said sounded wrong in Mrs. Heath’s presence. But perhaps Cordelia’s caution was well-founded.
“If the election changes things with this case?—” Constance began.
“It doesn’t. But Miss Davis is the victim in this, even if she doesn’t see it that way. She’s sixteen and she was misled by a false promise of marriage. Try to get her to see it that way.”
“Minnie isn’t the kind of girl who likes to change her mind, but I’ll try,” Constance said. “I’d also like to go down to Fort Lee and speak to her landlord.”
“That’s fine. The prosecutor hasn’t even filed charges, so nothing’s going to happen this week. You have time.”
“Would you mind if I spoke to Tony? If he cares about the girl at all, he might know someone who’d speak on her behalf.”
“Mr. Courter will think you’re interfering with his case,” the sheriff said, but Constance could tell he rather liked the idea of that.
“Then come with me,” she said, “and you can make sure that I don’t.”
TONY LOOKED UP at Constance and the sheriff suspiciously, but then rose from his bunk and went over to the bars of his cell. Constance hadn’t seen him since the day of his arrest. Even without his nice suit and his hair pomade, he still had the easy good looks that a girl could fall for.
In fact, he turned his eyes on her with the kind of affability that must have worked on many a young lady. “I remember you,” he said with a grin. “You’re the girl cop who took care of Minnie that day. How’s she getting on? Did they let her keep that sweet little place above the bakery? It always smelled like sugar up there.”
Constance said, “Mr. Leo, she never did go back to that little room. She’s right upstairs in her own cell, up on the fifth floor. We’re holding her as a witness in the case against you. Didn’t you know that?”
He took a step back, stunned. “She’s in jail? My girl’s in jail? I thought you’d take down her story and let her go.”
“We didn’t,” said Sheriff Heath.
“But she hasn’t done anything wrong! She’s never done nothing wrong in her life. She shouldn’t be held on my account.”
“She refuses to testify against you,” Constance said. “She insists that neither of you did anything wrong.”
He grinned. “That’s my girl. You tell her I said so.”
Sheriff Heath said, “Son, we’re not here to pass messages between you two. Now that you know Minnie isn’t making any accusations against you, we’d like to know if you can help her.”