“Something worse already happened,” he said, his young face looking terribly old.
Before she could ask what he meant, he turned and fled back down the stairs.
Sarah rubbed the bridge of her nose to ward off a headache. Something about the Van Dyke household seemed to bring them on. She'd just taken a seat in the gazebo when she heard someone calling her name.
“Sarah, come quick!” Creighton cried desperately as he raced up the stairs. “Katya's bleeding!”
S
OMETIMES SOLVING A CASE WAS WORSE THAN NOT SOLVING it, Frank had decided. From what he knew about the two dead men, the world was probably a better place without them. Lewis Reed, on the other hand, would most likely have been a good husband and father, a faithful employee and a good provider if he'd fallen in love with an ordinary woman instead of Alberta Van Dyke.
As much as he hated having to tell a murder victim's family about the death, he hated telling Alberta her lover was a killer even more. Reed had tried so hard to clear the way for them, and he'd managed only to ruin both their lives.
The maid admitted him, and he couldn't help noticing she looked very grave. In fact, the house itself seemed unusually still. “Is Miss Van Dyke at home?” he asked.
“Yes, sir, she's upstairs in the parlor with the rest of the family. Would you like me to show you up?”
“Is Mrs. Brandt still here?”
“Yes, sir, she is.”
Good, Frank thought. Alberta would probably need her care. “Yes, please take me up.”
The maid announced him and then held the parlor door. The Van Dyke sons didn't seemed particularly interested that he'd arrived. Creighton was sitting in a chair, staring at nothing, his expression grim. Tad sat on the far side of the room, away from the others, a drink in his hand, as usual. Alberta looked up at him with terror-filled eyes, though. Sarah looked up, too, but she was simply resigned.
“Where's Lewis?” Alberta asked in a voice as fragile as glass.
Frank had to clear his throat. “He's at the city jail.”
She cried out in anguish, and Sarah rushed to her side. “I told you!” she said to Sarah, tears glistening in her eyes. “It won't matter that he's innocent! They'll hang him just because he isn't important and won't speak up for himself.”
Frank could have reminded her that murderers didn't hang anymore, now that they had the new electric chair, but that wouldn't be much comfort. “He wrote you a letter and asked me to deliver it,” he said, reaching into his coat pocket to pull it out.
Alberta snatched it from his fingers. “It's been opened!” she exclaimed in outrage.
“Of course,” Frank replied. “I had to see if he'd admitted his guilt.” Such a confession would have been invaluable, but Lewis had only maintained his innocence and declared his undying love for Alberta.
She turned away in disgust, unfolded the letter, and began to read.
Frank glanced at Sarah, but she wouldn't meet his eye. Creighton Van Dyke had finally roused himself, though. He got up and came to where Frank still stood by the door.
“What is this all about?” he asked with a puzzled frown. “Why have you arrested Lewis Reed?”
“Because he killed your father and Allen Snowberger,” Frank explained.
“That's insane,” Creighton exclaimed at the same time his sister cried, “No, he didn't! If you read this letter, you must know that! He swears he's innocent!”
“Why would he have killed my father?” Creighton asked astonished. “Or Allen, either? What reason could he possibly have had?”
Frank looked at Alberta. “Because of your sister.”
Alberta glared at him with pure loathing, but Creighton distracted her. “That's ridiculous. Lewis isn't the kind of man who'd commit murder for some romantic notion.”
“Romantic notion!”
Alberta cried in outrage. “You're the one who turned his back on everything you've ever known just to be with Katya!”
“That's different,” Creighton argued, but his sister was having none of it.
“It's exactly the same! Lewis and I love each other just as much as you love Katya, but I'm not a man like you, Creighton. I can't just run away and do whatever I want. Father said he'd ruin Lewis if we eloped, and he'd never be able to find a job. How would we live? And then I found out I was going to have a baby.”
Creighton gasped. “A
baby
? Oh, Bertie . . .” Now everything was clear to him. He turned to Frank. “So Lewis did kill Father!”
“No, he
didn't
!” Alberta insisted furiously. “Why won't anyone listen to me?”
Creighton wasn't listening to her. He was looking at Frank. “But why did he kill Allen?”
“Because Snowberger fired him yesterday,” Frank explained. “Told him he'd be arrested for trespassing if he tried to come back to work.”
“He didn't need a job!” Alberta reminded her brother. “You said you'd take care of me, that I'd never want for anything!”
Creighton gave her a look full of pity. “Poor Bertie.”
“Don't feel sorry for me!”
she practically shouted. “You've got to help Lewis! He didn't do this terrible thing.” She whirled to where her younger brother still sat, his eyes glassy from drink. “You're Lewis's friend, Tad. You must know he couldn't possibly kill anyone. Tell him!” She gestured wildly at Frank.
To everyone's surprise, Tad pushed himself purposefully, if a little unsteadily, to his feet. “Bertie's right,” he said very clearly. “Lewis Reed didn't kill Allen Snowberger.”
No one had a chance to react because the parlor door swung open and Lilly Van Dyke stepped in. She'd done something to herself, Frank noticed at once. She looked almost matronly, with her hair pulled straight back into the kind of bun his mother wore. Her dress was dead black, without a ruffle or a frill to be seen, and she had clasped her hands in front of her modestly. Her chin high and her expression righteous, she looked straight at Frank.
“Mr. Malloy, I want you to arrest Tad Van Dyke. He tried to rape me.”
Everyone except Tad gasped in shock.
“You bitch,” he said between gritted teeth.
“What a horrible thing to say, Lilly, even for you!” Alberta said.
“It's true!” Lilly insisted. “Mrs. Brandt saw it, didn't you?”
Everyone looked at Sarah, and for the first time since Frank had known her, she actually looked embarrassed. She met his gaze for just a moment before she nodded slightly.
“You see!” Lilly exclaimed in triumph.
Tad lunged for her. “I should've killed you instead!” he cried before Creighton and Frank caught him. He put up a slight struggle, but he was too drunk to resist very much.
“Get him out of here while I talk to Mrs. Van Dyke,” Frank told Creighton when Tad had finally stilled.
“Come on, kid,” Creighton said, putting his arm around his brother as much for support as to restrain him. He led the boy from the room.
Sarah closed the door behind them, and when she turned back, she glared at Lilly. “I don't think you'll want to press charges, Lilly.”
“Why not?” Lilly asked virtuously. “You saw what he did.”
“I also know
why
he did it.” She turned to Frank. “Lilly seduced Tad. She crawled into his bed one night and had her way with him.”
“You . . . you
harlot
!” Alberta exclaimed in horror, using probably the worst word she could think of. “I hope you do go to court! I want Tad to get up on the stand and tell everyone what kind of woman you are!”
Lilly's cheeks turned scarlet, but she refused to be cowed. “It would be his word against mine.”
“And you would be ruined by the scandal, but Tad would be excused as a naughty boy,” Sarah said reasonably.
“Not after you tell what you saw,” she reminded her.
Sarah simply shrugged. She hated the crime of rape, and she hated even more the men who claimed the woman had asked for it. But this time . . . “Now that I think about it, I'm not sure what I did see,” she mused. “In fact, you might have fainted, and Tad was merely trying to help you.”
“You liar! You know what he was trying to do!”
“You won't get any sympathy in this house,” Alberta informed her. “But since you think Tad is dangerous, you should move out immediately to someplace where you'll be safe. I'll speak to Creighton about it at once.”
Lilly opened her mouth to reply, but she must've realized the implication behind Alberta's wordsâshe really had no right to live in this house any longer. She closed her mouth with a snap, turned on her heel, and marched back to the door. She threw it open so hard it banged into the wall, making the rest of them flinch.
Instinctively, Frank turned back to Sarah. He was out of his depth here and needed some guidance on how to handle these high-strung rich people. Fortunately, she understood his predicament.
“Katya lost her baby this afternoon,” she explained.
Frank winced at the rush of memories. “Is she . . . ?”
“She's all right,” Sarah assured him. “But that's why everyone is upset.”
“And let's not forget my fiancé has been arrested for a murder he didn't commit, too,” Alberta reminded them sarcastically.
Two murders, Frank thought, but he didn't correct her.
“Did he confess?” Sarah asked.
“Not yet,” he replied.
“Not yet?”
Alberta echoed. “Why not? Didn't you have time to beat him thoroughly enough?”
The accusation stung, but Frank refused to react. “He admitted he went to Snowberger's apartment yesterday to ask him to give him his job back. The doorman saw him. He also admitted Snowberger refused.”
“That doesn't mean Lewis killed him!” Alberta argued.
“Alberta, would you leave me and Mr. Malloy alone for a moment?” Sarah asked suddenly. “I want to talk to him about Mr. Reed.”
Alberta looked uncertainly at them both. “He didn't kill anyone,” she repeated.
“Of course he didn't,” she said to Frank's surprise. “Please, just give me a chance to talk to Mr. Malloy.”
Reluctantly, but with a slight glimmer of hope, Alberta excused herself and left them alone.
“He admitted he went to see Snowberger,” he reminded her when the door had closed behind Alberta, “and he's the only one who could have done it.”
“I know you're sure about Lewis, but no one else is.”
“No one else would be happy about my other suspect, either,” he pointed out.
“I know, but if you're going to upset people anyway, we better be sure you've got the right man. Tad had a good reason to kill Snowberger, too,” she said. “And did you hear what he said to Lilly? He said he should've killed her
instead
.”
Yes, he had heard that. He'd almost forgotten in all the excitement.
“He said something similar to Lilly this afternoon, too,” she said, “and again to me later when I saw him by chance. I think he may be trying to confess.”
“But he didn't leave the house yesterday,” he reminded her.
“No one saw him leave the house, but I think I figured out how he could have done it without anyone seeing him.”
“He already said there's no drainpipe outside his room.”
Sarah smiled slightly. “He also said he wasn't as adventurous as Creighton, and climbing back up a drainpipe is very difficult. No, I think he got out over the rooftops.”
Frank looked up, not because he expected to see anything but because he was trying to picture the outside of the Van Dyke house. “How would he get up there?”
“The Van Dykes have a rooftop garden. There are stairs leading to it right next to Tad's room.”
“I saw those stairs,” Frank remembered. “I thought they were for the servants to get up to their rooms on the fourth floor.”
“No, the servants' stairs wouldn't be so close to the family's bedrooms,” she explained, making him feel like a fool for not realizing that. “Tad could've slipped out and back in again without anyone noticing. The houses are close enough together that he could have crossed to a building with a fire escape or a ladder. I haven't looked, but I'm guessing you'll find one nearby. Mischievous boys usually manage to locate things like that early in life.”
Frank thought back to what had happened in the moment before Lilly had barged in and made her accusation against Tad. Alberta had asked Tad to vouch for Reed, and he'd acted very strangely. Frank could still see the way he'd gathered himself and stood up and insisted Lewis Reed hadn't killed Snowberger, as if he were positive he couldn't have done it.
There was only one way he could be so positive.
“I'm going to have a talk with young Mr. Van Dyke,” he told her. She only nodded, but she looked relieved.
Frank remembered where Tad's room was from when he'd been up here putting Creighton under guard several days ago. He didn't bother to knock. He opened the door to find Tad slumped in a chair with Creighton down on one knee before him, as if he were proposing. The bed was unmade, and the room littered with discarded clothing and empty liquor bottles of various sizes and shapes. Tad hadn't exaggerated when he'd claimed to be drinking his father's liquor supply. He must've forbidden the maids access as well.
Creighton looked up at the intrusion and rose to his feet. “I've been trying to get him to tell me what happened between him and Lilly, but nothing he says makes sense,” he explained.