Delia's Shadow (19 page)

I rattled the coffee cups, all the warning I could give, and put on a cheerful smile. Esther watched the door as I came in, confused and lost looking. Pretending all was well grew easier as the days passed and I found ways to cope with her failing memory, just as Sadie said I might. Sadness waited for when I’d left her room.

“Good morning, Mama Esther.” I set the tray on the butler’s table near the bed and leaned to kiss her cheek. “I’ve brought breakfast. Are you hungry?”

“You again.” She narrowed her eyes, peering at me suspiciously. “Where did Teddy go? Did you send him away?”

“I didn’t send him away, I promise.” I spread a small tea tablecloth over Esther’s lap and tucked a napkin into the neck of her nightgown. She couldn’t hear the roaring in my ears, but I heard little else. “Who is Teddy? Can you tell me about him?”

“Teddy Coleman … Beryl and Teddy went to church in the buggy, but I wasn’t feeling well and stayed home.” Esther slumped back on her pillow, the fight in her seeping away as I watched. She picked at the hem of the napkin, eyes unfocused. “I lost them. There was an accident … a delivery wagon or a horse. I can’t remember now.”

I’d known Sadie’s father, a tall, burly man with thinning ginger hair named Andrew. He’d doted on his only child. Andrew Larkin died of a failing heart and a case of pleurisy when Sadie was not quite fourteen. If Esther had been married before and lost husband and child both, I felt sure my mother or someone would have spoken of it. It was possible my mother never knew, or that Esther had reasons to keep a prior marriage secret, but I couldn’t imagine her with a sordid past or involved in scandal.

Spooning eggs into a dish gave me a moment to wrestle with my doubt. The ghost was real; I’d seen him several times. I couldn’t say for certain what part Teddy played in Esther’s past, only that he had strong ties to her. She wanted Teddy with her and in the end, that’s all that mattered.

I smoothed the hair off her face and kissed her cheek. “Eat some breakfast now. You’ll feel better and you can have a nap afterward if you like. Teddy will come back to visit soon.”

On some mornings, Esther was eager to feed herself, the portion of her that remembered family determined to lift part of the burden from them when she could. Today she let me feed her, listless and staring toward the corner of the room. I chatted on, telling her what Annie had planned for dinner, small bits of gossip from Sadie, and describing the walk I’d taken with Gabe last evening. Nothing cheered her or drew a response.

My appetite faded as she withdrew further. I felt responsible and that my asking about Teddy contributed to Esther’s melancholy. Her need for the ghost worried me.

Esther’s ghosts knew I saw them, were as aware of me as Shadow. Perhaps if I gave permission they’d return. Summoning ghosts was a frightening thing to think of doing, but if it comforted her, I was willing to try.

I put the dishes aside and took her hand. “Mama Esther, tell Teddy it’s all right if he’d like to sit with you at breakfast. I don’t mind. And I promise not to send him away.”

Her gaze came back to me slowly. Understanding took longer still. “Teddy’s afraid she’ll make him leave too soon. He can’t go yet.”

Esther’s small hand weighed nothing as it rested in mine, her aged bones hollow as a bird’s wing. I squeezed her fingers gently and smiled. “I gave him my promise. Even if I wanted him to leave, I wouldn’t know how to send Teddy away. He can come back when he likes.”

She came straight up off the pillow and clutched my arm tightly enough to hurt. “No, no, no … that other girl, the one who follows you. It’s not fair for her to make him leave. She watches over her boy and … and I need Teddy here. He can’t go yet.”

Esther thought Shadow meant to send Teddy away. I couldn’t say she was wrong. Now I wondered if my ghost spoke to her too and how Esther knew Shadow was watching over someone. Being afraid of upsetting her more made my voice quiver, but I had to ask. “I don’t think she’d send Teddy away, not if you need him. Has she told you her name? Or who it is she’s protecting?”

Shadow shimmered into view at the foot of the bed, the first time I’d seen her in more than a day. She was clean and neat, the shawl over her shoulders and hands hanging at her sides. The ghost never showed the punishment she’d taken at the killer’s hands where Esther might see. I was the only one who saw her bloodied and bruised.

The ghost glided down the farside of the bed, her eyes fixed on Esther and a hand reaching for a cross that wasn’t there. Shadow stood out of Esther’s reach, her face a mask of sorrow and grief. She didn’t want harm to befall anyone in our house, I was as certain of that as I was that my parents had loved me.

Esther looked into Shadow’s eyes and her fingers slipped off my arm, her body going limp. “She stares and won’t talk to me. But Teddy knows. Teddy’s afraid. He shouldn’t be afraid in my house.”

I eased her back on the pillows and smoothed wispy white hair off her face. Each day she faded more, grew thinner and more confused. For the first time I lied to her, seeking to give her a moment’s peace and comfort. That I desperately wanted the words to be true didn’t make it so. “Everything will be all right, I promise. Rest now. Annie will be up soon to sit with you.”

She muttered under her breath for a moment, garbled sounds and words that made no sense, and shut her eyes. I held her hand until her breathing grew quiet and I knew she slept.

Shadow drifted closer to Esther and watched her sleep, hands pressed to her stomach in the stoic pose I knew well. The ghost remained mute, all her secrets locked behind green eyes. She couldn’t tell Esther those secrets. Shadow needed to share them with me, but I’d been too frightened to accept the full burden.

Other people’s lives might depend on what I could learn. I needed to find the strength to face Shadow’s memories without losing myself to them. Asking Dora for help was a good first step.

I gathered up dishes, tea cloths, and napkins as quietly as I could, a now familiar ache settling in my chest. Grief was an old friend.

Fear of what tomorrow might bring was new. I didn’t relish becoming acquaintances.

Gabe

Gabe checked the time and switched off his desk lamp. The clock chimed five o’clock as he gathered up the files and papers scattered over the green blotter, stacking them neatly before adding the files to the pile in his bottom drawer. Locking the desk was his final official act for the day. He’d read the coroner’s reports and viewed Baker’s photographs a hundred times, the killer’s letters at least that many times.

Reading them another hundred times wouldn’t show him anything new. Gabe could recite every scrap of information, every clue and threat in the killer’s letters from memory. He needed to stop obsessing about this case before he became incapable of anything else. There were more pleasant ways to fill his time.

He’d found an excuse to visit the Larkin house almost every evening for the last two weeks. Taking reports from the men on duty, checking with Annie to make sure the patrolmen weren’t imposing on her offer to feed them, and giving her the duty roster for the next week were all valid reasons for him to be there.

And all completely unnecessary. Reports and duty rosters were handled in the station house, and Jack kept a sharp eye on the men outside the house. Gabe knew none of his squad would push Annie’s hospitality too far. He’d handpicked the men on guard, only choosing officers he thought trustworthy in any situation.

Lying to himself lasted all of one day. Gabe made up excuses because he wanted to see Delia. He couldn’t deny his eagerness to spend time in her company and get to know her better.

She appeared just as happy to see him. They’d gotten into the habit of taking long walks each evening, discussing anything and everything but the murder case. Arriving to see her under the pretense of duty left him feeling slightly guilty. Once he’d started, Gabe couldn’t find a graceful way to break the pattern.

The only reason Gabe saw for going on like this was cowardice. That changed tonight. If he wanted to see Delia or take her to supper, he should just say so. He pulled down the roller shade and grabbed his coat and hat off the rack.

Jack lounged against the wall outside Gabe’s office, coat over his arm and cap in hand. “I was going to give you five more minutes before I came in after you. We have a cab waiting at the curb.”

Gabe’s mood sank. He stuffed the fedora on his head, determined not to take the sudden spell of grumpiness out on Jack. “Where are we going?”

“Delia and Sadie are having supper with Isadora. We’ve been invited to join them.” Jack gave him a sly smile. “I took the liberty of accepting for both of us. I didn’t think you’d mind.”

The tension knotting his shoulders and the back of his neck eased. He was always on edge now, waiting for the call to the next murder scene. Two weeks had come and gone since the night he’d walked through Elaine Meadow’s cottage and gone back to his office to read the letter addressed to him. Gabe had no illusions that the killer had stopped hunting victims. They just hadn’t found the bodies.

Gabe shrugged on his coat as they walked, his good mood restored. Supper and conversation with Delia was just what he needed. “That was good of you, Sergeant. I foresee a bright future for you as a social secretary. Is Henderson driving the girls to meet us?”

“That’s what Sadie’s note said. One of the officers assigned to Isadora will drive her to the restaurant.” Men arriving for night shift passed them in the hall and nodded. Others going home for the day hurried toward the station’s main room. Jack lowered his voice. “Baxter’s staying at the house with Annie and Esther. Everyone’s taken care of.”

He nodded, but didn’t answer.

Shift change was in full swing, the main room crowded and noisy. The desk sergeant waved as they left, but he was too busy assigning patrols and taking end-of-shift reports to do much else. That was fine with Gabe.

A brisk wind whipped down narrow streets as they stepped outside, carrying the scent of the ocean into the heart of the city. Fog would follow the wind in from the sea. The bite in the air was damp as well as cold, and Gabe flipped up his collar for the short walk to the waiting cab.

Jack pointed down the block. “The cab’s in front of the tailor shop. I promised an extra tip if he’d wait.”

The cabbie drove a small, two-horse hack and no roses decorated the doors, but the memory of Terrance Owens strung up in the park punched Gabe in the gut. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at the man in the driving seat. “Jack, starting tomorrow we both carry pistols. On or off duty, I want you armed. See what you can do about getting sidearms issued to the men in the squad who don’t have them. Make sure the men guarding Sadie and Dora are carrying weapons by morning.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Doubt clouded Jack’s face, but orders weren’t questioned. Voicing his doubts would come later. “What about Mrs. Allen?”

“Her sister is ill. She went to Sacramento to help out with the children. I don’t expect her back for close to a month.” Gabe started toward the cab again, the jitters in his stomach settling once he got a good look at the cabbie. The driver was no more than twenty-two, skinny, and with barely enough muscle to control his horses. He wasn’t the murderer. “I put her on the train myself early this morning. We’ll worry about her once she’s home again.”

Jack gave the cabbie the name of the restaurant and they climbed inside the shoddily kept hack. They were forced to slam the door several times before the latch caught. The cab lurched away from the curb, merging into the flow of traffic heading deeper into downtown. Gabe sat back and a spring poked him in the back through the thin upholstery. He slid forward to the edge of the seat, thankful they weren’t going far, and waited for Jack’s questions.

He didn’t wait long.

“Why the pistols, Gabe?” Jack frowned and tapped his fingers against the side of the cab. “Why now?”

His partner respected Gabe’s decisions and rarely asked for explanations, believing there were good reasons behind them all. Even with Jack, he didn’t want to push that belief too far. “We found Terrence Owens’s body more than two weeks ago. A few days later we found Elaine Meadows’s cottage but there’s been nothing since. He’s still out there, Jack. I don’t trust how quiet it’s been. You read that last letter.”

“Calm before the storm.” Jack watched out the window for a moment, scowling fiercely. “You could be right. He made a lot of threats in that letter. Without finding bodies, there’s no way to know if he’s carried any of them out.”

“He did. The heart in that box came from someone.” The conviction that the killer was biding his time and planning his next move had been growing in Gabe for days. Just because they couldn’t see the results didn’t mean nothing was happening. “This man threatened you and me by name. That means everyone close to us is in danger as well. I’ll feel better if all the officers on this case go armed until we catch him.”

“If we catch him. He might decide to disappear again.”

“I don’t think he’ll stop killing this time. My father always believed something happened to drive the killer away and I think Dad’s right. We’ll find him.” The only thing that kept the nightmares at bay and let Gabe sleep at night was the belief they’d catch this killer. He didn’t know if he could live with himself if the murderer slipped away. “Right now he thinks he’s smarter than we are. You and I are going to prove him wrong.”

Delia

Officer Henderson opened the door for us and Sadie swept into the restaurant, a curly-haired conqueror no man could hold against. I thanked Henderson and followed at a slower pace. Watching heads turn was half the fun.

I wasn’t disappointed. People at tables near the front did watch Sadie strut past, but this restaurant was designed for nefarious meetings. That limited her audience. More than half of the tables were set against a wall of the building and enclosed by latticed walls on two sides, creating secluded dining areas closed off from view of the other patrons.

Brocade curtains in rich greens and golds covered the entrance of each alcove. The unoccupied dining rooms were dark, curtains looped over brass hooks on one side. Unlit candles sat in crystal holders in the center of the dark-wood tables and in seashell wall sconces.