Victoria Thompson: Murder On Fifth Avenue

“Yes, I’m sorry to say.”

Frank watched the emotions flicker across her face too rapidly for him to identify, and then to his surprise, she broke into a dazzling smile. “He’s dead,” she said with what could only be called exultation, and she began to laugh.

NOW THIS WAS AN INTERESTING REACTION TO NEWS OF A family member’s death. It also drew Paul’s attention away from his mother. For a few seconds they all stared at Garnet Devries. She must be hysterical, but the only cure Frank knew was to slap her, and slapping Garnet Devries would not improve his chances of interviewing the rest of the family more thoroughly. Fortunately, Felix Decker had no such concerns.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a shake that snapped her head back. Her laughter ceased at once, and she gazed up at him in surprise for a moment before she went limp. Decker caught her before she could fall, and Paul rushed over. Together they got her into a chair. Her color was high, and her eyes glittered from some inner fire.

“Get her some brandy,” Decker told Paul.

“Good heavens, not brandy,” Mrs. Devries said. “Sherry should do the trick.”

Paul went to a sideboard and found whatever he had decided to give his wife. He brought it back in a crystal tumbler. Frank expected him to put the glass to her lips, but he merely held it out to her at arm’s length. She didn’t even notice it.

Decker took the glass and put it to her lips. She wrapped her hands over his while she sipped, coughed a bit, then sipped again before looking up at him. “Thank you, Mr. Decker. I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s the shock, I’m sure,” Decker said.

It might be more than that. Frank had never seen anyone laugh when they found out a loved one was dead.

“The shock, of course,” Mrs. Devries said. Frank noticed she’d forgotten she was supposed to be crying. “I feel rather faint myself. Poor Chilly. And what an undignified way to go. Stabbed, you say? I can hardly credit it.”

Garnet’s head came up. “Stabbed? What do you mean, stabbed ?”

“They think someone stabbed Father.”

“Stabbed him where?” she asked.

“In the back, apparently,” Paul said.

She sighed. “No, I mean where was he when it happened?”

Paul and his mother exchanged a glance, then looked at Decker, who turned to Frank.

“We don’t know when or where it happened. The wound was small. He probably didn’t know he was seriously hurt, but he died later from the injury.”

“Who are you?” she asked, and Frank noticed the abrupt question didn’t sound rude coming from her.

“Frank Malloy.”

“He’s a policeman,” Paul added.

Garnet looked Frank over but showed none of the disdain her mother-in-law had exhibited. “He doesn’t look like a policeman. Where’s his uniform?”

“I’m a detective sergeant with the city police.”

“Mr. Malloy is investigating Chilly’s death,” Decker added.

She considered this information. “If you don’t know when or where he was stabbed, how are you going to investigate?”

“It won’t be easy,” Frank admitted with a small smile.

To his amazement, she smiled back. For a second he was afraid she might start laughing again, but she didn’t. “I think you like things that aren’t easy, Mr. Malloy.”

Frank wasn’t sure what he should say to that. Luckily, Decker saved him from having to think of something. “Perhaps you could arrange for Mr. Malloy to question Roderick and the other servants, Lucretia.”

“Must he do it now? They’ll be no good to anyone for the rest of the day if he upsets them.”

“They’ll be upset when they hear about Chilly anyway,” Decker said. “Might as well get it all over with at once.”

“I’ll ring for the maid.” Paul moved to the bell rope.

“I’ll need a room where I can see them alone,” Frank said.

“The receiving room should do nicely.” Mrs. Devries rose. “I think I shall retire. All of this excitement is bad for my nerves. My doctor told me I should never become upset, you know. It’s the very worst thing when you have bad nerves.”

“I’m sorry to have distressed you, Lucretia,” Decker said, “but someone had to tell you about Chilly. I thought it would be easier from me than from a stranger.”

Paul stepped forward. “You were very kind to come yourself, wasn’t he, Mother? I know the truth of it hasn’t really sunk in for me yet. There’s so much to do, isn’t there? A funeral and…and…” He gestured vaguely.

“We’ll need mourning clothes, I suppose,” his mother said. “I detest wearing black, but there’s no help for it, is there?”

“No, Mother Devries, there’s no help for it.” Garnet sighed again and turned as the maid came in.

Frank waited as Paul told her that Mr. Malloy would like to speak with Roderick in the receiving room, and then he would like to see some of the other servants, too. Roderick would take care of all that. Her eyes were like saucers at the strange request, but, of course, she couldn’t question him. She’d have to wait for the gossip to make its way through the household.

“Are you going to tell this Roderick that Mr. Devries is dead?” he asked Paul.

The young man blanched. “Oh, uh, well, you can tell him, can’t you? I’m not good at that sort of thing, you know.”

Nobody was good at that sort of thing, but Frank just nodded. He hoped this Roderick wasn’t too fond of his master. He’d certainly resent having to find out about his death from a policeman, in any case.

Decker was expressing his condolences to Mrs. Devries, who managed to look stricken even though she obviously didn’t give a fig. She, in turn, thanked him for his concern and promised to let him know immediately if he could do anything to assist her. Frank figured she would think of a lot of ways he could do that. Mrs. Devries and Paul didn’t seem like the kind of people who could accomplish much on their own.

Garnet, however, was another matter entirely. She apparently had more brains than the other two put together. How had she ended up married to an idiot like Paul Devries? Frank would never understand the rich, who seemed to sell their daughters off to the highest bidder with no thought to whether they would be happy or not.

Then again, both of Felix Decker’s daughters had run off with men of their own choosing and neither of those marriages had ended so well, either.

Decker shook her hand and moved toward the door. “I’m sure Elizabeth will call on you as soon as she hears the news.”

Frank wished he could talk to Decker’s wife, Elizabeth, before she made that call. She had once assisted him on an investigation, and surely she could learn some useful information on this one if he told her what to ask. Unfortunately, Decker had no idea his wife had been involved in a murder case, and Frank wasn’t going to be the one to tell him.

Paul rang for the maid again to show him out.

“Mr. Malloy can walk out with me and wait downstairs for the valet,” Decker said.

Frank thanked them for their help, although they hadn’t helped him at all, and followed Decker out. He had the feeling Decker wanted a minute alone with him, but when they reached the front hallway, a man who could only be the valet Roderick was already waiting.

Decker took his hat from the maid and turned to Frank. “I’ll look forward to hearing from you.”

Frank figured he would.

SARAH BRANDT WAS ENJOYING A RARE DAY AT HOME. AS A midwife, she had to be available night or day to go on a delivery, but no babies had seen fit to enter the world today, leaving her free to enjoy her foster daughter, Catherine. Her mother had also stopped by for a visit, although Sarah knew she had mostly come to see Catherine, who filled her need to have a grandchild.