Victoria Thompson - Murder on Washington Square

“I’m not very hungry,” he said. “All I can think about is…”

“I know, but your mother is doing fine. The jail isn’t so very bad, and the women aren’t locked up all day. They can socialize and sew if they wish.”

“I don’t want her to socialize with criminals,” the boy objected.

Sarah didn’t point out that his mother was herself a confessed murderer. “And I would like to see her released, since she really didn’t kill Anna Blake.”

“She didn’t?” the boy asked incredulously. “She swore she did it! I couldn’t believe it, but she kept saying it, over and over. That policeman believed her, too. I begged him not to take her away, but she told me not to argue with him, that he didn’t have any choice.”

“She lied because she thought the detective was going to arrest you for the crime,” Sarah explained.

“Me? Why would he arrest me?” he asked in genuine bewilderment.

Now Sarah could understand how Malloy had known he was innocent. “Some policemen don’t particularly care if they arrest the right person, so long as they arrest someone.”

The boy frowned. “How could they do that? They’d never be able to prove an innocent person did it.”

“They have methods of persuasion,” Sarah said. “They usually manage to obtain confessions, even from innocent people.”

Harold paled. “Is that what they did to my mother?”

“Oh, no. She’d already confessed willingly,” Sarah reminded him. “She’s being well treated, and you don’t have to be afraid for her. But I’m sure you don’t want your mother in jail, especially if she didn’t kill anyone, and neither do I. I’d much rather have the real killer locked up.”

“Who is the real killer?” he asked anxiously.

“I don’t know yet, but I was hoping you’d be able to help me find him.”

“How could I do that?”

“By telling me everything that happened the night you went to see Anna Blake.”

“I already told that policeman everything, and he arrested my mother,” he reminded her.

“I know, but I’m hoping there was some detail that you’d forgotten or didn’t think to mention to him.”

The boy frowned. “How can that help?”

“I won’t know until I hear what happened. Now tell me everything. Start at the beginning.”

His young face screwed up with concentration. “My father didn’t come home that night. My mother pretended it didn’t matter, but she hated the thought that he was with that woman. I’d followed him once, to see where he went. We knew about her after… Well, after he had to pay back the money he stole from his law firm. He had to tell my mother everything then. I just wanted to see her. I wanted to know why he did this to us.”

“Of course you did,” Sarah said to encourage him. “So you knew where she lived.”

“I thought he might be with her that night, so when I got to the house, I made them let me inside. I don’t know what I would’ve done if he was there, but he wasn’t. I didn’t ask about him, of course. I just told them I wanted to see her. The man didn’t want to let me in, but-”

“Man?” Sarah echoed in surprise. “What man?”

Her vehemence startled him. “There was a man there. He was pretty mad, but that woman, Miss Blake, she told him not to worry, she could handle me.”

“Do you know who he was?”

The boy shook his head.

“What did he look like?”

He tried to remember. “A little shorter than me. Dark hair. A beard.”

“Was the beard long or short?”

“Short.”

“Was he fat or thin?”

“Thin. I think he didn’t want to fight me, even though he pretended he was going to if I didn’t leave. He wasn’t very big.”

“How was he dressed?”

The boy shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Sarah fought her urge to snap at him impatiently. “Was he wearing a suit? Did he look like he was visiting or did he live there?”

“Oh, he lived there.”

“How do you know?”

“The way he acted. How he treated me, too, I guess. Oh, now I remember. He was in his shirtsleeves. No collar either. He looked like he’d been sitting around reading the paper or something. I think he had slippers on, too.”

This was very interesting. The man must have been Mr. Walcott, but Mrs. Walcott had claimed he wasn’t home that night. Why had she lied? And now Sarah remembered that Catherine Porter had slipped and mentioned that Mr. Walcott had ordered the boy out. She’d corrected herself when Sarah had called her on it, but now Sarah realized it hadn’t been a mistake. Could they both have been trying to give Walcott an alibi?

“Who else did you see when you were there?”

“Just those two. And the maid, of course.”

“Are you sure? No other women?”

He thought for a moment. “I think… maybe there was another woman upstairs. I think she was watching.”

“What did she look like?”

“I didn’t really see her face. I just sort of noticed that someone was there.”

A woman watching from upstairs would have been Catherine Porter, Sarah guessed. “And did you see anyone else?”

“No, that’s all. I’m sure.”

Sarah couldn’t imagine a scene like that happening in the house without Mrs. Walcott coming to investigate. Of course, she might have been out. On the other hand, she’d told Malloy she was there, and that she’d been the one who had ordered the boy out.

“Did I tell you anything that helped?” he asked.

“Maybe,” was all Sarah could say.

“What are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to ask Anna Blake’s landlady a few more questions,” she said.

“Can I go with you?” he asked eagerly.

“I know you want to help, but I don’t think the Walcotts would be very happy to see you again.”

“Who are the Walcotts?”

“They own the house where Anna Blake lived.”

“Oh.”

“I’m just going to ask a few questions,” she explained. “Then I’ll take this new information to Mr. Malloy. And then, I hope, he will arrest the real killer, and your mother will be free.”

“What questions are you going to ask?”

Sarah wasn’t sure herself. “I’ll figure that out when I get there.”

To Sarah’s relief, the El wasn’t very crowded. The hour was later than she’d realized, and most of the workers had already made their way home. Sarah sat, staring blindly out the window at the buildings whizzing by, and tried to piece together everything she’d learned about that night. Anna had been home with Catherine and Mr. Walcott and maybe Mrs. Walcott, too. Mr. Walcott was sitting around in his shirtsleeves. Harold had come barging in. Mr. Walcott hadn’t wanted him there, but Anna Blake had enjoyed tormenting the boy. Harold had threatened her, and then he’d left. Anna had played checkers with Catherine until Catherine went to bed, well after dark. According to Catherine, Mrs. Walcott was probably angry with Anna, but she hadn’t said anything to Anna in Catherine’s presence. This meant she was either there when Harold came or returned home later.

After Catherine went to bed, something had happened, and Anna had gone out. Either she got a message from someone or she’d had a quarrel with Mrs. Walcott or maybe Mr. Walcott or both of them, and she’d left the house. Then she’d been stabbed at some unknown location. She’d been trying to get back home, but she’d fallen in Washington Square and died there before she could.

Sarah remembered what the coroner had said about Anna having been with a man shortly before she died. Could that man have been Mr. Walcott? Was that what she and Mrs. Walcott had quarreled about? Was that why Mrs. Walcott had lied about what time Anna left the house? And why had everyone lied about Mr. Walcott being home that night? The answer was obvious, and Sarah had a pretty good idea she now knew who the killer was. She should probably go straight to Malloy with the news, but she was afraid he wouldn’t act on it unless she had more than just a suspicion. She only needed one more piece of information, and she could get it from either of the Walcotts. If she could get them to cooperate without arousing their suspicions.