Maureen JENNINGS - Under the Dragon’s Tail

“What happened?”

“She doesn’t know. All she remembers is hearing somebody come into the room – thought it was me and didn’t want to admit she was awake, nocky bint. Then this stinking cloth was over her face. It was chloroform for sure. She still reeked of it.”

“Any idea who did it?”

“Could I have another cuppa char, Mr. Murdoch? I’m parched.”

“I’ll get you one in a minute.” He knew she was stalling and he didn’t want to lose her. “Is your sister all right now?”

Annie looked away again. “Yes. Millie wasn’t forced or anything like that. She’ll live.”

“So who was it?” he repeated. “What did they want?”

“Who I don’t know. Why is probably to take something of mine.”

“What?”

She retreated, sipped the last of her tea, then came back to her resolve.

“A book. An album – this is the truth now and I don’t care if it gets me into trouble. It was me your man saw going into Dolly’s house the night she was stiffened – and I didn’t do it so get that out of your mind.”

“It wasn’t in.”

“Yes, well. You were right, I went there to get something for Millie. I knew Dolly from before, and she would give you stuff like that. For a price of course. A high price.”

“And did she?”

“Yes.” She hesitated, trying to step on the stones and not in the quicksand. She intended to tell Murdoch only what suited her. “I bought what I came for, but she took out this autograph album. It was pretty, blue leather and gold letters. When her back was turned I nicked it.”

“And somebody came to your house, almost killed your sister, and stole this book and nothing else?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Why would they go to the trouble of chloroforming a woman for an album, however gold the letters? You can go to a fancy goods store on King Street and buy a dozen. You can order them from Sears catalogue. This is a bit extreme wouldn’t you say?”

She shrugged. “People are mad as mice sometimes. I can’t explain what’s in the klep’s mind.”

“Annie, come on. This is horse plop, as you call it.”

Annie began to play with a thread on her skirt. In another situation she would have turned it into something coy but now she just looked like a child trying to find a way out of trouble.

“Miss Brogan! Annie! Look at me! I’m real sorry for what happened to your sister, but I can’t do anything about it unless you stop giving me the runaround. Besides, I happen to know what was special about that album.”

“You do, do you?”

“Dolly Shaw told her neighbour that it was her record book. She called it a record of the sins of the world.”

Annie scowled. “Did she now?”

“What was in it really?”

“I suppose you could call it that, I wouldn’t. There’s lots of girls get caught. And they’re the ones who pay, not the gassers.” Her voice was bitter. “Dolly Shaw never asked questions. She was a good midwife, mind you, but it was discretion you paid the muck for. And it’s true. She did write everything in her sodding album. Names and dates. I saw her.”

“When was that?”

“Doesn’t matter. A long time ago.”

“Did Dolly try to put the squeeze on you? Some dosh in exchange for silence?”

“You have to be pulling it. I’m already a Jezebel in the eyes of the world. Who’d care if there were more dilberries to be seen on my arse?”

“You are mentioned, though?”

“I didn’t say so.”

“Why’d you steal the book, then?”

“I had my reasons, but they don’t concern you.”

“They might.”

“I wasn’t planning to put the touch on the poor tits who fell into her clutches, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I wasn’t.”

Annie stared at him, trying to read his expression, then she said, “All right. What else do you want to know?”

“Who knew the album was in your possession?”

“I don’t know. My sister saw it but that’s all.”

“Was Dolly aware you’d nicked it?”

Annie laughed. “She wasn’t dead yet. She had to know, seeing she was clutching it to her bosom when we had our dustup. I snatched it out from her.”

“This is the truth now? You had a quarrel?”

“That’s it.”

“What about?”

“It’s not relevant.”

Murdoch let that go, trying to play the line gently.

“Somebody must have come soon after you left. Dolly might have told them you had the book.”

“Hey, do I hear right? What you just said could be construed as a belief in my innocence.”

“That’s my assumption at the moment.”

She grinned again. “When you come to the Derby and said she was dead, I thought I was the one as killed her. She fell down, you see, when I grabbed the book. She was drunk to her top knot. I could hear her moaning when I left so I was pretty certain she was still quick, but you gave me a heart-stopper for a minute. It was a great relief to me that the old sod was suffocated, God forgive me.”

“Did she hit her head on the fender when she fell?”

“No. She sort of staggered backwards and sat on her behind against her desk. She wasn’t near the hearth at all.”

“How long were you in the house, would you say?”

“Not long. Must have been with her for half an hour at the most.”

“Which way did you go when you left?”

“Straight down River Street. I picked up a cabbie on Queen Street. You can get his docket. Old guy, name of Aloysius. Horse was a dapple.”

“What were you and Mrs. Shaw arguing about?”

“Nothing in particular. Dolly was very nasty when she had a skin on.”

“How much did you pay for the abortifacient?”

She grimaced. “As it turned out, I didn’t pay anything. We had the barney and I grabbed the album and ran, taking my money with me. She’d given me the herbs already. Wasn’t stealing; she owed me.”

“Miss Brogan, I found a copy of a letter in her desk that was asking for money. It wasn’t addressed. Will you swear to me Dolly Shaw didn’t send you that letter?”

“I swear. Besides, she wasn’t so thick as to think she’d get much dosh from me.”

Murdoch believed her but he wasn’t going to let her off so easily just yet. He regarded her sombrely.

“It is obviously to your benefit if we find her murderer soon. Somebody is willing to take extraordinary risks to get the information in that book.”

“Well, they’ve got what they want now.”

“But this person must believe you have that knowledge as well. They might want to erase it. Make sure it dies with you.”

“You’d better find them then.”

“Come clean and give me a chance to.”

Annie sat silently for what seemed like a long time. She glanced around at the cracked walls, the dingy chair, and filing cabinet. She waved away a persistent fly. Murdoch sat as patiently as he could. Finally, she said, “I want you to find who attacked Millie. She didn’t deserve it…the chloroform caused her to miscarry.”

Murdoch pulled out his handkerchief and gave it to her.

“It’s funny,” Annie continued. “You wish and pray that the thing inside you won’t live, but when it doesn’t, you feel very bad.”

She blew her nose indelicately and rubbed at the tears. Looking very sad, she said, “If I tell you my own wicked story, are you certain it will be of help?”

“It might.”

“Here goes then.” She raised her hand in a mock toast. “When I was young and foolish.” She smiled slightly. “We all do something foolish when we’re young, don’t we, Mr. Murdoch?”

“Certainly.” He didn’t consider her exactly old now but he didn’t say anything.

“I had a lover. A wonderful, handsome prince. My Othello. I was only seventeen, and like Desdemona I loved him for the tales he told. He promised to marry me, the usual malarkey to get what he wanted. I got one in the oven pretty fast, and lo, my adoring lover wasn’t quite so adoring. He’d neglected to mention a wife and family pining for him somewhere in America. He gave me enough money to get by, sent me off to Dolly’s, and slipped away into the night. I went to lie in at her house in Markham, and on February the fourth, in the early hours of the morning, I was delivered of a baby boy.” She stopped and tipped her empty cup, trying to find sustenance in it. “I was just starting on the stage and I couldn’t raise a nipper on my own, so Dolly arranged for the baby to go to a farmer’s family in the village. I only saw him once, never even held him in my arms. Dolly wouldn’t let me.” Unconsciously, she placed her hand at her bosom. “I had to promise I would make payments every month, two dollars for the child’s maintenance. My baby wasn’t easy to place, you see. Dolly said nobody would take him unless I agreed to pay regularly. Coming up with the muck was hard but I did it. Sent her money faithfully. For eight years. When I went to see her for Millie, I asked how the boy was doing. I’d been thinking for a long time that I’d like to visit him. Incognito of course – I didn’t want to disturb his life, which I hoped was a happy one.”