Murder In Chelsea Part 18

They could hardly have done worse, Sarah thought.

FRANK AND MR. DECKER DECIDED THAT THEY WERE more likely to find Michael Hicks in his office in the middle of the day, so they located the address and went there after lunching in a small, elegant restaurant Frank would never have considered entering, where they knew Decker by name and they didn't even ask him to pay. There were places in the city where cops weren't asked to pay, but that was a form of bribery to ensure protection from hara.s.sment. This, Frank understood, was different. Decker would probably receive a bill in the mail, and the restaurant owners weren't the least bit worried that it wouldn't be paid.

Hicks was in his office, and he wasn't too busy to see them. Frank figured people were seldom too busy to see Felix Decker. Hicks didn't seem surprised by their visit, or maybe he just hid it well. The men shook hands, and Frank and Decker took the offered seats in front of Hicks's expansive desk. The room was meant to impress, with its dark paneling and rich appointments. The heavy draperies blocked any hint of sunlight that might bring cheer to the place. The effect could be either comforting or intimidating, depending on whether Hicks was on your side or not. Frank had the uncomfortable feeling Hicks hadn't chosen his side in this yet.

"What can I do for you gentlemen?" he asked.

Frank let Decker start, as they had agreed. "You can explain to us why you never told Mr. Wilbanks that your investigator had found Emma Hardy weeks ago and you've known exactly where she's been ever since."

Hicks never even blinked. "I can see why you might find that puzzling, but I a.s.sure you, my motives were for the best."

"And what were those motives?" Frank asked.

Hicks calmly folded his hands on his desk, as if they were discussing the weather. "Mr. Wilbanks is very ill, as you've seen. His only concern is seeing his daughter . . . Catherine . . . before he dies. In the report I received, my investigator had located Emma Hardy but the child was not with her and had not been with her for months. I'm sure you can understand how upsetting that information would be to Mr. Wilbanks."

As much as Frank hated to admit it, he was right, but he wasn't going to let him off too easily. "So you lied to Mr. Wilbanks?"

"I did not lie. I merely did not tell him. For all I knew, the child was dead or Emma had abandoned her somewhere and we would never find her. I decided to leave Mr. Wilbanks in ignorance with a bit of hope, at least until we knew for certain what had become of her."

"What else did your investigator find out that you didn't tell Wilbanks . . . and us?" Frank asked.

Hicks's clear gaze never faltered. "I had instructed him to do whatever was necessary to locate the child. We didn't foresee that Emma wouldn't have her, of course, but when he discovered that, he decided to try to motivate Emma to go to her."

"So he told her that Wilbanks was dying," Decker said.

"Yes. He told her Mr. Wilbanks still wanted to provide for Catherine and was thinking of leaving her some money in his will, but he wanted to make sure she was all right first. He also indicated Wilbanks would make it worth Emma's while if she brought the child to see him."

"Your investigator sounds very resourceful," Decker said.

Hicks shrugged. "He simply understands that most people will do whatever is in their financial best interest."

"Yes, and Miss Hardy would have found it difficult to resist the opportunity to take Mr. Wilbanks for a fortune," Decker said.

Frank saw a flaw in their reasoning, but now was not the time to point it out. "So what did your investigator do after he tempted Emma with this promise of riches?"

"He followed the troupe for a few days, expecting Emma to go straight to New York or wherever she had left Catherine. He was surprised when she didn't, and for a while we both feared the child must be either dead or irretrievably lost, but he eventually learned that she didn't have the means to return until she got paid at the end of the tour. He saw her mailing a letter, though, and managed to get a look at the address. We decided this person must have Catherine, so I instructed him to return here and locate her."

"Anne Murphy," Frank said.

Hicks nodded.

"And did he locate her?" Decker asked.

"Yes, but he quickly determined she didn't have the child either."

"And before she could get her, someone killed her," Frank said.

Hicks tried to maintain his composure, but he couldn't stop the flush that crawled up his neck. "You can't believe I had anything to do with that."

This time Frank shrugged. "It was an easy way to make sure no one found Catherine."

"But I wanted to find her and bring her to David."

"We know that's what Mr. Wilbanks wanted, but was it really what you wanted?" Frank asked.

"Yes, it was, and I had no reason to wish the child harm, as you well know. Or Miss Murphy either, for that matter. You're wasting your time here, Mr. Malloy. If you want to find out who killed that woman, you should be talking to Emma Hardy, and in case you don't know, she's staying at the La Pierre Hotel with an actor named Parnell Vaughn."

9.

HICKS ESCORTED THEM OUT TO THE LOBBY, WHERE SEVERAL young men sat at high desks, scratching away at important papers with their pens. One young man stood at the front counter, however, idly chatting with the man seated there.

"Don't you have something to do, Udall?" Hicks asked. Frank got the impression he asked that question a lot of this particular young man.

"Yes, sir, of course I do, but I hoped to speak to Mr. Decker." He smiled, and Frank knew he'd gotten away with a lot of mischief with that smile.

"Are you acquainted with Mr. Decker?" Hicks asked, apparently immune to Udall's charm.

"No, sir, but I made the acquaintance of his lovely wife just this afternoon."

This got Decker's attention, as Udall had meant it to. "And where did you meet my wife, young man?"

"At my cousin's home."

"You're Cousin Terrance," Frank said, remembering Ozzie's description of the man who had tried to terrorize Emma Hardy. "A Van Horn on your mother's side."

Udall's smile flickered for a moment as he tried to figure out who Frank might be and how he knew so much about him. "You have the advantage of me, sir. Have we met?"

Hicks, who seemed to enjoy Udall's momentary discomfort, quickly introduced the men, taking great delight in informing Udall that Frank was with the police. "Mr. Udall is one of my clerks, or at least he is when he bothers to come to the office."

Frank remembered what Decker had said about the Van Horns putting their sons to work with mixed results. Judging from his expression, Decker remembered it, too.

"I had to go to Gilda this afternoon when I heard what's happened," Udall said. "She's extremely upset, you know. Is that why you're here, Mr. Decker? About the child?"

"I'm sure that's none of your business," Hicks said.

Udall furrowed his n.o.ble brow. "The welfare of an innocent child should be everyone's business, don't you agree, Mr. Decker?"

"Yes, it should," Frank replied for him, "especially for those who know her. You met her, didn't you, when you and Ozzie Wilbanks went to see Emma Hardy."

Udall's confidence evaporated into dismay. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, yes," Decker said. "Ozzie told us just this morning how the two of you went out to try to frighten Emma Hardy into leaving Wilbanks and taking her little heiress with her."

Plainly, this was news to Hicks. "Is this true, Udall? Did you go with Ozzie to see this woman?"

"Ozzie wanted to go. He wanted to see his father's . . . uh . . ." He glanced around, belatedly realizing how many other clerks could overhear their conversation.

"Paramour," Malloy said helpfully.

"Yes, well, he wanted to go see her, and I was afraid of what he might do. He has quite a temper, you see, so I went along to make sure he didn't get himself into any trouble. But I only had a glimpse of the child. Ozzie had no time for her, although now that I think of it, she's his sister, isn't she? He really should have taken more interest."

Frank had to admire this young man. He was the best liar he'd encountered so far in this case. He supposed being the son of a socially prominent family with no money meant Udall had to get by on his charm and good looks, and lying was always a useful skill for someone like that, too. Frank wondered why he hadn't captured himself a rich wife yet. He'd have to ask Mrs. Decker about that. If she didn't know, she'd find out. "That's funny. When we spoke with Ozzie Wilbanks this morning, he said you were the one who lost his temper with Miss Hardy."

"Me? That's ridiculous. Why should I care enough to lose my temper with her?"

"Maybe you were outraged about the innocent child," Frank said. "Was that why you threatened her?"

Udall narrowed his pale blue eyes. "I never threatened that woman, and even if I did, let me remind you that no harm has come to Miss Hardy, nor is it likely to. And if Ozzie and I scared her off so she didn't marry Wilbanks last year, then we performed the man a service and should be rewarded accordingly."

"I'll suggest it to him the next time I see him," Frank said.

Hicks had been enjoying this exchange, but now he said, "Udall, you'd best get back to work now."

"Yes, sir. Mr. Decker, sir, it's been a pleasure. Mr. Malloy . . . good day." Apparently, it hadn't been a pleasure to meet Frank.

Frank was smiling when he and Decker stepped out into the street.

"I don't think that man was entirely truthful with us," Decker said.

"Which one?"

"Well, now that you mention it, we do know for a fact that Hicks lied to us."

"He didn't lie. He just didn't tell us the truth," Frank said, still smiling. "And as for this Udall fellow, he's a piece of work."

"He certainly is. I'm so glad Elizabeth met him. She'll be able to tell us all about him."

Frank was sure she would. "Let's go find her then."

SARAH AND HER MOTHER HAD JUST COME DOWN FROM the nursery when Malloy and her father arrived and joined them in the family parlor.

"You look like you had an interesting day," her mother observed.

"We certainly did," her father replied. He seemed very pleased with himself, or at least pleased about something. He and Malloy actually exchanged a conspiratorial glance. Sarah found herself blinking in surprise.

"We met Terrance Udall," Malloy said.

"So did we," her mother said, delighted.

Malloy grinned. "We know. We were hoping you could tell us why he hasn't married some featherbrained heiress."

"Malloy, would you like some coffee?" her father said, pulling the cord to summon the maid.

"Yes, thank you."

Her mother patted the seat beside her on the sofa, and Malloy took it, watching her expectantly. "Where did you encounter Mr. Udall?" she asked.

"He works for Michael Hicks," her father said, taking a chair on his wife's other side.

"I thought you were going to see Ozzie Wilbanks," Sarah said.

"We did," her father said. "Mr. Malloy, would you tell the ladies what we learned today?"

Malloy was only too happy to do so, Sarah noted, and her father allowed it. He described their visit with Ozzie Wilbanks, giving their impressions of him. Her father interrupted only occasionally and added his opinions when Malloy asked.

"He seems an odd match for Gilda," her mother observed. "She's quite clever and even a little ruthless, or I miss my guess."

"According to Ozzie, Gilda is the one who figured out Wilbanks had a mistress," Malloy said.

"How did she do that?" Sarah asked.

Malloy frowned. "He said she got suspicious when Wilbanks kept leaving town, but now that I know Udall works for Hicks, I'm wondering if he didn't get wind of it there and tell Gilda about it."

"That's certainly possible," her father said. "Attorneys hear all sorts of secrets that they can't tell another living soul but that anyone in their office might find out by just paying attention."

"I'm guessing Udall paid a lot of attention to Wilbanks and his business because of his connection to Gilda," Malloy said. "At any rate, according to Ozzie, Udall was the one who supposedly found out where Emma lived."

"Wait a minute," her mother said while Sarah was still absorbing what Malloy had said. "Gilda told us she had no idea that Wilbanks had a mistress until a few days ago."

"Gilda must be a good liar, too," Malloy said to her father, who nodded sagely.

Sarah was starting to think this whole encounter was a dream. Since when did Malloy and her father share confidences? Since when did her father defer to Malloy? Since when did her father defer to anyone at all?

"We believed her," her mother said, oblivious of Sarah's confusion, "so she's at least a pa.s.sable liar. What else did Ozzie tell you?"

"He admitted he'd gone to see Emma-"

"Only after Malloy let him know we already knew he did," her father said.

"But he claimed she wasn't frightened by his threats. She had the upper hand with Wilbanks and she knew it. Udall was the man he took with him the second time he visited Emma."

"Was he the one who frightened her so?" Sarah asked.

"That's what Ozzie claimed, but Udall said it was Ozzie," Malloy said. "Ozzie wouldn't frighten a fly, though, so it must have been Udall."

"But regardless of who made them, Ozzie claimed she laughed off these threats as well," her father said.

"Then we went to see Hicks, to find out why he didn't tell Wilbanks his investigator had found Emma in Chicago and had been following her ever since."