31 Bond Street Part 2

A gavel banged against a table, accompanied by the Coroner's booming voice. Edward Connery sat framed by a gilt mirror that hung between the windows overlooking the garden.

"Order! Order!" Connery called out, his rs trilling: "I have a long list of witnesses to interview," said the Coroner. "I will commence with the Reverend Marvine."

Two policemen brought a confused man with oily whiskers into the room. He was led to the dentist chair, where he sat with trepidation, holding on to the arms of the iron chair as he gingerly settled himself in. He stated his name as Uriah Marvine, Reverend of the Reformed Dutch Church. The coroner got up and strutted across the room. He placed a scroll on the jury table. It was the marriage certificate, stamped into evidence by the sheriff 's office, which pa.s.sed from hand-to-hand among the jurors.

"Sir, did you conduct a marriage between a man calling himself Dr. Harvey Burdell and a woman named Mrs. Emma Cunningham, two weeks ago, on January the fourteenth?" asked Connery, pointing to the scroll.

"That is my name on the certificate," replied the Reverend.

Next, Connery presented him with a daguerreotype of Harvey Burdell, a formal portrait in silver and black tones, taken at a photography studio downtown. "Do you recognize this man as the man who came before you to be married?"

Reverend Marvine held the picture close to his face, removed his spectacles, and examined it ponderously. "I believe I recall this face, but then again, I am not sure. A great many couples come to my home to be married. But I do recall the ceremony. It took place in my parlor. It only took a few minutes. The woman described herself as a widow."

"Did she now? Could it be possible that she arrived at your home with an imposter, or a man impersonating Harvey Burdell?" Connery asked, suddenly raising his voice.

The coal s.h.i.+fted in the fireplace, causing the flame to flare. The Reverend recoiled. "I would not know, sir. I never question the ident.i.ty of the people who come to be married; it is not my business." He studied the daguerreotype again. "Now that I think of it, I wonder if perhaps the man who came had hair that was falsely applied. He whispered to me that the marriage should not be published in the newspapers."

"Is that so!" Connery exclaimed. "False whiskers?"

"The woman on the other hand, seemed eager and very fetching, and she was younger than the man."

"The marriage is a fake," someone whispered, and a ripple began to echo through the crowd.

"Silence!" bellowed Connery. "Could you describe the woman's attire?"

"She wore a cloak, I believe, and a blue dress, or maybe grey. Oh I remember now, it was not a dress at all, it was a suit with black b.u.t.tons!" The Reverend beamed with satisfaction as the room erupted in laughter.

"Bring her in!" Connery shouted to officers waiting outside the parlor door. Two police matrons ushered Emma Cunningham to the entrance of the parlor as a hush fell over the room. She stood just under the parlor doorway, framed by the carved moldings that rose up to the high ceiling. Her image was reflected in the tilted pier mirror, making it possible for those in the back of the room to see. She was wearing a dark dress, expertly tailored. Her hands were clasped nervously before her. Her hair was swept up with twists, and her skin was porcelain, with high color in her lips and cheeks. Her eyes were green, darkly ringed by lashes and set at a tilt. She stood perfectly still while all faces were transfixed upon her. She had an unexpected allure, a curious blend of features not often found in the drawing rooms of New York-a beauty, thought Clinton, by any standard.

She leaned to the officer at her side to whisper a question but was cut off by the booming voice of the Coroner. "Quiet!" Connery ordered. "You may not speak! You are here to be looked at, Madame, not to speak. We will interview you before this jury at a later time, and you may speak then." Mrs. Cunningham stood before him quietly blinking back tears. "Take a look at her," the Coroner said to the Reverend. "Study her features, for we will send her away so she does not hear the testimony." He waved at the officer to take her away again, and they departed into the hall and up the stairs.

At her departure, the room erupted into excited whispers, and Connery rushed over to the table to bang the gavel, which had the effect of creating more confusion. "Is that the woman who came to you to be married?" he demanded.

The Reverend began to stutter in confusion. "Why, I am now more certain about the man," he said waving the daguerreotype. "That woman has a much larger bosom than the one who came, and that is all I can say for certain." The room erupted again, and the Coroner yelled for quiet.

"We are speaking of a matter of the utmost importance," he cried. "There was a murder under this roof, committed while that woman and her daughters were at home. We must determine if she had a role." Clinton listened for a while longer, then edged his way out of the back of the parlor. Disgusted, he could the see the wheels at work: Connery was leading the witness and molding the investigation toward a theory that the marriage certificate was faked. The reporters were transcribing every word, readying them for the press engines downtown, which would grease the wheels for an arrest and a criminal trial. Solving the murder quickly was a political expediency, which would quell the fears of the populace. And a hanging would be another feather in the cap of Oakey Hall.

As Clinton stepped from the room, two men at the parlor door were whispering. "I heard the Doctor had some business on the night he was killed with a large sum of money, and none of it was found. The detectives are looking for a servant, a Negro, who drove Dr. Burdell's carriage that evening."

"That seems to me a waste of effort," replied the other. "That woman was after his money. The lady upstairs is the culprit, if you want my opinion."

Clinton mounted the staircase, unnoticed. Upstairs, the hall was empty. The policemen guarding the rooms had been drawn to the drama in the parlor below. Clinton pa.s.sed the room where the murder occurred and saw the profuse amounts of dried blood that covered the floor and the walls. Inside the next bedroom, the corpse was spread on a bed as doctors leaned over, intently measuring the lesions with calipers. A man peered into the lens of a microscope. After a murder, the poor went straight to the morgue; when the wealthy were victims, an autopsy included the latest techniques of anatomical science to allow the tissues and organs to be delicately probed and examined. A newspaper artist sat sketching the scene for one of the ill.u.s.trated newspapers.

Clinton mounted the next flight to the third floor. An open door led to an attic, and through it he heard the voice of a police officer chastise a boy about cleaning out the chamber pots. There was no one guarding the bedrooms. The last door on the third floor was closed, and taking a guess, he turned the k.n.o.b and stepped in.

The shutters were pulled tight and the only illumination came from the coal in the brazier. His eyes adjusted and he saw a figure in an armchair.

"Excuse me, Madame, for intruding," he said. Her chair was close to the fire. She looked up with alarm, and he could now see the fearful and tired expression in her features. She studied him with wide eyes, wary of his presence.

'Madame, please don't be frightened. I am Henry Clinton, the lawyer that you summoned. I am with the firm of Armstrong and Clinton."

"Oh, thank G.o.d, you have come. I asked to speak with counsel, but I was not permitted," she said. "The Coroner has forbidden me."

"You have a right to speak to counsel. It is the Coroner who is in error."

"What is happening?" she whispered. "I have answered so many questions and yet no one has answered mine. This is such a terrible state of affairs." Her voice was unsteady and trembling. Clinton pulled an ottoman close and sat next to her, leaning forward so that they could speak softly without being heard.

"You have the right to speak to counsel," he repeated. "There is no law that says a person under house arrest in a coroner's investigation can be denied that right. Furthermore, anything you say to me will remain in confidence."

"I have been in my room now since Sat.u.r.day," she said, distraught. "How long must I remain here? Why am I being detained? I have already told them what I know."

"I believe the Coroner intends that you will testify before the a.s.sembled jury downstairs, this time under oath. They will interview many people who knew the deceased, and I am presuming he will interrogate you last, so I imagine you will be here for several more days. I would strongly advise you to refuse to testify before the Coroner's jury so that you do not incriminate yourself."

"Incriminate myself? Am I a suspect? But I have not been charged with any crime. I am innocent!" she exclaimed.

"Regardless of your guilt or innocence, I am afraid that what you say now may have grave consequences later. Your testimony will be transcribed for the record." He saw her confusion as the firelight flickered across her features revealing her dark lashes, now thickening with tears.

"It is all so terrible. I have told them everything. The last time I saw Dr. Burdell was before dinner, on Friday. He had his carriage brought around. I asked him where he was going, but he did not tell me. I stayed here in my room all evening by the fire, with my daughters, sewing. The three of us went to sleep in my bedroom, around eleven o'clock. We decided to sleep together in my room because it was my daughter's last night at home."

"Did you hear any commotion, or any noises during the night?"

"I am generally a sound sleeper and I didn't wake at all. I heard nothing. In the morning, the errand boy found him-he was dead!" She broke into sobs. She knocked a sewing basket from her chair onto the floor, spilling lace and ribbons. The room smelled faintly of perfume. Clinton handed her his handkerchief.

"I have been telling them the same thing over and over," she continued. "I do not know who killed Dr. Burdell or where he went that evening. He was gone for many hours. His carriage driver, Samuel, certainly would know."

"You told that to the Coroner and the Police Chief?"

She took a breath, trembling. It took her several seconds to compose herself and then she said, "They molested me, you know."

"Who?"

"The Coroner, and his deputies. They made me undress before them, removing everything, including my stockings," she said, her hands twisting anxiously at her handkerchief. "The men ran their fingers up and down my torso, looking for marks and bruises, but there was nothing. I was so ashamed and I cried out, 'Don't expose me so!'" she said, sobbing anew. "Sir, you must help me. I fear for my daughters-they are so young. I am so frightened for them, you must help us."

He watched and listened intently as she spoke. She had a shawl around her shoulders, gripping it tightly. Her eyes darted around the room, as if searching for familiar ballast. He heard the terror in her voice at the separation from her daughters, who were being kept away from her, sequestered in another room.

"Madame, I must ask you about something important-about the marriage certificate." Clinton spoke quickly, because he sensed that time was short. "I will be blunt. You told the Police Chief that you and Dr. Burdell were married, but no one else was aware of it. Now the Coroner is trying to establish if the certificate is a fake, which might indicate your motive toward the crime, so you would gain his property as a widow."

She gasped, as if the idea stung her. "Harvey and I met in Saratoga last summer, and shortly thereafter, he proposed. I came to live in this house and we were married privately," she insisted. "Dr. Burdell preferred that we keep the marriage a secret, until the spring, when we were to go to Europe. He needed to complete some business, and to straighten out his affairs. It was his choice to keep it a secret and I complied." Clinton strained to listen, for her voice was whispery and faint.

"I will see that you get legal representation. But first, here is my advice," he said. "For now, you must remain silent. Do not speak to anyone without a lawyer present."

Suddenly, the bedroom door burst open and a police officer entered. "What are you doing in here?" he shouted at Clinton. "The Coroner has given orders that no one may enter this room!"

Clinton stood up, reflexively. "I am a lawyer. I am having a conference with this woman with her permission, as is her right."

"These rooms are off bounds to lawyers. She has no right to speak to anyone." The policeman lunged toward him, but Clinton dodged and moved toward the door.

"There is no such requirement. No one can be denied counsel. I will speak to the Coroner myself," Clinton said, moving swiftly to the hall and toward the stairs, with the officer following behind him. He started downstairs while the officer yelled loudly after him, "A man has been in to see the witness. I tried to prevent him!"

Clinton reached the last flight, just as Coroner Connery was rus.h.i.+ng from the parlor to see the cause of the commotion. The crowd spilled out after him: jurymen, journalists, detectives, and officers, all crowding into the hall, looking up at Clinton, who was now stopped, poised on the staircase, midway down. Clinton remained where he was and addressed the group below: "Gentleman, I have just been speaking with the lady you have in custody. She has every right to consult with me, as a member of the legal profession."

"I will not allow anyone to go stealthily into the prisoner's room for any reason whatsoever," bellowed the Coroner. "Tampering with a witness is against my orders!"

"I did not go stealthily, for there is no restriction against a member of the legal profession having a private consultation with a citizen, upon their request."

"I did not say stealthily with any design to malign you, sir," the Coroner replied, with mock deference. "I am the one in charge here, and Mrs. Cunningham and her daughters cannot elect to talk to anyone until their sworn testimony before me."

"Is this woman to be interviewed as a witness or is she a suspect?" asked Clinton. "That is what I demand to know. If she is a suspect, then the law provides that no person can be imprisoned without charges made. I will present you with a writ of habeas corpus if I must. She cannot be held under arrest unless she is charged with a crime."

"She is under arrest in her own home, which is a different matter entirely. Perhaps she is a suspect or perhaps she is a witness. I am the one to decide that."

Clinton moved down the last steps. "It will be a simple matter to test your interpretation of the law before a more competent authority than yourself. I will obtain an order from a judge, if I must."

"Go ahead," said Connery, seething like a child rebuked, "but I speak to you in the presence of the jury and the press-we do not need law here! This is my investigation." He pointed to a policeman and shouted, "Get some committals made out. I want them here, so that I can send to prison any person who interferes with my orders."

Clinton walked solidly past the officers, to the outer door, and exited the house. From atop the stoop he met a blast of bright morning light; the crowd before 31 Bond Street had grown larger. It was almost ten o'clock and downtown his clerks would be busy at their desks. It was time to get to his office-he had just come across his next case.

CHAPTER FIVE.

Clinton pulled the canvas strap that ran along the floor, tied to the driver's leg. The Bowery stagecoach was known for its cutthroat drivers who could steer a team of horses through any morning crush. The horses whinnied as the coach strained to a stop. Clinton hopped off and headed toward the limestone row of law offices that faced the unadorned back side of City Hall.

He waded among the newsboys, who chanted the headlines about the murder. A ragged boy stopped before him; he had the haunted, hollow look of the very hungry and wore tattered pants that were too short by a foot. Clinton reached into his pocket to sprinkle a coin into the boy's hand when he realized that the boy was not begging but handing him an envelope with his name written on the front.

"Excuse me, sir, this is for you," the boy said, handing him the letter. "Mrs. Cunningham sent me, to give you this." Clinton had left Bond Street just thirty minutes earlier, after being ejected from the house by Coroner Connery, yet somehow this boy had intercepted him.

"How did you get to see Mrs. Cunningham?" asked Clinton.

"I work for Doctor Burdell-before he died, I mean. Now the deputies keep me busy. I fetch the coal and water for all the rooms. I was cleaning out the chamber pot in Mrs. Cunningham's bedroom when she gave me this. She said to run downtown and give it to you." Clinton took the envelope and broke open the seal.

Dear Mr. Clinton, Dr. Burdell was on a mission on the night of his death, of that I am certain. He may have been involved in a dangerous affair. When I heard his carriage return, I looked out my window and believe I saw others inside. Perhaps he did not enter the house alone. If you find his coachman, Samuel, I am sure you will discover who killed Dr. Burdell.

Please send me word as to what I should do, as I will be asked to testify soon.

Emma Burdell Clinton refolded the note. He noticed that Emma Cunningham signed the letter as Emma Burdell. He also remembered that she had told him that she was sleeping when Dr. Burdell returned to the house; now her letter stated that she was awake and she saw him from the window. Without the advice of counsel, she might contradict herself when asked to give testimony to the Coroner at the inquest in the parlor. Reporters were recording the proceeding, and any inconsistent testimony would go on record.

Looking up from the letter, Clinton saw that the boy was ready to bolt. "Wait, son-" Clinton reached into his pocket, pulling out a bill. "Your name is...?

"John, sir."

"You work in the house?"

"I am the houseboy and do errands, sir."

"Have you spoken before the coroner's jury?"

"Yes, I told them about how I found Dr. Burdell dead on his carpet."

"And did you speak the truth?

"Yes, sir, I did." The boy started to fidget, nervously.

"John-do you know who killed Dr. Burdell?"

"No, sir, I don't know who done it! Really, I don't!" he said. Clinton slipped a dollar into the boy's hand. The haunted look on John's face deepened. Clinton suspected that he had never held a dollar bill before.

"I need you to help me," Clinton said softly, placing an arm around his shoulders and leading him toward the door to his office. "Come upstairs with me. I have some food."

Clerks and junior staff looked up from a maze of desks. Clinton took off his overcoat, and the entire staff watched the ragged boy, no more than eleven years old, with a tousled head of blond hair, cowering at his side. Clinton paused, then addressed them, in a robust voice: "Good morning! It's Monday morning, and there is work to do. I need to schedule a hearing on the house arrest of the people this past weekend at Bond Street. The names of the parties in custody are Mrs. Emma Cunningham, Augusta Cunningham, and Helen Cunningham." A legal a.s.sociate began to scribble Clinton's orders, and then looked up, quill in hand.

"How do you spell that, sir?" he asked.

"Cunningham," repeated Clinton. "Like it sounds. And I want someone to look up the legal code that describes a Coroner's powers and how long a Coroner can lay siege to a crime scene. Write out a copy of the code and deliver it to the New York Times."

"Good morning to you, too, sir," yelled one of the clerks, in a merry tone. "May I surmise that you read today's headlines, and we are embarking on a new case?"

"At the moment, I am considering it, Mr. Snarky," Clinton replied coolly to the clerk. "And since you have such an irreverent manner, I shall a.s.sign you the task of handling the press. I want you to spend each evening at Park Row, finding out the news from the inquest at Bond Street. And you shall keep the file on all the newspaper clippings on the case."

"Yes, sir," Snarky said, subdued, not that he minded mingling with the reporters who cl.u.s.tered in knots along the printing house row, sitting on crates in the alleys, chomping on the stumps of wide cigars, gambling at cards, while waiting for news of fresh crime from the police precincts.

"And," said Clinton, "the next time she comes, would someone please tell my wife-we don't need any more food." Clinton took John to a shelf piled high with tins. Almost every day, Elisabeth stopped by the law office with more baked goods. With Clinton always between the jailhouse and the courts, no matter what time she came, she hardly ever found him in.

Clinton opened a tin of shortbread. "Here we go, John. These are fairly fresh. I believe she brought these over Friday." John raised a triangle of cake and jammed it into his mouth. His eyes widened, embarra.s.sed, when he heard the laughter of the clerks.

Clinton led John into his office, away from the eyes of the curious staff. He shut the door and sat John down to finish his cake. "John, you have been at the house awhile, am I correct?"

"Yes, sir," the boy said dutifully, his mouth still full.

"And you know Mrs. Cunningham and the other servants? Do you know the carriage driver, named Samuel?" The boy began chewing faster and eyed the door without answering.

Clinton now reached into his pocket and sorted through some coins until he found a penny, s.h.i.+ny and new, dated 1857, with a flying eagle stamped on the copper. He offered it to the boy, and his face lit up at the sight. As he suspected, it was the bird on the s.h.i.+ny coin that intrigued him; paper currency had little meaning.

"I don't know where Samuel is," he protested, "I swear to it."

Clinton patted him on the back. "John, I need your help. Here's what I need you to do. I want you to go back to 31 Bond Street, and do your job, and each day, come here and fill me in on what is happening inside the house. Can you do that?" The boy nodded. "Can you leave the house without being missed?"

"The police officers send me out for food and provisions, and such. I can pa.s.s the officers at the door anytime," said John.

"Good. I want you to be my eyes and ears." Clinton opened another tin-this box was filled with taffy. He placed it before the child, who added the candy to his bulging pockets. Clinton lifted a page of stationery from a stack on his desk and started penning a note. "I am writing a letter for you to give to Mrs. Cunningham. Make sure no one sees you." The boy nodded.

Clinton led John out past the clerks, escorting him out the office door, to the hallway. "Remember, John," he whispered, "it's important to be discreet," said Clinton as the boy nodded and fled away.