Murder on Lexington Avenue (19 page)

“I did say that I wasn’t trying to excuse her,” she reminded him. “I’m just explaining to you why she wanted to get rid of the baby.”

“What changed her mind? That is,
if
she changed her mind.”

“Yes, she did, after I pointed out that no one could know for sure who the baby’s father was except her and her husband.”

“And since her husband is dead,” Frank finished, “no one is left to accuse her.”

“She saw that right away. The fact that she hadn’t told anyone about the baby is also easily explained. I suggested that she might have been worried she couldn’t carry it to term or that it would be stillborn, because of her age. So they decided to keep it a secret, just in case.”

“You’re very clever, Mrs. Brandt,” Frank said with an appreciative grin. “Good thing you didn’t decide on a life of crime. Heaven help the poor police.”

“Heaven help them, indeed,” she replied, returning his grin. “Have you made any progress at all in finding the killer?”

“No,” he admitted with a sigh. “I just keep finding more people who wanted Mr. Wooten dead.”

“Who?” she asked eagerly. “Besides Mrs. Wooten and her lover, that is.”

“Electra Wooten,” he said. “She was—”

“Seeing some deaf man she wanted to marry,” she finished for him. “Leander let that slip. Honestly, Malloy, if you’d told me about that, I might have been able to get some more information out of him, but it caught me by surprise.”

“Are you scolding me for not telling you all the details of the case?” he asked with some amusement.

She wasn’t amused at all. “Yes, I am. You did ask me to find out as much as I could about who fathered Mrs. Wooten’s baby, so why not tell me everything?”

“There wasn’t time,” he said, hoping she would accept that. “A baby was coming, remember?”

She didn’t look pleased. “There’s no baby coming right now. Tell me what you know about Electra and
her
lover.”

“He’s a teacher at Brian’s school.”

“Really?” she asked in surprise. “Oh, of course. Leander said he taught at a different school than the one Electra attends. I should have figured that out. Do you know him?”

“I just met him. My mother knows him, though. She says he’s highly respectable, but that might just mean that all the females at the school are in love with him. He’s young and handsome.”

Her eyes lit with delight. “Is your mother in love with him?”

“I’m afraid so,” he admitted, delighting her even more.

“Leander told me he’d hired this man to teach Electra. Why would he do that?”

“She wanted to learn to sign.”

“You mean like Brian does?”

Frank nodded.

“Couldn’t she learn that at her own school?”

“No, they don’t teach signing there, and her father was determined that she not learn how.”

“Why?”

Frank briefly explained Mr. Wooten’s devotion to Alexander Graham Bell’s theories of eugenics.

“But Electra still wanted to learn to sign,” she marveled. “And she convinced her brother to help her.”

“Yes, and he went to another teacher at Brian’s school, an older man who probably wouldn’t have caused any problems at all because Electra wouldn’t have fallen in love with him. But when he realized who her father was, he recommended Mr. Oldham instead.”

“You mean he purposely sent a handsome young man to teach her?”

“Yes, he wanted them to fall in love and get married and have children who weren’t deaf so they would prove Bell’s theory wrong.”

“And prove
Mr. Wooten’s
theory wrong,” she realized. “But how could he even imagine it would all work out like that, just the way he planned?”

“He’s an idiot,” Frank said in disgust.

“Not completely an idiot,” she pointed out. “Electra and this Mr. Oldham did fall in love, and Electra did want to marry him. That part of his plan worked perfectly.”

“Her father never would’ve allowed it, though,” Frank reminded her.

But she was thinking. “Remember what I said about an unwanted baby making a woman desperate?”

“Yes, but—”

“Wanted babies can make other people just as desperate,” she said. “Of course, Electra and this teacher could just have simply eloped, but she’s not of age and her father might have had it annulled or something. But if she was expecting a child, her father might have been convinced to approve of the marriage or at least to allow it.”

“Is she expecting a child?” he asked in surprise.

“Not that I know of,” she said. “And I don’t think she and Mr. Oldham are lovers yet. She was very surprised to see the mark of a man on her new brother when I changed his diaper, which makes me think she’s still innocent. But someone would have thought of it sooner or later, I’m sure.”

“But Oldham wanted to marry the girl. Maybe he was in love with her or maybe he just liked the idea of a rich wife, but you can see that he had a good reason for wanting Mr. Wooten dead. And Electra . . .”

“Surely, you don’t think she had anything to do with her own father’s death!” she exclaimed.

“The first time I saw her, she told me she was glad he was dead.”

“Oh, dear. That certainly doesn’t look good for her and Mr. Oldham.” She shook her head in dismay. “Haven’t you found anyone outside the family who might have wanted him dead?”

“Not yet. I didn’t like his partner much, but he doesn’t stand to gain anything that I can see. The son inherits Wooten’s share of the business, according to him. Oh, and he’s the father of Mrs. Wooten’s lover.”

“Oh, I almost forgot, Mrs. Parmer told me some very interesting things about Terry Young and Mrs. Wooten, things she especially wanted me to tell you. I gather Young is only about ten years younger than Mrs. Wooten, but she’s known him since he was a little boy, from when she first married Wooten, I guess. She wouldn’t have been much older than Electra is now.”

“How long ago would that be?” Frank asked, trying to do the arithmetic in his head.

“Twenty years or so, I would imagine . . . Oh, dear,” she said again. “That really makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

“You mean wonder when they became lovers?”

“Yes.” She gave a little shudder. “I don’t even want to know.”

Frank didn’t either. This whole case was already disgusting enough.

“Do you think the man who recommended Mr. Oldham could have been involved with the murder?” she asked after a moment.

“I don’t see why he would want Mr. Wooten dead,” Frank had to admit. “His plan was going just fine.”

“But Mr. Wooten was killed at his office,” she remembered. “Maybe it had something to with his business. I suppose you already thought of that, though.”

“I talked to everyone who works there. If anybody knew anything, they didn’t tell me.”

“Maybe it’s something they don’t know,” she mused. “Maybe something Mr. Wooten only just found out. Someone was stealing money from the company . . .”

“Where do you get these ideas?” he asked, amused again.

“I read the newspapers,” she replied. “These things happen all the time.”

“But people don’t usually get killed,” he reminded her. “They usually get caught and go to jail.”

“But if they didn’t want to go to jail and only one person knew about it . . .”

“Not very likely.”

She sighed. “You’re probably right. I just hope whatever it is won’t cause a scandal.”

“Why not?”

“Because, as Mrs. Wooten pointed out to Leander when he was threatening to expose her affair with Mr. Young, any scandal will ruin Electra’s chances of making a good marriage.”

“Then she can marry the deaf teacher,” Frank said. “He won’t care about a scandal, especially if he caused it.”

She smiled. “Thank you for easing my mind, Malloy.”

S
ARAH SPENT THE NIGHT ON A COT THAT HAD BEEN SET up in Mrs. Wooten’s room. Both mother and baby passed the night with a minimum of disturbance, and Sarah slept soundly for several hours at a time.

When Minnie brought up the breakfast tray, she looked frazzled.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” she said, setting the tray down at the end of the bed. “This is the best cook could do. She’s run off her feet getting everything ready for the funeral dinner today.”

The tray seemed fine to Sarah. It held a selection of rolls and butter and jam, two plates with fried eggs and bacon, and a pot of coffee.

“What are they serving?” Mrs. Wooten asked with a worried frown. “What linens are they using? What is Electra going to wear? Who’s helping her get ready? Who’s coming to the dinner?”

“I’m sure I don’t know, Mrs. Wooten. Nobody tells me anything.”

“Then ask Mrs. Parmer to come to me,” Mrs. Wooten said.

Minnie’s eyes widened in alarm. “I couldn’t do that, ma’am. She said she’d be busy and not to disturb her until it was time to go to the church.”

“The church? Aren’t they having the funeral here?” Mrs. Wooten asked, her voice rising shrilly.

“Oh, no, ma’am, Mrs. Parmer, she said it would disturb you too much. It’s enough they have to have the dinner here after.”

“But I won’t get to see my husband! I won’t get to say good-bye!” she cried.

Sarah wondered just how concerned she really was about seeing her husband one last time.

“But Mrs. Parmer said you couldn’t come downstairs anyway, not in your condition, so there was no reason to cause a commotion in the household for nothing.”

“Nothing! Does she think my husband’s funeral is nothing!”

“Mrs. Wooten, you mustn’t upset yourself,” Sarah said, shooing Minnie away with a wave of her hand. The beleaguered maid gratefully made her escape.

“I can’t believe it! Betty Parmer has taken over my household,” Mrs. Wooten moaned. “Heaven knows what she’ll do to embarrass me. And what about Electra and Leander? Who will look after them and make sure they’re properly dressed and that they behave themselves?”

“I’m sure they’re both well trained,” Sarah soothed her.

“I can’t stand it! I have to know what she’s doing.” She laid an arm across her eyes and moaned again. “Oh, wait, I know!” she said suddenly, removing the arm and looking at Sarah shrewdly. “You can go and tell me everything that happens!”

“I can’t go to the funeral,” Sarah said reasonably. “Someone has to stay here and take care of you.”

“Minnie can stay with me for a few hours. I want you to go. You’re the only one I can trust to tell me the truth!”

“Mrs. Wooten, you hardly know me,” Sarah reminded her.

“But I know I can trust you. You’re Felix Decker’s daughter.”

This seemed to make perfect sense to her, but Sarah had no idea why. “Mrs. Wooten, I can’t go to a funeral. I don’t even have any clothes with me.” There, the perfect excuse that any lady of fashion could understand.

“But surely you own a decent suit you could wear to a funeral,” she said, eyeing Sarah’s serviceable skirt and shirtwaist.

“Yes, of course I do, but—”

“Then we’ll send someone for it. Ring for Minnie. Is there someone at your house who can pack for you?”

“I suppose—”

“Then write them a note and tell them what to pack. You must be ready to go in the carriage with Mrs. Parmer and the children.”

“I can’t go in the carriage with them,” Sarah protested.

“Of course you can. I’m still the mistress of this house, no matter what Betty Parmer thinks. Ring for Minnie. She can do your hair while you’re waiting for your clothing to arrive.”

S
ARAH COULDN’T BELIEVE SHE WAS RIDING IN THE CARriage with Mrs. Parmer and Leander and Electra Wooten. None of them was particularly pleased about the situation, but even Leander’s shouted protests hadn’t changed his mother’s mind. Finally, Mrs. Parmer had decided to stop objecting and go along with her sister-in-law’s ridiculous demands.

“I’m sorry if you felt unwelcome, Mrs. Brandt,” Mrs. Parmer said as the carriage rattled its way through the city streets to the church where Mr. Nehemiah Wooten would be mourned and eulogized.

“My feelings don’t matter in the slightest,” Sarah said graciously. “I really don’t want to be here any more than you want me here. I’m only humoring Mrs. Wooten so she doesn’t get more upset than she already was.”

“As we all are,” Mrs. Parmer said. “And I finally realized that I
want
her to have a complete report on everything that happens so she knows my brother was laid to rest as properly as possible. Please notice how lovely Electra looks in her white.” Electra was too young to wear black mourning clothes.

Sarah smiled at the sullen girl who was sitting across from her, next to her Aunt. “Yes, she does.”

Electra didn’t smile back.

“And Leander looks quite handsome, doesn’t he?”

Sarah looked at the young man sitting beside her. “Yes, he does.”

Leander pretended he hadn’t heard.

Sarah managed not to sigh. This was going to be a long day.