Uneasy Spirits: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery (54 page)

An odd-sounding thump caused Annie’s eyes to fly open and she looked down at her feet and saw the ends of a ladder reaching above the cornice, followed instantly by the battered face of Nate Dawson, who broke into a grin and said, “Well, a young boy who said he was Eddie told me I’d find you here. I don’t suppose you would mind being rescued for a second time in two days, would you?”

Annie grinned back and said graciously, “Why, Mr. Dawson, what a surprise to meet you here. Now if we could have a little less talk, I do believe my shoes are about to burst into flame,” and she reached down to be taken in his arms.

As if the city wished to offer up one last glorious warm day before the winter storms began to sweep across the peninsula, the sun was out, there wasn’t a hint of clouds in the sky, and even to the west the usual line of fog had evaporated. Annie only needed her shawl to keep warm sitting in the closed chaise, which was opportune, since the Moffets hadn’t yet finished making her new wool coat, her old one having been entirely consumed by the fire two weeks earlier. She was thankful that she’d had on one of her older black dresses that night, because she’d had to get rid of every stitch of clothing she’d been wearing, everything was so permeated by smoke. Even the soles of her shoes had cracked from the heat.

Thank heavens she’d had a little emergency savings put by, because her investigation into the Framptons on behalf of Miss Pinehurst had been pretty hard on her finances. Between the cost of replacing the lost clothing, several canceled sessions for Madam Sibyl, the extra money to hire Tilly to cover for Kathleen, and the Halloween party, October had turned out to be a very expensive month. Miss Pinehurst insisted on reimbursing her for the cost of the séances themselves, which had been kind of her, but she hadn’t felt right in asking for anything more of her boarder. Annie had meant it when she said the satisfaction of knowing how well Sukie was doing was compensation enough, but she wished she felt as sanguine about the overall outcome of her investigations.

“
Was that a sigh?” asked Nate, who sat at her side, driving the team of horses. They were on their way to meet Flora Hunt, her husband, and Evie May at the Conservatory of Flowers, one of the first structures built from William Hall’s grand plan for Golden Gate Park. As usual for a sunny Sunday, the park roads were packed with vehicles of every sort, so their pace was quite slow.

Annie glanced over at him, glad to see that the bruising on his face had finally faded. He was wearing gloves, but she didn’t think his left palm was bandaged anymore. When he had helped her into the carriage, he’d moved with ease. She hoped that this meant the wound on his side had healed as well. She’d been afraid that his daring rescue of her from the fire had torn the stitches because she had noticed blood soaking through his shirt when they made it back to her house, just short of dawn.

Realizing by the puzzled look on his face that she’d not responded to his question, Annie said, “I find I have been doing a lot of that of late. Sighing. Every time I think about the events of this past month: the Framptons, Pierce, Evie May, the Hapgoods, Mrs. Nickerson’s death . . . it’s like I keep needing to take a deep breath to clear my mind.”

“
If you think you’re confused, imagine the police. Even when I left out the most bizarre details, like the fact that I made it to the burning building just in time because the famous Spiritualist Mrs. Flora Hunt had a vision that you were in danger, they have had a hard time understanding the ins and outs of this case. For example, they are understandably puzzled about who the little boy was who came running out of the fire and how he was related to Evie May, the daughter of the woman whose body they found in the ashes of the burned building.

“
Thank goodness Mrs. O’Rourke’s nephew Patrick showed up and took the initiative to use the police call box to summon Detective Jackson. Only the fact Jackson had worked with me on the Voss case made him willing to take my word on what had happened. Otherwise, the Framptons and Pierce might have slipped through the fingers of the police.”

“
Is Detective Jackson charging the Framptons with anything?” Annie asked.

“
Since they were seen fleeing a burning building in which a dead woman was found, he’s threatened to charge them as accessories to arson and murder. The coroner did find cuts on Mrs. Nickerson’s ribs, which supports your claim she had been stabbed. The cuts evidently matched the blade of the knife they found among the ashes. Jackson’s intention seemed to be to frighten the Framptons into turning against Pierce and confirming your story that it was Pierce who killed Mrs. Nickerson and tried to kill you. The strategy worked just fine, and both the Framptons and their servants are falling all over themselves to blame Pierce for everything.

“
Simon Frampton told the police that he’d overheard Mrs. Nickerson trying to blackmail Pierce the afternoon of the fire. He admitted that Pierce had an arrangement with them to funnel information about prospective clients, but he swore he didn’t know exactly what information Mrs. Nickerson had on Pierce. He said that when his butler discovered that Pierce had killed her, they had panicked. Simon insists, however, that they had no idea that you or Evie May were still in the building when they left.”

“
The first part of that statement was probably the truth,” Annie said. “And if their evidence will get me out of having to testify in a trial, I will even forgive the obvious untruth of the second statement.”

Annie knew she wouldn’t be able to completely escape police scrutiny. Even Nate couldn’t hide her involvement since the entire fire engine company had witnessed her rescue from the roof of the burning building. She’d also known that if she kept silent about Pierce he might get away. As soon as Nate got her safely down from the roof, she told the fire captain and the local police constable about Mrs. Nickerson’s body, and that she and the dead woman’s child had been locked in the burning building by the local reporter, Anthony Pierce, who had murdered the woman.

Annie would never forget the look on Nate’s face when she told her story to Jackson when he arrived, and Nate realized Pierce was the person who been trying to have her killed all along. If he had gotten his hands on the
Chronicle
reporter that night, she’d wasn’t so sure Pierce would have survived.

Annie sighed again and then said, “I assume Jackson is still buying the story that I just happened to come to the Framptons’ house that evening because I wanted to take Mrs. Nickerson and her daughter out to dinner, having been so impressed with Evie May during the séances I had attended?”

“
Yes,” Nate replied, “He did mention to me that he was glad to have finally met the elusive Mrs. Fuller, who had played such a mysterious role in the Voss affair. However, the Framptons didn’t contradict your statement, and it helps that Mrs. Hunt and Mrs. Gordon were willing to testify to your interest in Evie May, including your outing with her and her mother to Woodward’s Gardens.”

“
Well,” said Annie, “I’m certainly glad I took your advice not to bring up my theories about Mrs. Hapgood’s murder or the man who assaulted me.”

“
So far, Jackson hasn’t mentioned the Hapgoods to me, or questioned your story that you were just an innocent bystander.”

“
That’s good, because I’m not sure if Harold could hold up to questioning by the police at this point,” Annie said, going on to tell him about her visit last week to the Hapgoods. Hilda asked her to describe in detail to her husband what Annie thought Pierce had done to his mother, his partnership with the Framptons, as well as what had happened to Mrs. Nickerson.

“
Harold seemed very frail and quite bewildered by what I had to say, but Hilda was optimistic. She said that in time her husband would be able to accept that it hadn’t been the spirits of his relatives who had been speaking to him, and he would find some peace.”

“
I hope she appreciated why you didn’t tell your suspicions to the police,” Nate said.

“
Oh, yes, and she was also extremely grateful for your offer to give them legal advice if Pierce does decide to drag them into his troubles.”

“
At least if they end up needing a good defense attorney, it looks like I would have the expertise of a first-rate lawyer to help me, if I am to believe Uncle Frank.”

Nate had already told Annie about his uncle springing on him the news that he was not only bringing an experienced trial lawyer into the firm, but that he was in negotiations with Mrs. Gordon and Mrs. Foltz to share office accommodations.

There was a pause while Nate maneuvered the chaise onto the North Ridge Road, the most direct route to the Conservatory, whose gleaming glass dome they could now see rising above the rolling hills of the park.

Once he was safely on the new road, Nate said, “I guess I should be glad that Uncle Frank was listening all those times I complained, although I’m not sure it isn’t his desire to have more time with Mrs. Voss that primarily motivated him to take on another partner.”

Nate paused and then said angrily, “But Annie, why did he have to keep me in the dark, as if my opinion didn’t matter? I can’t help thinking, if I’d known, I would never have listened to Pierce, and maybe the attack on you wouldn’t have happened, and we wouldn’t have had that fight . . .”

Nate’s voice cracked, and for an instance she shared his anger at his uncle, then she shook her head and said, “Nate, don’t get mired in what might have happened. Pierce would have just found another way to get you out of the way, one that might have worked better, and, as for the fight . . . I believe it was for the best. We were moving too fast. When you think about it, almost all the time we have spent together since we met in August we’ve been wrapped up in investigating other people’s problems, not talking about our own. It’s not surprising that we don’t really know each other that well.”

Nate pulled the chaise over beside the road and stopped the horses; he then turned to her and said, “What do you mean?”

Annie’s heart sped up, and she picked her words very carefully. “I am trying to say that some of the statements you made the night of the Halloween party, and how I reacted to them, revealed that neither of us know each other as completely as we thought we did, and, before we move forward, that needs to change.”

“
Annie, I know I messed everything up, but . . .”

“
Nate, please, listen to me. I once made the mistake of moving too fast, and I ended up married to a man I hardly knew. The result was disastrous, for him and me.”

Nate shook his head fiercely and said, “I’m not like your husband. I would never . . .”

“
Never what? Don’t you see? You don’t even know what John did to hurt me. Or how marriage to him changed me, because it did, sometimes I think irrevocably. These past few weeks, I’ve discovered some things about myself that frighten me. You need to know me better before you can make any decisions about a future with me. And I need to know more about you before I can let go of my fears about being dependent, not just on you, but on anyone. I not only didn’t keep my promise to you not to go anywhere alone, but I even pushed Beatrice and Kathleen and Esther away this time, not telling them where I’d gone, and it almost cost me my life. But that desire for independence has become such an ingrained part of who I am that I am not sure I can change, and I don’t know that it would be fair to you if I can’t.”

Nate looked down at his hands and took a deep breath. When he started to speak he kept his eyes lowered, and she heard a tremor that tore at her heart.

He said, “I’m not asking you to change. I love you the way you are. No matter how much you infuriate me sometimes. But if you don’t love me, I don’t see how time is going to change how you feel.”

“
Nate, look at me.” Annie said, putting her hand out and physically turning his face towards hers. “I didn’t say I didn’t love you. I do, and believe me it scares me to death to say that, but I owe you that truth. I’m just not sure love is enough. My father loved me, but the decisions he made, even though he thought they were in my interest, hurt me more than I can tell you, and . . .”

Annie, shocked that this particular betrayal still hurt her so, fought back tears until Nate took her in his arms, and then she let them fall.

Minutes later, Annie sighed once more. As she pulled away, she said, “See, Nate, somehow I end up revealing more to you than I have ever revealed to anyone, ever before, and it unnerves me. I just know if we go too fast, I’ll either lash out at you with my wretchedly sharp tongue, or I’ll run.”

Nate smiled and shook his head. “All right, you’ve convinced me. We will go more slowly. But tell me, Mrs. Fuller, what does going slowly mean? Are you saying that I can’t see you as often? In the future will a carriage ride such as this be out of bounds? Am I not allowed to take you in my arms when you start to cry? Or . . . oh my heavens, you don’t mean we can only see each other under the chaperonage of the Miss Moffets!”

Annie laughed at the real sound of outrage in this last question and said, “I personally think a little traditional courting wouldn’t be amiss. And, if you need the presence of the Moffets to remind you that simple conversation is how we will get to know each other better, then so be it.”

Annie was still chuckling, her heart feeling lighter than it had since All Hallow’s Eve, when they pulled up to the lawn that stretched out in front of the Conservatory. Annie wasn’t sure why Mrs. Hunt had asked Nate and her to meet them this Sunday, although she assumed Evie May would be the subject of their conversation. The night of the fire, Detective Jackson had given Flora Hunt permission to take Evie May home with her when it became clear that they weren’t going to get anything coherent from the girl. Evie May had subsided into a near comatose state as soon as she became the focus of attention. With her mother dead and the Framptons in police custody, Jackson didn’t know what else to do with the odd child.