“What’s this?” Malloy asked and showed her the jacket again. Sarah took it and looked closely at the spot he indicated. She’d missed it because it blended with the dark color of the material, but there, about halfway down, below where the right shoulder blade would have been, was a curiously shaped stain.
“Is it blood?” she asked.
“Looks like it.”
Sarah stared more closely, holding it up to the feeble light. “It’s not from a wound,” she said.
“No,” he said grimly.
“What is it, then?”
“She must have been stabbed with something thin, right?”
“Right.”
“The killer pulled it out and wiped the blood off on her back before he walked away.”
Sarah shuddered in horror. “Dear heaven,” she murmured. “What could they have used to kill her?”
“You said she was Italian?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m sure she was.”
“I’d say it was a stiletto.”
5
“A STILETTO?” SHE REPEATED, AS IF SHE’D NEVER heard the word before. Maybe she hadn’t, Frank thought.
“It’s a long, thin-bladed knife. The Italians like it, for some reason. Probably because it goes in so easily.”
She flinched at the image, and he instantly regretted drawing it for her. “Here, let’s put her clothes back in the bag. I’ll tell Haynes your theory. He can check to see exactly what happened.”
He took the jacket from her and began stuffing it into the bag, but she made a sound of protest and snatched both of them away from him. Probably, she didn’t think he was showing enough respect. She carefully folded the jacket and placed it into the bag along with the rest of her things. When everything was tucked away, she gently pulled the sheet back up over the dead girl, preserving what little was left of her privacy. Her hand lingered for a moment, smoothing the girl’s hair one last time.
“Come on,” he said, his voice sounding a little gravelly to his own ears. “Let’s get some fresh air.”
“Aren’t you going to speak to the coroner first?”
“He’s not here right now. I’ll come back later.”
He took her arm when she hesitated. He certainly didn’t mind touching her, and she didn’t resist when he led her to the door and out into the hallway and up the stairs. When they emerged into the crisp, sunny afternoon, they stopped as if by mutual consent to take a deep breath.
Malloy looked down at her. At least she wasn’t crying anymore. He’d never seen her cry before. They’d been through a lot together, including several attempts on her life, and none of those adventures had brought her even close to tears. Who would have guessed the death of a girl she hardly knew would do it? He certainly hoped he’d never have to witness such a sight again. It had nearly unmanned him. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“No,” she replied, looking up at him. “I’m furious.” She looked it, too.
Greatly relieved, he asked, “At who?”
“At whoever killed that girl. Do you think it was the Black Hand?”
“How do you know about the Black Hand?” he challenged.
“Everyone knows about the Black Hand. They’re the most despicable creatures on earth. Imagine blackmailing your own kind, people who are slaving away just to make a living.”
The members of this secret society sold “protection” to their fellows. The police did pretty much the same thing, except if you didn’t pay the police, you were simply at the mercy of the laws you were already breaking. The Black Hand sold you protection from themselves. If you didn’t pay, they’d beat you or damage your business or burn it to the ground. Sometimes they even used bombs, if they wanted to make a particular example of someone. Killing people also set an example, although you couldn’t collect money from a dead person, so murder was only used as a last resort. A very nasty bunch.
“Why would the Black Hand want to kill this girl?” he asked, taking her elbow again to encourage her on her way.
“I have no idea. That’s what we have to find out.”
And that’s what he’d been afraid of. “I can’t help thinking that if Commissioner Roosevelt had appointed you to the police department, it would have been in all the newspapers.”
She gave him a look that told him she didn’t appreciate his attempt at humor. “Do you really think you’ll find out anything useful from the girls at the mission? They’ll be too frightened of you to say a word.”
“I’m sure those girls have seen much worse things than a police detective, Mrs. Brandt. Don’t forget where they came from before they got to the mission.”
She was glaring at him now, her blue eyes flashing fire. For a moment he thought of Kathleen. If she’d even thought about crying, her eyes and nose would turn beet red for hours. Sarah Brandt’s fair complexion showed no trace of the tears she’d shed over the dead girl. He wondered vaguely if that was because she’d been born rich.
“Malloy, you know I can help you with this,” she argued.
“Nobody can help me if it’s the Black Hand. Even if somebody knows who killed her, they’ll never tell. They’re all too scared… and they should be.”
“That’s terrible! How will they ever be free of those devils if no one speaks against them?”
“How will somebody ever speak against them if they’re dead?” he replied quite reasonably, if she’d just admit it.
She wouldn’t. “The police should do something then!”
“Like what? Arrest everybody in Little Italy?”
“You must have an idea who the ring leaders are,” she insisted.
“Even if we did – and didn’t anybody tell you that it’s a secret society? – what would we do with them?”
“Put them on trial!”
“For what? And who would testify against them? You can’t just lock somebody up because you think they deserve it. If you could, this world would be a better place.”
Even she didn’t have an answer for that. Or at least he didn’t think she did. He was busy looking for a Hansom cab to take her home when she said, “I wouldn’t be afraid to testify against them. That’s why you should let me help you with this case.”
He turned on her the look that made hardened criminals tremble in their chairs. “And that’s exactly why I’m not going to let you anywhere near this case.”
His glare had no effect on her whatsoever. “Then how will you ever solve it?”
“I won’t solve it. Nobody will. Sarah, listen to me,” he said, forgetting not to use her first name. “You told me yourself this girl was a prostitute.”
“She had been once, but she wasn’t anymore, not since she went to live at the mission!”
As if that made a difference. “Her family disowned her. They won’t care that she’s dead. No one will care. She’ll be just one of the hundreds of people who die in this city every year without being noticed.”
“I’ll notice! I’ll care!”
She’d claimed she was furious a few minutes ago, but she’d only been getting started then. She was really amazing when she got good and mad. “Enough to get yourself killed by asking the wrong people the wrong questions?”
“I’m not going to do that!” she insisted.
“You’ve done it before,” he reminded her.
This time she gave him a murderous glare that almost made him smile, because it meant that for once she didn’t have an answer.
“You can’t just go waltzing down to Mulberry Bend and start asking people who killed this girl,” he said, prepared to be reasonable now that she was silenced. “No one will trust you, so no one will tell you anything. And if you get too annoying, somebody will stick a knife into you, too. I really will find you dead, and if you ever put me through that again,” he threatened, shaking a finger in her face, “I’ll kill you!”