“Oh, no, just the opposite. She . . . she looked like the cat who swallowed the canary.”
“Satisfied?”
“That’s it. Satisfied, like she got her way about something.”
“Did she say anything about it?”
“Her? Not likely. She kept to herself. Never wanted nobody to know her business. Of course, we all figured she didn’t have any business. She liked to pretend she had secrets, but nobody ever coaxed her to tell them.”
“What do you think her secrets were about?”
“I don’t know. She called her baby Gregory. That’s Mr. Van Orner’s name, and she knowed it, too. That’s why she did it, I’m sure. She was mean that way.”
“Maybe she named her baby after Mrs. Van Orner’s husband out of gratitude for what Mrs. Van Orner had done for her.”
Lisa snorted rudely. “Not likely. If she was grateful, she never let on. No, I think she did it to be mean. It hurt Mrs. Van Orner, too. You could tell, even though she never said a thing. She never had children of her own, you know.”
“No, I didn’t know that.”
“She never talked about it to me, of course, but Miss Yingling told me never to mention it to her. Said it was one of the biggest disappointments of her life.”
“I was here the day Amy named her baby,” Sarah reminded her. “She said she was naming him after his father.”
“Oh, law, did she? That little witch! I don’t suppose she’s ever set eyes on Mr. Van Orner neither. I’m glad she’s gone.”
“You’re glad Mrs. Van Orner’s gone?” Sarah asked in surprise.
“Oh, no, I’m glad Amy’s gone, and good riddance to her, too.”
“She’s gone? What happened to her?” If Mrs. Van Orner had thrown her out . . .
“She packed up and left this morning right after breakfast. Never said nothing to nobody.”
“Did she take the baby?”
“Oh, yes. She wouldn’t part with him. She said he was her future, whatever that meant. I just wonder who’s gonna change his diapers now. Not her, I’m sure.”
“Where would she have gone?”
“Lord knows, maybe back to that house where she worked before. Girls always think they’ll take them back, but they never do. They can’t trust them no more. I don’t see why it matters, since they never trusted them to start with, but that’s how it is. She’ll be on the street, I suppose.”
Sarah thought of the poor, innocent baby, and her heart ached. They were getting off the subject, though. Malloy would never let that happen. “So you thought Amy looked satisfied after her meeting with Mrs. Van Orner. How did Mrs. Van Orner look?”
“That’s when I told you she looked mad. Not like a normal person would, mind you, but mad for her. She had her mouth all pinched together and her eyes was all bright, like she had a fire inside of her. Then she saw me looking at her, and she quick went back in her office and shut the door.”
Sarah remembered the way Mrs. Van Orner usually calmed herself down. “Did she have her purse in the office with her?”
“Her purse?”
“Yes, her purse. I know it doesn’t sound important, but it is.”
Lisa looked confused but she gave the question some thought. “I don’t know for sure. I wasn’t looking for it.”
“Where did she usually put it when she was here?”
“Oh, I know. She usually put it on the table in the hall. I remember because the first time I saw her do it, I said she should keep it with her, considering the type of women who live in this house, and she said to me—I’ll never forget—she said, ‘Miss Biafore, we must treat these women the same way we would treat them if they was respectable if we ever hope they will become respectable.’ ”
“So she usually left her purse out where anyone could have found it?”
“Yes, and as far as I know, nobody ever bothered it.”
Sarah didn’t mention that someone had undoubtedly bothered it yesterday. “So what else did Mrs. Van Orner do after she met with Amy?”
“She was only in the office alone for a few minutes before Mrs. Spratt-Williams went in to see her.”
“Had Mrs. Spratt-Williams just arrived?”
“Oh, no, she was here for a while. She’d brought over some things for the baby and some clothes she’d collected at her church. For the women. They never have decent clothes when they come here.”
“Do you know what she talked with Mrs. Van Orner about?”
Lisa stiffened slightly. “No. They don’t tell me their business.”
“But you have an idea.”
“How could I have an idea? They don’t tell me nothing.”
“Miss Yingling said you were the last one to speak with Mrs. Van Orner before she left the house yesterday.”
“I guess I was,” she said unhappily.
“Did she seem angry or upset about anything?”
Lisa shook her head. “She was always kind to me. I told her Amy was causing all kinds of trouble, and she said I shouldn’t worry about it. She said Amy would be gone soon.”
“And that’s all?”
“Yes, she seemed like she was in a hurry, and she left right after that. Miss Yingling came asking after her a few minutes later and was real surprised that she’d left without her. I was, too.”
“So she must have had something on her mind that distracted her. Can you think of what it might have been?”
Lisa stared at Sarah for a long moment, as if trying to judge her intent, and then she shook her head.
Sarah knew she was lying. She reached over and laid her hand on Lisa’s arm. “You’ve been in charge of this place for a long time. I’m sure you know everything that goes on here. You’re not being disloyal to talk about it now, and you might help us find out who killed Mrs. Van Orner.”
Lisa’s dark eyes widened. “Killed? You don’t mean she was murdered!”
Sarah wanted to bite her tongue. “Well, they don’t know for sure,” she hedged quickly.
“Miss Yingling never said nothing about murder. She said Mrs. Van Orner died real sudden, that’s all.”
“That’s all she knew then. As I said, we aren’t really sure yet.”
“What do they think killed her then?”
“She may have eaten something that . . .” Sarah gestured vaguely.
Lisa’s eyes widened with horror. “She was poisoned?”
“It’s possible.”
“Not from something she ate here. She never ate nothing here. She and Miss Yingling, they was always real careful not to use up our supplies. She’d hardly drink a cup of coffee here.”
“Did she drink any yesterday?”
“Not that I know of. She was pretty busy. No, if somebody poisoned her, it was probably somebody at her own house.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because that’s where she ate her food, isn’t it? She didn’t get no poison here.”
“Do you keep anything here that could be poisonous?”
“You mean like rat poison?”
“Yes, or . . .” Sarah pretended to think. “Or medicines. Some medicines can be dangerous if you use too much.”
“We keep Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound, of course. When you’ve got a houseful of females, you need to be prepared for female complaints. We’ve got Dr. Morse’s Indian Root Pills, I think, and I know we’ve got some Pine Toothache drops. I used them myself last month.”
“Mrs. Van Orner mentioned laudanum to me when Amy first came here. I remember because I told her I didn’t like to use it because it passes through the milk and makes the baby sleep too much.”
“Oh, yes, I think we do have some.”
“Could you check and see?”
Lisa frowned. “I told you already, it don’t matter. Mrs. Van Orner never got poisoned here.”
“I know, but could you check anyway? Just to be sure? We don’t want anyone here to be falsely accused of anything.”