Murder In Chinatown (4 page)

“Maybe you should suggest it to them, Mrs. Brandt,” Mrs. Ellsworth said, looking up from her cooking.

Catherine raised her head, turned Sarah’s face toward her own, and nodded vigorously.

“Can you hurry with those eggs, Mrs. Ellsworth?” Sarah asked wryly. “I’ll be needing some coffee, too, since it looks like I’ll be heading back to Chinatown.”

S
ARAH HAD BEEN HOPING THAT
A
NGEL HAD RETURNED
or been found, but she was disappointed. The neighbors were still clustered in the street outside, discussing the sad situation. Sarah made her way through them with a heavy heart.

“Oh, Mrs. Brandt, did you forget something?” Minnie Lee asked when she opened the door to find Sarah in the hallway outside Cora’s flat. She looked haggard and haunted.

“No, I just happened to think of something, so I came back to tell you.”

“Something about Cora?” Minnie asked, stepping aside to silently invite Sarah in. “Or the baby?”

“No, about Angel.”

“Have you seen her?” Minnie asked eagerly. Her hope was painful to witness.

“No, no, nothing like that,” Sarah said quickly. She tried not to watch the hope dying in Minnie’s eyes. “But I was telling my daughter’s nursemaid about Angel, and she said…Well, maybe you’ve already thought of it, but she thought that Angel would have been too scared to run away all by herself, and—”

“I know, we thought that, too,” Minnie said, her voice thick with unshed tears. “But nobody’s seen her. We already asked all her friends. That was the first thing we thought of.”

“Mrs. Lee, I don’t know if you’ve considered this or not, but maybe Angel had another friend, one you didn’t know about.”

“We know everybody she knows,” Minnie insisted.

Sarah took a deep breath, knowing how defensive Minnie would be and how protective of her daughter. “You might not know if she had a friend who was a man.”

Minnie’s eyes widened. “A man? She never…How could she? She doesn’t even know any men.”

“She’d keep it a secret, wouldn’t she?” Sarah said. “She wouldn’t want you to know, because you wouldn’t approve.”

Minnie reached up and rubbed her temple. “I don’t know…” Tears welled in her eyes, and she swayed slightly. Sarah caught her arm and led her over to sit on Cora’s comfortable sofa.

“Have you eaten anything at all?” Sarah asked.

Minnie waved away her question. “How could Angel have met a man? A man who would steal her away from her family?”

“I don’t know that she did,” Sarah said. “But it would explain why none of her friends know where she is. It would explain why she was brave enough to run away. She’d believe he would take care of her. How else would she know where to go or how to hide from you?”

Minnie knuckled tears from her eyes. “I almost hope you’re right,” she admitted. “As bad as that would be, it’s better than what I’ve been imagining.”

“Minnie!” Cora called from the bedroom. “Who’s out there? Did they find Angel?”

Minnie pushed herself off the sofa and hurried into the bedroom, with Sarah following closely behind. “It’s Mrs. Brandt,” she said. “She came to…She was asking about Angel.”

“How are you doing, Cora?” Sarah asked.

Cora smiled sadly. “I’d be fine if Angel was home safe. Little Danny, he’s the sweetest thing.” She nodded to where the baby slept peacefully in his cradle. “I’m so lucky.”

“You are that,” Minnie said softly.

“You didn’t come all the way back here just to ask me how I am, did you, Mrs. Brandt?” Cora asked.

“No, I…” She glanced at Minnie, but she offered no objection. “I was telling Mrs. Lee that my daughter’s nurse-maid thought perhaps Angel had been lured away by a man.”

“A man? How would Angel meet a man?” Cora asked, much as Minnie had. “She’s still a child. She never goes anyplace except to school and church. Minnie watches her real close.”

“Harry looks after her, too,” Minnie added. “He don’t let nobody even speak to his sister unless he approves.”

“He’s the best chaperone a girl ever had,” Cora agreed.

“Maybe he let down his guard for someone he didn’t think was particularly threatening,” Sarah suggested. “Someone charming and kind.”

“I don’t know,” Minnie said, rubbing her head again. “Why would he?”

“I don’t know, either,” Cora said, “but it’s something to think about at least. It’s something you haven’t thought of before, too. Why don’t you ask Harry if he can think of anybody who maybe paid attention to Angel or got a little too friendly.”

“Angel wouldn’t just go off with somebody,” Minnie insisted. “She’s a good girl.”

“Of course she is,” Sarah said. “But innocent girls are also easy to fool. A man who was handsome and nice—she would never suspect him of having evil intentions. You’ve probably protected her from evil all of her life. That’s what loving parents do, but it would make her easy prey.”

Minnie moaned in despair, but Cora nodded vigorously. “She’s right, Minnie. At least I hope she is. It would mean we have a chance of finding her.”

“Mother of God,” Minnie said. Her face was ashen, and Sarah took her by the arm and led her to a chair in the corner of the bedroom.

“You’re going to drop over if you don’t get some rest,” Cora scolded her in exasperation. “Tell her, Mrs. Brandt.”

“I’m sure she doesn’t need me to tell her,” Sarah said. “Sit right here. I’m going to make some tea, and you’re going to drink it.”

“I don’t know what’s in the kitchen, but get her something to eat, too. She hasn’t had a thing all day,” Cora called after her.

A few minutes later, Sarah had tea brewing, and she buttered some bread. She knew from experience that a person in a crisis often could not bear to even swallow food. Maybe Minnie could manage a few bites, at least.

Minnie turned up her nose at the bread, but to Sarah’s relief, she did drink some of the tea.

“You should ask Harry if he remembers anybody looking at Angel,” Cora said. “Mrs. Brandt will stay with me while you go up. He’s upstairs with Charlie and George in your flat, isn’t he?”

“No, I can’t ask him anything in front of Charlie,” Minnie said. “Even if he does know something, he’d never admit it in front of his father.”

Cora nodded her understanding. “Bring him down here, then. Tell him you need him to do something for me.”

Plainly, Minnie’s exhaustion and terror rendered her almost incapable of making a decision. She just stared back at Cora numbly.

“I can go get him,” Sarah offered.

“Oh, I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Minnie protested.

“I can,” Cora said. “Thank you, Mrs. Brandt. It’s one flight up, the first door on the right.”

Sarah left before Minnie could change her mind. Unlike apartment buildings in other parts of the city, this one was clean and well kept. Sarah supposed it was the fact that the residents here didn’t have to worry about basic survival. They had the luxury of knowing they would eat three good meals every day and have a warm place to sleep every night. Freed of the desperate daily struggle so many faced each morning just to ensure they would survive that day, the people in this building had the energy to take pride in their surroundings.

Sarah knocked on the door Cora had directed her to. It opened quickly, and Sarah saw the boy Harry, who had first delivered the news that his sister was missing. He looked as haggard as his mother, and his Chinese clothing was soiled and wrinkled. His red-rimmed eyes narrowed to make out Sarah’s identity in the shadows of the hallway.

“Who…?” he asked.

“Who is there?” a voice called sharply.

“A lady,” Harry replied.

“I’m Mrs. Brandt,” Sarah reminded him, speaking loudly enough for those inside to hear her. “The midwife. Your mother asked me to get you. She needs you to do something for her.”

“Ma needs me,” he called over his shoulder and stepped quickly out into the hallway, pulling the door shut behind him. Sarah had the impression he was making an escape as much as answering a summons. She remembered what Minnie had said a moment ago, of how Harry wouldn’t admit anything in front of his father, and wondered what kind of relationship Harry had with Charlie Lee.

“What does she want me to do?” he asked as Sarah led the way back down the stairs.

“I’m not sure,” Sarah lied. They made their way carefully in the dim stairwell, and he followed her into Cora’s flat. “They’re in the bedroom,” she told him when they were inside.

Harry hurried in, his young face drawn with worry. “Ma, what is it?” he asked as he entered the room. “Is something wrong?”

Minnie stood up, clutching her hands tightly in front of her. “No, dear, I just wanted to ask you something…about Angel.”

He frowned. “I already told you, I don’t know where she went. Why doesn’t anybody believe me?”

“We believe you,” Cora assured him quickly. “It’s just…Mrs. Brandt here thinks maybe you might’ve seen something and not realize it.”

“How could I not realize it?” he asked, turning to Sarah, who had followed him into the bedroom and stood in the doorway. She saw the defensiveness in every line of his body. He was a slender lad, his wiry body taut with the strain of Angel’s disappearance.

“Your sister is very innocent, and it doesn’t seem likely she would’ve been brave enough to just run away,” Sarah began. “Someone asked me if she could have had an admirer who might have lured her away.”

“You mean a man?” Harry asked in amazement. “Angel would never go off with a strange man.”

“Maybe he’s not a stranger,” Sarah said. “Maybe it’s someone she knows or sees often. He’d be friendly and nice to her. She might have met him in the neighborhood. It could be someone she sees every day, in a shop or on the way to school.”

But Harry was shaking his head. “We checked with all her friends.”

“It wouldn’t be one of her friends,” Minnie said, her voice thin with desperation. “It would be someone else, someone older, who would know how to hide her so we couldn’t find her.”

“You might have seen him watching her,” Sarah suggested. “Or talking to her. Did anyone ever give her a gift?”

“George always buys her candy,” Harry said doubtfully.

“Someone not in our family,” Cora said in exasperation. “Did you ever think somebody was getting too friendly with her?”

“Not when I was with her. I don’t let strangers talk to her,” Harry claimed belligerently.

“Are you
always
with her?” Sarah asked.

Everyone looked at her in surprise. Harry frowned. “No, not
always
,” he admitted reluctantly.

“When aren’t you with her?”

He looked straight at Sarah, and she noticed his eyes were light brown, not black like his sister’s. Once again she was struck by how Irish he looked. Not Chinese at all except for his clothing. “I…She gets out of school earlier than me. She walks home with her friends.”

“Then she could have met someone after school, and you wouldn’t know,” Sarah prodded.

“I guess so.”

Before anyone could think of another question, they heard the door opening in the front room. Sara looked out to see a Chinese man coming into the flat. He paused for a moment, looking around, and then he saw Sarah standing in the bedroom doorway. She couldn’t guess his age, but he seemed young, perhaps not even thirty.

“Cora?” he called.

“George?” Cora called back. “We’re all in here.”

He came forward slowly, reminding Sarah what the women had said about their men being private. Or shy. He wore Western clothing, a dark suit and white shirt, although he’d removed the collar and tie and the neck of the shirt was open for comfort. He was a smallish man, thin and not very tall, but his face was open and handsome, although he looked as weary as the others who had been searching for Angel all day.

Sarah stepped back so he could enter the bedroom. He looked around the room, his gaze touching each person there. When he turned to his wife, he said, “Why you want Harry and not me?”

“We wanted to ask him some questions about Angel,” she said.

Plainly, this didn’t answer his query. “What question?”

“Mrs. Brandt thought Angel might have run away with a man,” Cora explained.

George turned to Harry, suddenly furious. “You know this and do not say?”

“No!” Harry cried. “I don’t know anything about Angel and some man!”

“We just thought he might’ve seen someone being friendly to her,” Cora quickly explained. “But he didn’t.”

George’s hands had closed into fists, and now his anger turned on Sarah. “Why do you say this about Angel?”

“She’s just trying to help, George,” Minnie said wearily. “She thought maybe some man might’ve tricked her into running away with him.”

“We were hoping that was it,” Cora added. “If she’s with some man, she’s alive and well, and we might be able to find her.”

George looked as if he wasn’t sure whether to remain angry at Sarah or not. Cora rescued her.

“Come and look at the baby. You’ve hardly had a chance to admire your son.”