In Dublin's Fair City (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #6)

“Molly, my angel, is that you under there? Yes, it is. I’d know that delicate white hand anywhere. Let me give it a kiss.”


“I’m sorry about this, ladies,” Daniel said in a tight voice. “I presume you know this gentleman?”

“Oh dear. You two gentlemen obviously haven’t been introduced. Ryan O’Hare, playwright extraordinaire. Captain Daniel Sullivan of the New York police.”

“Not Daniel the Deceiver?” Ryan exclaimed. “We meet at last. I have heard much about you. We’re all so proud that our dear Molly managed to rescue you from prison.”

“Well, actually I’m only out on bail,” Daniel said dryly. “Of course I’m grateful for what Molly tried to do.”

Then it hit me. He didn’t know the truth. I had never managed to speak of that night on Coney Island, so he didn’t know what I’d been through. And would never know, I decided. That chapter of my life was irmly sealed.

“I think the paste has hardened enough,” Sid said, and began to peel it off. We followed suit. Ryan danced between us, stroking our cheeks. “Wonderful,” he exclaimed, “deliciously soft, like a baby's bottom.”

“Really, Ryan, you’ll go too far one day,” Gus scolded. “You know you only do it to shock.”

“One just wants to have one's little fun,” Ryan said, pouting.

“Molly, can we please leave now?” Daniel came over to me and took my arm.

“You haven’t drunk your brandy,” Sid pointed out.

“Thank you, but in the circumstances—” Daniel said.

“You can’t possibly take Molly away. I forbid it,” Ryan said. “It was to seek her out that I trudged all this way through the heat and the flies and the dust.” Ryan took hold of my other arm. “I’m whisking you away, Molly dearest. I’ve been instructed to escort you to a party tonight. Someone is dying to meet you.”

I glanced at Daniel. His face was like granite.

“I’m afraid that I can’t go to a party tonight, Ryan,” I said, then my curiosity got the better of me. “Who is dying to meet me?” “None other than Tommy Burke.” “I’m afraid I don’t know Tommy Burke,” I said.

“Never heard of Tommy Burke?” Ryan sounded shocked. “My dear girl, he is only the leading theatrical impresario in the city. If Tommy Burke puts on a play, it is always a sensation. Did you not see his version of Uncle Tom's Cabin? Not a dry eye in the house. But that's beside thepoint. Tommy Burke is hosting a fabulous party tonight at the roof cabaret at Madison Square. Now tell me you can’t resist that, can you?”

“My, that does sound glamorous,” Sid said. “But you’re only inviting Molly so we understand. Gus and I are mortally wounded that we’re not to be included.”

“Of course you two are included. Our bold police captain too, if he so wishes,” Ryan said. “It just happened that Tommy Burke expressed a desire to meet Molly.”

“Why?” I asked. “How could he have heard of me?”

“I can’t exactly say. Something to do with your detective work, I understand. Anyway, all will be made clear tonight at the roof garden cabaret of Madison Square Garden, while sipping the most delightful champagne. I’ll return to escort you at eight. Wear something devastating.” He glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. “Horrors. Is that the time? I’m late for my fitting. Must fly.”

And he was gone.





Two


Daniel and I crossed the cobbled alleyway in stony silence.

“You can’t seriously be contemplating going to a party with that dreadful creature?” Daniel said, as I closed the front door behind us.

“He's not a dreadful creature. He's actually quite delightful and very talented.”

“He's a freak, Molly,” Daniel said, “an outcast from civilized society.”

“As for that,” I said, “you are also an outcast from civilized society at the moment, are you not? A jailbird, only out on bail? Dear me, what must Miss Van Woekem and her set be saying about you now?”

His face flushed with anger. “It's not the same thing at all and you damned well know it,” he said. “You let him paw you all over. Is that the way you behave when I’m not around?”

“Paw me all over? Daniel, he took hold of my arm. He patted my cheek, if I remember correctly. That hardly constitutes pawing. And for another thing, Ryan sees me as a sister, nothing more. His interests lie elsewhere.”

“Another Oscar Wilde, you mean? I suspected as much. Molly, I utterly forbid you to go to this party tonight or to go on mixing with people like that.”

Like many of my fellow countrymen, I’ve never been known to back down from a good ight or a challenge.

“You utterly forbid me?” I demanded. “And who are you to be laying down the law, I’d like to know? Until a couple of weeks ago you were promised to another woman, and I don’t recall you getting down on one knee and proposing to me since then. And if you had, then this kind of talk would cause me to rip the ring right off my finger.”