Murphy's Law (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #1)

But till that day, please God, I'll stick to the wearin' o' the green."

The ballad finished to hearty applause. I saw the coffee cups piled on a tray on a low table in the bay window. With any luck I could pick them up without being noticed by the alderman. I moved forward cautiously, hugging the wall as directed, dodging carefully around the many brackets full of ornaments that hung along the walls throughout the room.

"Splendid, Billy. You'll be reciting that again on the parade float, will you?" the alderman said, still clapping.

"I always do, Alderman. The public has come to expect it."

"They do love you, Billy. So what comes next?"

"For my final recitation tonight, I thought I'd do something a little different," Billy Brady was saying. "A little more risqu`e, shall we say?"

"Ooh, risqu`e!" The ladies giggled. "Please remember there are ladies present, Mr. Brady!" One of them fluttered her fan.

He had turned to the piano and was fumbling with an open box there. As I bent to pick up the tray Billy said, "Ah, ready to proceed, gentlemen!" He had put on some kind of military cap and had a large gun tucked under his arm. "Now for my impression of the man who is dear to the hearts of all New Yorkers, especially the New York Irish brigade. That inflictor of law and order on us, whether we want it or not--Mr. Teddy Roosevelt himself!"

There were cheers and jeers from the crowd. Billy took up position. "Welcome, my boys, to the time when men were men, and I was the manliest of them all!" (chuckles from the audience.) "Let me tell you the tale of San Juan Hill," he boomed, "and the day that brought me to fame."

There was something about his voice that made me look

up. I stared at him, seeing him for the first time. To act the part of Teddy Roosevelt he had put on bushy whiskers. And the big booming voice ... I tried to stifle the gasp that escaped from my mouth. I backed away, and into one of the brackets that stuck out from the wall. An ornament on it wobbled and fell over with a loud crash.

Billy Brady looked up and his eyes focused on me. I put down the tray on the nearest table and fled. There was no mistaking that voice. It was the one that had bellowed at me on Ellis Island. And he had been wearing the same false whiskers that night, too. They must have been part of the props case he had brought with him for the afternoon's performance. Of course, an actor would know how to play any part. It would not have been hard for him to slip into the guard's room unnoticed and borrow a uniform jacket for a while. The paunch was probably a pillow stolen from a dormitory bed. And with the paunch and the whiskers he looked completely unlike himself.

I ran back along the hall, expecting to be grabbed at any moment. Did the others in that room know? As long as Billy was performing I was safe. But after that--he could track me down anywhere in the city and kill me at his leisure.

I stood in the cool darkness of the servants' passage. Think! Think clearly. Then suddenly it came over me in a wave of relief.

Daniel was in that room. It didn't matter how thick he was with Alderman McCormack, he wouldn't let me be killed by Billy Brady. All I had to do was to go back upstairs and get Daniel's attention. Better still, I could write him a note. I'd find an excuse, any excuse--yes, I'd go back to get the coffee tray, and I'd find a way to slip the note to Daniel. I rushed downstairs and into Mrs. Brennan's office and grabbed a sheet of paper. I tried to think clearly as I scribbled the words. Now all I had to do was force myself to go upstairs again and get the note to Daniel. Maybe he'd noticed what happened in the drawing room and he was already on his way to find me.

I took a deep breath, went back up the stairs, and out into the entrance hall. The tenor was singing, and the sweet notes of "I will take you home again, Kathleen" filled the house. I

crept along the hall, closer and closer to the drawing room, willing myself to have the courage to go in. Suddenly a door beside me opened and Billy Brady came into the hall.

I bit my lips together to stifle the gasp of fear. Keep calm, I told myself. I was in the hallway of a house filled with servants. He could do nothing to me here. My hand closed tightly around the note as I lowered my eyes and forced myself to walk past him.

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when a hand touched my shoulder.

"You were the young girl who ran out of the room just then." Billy's voice sounded smooth and relaxed. "Had something upset you? Are you feeling all right now?"

Suddenly it dawned on me--he doesn't recognize me. With the severe cap hiding my forehead and the starched uniform I must look quite different from the woman he saw on Ellis Island. A wave of relief swept over me.

"Thank you, sir. I--I thought I saw a mouse," I mumbled. "I'm fine now, thank you." The words came out as a whisper.

I went to walk past him. His large presence was blocking most of the passage.