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

There was a light ahead of me that appeared to be bobbing on the water. Suddenly I realized it was a rowing boat. Help was there, if only I could attract attention. I had to shout! I stopped swimming and fought with the knot behind my head. My

hands were so cold I couldn't move my fingers anymore. "Mmmmmm!" I groaned through the cotton. It was a pathetic little sound that couldn't have traveled more than a yard. I tried waving my arms in the air, but the sleeves of my dress were black. Who would possibly see my frozen white hands in this vast black night?

I could hear the splash of oars and men's voices. I waved my hands violently and tried to swim toward them. But suddenly I knew I wasn't going to make it. I was too cold, too tired. I'd put up a valiant fight, but in the end the Hudson River was going to win. Sleep seemed almost inviting now. I closed my eyes and I wasn't in the river at all--I was lying in a warm bed, by a blazing fire, and Daniel Sullivan was saying, "Don't worry, Kathleen, you're safe now."

"Who's Kathleen?" was my last conscious thought.

Twenty-three

I opened my eyes to intense cold and discomfort. My aching body was being flung around as somebody dragged me away from the soft bed and the roaring fire.

"Don't take me away from the fire. I'm so cold. Leave me be," I managed to moan. "I want Daniel."

"It's Daniel you're wanting, is it?" said a voice that I recognized. I came back to full consciousness. There was an arm around my shoulder to stop me from being thrown around in a rapidly moving carriage. Even though it was dark in there, I worked out that the arm belonged to none other than Daniel Sullivan.

"Am I dead?" I asked.

"Not yet," Daniel's voice in the darkness said. "You'll be all right if we can get you out of those clothes and some hot liquid down your throat fast enough."

I was beginning to remember all the events of that evening--Daniel Sullivan sitting at the alderman's table, like old friends. "Where are you taking me?" I asked anxiously.

"Home," he said. "Back to Cherry Street. You have cousins there don't you? The ones who are minding the children. They'd take care of you."

I struggled to sit up. "No, don't take

me there. I don't want to go there ever again. Please."

Daniel looked at me, then leaned forward to speak to the driver. "Take her to my place, Donovan. It's closer than HQ."

I fell against Daniel Sullivan as the carriage swung to the right. The arm around me tightened. My teeth were chattering violently and my feet and hands were burning as life returned to them. And I was beginning to notice the various aches and pains of my ordeal. I wanted to feel safe with Daniel, but how could I trust him now?

"How did you find me?" I asked.

"Find you?" he demanded. "Why else do you think I was dining with the alderman?"

"Oh," I said, wanting to believe it. "Believe me, dinner with the alderman and his scatterbrained lady love is hardly the way I'd choose to pass the evening, but someone had to keep an eye on you. Not that I was very good at it, for which I apologize."

"How did you know I was there?" I asked. "I've had one of my men following you since the night in the photographer's studio. When I heard that you had been stupid enough to worm your way into the alderman's house, I decided I had better get myself invited to dinner. He's always trying to keep in well with the police. I know the alderman. He plays rough."

"I know he does. He caught me snooping in his study. I was lucky to get away."

"You sure like living dangerously, don't you?" Daniel demanded.

"I know. I've been very stupid. But it was only when Billy Brady did his Roosevelt impersonation that I realized he was the man I saw on the island that night."

"So that's why you ran from the room. I wondered what Brady could have to do with it. I thought he must have been in the pay of the alderman."

"No, the alderman had nothing to do with this," I said. "He is involved in some pretty shady things, though."

"Which doesn't surprise me one jot." He chuckled. "So I suppose O'Malley must have been coming to blackmail Brady?"

"It was Billy Brady who betrayed the Plumbridge Nine," I said. "He was with them that night. He was the only one who got caught. They were going to torture him so he gave them names

to save his skin."

"No wonder he had to silence O'Malley right away," Sullivan said. "If that got out, I don't think he'd be the darling of the Irish for much longer."

"You have to go and arrest him right away," I said. "Why didn't you arrest him right away? And why did you let me almost drown?"

"Let you? My dear girl, I can't forgive myself for being so inept. I stationed a constable outside the house to prevent anything from happening to you. I sensed something was wrong when you left the room and Billy followed not too much later, but I didn't want to cause a scene. I thought the alderman was involved, remember. And I knew my constable was outside the front door. I didn't realize he'd be stupid enough to help carry the trunk into Billy's carriage. If I hadn't come out and questioned him, we'd have been too late. We almost were too late, fishing around for you in the darkness like that. You must be some swimmer to have kept going in that current."