Oh Danny Boy (Molly Murphy Mysteries, #5)

I pulled the chair up closer to the grille and was shocked at what I saw. He looked haggard and hollow eyed. His normal unruly dark curls hung limply on his forehead. There was a nasty bruise on one cheek.

“I’m sorry to have you hauled in like this,” he said, “but you didn’t answer my letters.”

However shocked I was by his appearance and circumstances, I wasn’t about to be unjustly attacked. “Answer your letters? Are you surprised, after the way you behaved?”

“No, I suppose not, but you could at least have let me explain.”

“I’ve listened to too many explanations from you, Daniel Sullivan,” I said.

I saw him wince, almost as if I had struck him. I had planned to be cold, reserved, and in complete control, but I had never seen him like this. I was used to the self-assured, cock-of-the-walk Daniel. I heard myself blurting out, “Daniel, in heaven’s name—what’s happened to you?”

“Good question.” He put his hand up to his cheek and attempted a smile. “This was a lucky blow from another inmate who recognized me and took his chance to get even.”

“But what were you arrested for? What do they say you’ve done?”

Daniel leaned closer to the grille. “Would you mind waiting outside, Byrne?” he said to the constable.

“Not at all, sir,” the constable said.

“Oh, and thank you for bringing her in. I hope she didn’t put up too much of a fight.”

“You did warn me, sir. All in all she came quite peacefully.”

“Did she now?” He looked at me. Those bright blue eyes that normally flashed alarmingly looked gray and lifeless. “You must be slipping, Molly. I fully expected you’d get in a good kick or two.”

The door closed behind me, and I was alone with just an iron grille between Daniel and me.

“I thought it was better to send him away,” he said quietly. “He’s a good lad, but he could be coerced by the powers that be to repeat our conversation here.”

“What on earth have you done, Daniel?” I repeated. The suspense was killing me.

“Caught accepting a bribe from a gang member.”

I almost laughed out loud. “Accepting a bribe? Daniel, I thought that was standard practice for the New York police. Isn’t that how every policeman manages to squirrel away a hundred thousand dollars from a salary of five hundred a year?”

“Until recently, yes,” Daniel said. “But it’s the new police commissioner, John Partridge. He was appointed by our new mayor, who you may know is the archenemy of Tammany Hall. So this new fellow, this Partridge, is making a big fuss over reforming the police, stamping out corruption, making New York a city fit for God-fearing people. What he really wants to do is wrest power away from the Irish and put his own cronies in their place. He probably has political ambitions of his own as well.”

“So you were caught accepting a bribe, and he wants to make an example of you? Surely jail is a little extreme. I’d have thought a public slap on the wrist would be enough.”

“There’s more,” Daniel said. “I have this friend, a prizefighter. You probably don’t know, but prizefights were banned in the city a year ago. However, there are still plenty of men who enjoy watching a good prizefight and my friend is the best—heavyweight champion of the world at one stage. Now he’s down on his luck, finding it hard to make ends meet. So he asked me to help him set up a fight in a place where it wasn’t likely to be stopped or raided by the police. There’s big money in it, of course. Lots of betting going on. Big money for my friend, too, if he wins.” He paused and waited for me to say something. When I remained silent, he went on, “So the police raided my rooms after I was arrested, and they found evidence that I was trying to set up an illegal prizefight. The commissioner decided to throw the book at me as an example to other officers who might want to stray from the straight and narrow. Oh, and apparently I resisted arrest.”

“Apparently?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to be handcuffed by one of my own junior officers, was I? That will get me another week or so in jail.”

I stared at him long and hard. “I don’t know why you had me brought here,” I said at last. “What do you think I can do?”

“Help me prove my innocence,” he said. “Get me out of here and reinstated in my job. You see, Molly, the interesting part of this is that I’ve never accepted a bribe in my life. I know other policemen have feathered their nests very nicely, but not me. My father was the finest cop in the force, and he never did anything he’d be ashamed of. I was conscious of following in his footsteps, so I’ve always kept to his standards.”