Murder on Mulberry Bend Read Online Free

trying to poison me?”
    This time when he showed his missing teeth, he was grinning with delight.
    Frank grinned back, although it wasn’t from delight. “Now, tell me what you know about Dr. Tom Brandt.”
    “Who?”
    Frank knew he wasn’t being coy. It had, after all, been three years since Dr. Brandt had died. “Tom Brandt,” Frank repeated. “He was a doctor. Used to treat people in the neighborhood. Didn’t mind if you couldn’t pay.”
    Most physicians who ministered to the poor insisted on being paid before even examining a sick person. Some people were forced to forgo food for treatment, and those who couldn’t pay at all were left to suffer. Consequently, doctors were universally mistrusted and despised by their patients in this part of the city. Dr. Tom had been different, however.
    Frank watched Danny’s face as he forced his aching brain to work. It took a few moments, but the light of recognition finally brightened in his blue eyes. In the next instant he must have remembered what happened to Dr. Brandt, though, because the light vanished, replaced by wary fear. “Never heard of no Dr. Brandt,” he insisted. “Here, take your whiskey and be on your way.”
    He tried to give the flask back to Frank, but he didn’t take it. “Have another drink. Maybe your memory will improve,” Frank suggested.
    Danny shook his head violently, then instantly regretted the motion. He almost dropped the flask in his haste to grab his head and stop his brain from rattling around inside of it. Frank glanced around and saw one rickety chair leaning against the wall. He grabbed it and forced Danny to sit.
    “I don’t know nothing,” the boy insisted, looking up at Frank beseechingly. “I was just a kid when it happened.”
    “If you never heard of the good doctor, how do you know something happened to him?” Frank asked mildly.
    Danny’s eyes darted wildly as he searched for some means of escape, but Frank stood between him and the only door.
    “No one will ever know you told me,” Frank said.
    That challenged his manhood. Danny stuck out his chin defiantly. “I ain’t scared of nobody! Not even you, lousy copper!”
    Frank simultaneously took hold of the flask that Danny still held and hooked his foot around the front leg of the chair. When he jerked his foot, the chair fell over backward, slamming Danny into the floor along with it. Frank still held the flask safely in his hand.
    As soon as he got his breath, Danny started cursing and howling with pain. The chair hadn’t survived the fall, so Frank kicked the pieces out of the way and gave Danny a slight nudge, too, just to get his attention.
    “Ow! Whadda you want from me? I told you, I don’t know nothin’!” the boy protested.
    “And I told you I didn’t want to get blood on my suit, so if you make me do it, you’re going to be real sorry. Now just start talking, and I’ll let you know when I’ve heard enough.”
    Danny protested only once more, so Frank had to nudge him only once more before he started talking.
    “I was a newsboy then,” he said through gritted teeth, resentment darkening his too-old eyes. “I had a real good corner, right by an El station.” Newsboys fought each other regularly for the best corners. Most of them were homeless, and having a good corner might mean the difference between eating regularly and not. A spot by a station of the Elevated Train would be prime. Having such a spot proved Danny had been a tough kid even then.
    “Go on,” Frank said.
    Danny sighed with resignation. “This swell comes along. He buys a paper from me. He asks me do I want to earn some extra money. I say sure.”
    “What did he look like?”
    “I don’t know. A swell. You know, fancy suit, silk hat, walking stick with a big silver handle.”
    That could describe half the men in the city. “Was he old or young? Tall or short? Fat or thin?” Frank asked impatiently.
    “I don’t remember. I wasn’t paying much attention!”
    Frank