Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue Read Online Free Page B

special, but he’s a bouncer. All them fellas is shady, you ask me.”
    â€œSo he had money, did he?”
Bouncer
was a derogatory term for the newly rich who hadn’t yet earned a place in society.
    â€œHe lived in one of them new houses up in Harlem. They don’t come cheap, although why anybody’d want to live way out in the country like that, I don’t know.”
    â€œIt’s pretty far, but it’s not farmland anymore.”
    â€œI guess not, if bouncers are building houses there,” the sergeant agreed.
    â€œDid you hear what Pollock did for a living?”
    The sergeant frowned down at Gino. “You’re awful interested in this fellow.”
    Gino tried a shrug. “Just curious, I guess.”
    But the old sergeant wasn’t fooled. “You ain’t a detective, boy. Don’t forget that. Nobody’ll thank you for interfering in what ain’t your business, and Malloy ain’t here no more to cover for you.”
    â€œThat’s good advice,” Gino said, giving the old sergeant a mock salute.
    He was walking away, already trying to figure out how tobe more subtle in his inquiries the next time, when the sergeant called, “But if you want to find out more about Pollock, ask Broghan. His cousin walks the beat up there, and he was the first one in the house.”
    â€œBroghan, huh? I think he might still be mad at me about that case with the missing women.”
    The sergeant gave a bark of laughter. “Oh yeah, that was clever, but it’s Malloy he’s mad at. Besides, he’s an Irishman. If you’ll listen to him, he’ll talk to you, mad or not.”
    â€œThanks, Sarge.”
    Gino was whistling as he went to report for duty. Broghan wouldn’t be in this early, but he’d be able to catch him later at his favorite bar.
    *   *   *
    M aeve was sitting on the bench in the foyer, just where they’d left her and looking completely innocent, when Mrs. O’Neill and Mrs. Decker came back downstairs. The maid trailed behind them carrying a cheap suitcase that they’d apparently found upstairs. Thank heaven they hadn’t needed the carpetbag, which sat at her feet.
    â€œI hope you weren’t bored waiting for us,” Mrs. Decker said with a questioning look in her eye.
    â€œOh no, not at all. Did you get everything you needed for Mrs. Pollock?”
    â€œYes, and we also decided that we’ll have my maid come back tomorrow and pack up all of Mrs. Pollock’s things and take them to her mother’s house. Under the circumstances, Mrs. Pollock will want to close up the house, I’m sure.”
    She didn’t have to mention that with Pollock dead and Una in jail, there’d be no one to pay the servants and the other expenses of running a household.
    â€œOh, you might want to wait a week or two before doingthat,” Maeve said. “Mrs. Pollock will probably be released, and she’ll want to come home.”
    â€œShe’ll want to come home to
me
, I’m sure,” her mother said. “She won’t want to come back here, after what happened.”
    â€œBut what’ll become of us?” the maid asked. “There’s nobody to write us a reference.” Maeve had learned a lot about servants from Mrs. Decker, and she knew they changed employers frequently. The Pollocks’ servants wouldn’t have been with them long, so they’d certainly feel no loyalty to Una.
    â€œI’ll write all of you a reference, if it comes to that,” Mrs. Decker said. “But don’t go running off just yet. We’ll see you’re taken care of. And let me know if you need anything.” She gave the girl her calling card. “Are we ready to go?”
    Maeve said they were, so they filed out to the sidewalk, where the Decker carriage still waited at the curb. The driver hurried to assist the ladies inside, taking the carpetbag from