Murder in Chelsea Read Online Free PDF Page B

Jukes?”
    She scowled. “Are you still here?”
    “I need to ask you some questions.”
    “I don’t have no idea who done for her, if that’s what you want to know.”
    Frank was glad to note she didn’t seem too drunk. “How long has Miss Murphy lived here?”
    “Less than a month. Leastways, she paid for a month, and the rent’s not due for a few more weeks.”
    “What did she tell you about herself?”
    She sighed. “If a woman’s got the price of a room and she don’t look or act like a tart, I take her. I don’t ask for no references, if that’s what you mean.”
    “I don’t expect you do. I meant did she tell you anything about herself? Did she have any visitors? Did she have a job?”
    “She didn’t have a job. My other boarders, they do, though. That’s why she was here alone this morning.”
    “If she didn’t have a job, how did she pay the rent?”
    “She had the cash. I don’t do charity work, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
    Frank hadn’t thought that for a minute. “She didn’t mention where she got her money if she didn’t work?”
    “What do I care where she got it? She could’ve stole it from the U.S. Mint for all I know. It’s nothing to me as long as I get paid.”
    Frank didn’t sigh. “When did you last see her?”
    “She come down to breakfast early, with the rest. If you want to eat, you’re here when I serve it. Then she went back up to her room. I never saw her again until I got back from the market and . . .” She shook her head.
    “What time did you leave the house?”
    “How do I know? A little after eight, I imagine.”
    Frank had arrived a little after nine, so he’d probably just missed the killer. “Did you see the knife Miss Murphy was stabbed with?”
    She winced. “Yeah.”
    “Is it from your kitchen?”
    “Not that I know of.”
    “Do you know if Miss Murphy had it in her room?”
    She frowned at this. “How would I know? Boarders, they have all kinds of things in their rooms.”
    “So you never saw it before?”
    “No, I never.”
    “What about visitors? Did anybody come to see her while she lived here?”
    “Not that I ever saw, until yesterday. Two women come to visit. Ladies, they was. I don’t know what they wanted with her.”
    Sarah and Maeve. Maeve would be flattered to have been thought a lady. “Nobody else?”
    “Like I said, not that I ever saw, but I’m not here all the time, am I? Like today. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, if I’d been here, I might be dead, too.”
    “I think whoever killed her waited until she was alone.”
    “How can you know that? How do you know they won’t be back and kill all of us in our beds?”
    “Because Miss Murphy was involved in something dangerous. That’s why I came to see her today, to question her about it, so you don’t have to worry. Whoever killed her was only interested in her.”
    “What do you know about it? You didn’t know a thing about her or why would you be asking me?”
    Frank again managed not to sigh. “And you’re sure she didn’t have any other visitors?”
    She glared at him again.
    “Was she friendly with any of your other boarders?”
    “Not likely. Kept herself to herself, that one. But if she wanted to see somebody, she didn’t have to do it here. She went out most afternoons.”
    “Where did she go?”
    “She wasn’t likely to tell me, now was she? And what did I care? It’s not like she was out all night and coming in drunk. She went out in the afternoon and come back in time for supper. It’s included with the room, and she never missed but once or twice.”
    So whoever had contacted her about Catherine must have met her someplace else. “I’ll need to search her room and pack up her belongings.”
    This got her attention. “Pack them up for what?”
    “To take as evidence.”
    “Evidence? Evidence of what, I ask you? Her clothes didn’t stab her.”
    “What do you care about her belongings?”
    “Somebody might come for