Murder on Fifth Avenue: A Gaslight Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page B

to the master of the house very seriously. His suit and shirt were impeccable. His neatly parted dark hair, lightly touched with gray, lay smoothly against his head. His suspicious glare also said he didn’t appreciate being called away from his duties by the likes of Frank Malloy.
    “Mary Catherine said you wanted to speak with me,” Roderick said when Mr. Decker had taken his leave.
    “Yes.” Frank led him into the ugly little receiving room and closed the door. “Would you like to sit down?”
    Roderick stiffened, not giving an inch. “I don’t think that …”
    “Mr. Devries is dead.”
    Frank’s words had the desired effect. Roderick blinked a few times, and the color drained from his face, along with all resistance. Frank took his arm and put him into one of the wooden chairs that formed practically the only furnishings in the room.
    He looked up, his face slack. “Dead? But how…?”
    “We think he was murdered.” Frank sat down across from him and waited. The man who had risen to the exalted position of valet had been serving wealthy people most of his life. He’d overheard every intimate detail of their lives. Frank hoped Roderick would blurt out his opinion of someone’s guilt, but the silence grew deafening. He was far too well trained for that. He wouldn’t be where he was if he hadn’t learned to keep the family’s secrets to himself.
    “How? When?” he finally asked. To his credit, he was the only one in the house so far who had reacted as if he cared what had happened to the dead man.
    “We don’t know exactly. That’s why I need to talk to everyone who might’ve seen him today. I’m trying to figure out where he was and who he might’ve been with.”
    Roderick stiffened again and color flooded back to his face. “I’m sure I have no idea where he was after he left the house today.”
    “He didn’t mention where he was going? Maybe he had a business meeting or an appointment with somebody.”
    “Mr. Devries kept his own counsel. He wasn’t one to confide in his servants.”
    Frank nodded as if he understood perfectly the habits of wealthy men. “You knew him better than anyone, though. Did he seem anxious or worried about anything?”
    “I’m sure I couldn’t say.”
    “Don’t know or just couldn’t say?”
    Roderick blinked again. “I don’t know what you mean.”
    “Yes, you do. Look, Roderick, here’s what happened. Somebody stabbed Devries in the back.”
    The valet gasped.
    “But he didn’t die right away. We don’t know what he got stabbed with, but the wound was small, and he must not have known how badly he was hurt. He went on about his business for a while, and when he got to his club this afternoon, he sat down in a chair and died. So now we need to figure out where he was today so we can figure out who could’ve stabbed him.”
    “No one here would have harmed Mr. Devries.”
    “I didn’t say anybody did. I asked you to tell me where else he might’ve been today.”
    Roderick’s dark eyes narrowed. “You said he was injured a long time before he died.”
    “That’s right.”
    “How long?”
    “I don’t know for sure.”
    “Could it have been…early this morning?”
    “Maybe. What happened early this morning?”
    “I don’t know. I mean, Mr. Devries wasn’t here.”
    “Where was he?”
    “He…He spent the night elsewhere.”
    Frank leaned forward in his chair. “Do you know where?”
    “As I said, Mr. Devries keeps his own counsel…or, at least, he did.”
    “But you’re pretty sure you know where he was.”
    Roderick’s lips tightened as if he were trying to hold back what he wanted to say. “He owns a house down on Mercer Street, near Washington Square.”
    “And you think he was there last night?”
    “He stays there frequently.” Roderick sighed. “I don’t suppose it matters now, but…someone else lives there.”
    “Who?”
    “His mistress.”
    “I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT ,” E LIZABETH D ECKER SAID TO Sarah as