Murder on Nob Hill Read Online Free PDF

unprophetic words, the conversation passed on to politics.
     
    T he opportunity to speak to Samuel did not present itself until the rest of the family had retired for the night. Slipping outside, I found my brother in the garden smoking a cigarette. “It's about time,” he told me softly. The night was chilly and Ipulled my wool shawl closer about my shoulders as I sat beside him on a garden bench. Through the moonlight, I could detect the hint of a smile playing on his mouth as he asked, “So, are you to be Shepard's newest associate attorney?”
    “Joseph Shepard is incapable of seeing beyond his nose. He recited a litany of reasons why a woman is unfit to practice law, ranging from physical frailty to mental impairment.”
    “So, now what?”
    I was forced to confess I didn’t know. “I’ll probably try Avers and Brock. They’re not as established or respected as Shepard's, but needs must. Or perhaps I’ll open my own office.”
    This time there was no mistaking my brother's amusement. “And how will you lure clients, little sister? Paying clients, I mean. Or will you treat them all pro bono?”
    “Sarcasm doesn’t become you, Samuel,” I told him shortly. “Besides, there are more important matters to discuss.”
    “Such as Cornelius Hanaford and his lovely young widow?”
    I nodded and briefly described my meeting with Annjenett, as well as my plans for relieving her current financial problems. “I thought you might have discussed the case with George.”
    George Lewis was a boxing partner of Samuel's, as well as a member of the San Francisco Police Department. George's work on the force had provided my brother with material for several true crime stories which appeared, successfully I might add, in the city's newspapers. Due in no small part to Samuel's friendship with George Lewis, Ian Fearless was making a name for himself.
    “He's talked of little else since it happened.” He studied my face. “You do know how Hanaford was murdered, don’t you?”
    “Of course. He was stabbed.”
    “Yes, but do you know where he was stabbed?”
    I looked at him blankly. “No. Why, does it matter?”
    “It must have mattered to his murderer. Sarah, Hanaford was stabbed to death in the genitals.” I was momentarily struck dumb.
    “Which means, of course,” he went on, “that the murder was more likely a crime of passion than of chance or burglary.”
    “But what about the items that were stolen?”
    “Another question the police would like answered.”
    I leaned back against the bench and thought of my talk with Annjenett. She’d said nothing to lead me to believe the murder was of a personal nature. Yet, as Samuel pointed out, the unusual manner of the attack was undoubtedly significant.
    “The police have kept the more sensational aspects of the crime quiet,” Samuel went on, breaking into my thoughts. “Lewis admits it has them baffled.”
    “I can imagine.”
    “Not surprisingly, the financial district is in an uproar. And there's a lot of political pressure to solve the crime quickly.” “Do the police have any suspects?”
    “Hanaford's staff has been repeatedly interviewed. No one recalls anything out of the ordinary that evening.”
    “What about disgruntled bank clients? Or employees?”
    “Nothing serious enough to result in homicide.”
    “Surely someone must have seen something!” I said, exasperated.
    “If they did, they haven’t come forward.” He hesitated. “I suppose you’ve considered the more obvious implications of this case?”
    I felt a shiver that had nothing to do with the night air. “The possibility is too obvious to ignore. Hanaford either let the murderer in himself, without the servants’ knowledge. Or—” “Or the murderer was already inside.” Samuel crossed his legs. “Tell me about Mrs. Hanaford. I know, of course, that she was younger than her husband.”
    “Yes, considerably. It was an arranged marriage. And not, I gather, a particularly happy