Murder in Chelsea (29 page)

“His
son
?” Malloy said.

“Yes, Ozzie had been taken in by an adventuress who apparently intended to murder him for his money. David was already concerned about Ozzie’s ability to manage his inheritance before any of this happened, and he wanted to ensure Ozzie’s happiness and security for as long as he lives. To accomplish this, he created a trust to benefit Ozzie. A trust is a legal entity into which a sum of money is invested. The beneficiary receives the income earned from the invested funds but cannot spend any of the principal. This ensures that the income lasts for life, and David invested just enough to allow Ozzie to live comfortably but not enough to make him attractive to someone like Gilda again.”

“I saw the announcement of their divorce in the newspaper,” Sarah said.

“Yes, her family was furious, of course. They assumed Ozzie would continue to pay for her care in that place they put her.”

“It’s in Switzerland, isn’t it?” Sarah asked.

“Yes, and I understand she isn’t doing well at all. Udall’s suicide completely unhinged her. But Ozzie has chosen to cut all ties to her, so she’s their problem now.”

Sarah probably should feel sorry for the woman, but she decided that was asking too much.

“All of this is very interesting, Mr. Hicks,” Malloy said, “but you still haven’t told us why we’re here.”

“I’m getting to that. I just wanted you to understand Mr. Wilbanks’s concern for his son. As I said, he only put a portion of his estate into the trust for Ozzie. The rest he has left to you, Mr. Malloy.”

Sarah thought she had misunderstood him, and apparently, Malloy did, too.

“I don’t understand.”

“Mr. Wilbanks was very impressed with the way you handled the entire situation with Catherine, Mr. Malloy. He could also see how much you genuinely care for his daughter, and he wanted to leave her in safe hands. Obviously, Ozzie is in no position to take on the care of a young child, and he did not want to burden Mrs. Hicks and myself with his illegitimate child, whose very existence is painful for my wife. Mr. Malloy, he has named you as Catherine’s guardian until she turns twenty-one or marries, whichever comes first, and he has left you the balance of his estate so you can provide her with the life he would have given her had he been able to raise her himself.”

Malloy sat there a full minute before he replied, obviously as stunned by this news as she. “But Mrs. Brandt is Catherine’s guardian,” was all he could manage.

“Not any longer, I’m afraid.”

Malloy turned to her as if expecting her to have some explanation. She stared back, completely dumbfounded. She felt as if the earth had tipped on its axis. Nothing made sense anymore, but she knew what Hicks was telling her would change her life. She just couldn’t figure out how yet.

“But Mrs. Brandt is the one who’s raising Catherine,” Malloy said. “Why didn’t he leave Catherine to her?”

“Mr. Wilbanks was old-fashioned. He’d want a man to be looking after his daughter’s well-being. Besides, Mrs. Brandt has already said she would refuse any inheritance.”

Sarah was still trying to make sense of this. “What does this mean for Catherine? Will she have to go live with Mr. Malloy?”

“Mr. Malloy is her guardian, and he can make whatever arrangements for her that he feels are suitable.”

“So she can continue to live with me?”

“If Mr. Malloy agrees, yes.”

She could see Malloy was getting angry, and she didn’t blame him. She was pretty angry herself. How dare Wilbanks do this to them?

“You said he left me some money,” Malloy said. “If Mrs. Brandt could refuse it, I can, too, can’t I?”

“Yes, you certainly may refuse it, but please understand, if you do, it will go to Ozzie. This would violate the intent of Mr. Wilbanks’s plans to protect his son and would leave Ozzie vulnerable to every gold digger in the city. He is also an inveterate gambler, so perhaps my fears are unfounded. Perhaps he will lose the entire fortune at cards before he falls prey to another wicked woman. In any event, you would also be denying Mr. Wilbanks the right to provide for Catherine.”

“A girl doesn’t need a lot of money to grow up happy,” Malloy said.

“No, but money can prevent a lot of misery.”

Sarah had a hundred questions, but she decided they should get one thing settled first. “You said Mr. Wilbanks left his son part of his estate and Mr. Malloy the other part. How much money will Mr. Malloy inherit?” After all, a few thousand dollars was nothing to get upset about. How much could be left after he set up the trust for Ozzie?

“I won’t have an exact figure for several months, of course, but when everything is settled, it should be approximately five million dollars.”

“Five million dollars!”
Malloy fairly shouted.

“Give or take a few hundred thousand.”

Malloy shot up out of his chair and was gone, leaving the office door hanging open behind him.

Sarah and Hicks stared after him for a long moment.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever had anyone react like that to being told he’d inherited five million dollars.”

“And I don’t believe I’ve ever seen Mr. Malloy quite so angry,” Sarah said.

“Do you think he’ll refuse to accept it?”

“I have no idea.” Sarah realized she had no idea about anything at all. She felt as if someone had bashed her in the head and left her reeling. “Mr. Hicks, why on earth did Mr. Wilbanks do this?”

“For exactly the reason I told you. He saw how much you and Mr. Malloy care for Catherine, and he wanted her to remain with you.”

“But I intended to raise Catherine anyway.”

Hicks leaned back in his chair and folded his hands on his shiny desktop. “May I be frank with you, Mrs. Brandt?”

“I hope you will.”

“Mr. Wilbanks did not want Catherine raised by a single woman alone. He wanted her to have the family that had been denied her.”

“But she still doesn’t have a family.”

“Not yet.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out, Mrs. Brandt. Do you have any more questions?”

None that she wanted to ask now, she realized. “I should try to find Mr. Malloy.” And find out what he was thinking and what he was going to do and how it would affect the rest of her life.

“Please tell him I am at his disposal to answer any questions he may have, and I’m sure he’ll have many. And Mrs. Brandt, please encourage him to accept the money. Making these arrangements gave Mr. Wilbanks great peace in his final days, knowing Catherine would be well taken care of.”

Sarah stepped out onto the sidewalk and looked up and down the street, but she saw no sign of Malloy. Where would he go? What would he do? She tried to think of someone whose counsel he might seek, but no one came to mind except herself. Maybe she’d find him waiting for her at her house. She started walking, heading in the general direction of home and scanning the sidewalk on both sides of the street for a glimpse of Malloy. Eventually, she got all the way home without finding him.

* * *

T
HE NEXT MORNING,
F
RANK KNOCKED ON
S
ARAH’S DOOR,
then wiped his damp palm on his pant leg. This shouldn’t be so hard, not after all they’d been through together. Not after the conversations they’d had about matters of life and death, the things they’d talked about, the times they’d saved each other’s lives. In spite of all that, they’d never discussed really important things, though. He’d never told her how he felt about her, and he had no idea how she felt about him. Well, that wasn’t strictly true. He knew she was fond of him. But that was all he’d allowed himself to know.

She opened the door, which he hadn’t expected. He’d thought the girls would open it, as they usually did, and he’d have a minute or two to adjust to seeing her. But there she was, and she smiled the way she always smiled at him, the smile that haunted his dreams.

“Malloy. I’ve been so worried about you. Come in.”

“Where are the girls?”

“They went to the market with Mrs. Ellsworth.” She took his hat and hung it up. “Would you like some coffee? Mrs. Ellsworth brought over a cake.”

“Yes, thanks.”

He followed her into the kitchen the way he’d done so many times, but this time he really let himself see her, the gold of her hair and the shape of her body. She was beautiful. Too beautiful for the likes of him. That was what people would say, and it would be true.

To his surprise, she didn’t ask him any questions. She served him coffee and a piece of cake he didn’t want, and she sat down across from him and waited.

“I’m sorry I left like that yesterday.”

She gave him her kind smile, the one she gave Catherine when she was upset. “I probably would’ve done the same thing in your place. That was quite a shock.”

“Yes, it was, and I don’t think I’ll get over it for quite a while.”

“Mr. Hicks said to tell you he’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.”

“I saw him this morning.”

“You did?”

“Yes. Like he thought, I had some questions.” If she only knew.

“Have you decided what you’re going to do?”

Frank leaned back in his chair. “I’ve decided what I
want
to do.”

“Oh, Malloy, I know how angry you must be at Mr. Wilbanks, but I’m sure he thought he was doing this for the best. Men like that always think they know what’s best for other people.”

“Lots of people think that,” he said.

“Yes, especially when those people are their children. He wanted a good life for Catherine, and heaven knows, she’s had a hard time of it until now, so she deserves it. I just hope you’ll let me continue to keep her, at least for the time being. She’s lost so much, and another change would be upsetting to her. You’ll always be welcome to visit her, of course. You are her guardian, after all, and—”

“Sarah.”

She stopped, flushing, and he realized she was as nervous as he. Did she really think he’d take Catherine away from her?

“What?” Her voice was like a child’s, soft and uncertain.

“Don’t you want to know where I went when I ran off and left you yesterday?”

“Of course I do.” That was better, more like the Sarah he knew.

“I can’t believe you didn’t ask me right away. I went to see your father.”

“My father?”

“Yeah, well, I have to admit, the reason I went was because I thought he might’ve been the one who convinced Wilbanks to do this in the first place.”

“Why would he have done that?”

Good, she didn’t know. “I’ll explain that later. I went to your father’s office and scared his poor secretary out of his wits, and then I started shouting at your father, but it didn’t take long to realize he had no idea what I was talking about.”

“What did he say?”

“He gave me some good advice.”

“He did?”

“Your father is a wise man.”

“A wise man who likes to tell other people what to do. Did he tell you what to do?”

“He tried.” That made her smile, as he’d intended.

“What did he tell you to do?”

“He told me to take the money.”

“That’s probably good advice.”

“Sarah, I want you to understand some things. First of all, I never wanted to be rich.”

“Of course not.”

“There’s no ‘of course’ about it. I’m not a fool. I’ve dreamed about being rich. All men do. We think about what we’d do and where we’d go and how nice it would be to never have to worry about supporting our families. I’ve done that. But I never wanted to have the kind of life where all you worried about were what clothes to wear and who invited you to dinner and which gentleman’s club to join.”

“I never wanted that life either. That’s why I left my parents’ home and never went back.”

“I know. That’s why . . . Well, that’s why I was so angry. But your father pointed out that I don’t have to have that kind of life, even if I take the money. I can live however I want.”

“He said that?”

“Yes. And he also solved another problem for me, one that’s been bothering me for a while.”

“And what problem was that?”

“Well, you see, I’d been sure that nothing could make an Irish Catholic cop socially acceptable in this city.”

“Since when did you want to be socially acceptable?”

“Oh, for about two years now. And your father explained it to me. He said there are two ways to be accepted in this city. You can be born into an old, respected family, like the Deckers.”

“Or the Van Horns,” she reminded him.

“Or you can have lots of money, like Wilbanks or the Vanderbilts.”

“And if you have
enough
money, the Van Horns will want to marry you.”

“Will the Deckers want to marry me, too?”

“What?”

“Well, I’m really only interested in one of the Deckers.”

“Which one?” She still didn’t understand.

“Definitely not your father, and your mother is already married.”

“Malloy, what are you talking about?”

He really hadn’t expected this to be easy, but he was making it harder than it needed to be, he knew. “Sarah, maybe you already know this, but I’ve been in love with you since . . . Well, I can’t remember even knowing you when I wasn’t in love with you, so almost from the very beginning. Two years ago.” He watched the color bloom in her cheeks for a moment. “The trouble was, I couldn’t imagine any way that I could offer you a proper kind of life, but now . . .”

“Now?”

“Now I’m asking you to be my wife.”

He didn’t know what he’d expected but not the frown she was giving him. “Did you think I wouldn’t marry you before, when you were just an ordinary policeman?”

“I didn’t know, but I thought you might, and that’s why I never asked you.”

She gaped at him. “You didn’t ask me to marry you because you thought I would say yes?”

“Yes, and I couldn’t ask you to live that kind of life.”

“I wouldn’t have cared!”

“
I
would have cared. You’d have my Irish name, and you’d live off the money I got from bribes, and people would feel sorry for you because you’d settled for a crooked cop, and your family would try to put a good face on it, but their friends would laugh at them behind their back, and someday maybe you’d be sorry but I’d be sorry for sure that I did that to you.”