Although he would have liked to find a justification for leaving Constable Dewhurst on duty at the Pollard house, Murdoch knew he was stepping on the edge of the law if he were to do that, so after about two hours, he returned to Talbert’s house and sent the constable to start questioning the nearby residents. He assigned Burley the task of informing Elijah Green about what had happened.
“Note carefully how he reacts. If he has any information at all that might be helpful, bring him over to the station right away.”
Burley went off, sober at his first serious task. Crabtree was assigned Mrs. Cooke and Fyfer the cabbies.
The Pollards’ maid, Molly, had turned out to be so nervous, constantly on the verge of hysteria, that Murdoch had hesitated to push her. The problem was her testimony seemed to change from minute to minute. Yes, she had seen two people being admitted to Talbert’s house just before eight o’clock the previous evening, and she thought one of them was a man, rather short and dressed in a long, dark mackintosh. On the other hand, it was raining and the person was holding an umbrella so she didn’t get a good look. The other person could have been a woman, but she had gone into the house so quickly it was hard to tell. She supposed it might have been a man in a cloak, but she wouldn’t swear an oath to it. About half an hour later, Molly had heard a loud noise, a sort of bang, but thought it was Cook dropping a pot. She hadn’t realized it was a gunshot until she heard about the murder. Murdoch had hastily ended the interview at this point and sent the girl off with Mrs. Neely.
Mrs. Stokely had confirmed that the necktie used to bind Talbert’s hands did not belong to him. She also remembered noticing that his good worsted coat, a navy blue one, was missing from the hall stand. Given that at least one of the murderers would have been splashed with blood, Murdoch assumed the coat had been stolen so the stains would be hidden.
He told her about the money scattered on Talbert’s body, but she had no explanation for it. He didn’t keep much money in the house, just enough to pay for monthly housekeeping expenses, rarely more than fifteen dollars or so. She told him where to look in the upstairs bedroom dresser, and indeed Fyfer had found about fourteen dollars in a cash box.
“Did Mr. Talbert have a will?” Murdoch asked.
“Yes,” she said. “He had no children so he left what little he had to…me.” She averted her eyes. “You might be surprised to know, Mr. Murdoch, that I was Thomas Talbert’s legal wife. We married five years ago.”
“Why did you keep it a secret?”
“Thom insisted. He thought it would be better if I was known as his housekeeper. He said people would no doubt gossip about me behind my back, but at least they would talk to me. If I were known as Mrs. Thomas Talbert, there were many who would not do even that. Perhaps he was right. My granddaughter has married a man who aspires to city office, and she had made it clear she doesn’t approve of my living arrangements. To know that Thom and I were married would probably turn her away from me forever.” She twisted her thin gold wedding band. “Do you think I shall be able to keep it secret, that we were husband and wife?”
“I don’t see why not. As far as I know at this point, it has no relevance to our inquiry.”
“Thank you, Mr. Murdoch.”
Then he recalled what Broske had said about the ever-present prejudice against miscegenation. “Who else knew about your marriage?”
“Hardly anybody. Only the preacher at our church and his wife.” She wept again. “Thom was such a good companion. He deserved to die peacefully in his bed.”
She had unconsciously echoed Professor Broske’s words about Daniel Cooke.
Murdoch bicycled back to the station. He had just entered when Gardiner beckoned him over. He had a conspiratorial expression on his face and his eyes were lively with curiosity.
“We received an urgent telephone call for you. The speaker had a strange accent, possibly Irish, and he sort of whispered. Callahan could hardly make out what he was saying, but he wrote it down as best he could.”
He handed Murdoch a slip of paper.
Murdoch. I am in dire need of that book you promised me. I hope you have it and will bring it over this evening. Same time and place as before. Never mind the fire inspection.
“He wouldn’t leave his name. He said you would know who it was,” added Gardiner. He touched his forefinger to the side of his nose. “Big reader, is he?”
Murdoch nodded. “You might say that.”
“I didn’t know you were doing a fire inspection. Isn’t that Inspector Brackenreid’s job?”
“Yes, it is. Strange comment, I must say.”
“Callahan thought the voice was oddly familiar but couldn’t identify it.”
Murdoch shrugged. “There are lots of Irishmen in the city.” He headed for the stairs. “I’ll be in the inspector’s office.”
“Enjoying that, are you, Will?”
“Probably a little too much.”
Murdoch sat behind the desk and pushed on the button that opened the cigar dispenser. He selected a cigar and lit it. The inspector’s message had come at an awkward moment, but he didn’t feel he could ignore it. He was hoping to convene all the constables working on the Talbert case at about five o’clock, and Dr. Ogden said she would be ready to do the post-mortem examination at six. He decided he’d better go to the Ollapod Club now and see if he could get to talk to Brackenreid earlier than planned. He wondered why there was such urgency.
Keeping in mind Brackenreid’s warning that he would not be allowed admittance to the institute under any circumstances, Murdoch parked his bicycle at the corner of the street and walked casually back to the main gates. Here he bent down and pretended to tie his shoelace so he had a chance to look into the grounds through the railings. Several men were strolling in the direction of the main building, and he remembered that this was close to the time when the residents received their injection. At first sight, he couldn’t see Brackenreid. He fussed a bit more with his shoe but noticed that one of the attendants was glancing over his shoulder in his direction, so he stood up and moved on. Frankly, he had no idea how he was going to get inside. Then he had a stroke of luck. A tall, spindly man came trotting across the road, heading for the gates. Murdoch hurried back and got to him just in time.
“Hold on, good sir, I’d like a word with you. Do you work here?”
The fellow shook his head. “I do, but I can’t talk to you right now, I’m already late.”
Murdoch grabbed hold of the gate so he couldn’t open it. “That’s too bad, but you’ll have to be even later. I’m a police officer and I am here on a serious matter.”
That stopped him for the moment. “What sort of serious matter?”
“We’ve had complaints that the institute is being run in ways that break the law.”
The man stared at him in disbelief. “Such as?”
“I’m not at liberty to say at the moment, but I need to gain entry to the building and in such a way that nobody will know who I am.”
“You can’t. No visitors allowed.”
“I wouldn’t call myself a visitor exactly. I’m an investigating officer. What is your name, by the way?”
Murdoch took out his notebook to make it all the more official-looking.
“Robert Tennyson. But see here, I’ve got nothing to do with anything illegal. I just do my job best I can and do what the doctor tells me.”
“I believe you, Mr. Tennyson, but that doesn’t mean to say the magistrate will. I might have to take you to the court right now and testify.”
Murdoch could see that all the residents were inside now. Tennyson also saw that and he looked very nervous.
“Lord help us, they’ve gone in. They lock the door and I’ll get the bird if I don’t get in there. I have to assist with the injections.”
“Do you, indeed?” Murdoch took out his wallet, hoping he had some money in it. He had a five-dollar bill, his last until next week. “I am authorized to recompense citizens at special times for their inconvenience. Here’s five dollars and I promise that, if I have to, I will put in a good word with the magistrate on your behalf.”
Tennyson stared at him, then back through the gates into the now-empty lawn. Murdoch waved the bank note under the man’s nose. The scent of free money could be very persuasive. The attendant took it.
“All right. I think I can manage something. Go around to the back. I’ll meet you at the gate in about ten minutes.”
“Done.”
Murdoch stepped back and Tennyson shoved open the gate and ran to the door, just getting in before it slammed shut.