Murder on Amsterdam Avenue by Victoria Thompson

pay any particular attention to him.”
    â€œI see.” Plainly, he didn’t like it, though.
    â€œI promise we won’t deceive you again, but it was important to see if anyone at the funeral behaved strangely.”
    â€œAnd did they?”
    â€œJust the woman who fainted. Do you know who she was?”
    â€œNo, but I’ve already chastened the servants for letting her in. She made quite a spectacle of herself and upset my wife and daughter-in-law terribly.”
    â€œWhat about the man who took her out? He said his name is Virgil Adderly.”
    Oakes frowned. “I’ve never met the man, but I’ve heardof him. He’s a political hack, somebody who makes his living doing things respectable people don’t want to do.”
    â€œDid he do something for Charles?”
    â€œNot that I’m aware,” Oakes said, effectively ending the discussion. “Please sit down. Can I offer you a . . . anything?”
    â€œWe’re fine,” Frank said, wondering if Oakes would have really poured them drinks at ten o’clock in the morning.
    â€œSo now we’re going to have to speak to your staff and your family.”
    He winced and ran a hand over his face.
    â€œDid you tell them I was coming today?”
    Oakes sighed wearily. “I told them Charles was poisoned and that you would be investigating.”
    â€œHow did they react to that?”
    â€œHow do you think they reacted?” he snapped. “My mother was nearly hysterical.”
    â€œWhat about your wife and daughter-in-law?”
    That stopped him. He glanced away uneasily, his hands picking absently at the arms of his chair.
    In the lengthening silence, Gino cast Frank a questioning look, but he just waited. In his experience, people couldn’t stand silence, and they would eventually fill it, even if they had to say something incriminating.
    â€œHannah . . . She said . . . She said she knows who killed Charles.”

5
    F rank blinked in surprise. “She said she knows who poisoned Charles?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWho does she think did it?”
    â€œShe didn’t say. Or more accurately, she wouldn’t say, even though my wife demanded that she do so. We think she’s just vying for attention.”
    â€œThat’s an odd way to get it,” Frank said.
    â€œHannah is an odd girl. I’m not sure why Charles chose her. Or why she chose him, for that matter.”
    â€œMaybe she wanted your old family name.”
    â€œAnd she probably expected old family money to go along with it,” Oakes said, not bothering to hide his bitterness. “I think she was unhappy with her life here.”
    â€œWhat will happen to her now?”
    â€œShe’s welcome to stay on here, as Charles’s widow, but Ican’t imagine she will. To tell the truth, I expect she’ll remarry as soon as propriety allows.”
    Frank wondered if she had decided to take matters into her own hands and free herself of an unwanted husband without the scandal or inconvenience of divorce. That would certainly explain her eagerness to point the finger at someone else as the killer. He wasn’t going to suggest that to Oakes, though, at least not without some proof.
    â€œI suppose we should see her first then,” he said.
    â€œI’ve put the front parlor at your disposal. I’ll have the maid take you there, and send for Hannah.”
    â€œDonatelli will be questioning the servants,” Frank said. “Can you give him a room as well?”
    â€œYes. I’ll instruct my man, Zeller, to find a place for you to use. He’ll bring whoever you need to talk to.”
    â€œI’d like to talk to him first, then,” Gino said.
    â€œI’ll ring for the girl.”
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    F rank rose when the parlor door opened. The maid admitted Mrs. Charles Oakes and then withdrew, closing the door