No Pity For the Dead by Nancy Herriman Page A

He preferred Mrs. Davies’; their light color made her gaze and the thoughts behind them more transparent. “I told him not to go, but Virgil thought it was worth a try.”
    â€œOn the day he disappeared, what did Mr. Nash do between the time he received that note in the morning and when he left to meet with its author?”
    Mrs. Nash proceeded to unfold her handkerchief. “We hadlunch together in the garden. Then Virgil left for an afternoon appointment with Mr. Strauss.”
    â€œMr. Levi Strauss?” asked Taylor. “He’s got that big new dry goods place on Battery, right?”
    â€œYes, that’s who I mean,” she replied.
    â€œDid your husband head straight to Martin’s office after his visit with Mr. Strauss?” Nick asked.
    â€œI do not believe so. He sent me a note saying he intended to stay downtown to attend to some business, so I was not to wait supper and he would return after his eight o’clock meeting with Mr. Martin. Although I suppose he’d actually gone to see that woman,” she added under her breath.
    Everything so far agreed with Briggs’ account, including the bit about Nash’s meeting his mistress.
    â€œHe’d still be alive if he hadn’t gone to Mr. Martin’s office, wouldn’t he?” She lifted the handkerchief to her mouth again, and Nick was surprised to see tears in her eyes. He’d begun to think her as cold as a wagon tire. “One of these men killed my husband in order to get him out of the way, didn’t they? You must bring them to justice, Detective Greaves. You must. They’re murderers.”
    Nick wasn’t going to argue her point. Matthews had claimed Martin wanted Nash dead. Frank and Russell might want that, too. “Would anybody else profit from your husband’s death, Mrs. Nash?”
    â€œWho else would possibly want to kill Virgil?”
    â€œI don’t know,” said Nick. “That’s why I’m asking.”
    Mrs. Nash glanced over at Taylor, who was keeping a poker face, then back at Nick. “Are you afraid of the men of Martin and Company? Afraid to accuse them? Is that why you’re asking a question like that?”
    â€œI’m trying to pursue all the possibilities, ma’am,” he said. Which was what Uncle Asa would’ve advised. Always keep an open mind. “So if you’d kindly answer my question, I’d appreciate it.”
    â€œNo one,” she answered, staring him in the eyes to make certain he believed her. He wasn’t sure he did. “The only men who stand to gain from Virgil’s death,” she continued, “are Jasper Martin, Frank Hutchinson, and Abram Russell.”
    If she suspected anybody else, he wasn’t prying it out of her. She had an ax to grind with the partners, and so did he.
    â€œYour husband was a very wealthy man,” said Nick. “He didn’t make all that money from his import business. Maybe there’s somebody in his past who’s caught up to him. I’ve been told about disputes during the time he was in Nevada. Maybe he upset some miners there who might have been looking for revenge.”
    â€œHe and his brother, Silas, had a lucky strike in the Comstock Lode. Any allegations he’d cheated other miners is an absolute lie,” Alice Nash said fiercely. “So there’s nobody from his past ‘looking for revenge,’ Detective. He is an honorable man.” She caught the error in her statement, and her chin wobbled. “Or rather, he
was
an honorable man.”
    â€œAre you his sole beneficiary? Or would his brother inherit?”
    Alice Nash turned an unattractive color. “Silas Nash was murdered years ago in Virginia City by a lunatic who fled the country,” she said. “Silas was denied justice, Detective, but there had better be justice for Virgil. There simply must be.”
    â€œAny other beneficiaries, ma’am?”