finding
Betty reluctant to speak with him at first, Littlemore had taken her to a soda
fountain. When he told her he knew she had been let go, she burst out about how
unfair it was. Why had they fired her? She hadn't done anything. Some of the
other girls stole from the apartments - why didn't they fire one of them? And
what would she do now? It turned out that Betty's father had passed away the
year before. For the last two months, Betty had been supporting her whole
family - her mother and three little brothers - with her wages from the
Balmoral.
'What did she tell you, Detective?'
asked the coroner, biting his lip.
'Betty says she didn't like going
into Miss Riverford's apartment. She said it was haunted. Twice she was sure
she heard a baby crying, but there wasn't any baby; the apartment would be
empty. She says Miss Riverford was strange. Just shows up one day about four
weeks ago. No moving trucks; no nothing. The apartment was furnished before she
got there. Real quiet type, very private. Never any mess. Always made her own
bed and kept her things just so - one of her closets was always locked. She
tried to give Betty a pair of earrings once. Betty asked were they real - real
diamonds, that is - and when Miss Riverford said yes, Betty wouldn't take them.
But Betty almost never saw her. Betty worked nights for a while, and she saw
Miss Riverford a couple of times then. Otherwise she was always up and out of
the apartment before seven, when Betty got there. One of the doormen told me
Miss Riverford left the building a couple of times before six. What's that
mean, Mr Hugel?'
'It means,' answered the coroner,
'you are going to send a man to Chicago.'
'To talk to the family?'
'Correct. What did the maid tell you
about the bedroom when she first discovered the body?'
'The thing is, Betty doesn't remember
that part too well. All she can remember is Miss Riverford's face.'
'Did she see anything near the dead
girl or lying on top of her?'
'I asked her, Mr Hugel. She can't
remember.'
'Nothing?'
'She just remembers Miss Riverford's
eyes, open and staring.'
'Weak little idiot.'
'You wouldn't say that if you talked
to her,' he said. Littlemore was taken aback. 'How do you figure something
changing anyway?'
'What?'
'You're saying something in the room
changed from when Betty first went in to when you got there. But I thought they
locked the apartment right away and put that butler guy in the hall to keep
everybody out until you got there.'
'I thought so too,' the coroner
replied, pacing the short length of his cramped office. 'That's what we were
told.'
'So why do you think someone got in
the room?'
'Why?' repeated Hugel, scowling. 'You
want to know why? Very well, Mr Littlemore. Follow me.'
The coroner strode out the door. The
detective followed him - down three flights of old stairs and through a maze of
peeling corridors, eventually emerging in the morgue. The coroner unlocked a
vaulted door. When he opened it, Littlemore felt the blast of stale, freezing
air, then saw rows of cadavers on wooden shelves, some naked and stretched out
for all to see, others covered by sheets. He could not help looking at their
privates, which repulsed him.
'No one else,' announced the coroner,
'would have examined her body closely enough to see this clue. No one.' He
strode to the back of the chamber where a body lay on the farthest shelf. A
white sheet covered it, on which was written Riverford, E.: 29.8.09. 'Now look at her carefully, Detective, and tell me exactly what you see.'
The coroner threw back the sheet with
a flourish. Littlemore's eyes went wide, but Hugel looked even more astonished
than the dectective. Beneath the sheet lay not Elizabeth Riverford's corpse,
but that of a. black-toothed, slack-skinned old man.
I took the elevator to Miss
Betty reluctant to speak with him at first, Littlemore had taken her to a soda
fountain. When he told her he knew she had been let go, she burst out about how
unfair it was. Why had they fired her? She hadn't done anything. Some of the
other girls stole from the apartments - why didn't they fire one of them? And
what would she do now? It turned out that Betty's father had passed away the
year before. For the last two months, Betty had been supporting her whole
family - her mother and three little brothers - with her wages from the
Balmoral.
'What did she tell you, Detective?'
asked the coroner, biting his lip.
'Betty says she didn't like going
into Miss Riverford's apartment. She said it was haunted. Twice she was sure
she heard a baby crying, but there wasn't any baby; the apartment would be
empty. She says Miss Riverford was strange. Just shows up one day about four
weeks ago. No moving trucks; no nothing. The apartment was furnished before she
got there. Real quiet type, very private. Never any mess. Always made her own
bed and kept her things just so - one of her closets was always locked. She
tried to give Betty a pair of earrings once. Betty asked were they real - real
diamonds, that is - and when Miss Riverford said yes, Betty wouldn't take them.
But Betty almost never saw her. Betty worked nights for a while, and she saw
Miss Riverford a couple of times then. Otherwise she was always up and out of
the apartment before seven, when Betty got there. One of the doormen told me
Miss Riverford left the building a couple of times before six. What's that
mean, Mr Hugel?'
'It means,' answered the coroner,
'you are going to send a man to Chicago.'
'To talk to the family?'
'Correct. What did the maid tell you
about the bedroom when she first discovered the body?'
'The thing is, Betty doesn't remember
that part too well. All she can remember is Miss Riverford's face.'
'Did she see anything near the dead
girl or lying on top of her?'
'I asked her, Mr Hugel. She can't
remember.'
'Nothing?'
'She just remembers Miss Riverford's
eyes, open and staring.'
'Weak little idiot.'
'You wouldn't say that if you talked
to her,' he said. Littlemore was taken aback. 'How do you figure something
changing anyway?'
'What?'
'You're saying something in the room
changed from when Betty first went in to when you got there. But I thought they
locked the apartment right away and put that butler guy in the hall to keep
everybody out until you got there.'
'I thought so too,' the coroner
replied, pacing the short length of his cramped office. 'That's what we were
told.'
'So why do you think someone got in
the room?'
'Why?' repeated Hugel, scowling. 'You
want to know why? Very well, Mr Littlemore. Follow me.'
The coroner strode out the door. The
detective followed him - down three flights of old stairs and through a maze of
peeling corridors, eventually emerging in the morgue. The coroner unlocked a
vaulted door. When he opened it, Littlemore felt the blast of stale, freezing
air, then saw rows of cadavers on wooden shelves, some naked and stretched out
for all to see, others covered by sheets. He could not help looking at their
privates, which repulsed him.
'No one else,' announced the coroner,
'would have examined her body closely enough to see this clue. No one.' He
strode to the back of the chamber where a body lay on the farthest shelf. A
white sheet covered it, on which was written Riverford, E.: 29.8.09. 'Now look at her carefully, Detective, and tell me exactly what you see.'
The coroner threw back the sheet with
a flourish. Littlemore's eyes went wide, but Hugel looked even more astonished
than the dectective. Beneath the sheet lay not Elizabeth Riverford's corpse,
but that of a. black-toothed, slack-skinned old man.
I took the elevator to Miss
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