Unseemly Ambition (25 page)

“
Let’s get him more
comfortable first,” Sophia said, reaching for cushions.

Once Eli was settled between Concordia
and Sophia on the divan, his leg propped up on a pillow and a mug
of tea in his hands, Capshaw got down to business.

“
Start with when you last
saw Florence alive.”

Eli took a deep breath. “It was after
lunch. She sent me ’round the corner with some money, to get a
paper, and she said I could get myself a stick candy with the
extra, if I wanted.” His eyes softened. “She was real thoughtful. I
was starting to like her. She tole me that day that she decided she
shouldn’ take me away, that she knew I was happier here. Cat seemed
to take to her, and stayed in the room while I was
gone.”

“
How long did it take you
to get the paper?” Concordia interrupted, which earned her a look
from Capshaw. She could almost hear the thought in his head.
Hmph. Meddling females.

“
Dunno, it was a while. I
was talkin’ with Whitey on the way,” Eli said. “Then I figured I
was late an’ she was waiting, so I hurried back.”

“
What happened then?”
Capshaw asked quietly.

Eli kept his eyes on his
clenched-together hands. “I found her on the bed. At first, I
thought she was sleepin’ but when I got closer her eyes were open,
jes’ starin’…and she looked….” He drew a ragged breath. “She was
dead.”

Concordia patted his back. “Go on,”
she gently urged.

“
I heard someone on the
fire escape, so I hid under the bed. Cat was there with me.” Eli’s
eyes held worry and regret. “Is he okay?”

Capshaw nodded. “He’s fine, son.
Martha has him back at the settlement house.”

Eli wiped away more tears of relief,
and blew his nose noisily in the handkerchief Capshaw passed
over.

“
Back to the person on the
fire escape,” Capshaw said. “Did you see who it was?”

Eli shook his head. “It was a man, but
I couldn’ peek through the bedskirts without giving myself away. I
heard him mutterin’ to himself.”

“
What did he say? What was
his voice like?” Capshaw asked.

“
It was real snarly,” Eli
said. “And he said: ‘Takin’ a big chance comin’ back. I gave ’im
ev’ry scrap o’ paper in the stinkin’ place—there weren’t no more. I
better get paid good fer this one.’”

“
Did you hear anything
else?” Capshaw asked.

“
No. He pulled out a lot o’
drawers, but quiet-like. I was real scared he’d look under the bed
next.”

“
What happened
then?”

“
It sounded like he was
fiddlin’ with the door knob at first, and then I heard him at the
window, climbin’ out. I did peek under the edge of the bed,
then.”

“
Did you get a look at
him?”

Eli shook his head. “Not a good one.
He was too quick. All I saw was a big hand, with hairy knuckles, as
he was pulling down the window.”

“
So you decided to follow
the man,” Capshaw prompted the boy, “leaving the cat
behind.”

Eli nodded. “I was real sorry to do
that, but I thought Cat would slow me down. I figured someone would
find him soon and let him out, when they found....” He shuddered,
then whispered, “Her.”

“
How did you avoid being
seen?” Concordia asked, breaking the silence.

“
I waited until he was out
of the alley and across the street. When he weren’t looking, I went
down the fire escape as quiet as I could. It can make an awful
clatter if you’re not careful. He couldn’t see me by then, ’cause
the buildings are so close together. I followed him for a few
blocks, and that’s when he met the man in fancy dress.”

Concordia gave Eli a sharp
look. “
Fancy dress
?
Do you mean like formal wear?”

Eli shrugged. “He was wearing a black
jacket, striped pants, white shirt and collar. Looked fancy to
me.”

“
Then what?” Capshaw
asked.

“
They talked for a couple
o’ minutes, and the fancy man handed a bundle of somethin’ to the
other man. I think it was money. Then they split up.” He gave
Capshaw a curious glance. “How do you decide which one to follow,
when you’re on a case?”

Capshaw tousled the boy’s
hair. “We’ll talk about that later. The more important question at
the moment is, how did
you
decide?”

Eli pursed his lips. “I figured the
fancy man paid the other man to—you know.” His voice faltered
briefly. “I thought I’d follow the fancy man.”

Capshaw nodded in approval. “Good
choice. And then?”

“
After a few blocks, he
took a cab an’ I couldn’t keep up. But,” he added, “I heard him say
‘station,’ so I hitched a ride on a couple of street cars and then
a fella’s veg’table dray.”

“
Were you able to catch up
with him at the station?” Concordia asked, completely absorbed in
the narrative.

Eli made a face. “It was hard, ’cause
there were a lot more fellas with the same kind o’ clothes on. And
then when I did find him, I had to sneak on board, ’cause I didn’
have any money.” He looked at them apologetically. “I figured it
was for a good reason.”

“
We’ll get back to that
later,” Capshaw said. “You were able to get aboard without being,
uh, detected?”

“
Yessir, but I had to hide
in the water closet whenever the conductor came around. I was real
worried I’d miss the fancy man’s stop. But I didn’t dare get close
enough for him to notice me.”

“
Were you able to determine
where he got off?”

“
I got off at the stop for
Providence jes’ in time. Then he got into another hansom cab.” The
boy hesitated.

“
What is it?” Capshaw
prompted.

Eli sighed. “I’m sure he saw me then.
The window curtain twitched, and suddenly the cabbie whipped up the
horse, and took off.”

“
Did you see the man’s face
when he moved the curtain?” Capshaw asked, his voice
hopeful.

“
No sir. All I saw was his
hand and wrist.”

“
Describe them,” Capshaw
said.

“
The hand was pale, with
long, slender fingers. The cuff looked nice and white—not wrinkled
or dirty at all. And there was a big gold button with a black
design on it.”

“
You mean a cufflink?”
Capshaw walked over to the desk, pulled out paper and pencil, and
handed them to the boy. “Can you draw the design?”

Eli bent over the paper, teeth pulling
on his lower lip as he worked. After several erasures and
corrections, he finally finished. “Here.”

After passing it to Capshaw, he eyed
the dessert plate hungrily. Concordia brought it over with a
smile.

Capshaw examined the rough drawing of
what looked to be a tube that was slightly pinched in the middle,
with a spiral at one end. “A cylinder of some kind. I don’t
recognize it,” he muttered, handing it to Miss Hamilton, who
puzzled over the sketch. Concordia got up and looked over her
shoulder. Something about the drawing looked familiar.

“
If I were on the case I
would show this around, and make inquiries,” Capshaw said, jaw
clenched.

“
Just tell me whom to ask,”
Miss Hamilton said.

Capshaw pulled out his notebook and
scribbled down names and street addresses. “These four jewelers
specialize in custom pieces,” he said, tearing out the sheet and
passing it to her. “We’ll need to know who commissioned the cuff
links, when, and if more than one pair was—”

Capshaw stopped short as Concordia
rushed out of the room. They heard her rummaging in the coat
closet.

She returned a moment later, holding
up a pin, which she passed to Miss Hamilton. “I thought that sketch
looked familiar. What do you think? Is it the same
design?”

Miss Hamilton examined it against
Eli’s drawing. “They are very like.” She turned to Eli, who was
already working on his second pastry. “Did the cufflink look
similar to this?” she asked, showing him the pin.

The boy nodded, mouth full.

Capshaw came over to look at the pin.
“Where did you find this?” he asked Concordia.

“
Remember the stranger I
told you about? The youth I only saw from a distance? He dropped
it.”

Capshaw started. “This is
the first
I’ve
heard of it
.
”

“
I stuck it in my jacket at
the time, and forgot all about it.” Concordia grimaced. “I’m
terrible about emptying my pockets. It’s been there ever
since.”

“
Could Eli’s
fancy man
and the school’s
mysterious youth be the same person?” Capshaw mused
aloud.

David shifted uneasily in
his seat. “I don’t like the idea of
any
stranger strolling the college
grounds at will, much less the one responsible for Miss
Willoughby’s death.”

Concordia didn’t like it, either, but
the man hadn’t been seen on campus in weeks.

Miss Hamilton got back to the business
at hand. “Our first course is to trace the source of this pin.
Between that and the sketch, we should be able to find the
jeweler.”

Concordia, looking once again at Eli’s
drawing, sucked in a sharp breath.

“
What?” Capshaw
asked.

“
It’s not a cylinder; it’s
a...
scroll.
”

In the silence that followed, Capshaw
glanced anxiously at Eli, who was reaching for a third pastry. He
got up and moved to the far end of the room away from the boy,
gesturing to the rest of them to do the same.

Once they were out of earshot, Miss
Hamilton said, “No doubt the man is a member of the Black
Scroll.”

Sophia clenched her trembling hands
together. “What do we know about this group?”

“
Precious little,” Miss
Hamilton admitted.

“
So this man—from the Black
Scroll—is responsible for the attempt on Eli’s life? Could he try
again?” Sophia’s voice was strained, but quiet.

Capshaw looked uneasy. “I don’t
know.”

“
Well,” Sophia said, “we’re
not taking any chances. Eli’s staying with
us—permanently.”

Capshaw smiled. “Whatever you say,
dear.” He walked back over to Eli. “How would you like to live here
from now on, son…yes? Good. I’ll send word to Martha to collect
your things.”

Sophia gave Capshaw a grateful look.
She sat down beside Eli and held him close.

Concordia smiled. “Don’t forget the
cat.”

“
Okay, so we know about the
day of the murder,” Capshaw said to Eli, after he’d finished
eating. “Miss Hamilton says you were arrested the next day. Tell us
about that.”

Eli brushed off the last of the crumbs
and sat up straighter. “After the fancy man got away, I went back
to the station. But I missed the last train. I slept near the
station and got on the first train to come back here in the
morning. I figured, since I couldn’ follow him no more, I’d come
back real quick and tell you, so you could take over. But at the
first stop, the conductor grabbed me. They took me to a policeman,
who locked me up.” Eli shrugged. “I’m not so good at sneakin’ as I
used to be, I guess.”

Capshaw laughed out loud.

Concordia smothered a grin.
Apparently, reforming a child’s criminal behavior had its
disadvantages.

Sophia gave them both a sharp look.
“But you told them to contact us?” she asked.

Eli plucked at the cushion next to
him. “When they said that you gave no answer, I thought you didn’
want me no more.”

Sophia held him close. “Of course we
want you. There must have been some mistake along the
way.”

Miss Hamilton, who had been listening
to Eli’s narrative in silence, looked over at the boy. “You may not
be as poor at concealing yourself as you think.” She glanced back
at Capshaw. “Remember the spotter the conductor told me about?
Perhaps he was neither a spotter nor a disinterested
passenger.”

Capshaw’s eyes lit up with interest.
“Ah, yes, that’s a possibility.”

Eli shrugged. “Well, it don’t matter.
Someone noticed me.”

“
I think Miss Hamilton’s
point is that the man who tipped off the conductor may be the one
you were following,” Capshaw said.

Concordia leaned forward excitedly.
“Do you mean that, when the man noticed Eli was on his trail, he
eluded him long enough to then turn around and follow the boy
himself?”

Miss Hamilton nodded. “Quite clever, I
must say.”

“
And bold,” Capshaw
added.

“
So then, the man in fancy
dress got me put in jail on purpose?” Eli asked. “Why?”

Capshaw tapped his pencil against his
chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps to allow him time to learn more about
you, and whether you were actually a threat to him.”