A Charm of Powerful Trouble (A Harry Reese Mystery Book 4) Read online

  Nell and I tried to make conversation along the way, but Carlotta had worked herself into something very closely resembling a lather. I’d known her most of my life and I couldn’t remember ever seeing her angry before. She was always the arch little girl who exasperated everyone else.

  We entered the apartment to the sound of gay laughter. Thibaut was at the table amusing Tibbitts and Ainslie over their breakfast. I thought of intervening, but the look in Carlotta’s eyes stopped me dead in my tracks.

  “Et TU, Thibaut? ET TU?” she asked in a voice that would have pained the old bard a good deal had he been there to hear it.

  Thibaut looked at her dumbly. She picked up the vase of flowers on the hall stand, swung it back behind her—sending the contents over yours truly—and then lofted it with great precision. The target was a good twenty feet away and yet it hit him squarely on the forehead. He seemed to have seen it coming but made no apparent effort to duck from it.

  Whether his inaction was in fact due to cunning or mere inertia is impossible to say, but there’s little doubt that in this case it was the correct course. Abject submission was the order of the day, and the sooner the punishment was executed the less prolonged it was likely to be. The vase ricocheted off his head, bounced off a plate of ham, and then hit his head again as he was collapsing onto the floor. (I don’t see how he could claim authorship of the last bit of choreography, but he had certainly laid the groundwork.) Carlotta rushed over and knelt beside him. As she cradled his bloodied head, she began crying.

  Unfortunately, Thibaut then made a strategic error. He regained consciousness. On realizing this, Carlotta shouted something in their patois, slapped him, and dropped his head back on the floor. Rising, she turned to me.

  “Sorry about the flowers, Harry.”

  “That’s okay, they needed changing anyway.”

  “I’m going to take a bath, if that’s all right.”

  “Oh, yes. Quite all right.”

  While Nell took over ministering to Thibaut, Ainslie hovered about grinning. Tibbitts had spent the episode finishing his breakfast, every now and then looking up and shaking his head.

  “I think we should call a doctor, Harry,” Nell suggested.

  “Ice water is what we need,” Ainslie countered. Then he went into the kitchen to procure some.

  “I need to be heading off,” Tibbitts announced.

  “Homeward bound?”

  “Yeah. Your book’s given me an idea.”

  “Well, I hope you have better luck with the enterprise than I did.”

  Ainslie returned with the ice water and his diagnosis was proven correct. Thibaut regained his senses. He seemed confused by Carlotta’s greeting, and questioned Ainslie about it. While they had a short exchange in French, we set Thibaut on the couch and eventually managed to stop the bleeding, but not before staining a good portion of the table linen.

  Xiang-Mei appeared about then, dressed in a silk robe. It flattered her.

  “Poor Thibaut! Did he fall?”

  “Yes, fell from grace,” Ainslie told her.

  “Look at all the blood. We must soak these right away.”

  She gathered the linen and went into the kitchen. I went and changed and came out just as Carlotta reappeared, carrying a small bag.

  “I’ll send for the rest of my things, Harry.”

  “Where will you go?” I asked.

  “I’ve a few friends left. Did Thibaut pay you for the lawyer?”

  “Ah, no. He seemed short of funds.”

  “Short of funds? What about our week’s pay? We had seventy-five dollars coming. She then questioned Thibaut about it. He gestured toward Ainslie.

  “Why do you have our money?” Carlotta asked him.

  “To invest in the show, of course! I’ve got it all planned. Why don’t you sit down and I’ll explain everything.”

  Not surprisingly, Carlotta chose not to hear the plan, storming out of the apartment and slamming the door behind her. Thibaut was looking even more bewildered.

  “Well, no time for sitting around here,” Ainslie announced. “We have a show to do. Say, Harry, why don’t you come and see it? What with Emmie away, I can introduce you to the Dainty Paree Burlesquers.”

  I took a pass and went into the kitchen to see about lunch.

  A fellow I deduced to be Lou Ling was there. He looked to be about eighteen, a good decade younger than Xiang-Mei. He hopped up when I entered. Then, when Xiang-Mei reassured him, he sat back down. He nodded at me agreeably and I said hello, but it was obvious he didn’t know a word of English. He was eating steamed dumplings and Xiang-Mei insisted I sit down and have some, too. These were filled with spiced ground pork and various vegetables, and served with a sweetened vinegar.

  “Very busy time for Lou Ling,” she told me.

  “Cricket season, you mean?”

  “Yes, and now moon festival. Many people want crickets.”

  She said something to him in Chinese and he looked doubtful.

  She seemed to admonish him and he looked appropriately abashed.

  “I told him, he must show you how he catches lady crickets. But he’s afraid you’ll take his secret.”

  “You can assure him, my cricket-hunting days are over.”

  He led us into the little room they shared. There were dozens of gourd cages, each holding a light green cricket. There was a chirp now and then, but they were pretty quiet. I remarked on the fact, and Xiang-Mei smiled. She walked out of the room and came back with another gourd cage.

  “Listen!”

  She slowly brought the new gourd from cage to cage, placing the gridded openings together for a few seconds. Soon every cricket was chirping.

  She held up the special gourd. “Very beautiful lady cricket!”

  She handed the lady cricket to Lou. He put her in a sort of bird cage. Then he picked the male who seemed to be chirping the loudest and put him in with her. It took about fifteen seconds for them to get down to business.

  “Well, at least no money’s changed hands,” I said to Xiang-Mei. She laughed, then translated for Lou. He smiled but held up a finger, signaling me to wait.

  He shifted the female off the male’s back without interrupting the business end of things. Then he took a toothpick and picked at something about the middle of the male’s back, just between his wings. He held it up for me to see. It was a little white blob, like a bit of wax. Then he held it an inch in front of the female’s head. She immediately disengaged from the male and seized the present.

  “Love potion!” Xiang-Mei exclaimed. “Better than money.”

  She then explained the gist of Lou’s business. Lots of Chinamen collected crickets in the fall. And the green tree crickets, being the rarer, were the most valuable. But to keep them chirping, you needed to have a female about. Otherwise, they got lethargic. So the silent females could fetch more than the males. The problem was to find them: how do you locate a cricket that doesn’t chirp? It was Lou’s novel idea to use the love potion the male provides to maintain the female’s interest while he has his way with her.

  By evening, Lou had prepared several glass vials, each holding a toothpick carrying a dab of love potion. We had another round of steamed dumplings for dinner and afterward he headed out the door.

  Regrettably, Tibbitts came in just as Lou was leaving. They stared at each other, then Lou rushed out.

  “Who’s that?”

  “That’s the fellow who shot Ernie Joy.”

  “What was he doing here?”

  “He’s been staying in our maid’s room. Did I neglect to mention it?”

  “Yeah, must have slipped your mind. I suppose I should have a talk with him.”

  “You won’t learn anything. He’s just a farmer trying to earn some extra money.”

  Tibbitts stared at the door for a few seconds, then set down his valise and took a seat.

  “I guess things didn’t go well at home?”

  “No. She gave me an ultimatum.”
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br />   “I can easily imagine Elizabeth issuing edicts.”

  “But I was ready for her. I gave her my own ultimatum.”

  “Since you’re here, I assume she didn’t fold her tent.”

  “No, she sails for Europe Wednesday morning.”

  “That was her ultimatum? Sail to Europe with her?”

  “Yeah. She even bought the ticket.”

  You might be finding it difficult to imagine anyone forgoing a free trip to Europe with a stunningly attractive blonde. If so, you haven’t met Elizabeth.

  “What was your ultimatum?”

  “I took a job in Utica. Working in the district attorney’s office.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Same sort of thing. But I’ll be the chief detective.”

  “Odds are, you’ll be the only detective. I’m from Utica, you know.”

  “Yeah? What’s it like living there?”

  “There are worse places.”

  “Not much of a recommendation.”

  “Well, you’ll be a celebrity. A real New York detective.”

  “‘Big fish in a little pond,’ Elizabeth says.”

  “She wasn’t keen on making the move?”

  “No, but she’ll come around.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  He took Shakespeare’s play from his pocket and waved it.

  “Good luck.”

  I heard Xiang-Mei making noises behind me. She motioned me into the kitchen.

  “How much will policeman take?”

  “How much what?”

  “Money, to leave Lou alone.”

  “Well, he hasn’t mentioned it. He’s got other things on his mind. I think he’s already forgotten about Lou. But just how much do you have?”

  “Enough.”

  “I don’t suppose you could lend me some to bail out Emmie?”

  “Oh, yes. Very glad to.”

  She took me back to the maid’s room again. All the boys were resting. She indicated I should turn around and a little later tapped me on the shoulder. She’d produced a little nest egg in yellow-backs. She counted out five twenties, but there were plenty left over.

  “More?”

  “Five more, I’m afraid, and maybe a couple extra for expenses.”

  She counted out seven more and then took out a little abacus.

  “If you pay back tomorrow, no charge! Next week, just two dollars fifty cents extra. The week after that five extra dollars. Do you understand, Mr. Reese?”

  I nodded. One doesn’t need an abacus to calculate usury.

  20

  The next morning I found Tibbitts at the table finishing a cup of coffee.

  “Thanks for the accommodations,” he said. “I’ll be staying at our place tonight. I think I have my strategy all worked out now.”

  “Strategy?”

  He winked and waved Shakespeare’s book at me again.

  “Five will get you ten you’re back here on the couch tonight.”

  He smiled, then picked up his bag and headed toward the door. Ainslie was once again sleeping on the three chairs. As he passed, Tibbitts kicked out the middle one and shot quietly out of the apartment. Ainslie woke spewing epithets and looking in my direction.

  “Why the hell do you keep doing that?”

  “Habit, I guess.”

  I finished my coffee and headed off to New Jersey. I’d decided whatever good would come from leaving Emmie in stir now had to be weighed against the interest our resident loan shark was charging.

  As I approached the car stop, I found Jimmy Yuan walking beside me.

  “Following me, Jimmy? Where are your friends?”

  “They are about, Harry. They’ve asked me to give you a message. They know you sent your wife away. She’s being followed right now. You must turn over the girls, Harry. There’s no way to beat these fellows. They’re utterly ruthless.”

  “You’re sounding like King Brady, Jimmy.”

  He smiled. “I suppose I am. Well, let’s say they are very determined.”

  “Is the offer of five hundred still good?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “What if I can include Xiang-Mei?”

  He looked over his shoulder. “If you can do that, I imagine the price would go much higher. Do you really know where she is?”

  “I might be able to locate her.”

  “Be very careful with her, Harry.”

  “Valuable cargo, or just dangerous?”

  “Both. I suggest you make arrangements to hand over the girls very soon. Good-bye, Harry.”

  I found it hard to believe they knew where Emmie was, but just to be sure I didn’t make it any easier for them, I took a car across to the Hamilton Avenue ferry terminal, then a boat to lower Manhattan, and then one from there to the depot in Jersey.

  I had a new dilemma, and a novel one. If I paid Emmie’s bail, I’d likely worry over her being abducted by a ruthless tong. But was the solution to leave her in the cooler, or just acclimate myself to yet another Emmie-inspired anxiety? By the time I’d posed the question, I felt acclimated enough.

  The police clerk took my $200 and a little while later brought out Emmie.

  “I’m afraid I don’t have enough to bail out Mme. Salami, Emmie.”

  “Mme. Sahlumie was released yesterday.”

  “I hope the last twenty-four hours weren’t tedious without her.”

  “Oh, not tedious, certainly. Lizzie the Dipper joined me yesterday.”

  “Lizzie the Dipper?”

  “She’s the finest gonif in Jersey, matron says.”

  “Gonif?”

  “You know, a fingersmith. Oh, and that reminds me. I need ten dollars.”

  “Funds are rather limited, Emmie. Don’t you have any?”

  “I contributed it all toward Molly’s release Saturday. The bulls picked her up on her wedding day, so we paid her fine as a sort of wedding present.”

  “Very sisterly. What do you need ten dollars for just now?”

  “To tip matron, of course.”

  “Is it customary to tip one’s jailer?”

  “It is if you expect her to remember you next time.”

  “Are you planning future stays here, Emmie?”

  “One must be prepared for eventualities, Harry.”

  I gave her the ten dollars and she discreetly slipped it to the matron who’d been waiting off to the side. Then they exchanged a friendly little hug.

  Emmie wasn’t looking too bad, a little bedraggled maybe. But she had acquired a distinctive perfume. It was reminiscent of the one worn by waiter girls in Bowery concert saloons. A combination of perspiration and the cheap cologne used in lieu of bathing.

  “I guess you’re anxious to get home to a bath?” I said as tactfully as possible.

  “I am, yes. But there’s no reason to leave town with the job undone.”

  “Which job is that?”

  “I’m certain Mrs. Twinem has the manuscript she alleges was stolen. If we can find it, it will prove her story is false.”

  “How can you be certain she has it? Maybe she tossed it into the river on the way to her mother’s.”

  “If she disposed of it, no matter how carefully, there would always be the chance she’d be observed. No, the safest course would have been to hide it in her luggage and just carry it away.”

  “How do you expect to search her things?”

  “It will be quite easy. You’ll go up to the house and distract her. Then I’ll sneak in the rear and up the back stairs.”

  “How can you be sure there are back stairs?”

  “It’s a large house, so it stands to reason.”

  “Then aren’t there servants?”

  “Yes, but I’m perfectly capable of evading them. Besides, when you mention how much money is at stake, they’ll be eavesdropping.”

  “What money?”

  “You’ve come as a representative of the Amalgamated Insurance Company of Oshkosh.”

  “Oshkosh?”r />
  “Yes, definitely Oshkosh. It strikes just the right note. And it’s in New Jersey.”

  “Wisconsin. How about Paterson?”

  “Too pedestrian.”

  “All right. Oshkosh. I assume I’ve come to tell her Twinem left a huge legacy. Say, $25,000.”

  “I was thinking even more. Mrs. Twinem comes from a very wealthy family—the Jacobsons own the first-aid trust.”

  “I didn’t know there was a first-aid trust.”

  “Oh, yes. They’ve cornered the market on bandages.”

  “Well, nevertheless, a college professor isn’t worth more than $25,000, Emmie. On this point, I stand firm. I won’t be a party to making a mockery of the insurance industry.”

  “Oh, all right. $25,000. I suppose that will be enough to get the attention of the servants. But remember to stretch the thing out. I need to determine what room she’s in and then find the manuscript. When I’m done, I’ll go around to the front of the house and ring the bell. Then you bid her farewell and off we go. It’s so simple it can’t possibly go wrong.”

  So she said. But her insistence on tipping the matron led me to believe she wasn’t as confident as she let on.

  “I don’t even have a notebook with me, Emmie.”

  “Here, you can use mine. But only as a prop, Harry. You must promise not to read it.”

  “Fear not, Emmie. I’ll respect your privacy just as you would mine.”

  She replied with a weak smile, then led me to a house just a few blocks from the depot. While she went around to the rear, I rang the bell. A girl answered and I asked for Mrs. Twinem.

  “She doesn’t want to be disturbed just now.”

  “Well, I’ve come a long way. All the way from Oshkosh.”

  “Oshkosh?”

  “Wisconsin. It involves a rather large sum of money. It’s about the policy her husband had on his life.”

  “And your name?”

  “Reese. Harry Reese. I seem to have left my calling cards at the hotel.”

  When she went off I perused Emmie’s notes. I happened to have found the place where she’d recorded Molly’s lurid autobiography. I can only hope her betrothed knew what he was taking on. The girl returned—regrettably interrupting Molly’s confession of her encounter with Father Dougherty in the vestry of St. Matthew’s—and led me into the parlor. A minute later, a severe-looking woman of about thirty-five came in. She wasn’t decisively unattractive. In fact, if you recorded her individual points—figure, facial features, dress, etc.—she’d score as reasonably good-looking. But she had a demeanor that could freeze water.