thirty-six

After I arrived home, I asked Faith and Frederick to sit at the table with me as I ate a bit of bread and cheese to tide me over. I wanted to fill them in on the day’s events, at least some of them. And I’d never been so happy to be in a warm, clean, simple home with people who spoke truth and loved me.

Bertie rapped on the back door as I began my tale, pressing her face against the glass and waving. I opened the door and invited her in.

“I had a notion you were in trouble, Rosetta. Had to come and make sure you were all right.” She took a seat at the table, too.

Frederick narrowed his eyes at the sight of Bertie. I knew he didn’t care for her and hoped he would act in a civil fashion. I couldn’t tolerate one more moment of tension in this day.

“I was in a bit of trouble, as it happens.” I stared at a morsel of bread on the plate and stroked the grain of the long table, its smooth, worn lines a comfort under my fingers. How much of my grueling terrifying afternoon should I share with them?

Frederick’s eyebrows went up, but he waited in silence.

The twins wandered in. “Who’s in trouble?” Matthew asked.

“When’s supper?” Mark chimed in.

“I’m hungry,” Matthew added.

“No one is in trouble, and thee is always hungry,” Frederick said in a sharp tone. “Take a couple of apples and run along, both of you.”

“But we saw the police wagon bring Rose and her bicycle.”

“Kevin simply gave me a ride home, boys.” I waited until the boys had left the room with their fruit before I continued. I told my companions of my conversation with Della that morning, and how I’d left a note for Kevin laying out my suspicions.

“So Alexander Locke killed Minnie O’Toole,” Frederick said.

“It appears so. On Lillian’s orders.”

“That young man has been on an unhealthy path for some years. This news does not surprise me.” Frederick tented his hands on the table.

“Oh, and earlier in the day I had told Kevin about Nell’s ill health, and her talk of the Devil. Well, it turns out the Devil was Jotham O’Toole all along. Nell told Kevin how Jotham pressured her to kill Thomas. It was she who stole my knitting needle.”

“Does thee mean Nell killed Thomas?” Frederick asked.

“No. She was out that night, but in the end she refused, and Jotham did the deed. Except I didn’t know about it when he came to fetch me.”

“Why did he come for you?” Bertie asked.

I shook my head. “He said he wanted me to help him sort through little Billy’s baby things. I shouldn’t have agreed, but I did. And once we got to Minnie’s flat, he locked the door, stuck a gun in my back, and led me in to where he had Lillian Parry tied up and gagged on the bed.”

Faith gasped.

I patted her hand. “She was in labor with her baby. Many weeks before it should have been born, too.” I went on to tell them about the rest of the afternoon. Untying Lillian. Helping her birth her baby. The infant’s weakness and then death.

“Heavens, Rose. How ever did you master Jotham?” Bertie sat forward with bright eyes.

“He was so overwhelmed by a woman giving birth in the room that he left his gun on the bureau when he went to fetch a few things for me.” I laughed, but it was without humor. “After the baby was born and in Lillian’s arms, I took the revolver and ordered Jotham to stay seated on the floor. I also made sure Lillian stayed put.”

Faith’s face shone in admiration. “Thee is so brave.”

“I only did what I had to. What anyone would have done.”

“Would thee have shot either of them?” Frederick’s face was somber.

“I prayed I wouldn’t have to. And then, when I was obliged to shoot at Jotham to prevent him from leaving, I prayed for guidance to be able to wound without killing. With God’s help I succeeded in barely scraping his leg.”

He nodded. “Tell us how thee escaped these killers.”

“That was, finally, not of my doing at all. Minnie’s neighbor, Therese Stevens, saw Jotham bring first Lillian and then me into the house. She was suspicious and eventually fetched Kevin Donovan. He blessedly brought other officers to back him up.” I laughed, this time truly amused. “He thought it was rather entertaining to find me training a gun on two murderers.”

“I wonder how Jotham convinced Lillian to come along with him.” Bertie cocked her head.

“I don’t know. A gun in the back can be pretty persuasive, though.” I shivered remembering that feeling. “He must have abducted her when she was out shopping.”

“But then who set the carriage fire?” Faith asked.

“Surely not Ephraim,” Bertie said.

“Jotham told me himself he set the fire and that he faked a limp going to and from the factory. I think he also meant Stephen Hamilton to be accused of the arson, because he’d been offering Stephen matches.”

“Which he used on the Meetinghouse instead.” Frederick tapped the table. “This Jotham O’Toole harbored a great hatred for the Parrys, it seems.”

“He was angry beyond reason with William for getting his little sister with child,” I said. “But Minnie seemed happy with the arrangement. I don’t believe Billy is the result of William forcing himself on her.”

“Billy is now William’s only child,” Bertie said. “I’ll wager he adopts him and dotes on him.”

“And Patience will be left without a child again,” I said with some sadness. I pulled my pocket watch out. “Gracious sakes alive. David will be here in forty-five minutes!”