Jack rode back home, taking his time as he threaded his way through the busy streets. He dropped his horse off at the livery and walked the rest of the way to the office. After he made his way up the steps, he found Ezra was sitting behind the desk waiting for him.
The black man watched as his partner hung up his coat. “How did it go with Faith?” he asked. He held an unlit cigarette in his hand, his face impassive.
“As well as could be expected,” the detective replied. He sat down across from his partner and threw the bundled papers onto the desk. “She denied everything at first, but I eventually got the truth out of her. I know she won’t be giving us any ringing endorsements anytime soon, that’s to be sure.”
Ezra took the bundle of papers and put them in the safe with the rest of the plans. “I never would have guessed that someone like her could setup her own brother and then kill a man. How did you guess that she was so deeply involved with all of this?”
“I wouldn’t have guessed if I hadn’t visited Elizabeth Mulholland that first time. She seemed surprised that we working on behalf of the Hanson family. When I saw her last night, she confirmed that after Davis left her, he began to see Faith. I’m not sure if Faith was ever in love with the scoundrel, but she was willing to use him for her own needs. She wanted to get out of that house and cared for little else.” Jack pulled a bottle out from the desk and poured two drinks. He handed a glass to his partner and continued. “When Abbott was killed, he was obviously entertaining a woman that he knew rather well. Whoever that was, she didn’t wear lip gloss. I saw that the two glasses were both unmarked.”
“So?” Ezra lit his cigarette and picked up his glass from the table.
“Most women in the city don’t wear lip gloss, but most of the ladies that he would see would be quite inclined to add some. Faith was careful enough to maintain her innocent look, so that was one clue to who killed Abbott.”
“How did she know him?” Ezra asked, sipping his whiskey. “He’s not exactly her type of person.”
Jack filled his glass again. “She met him through Davis, of course. She recognized him as a man who knew too much about Davis. When he gave her the papers before leaving Washington, Abbott must have suspected it. Abbott threatened her for a cut of the money. If he didn’t get his share, he was going to turn her in or kill her. Instead she shot him with the very derringer that Davis gave her.”
Jack filled Ezra’s glass and then reached into his pocket a cigarette.
“What was the point of all of this?” Ezra asked. “What did she hope to gain out of Abbott’s murder? She was already well off and would come into a lot of money once her father was gone.”
“That’s a difficult thing to consider, my friend. I think it was part revenge for her brother’s death and part greed. Lawrence was going to come into all of the inheritance, so she was willing to sacrifice him. She was stuck in that house, looking after her father for the past few years. Her youth was fading away and she was the one doing all that hard work nursing her father. She thought she deserved the money, not Lawrence. But I think when Davis dropped her, that was the last straw. She wanted to take the money to escape that house.”
“She must have been really desperate to get out of there,” Ezra said as he stubbed his cigarette out.
“Yes, she was,” Jack replied. “She was desperate enough to put her trust in Davis, who ended up ordering Lawrence’s death. She was desperate enough to kill Abbott in cold blood to protect the stake she had. She was even willing to try to make me fall in love with her.”
Jack poured another drink, his hands only slightly shaking.
“Is that why you let her go?” Ezra questioned Jack.
“I let her go because I’m an old fool.”
Ezra looked sadly at his old friend. “You know, I think you were really in love with her.”
Jack stayed quiet and could not meet his partner’s gaze. He then lit a cigarette. He took a sip before facing his partner again. “I didn’t turn her in. I just couldn’t do it. Her father is a sick man. The shock of Lawrence’s death was already enough for him. To know that her daughter was partly responsible for his son’s death would be too much. It would have killed him.”
“That may be,” Ezra said. “But he deserves to know the truth eventually. He is living with a murderer. Are you sure it’s safe to let her go?”
“I don’t know,” Jack replied. “I’m willing to just forget everything about the Hanson family. I’m tired of them and everything else.”
“What are you going to tell Garrett?”
“I’ll make up some story for him and we can drop the plans off at Forsythe’s tomorrow.”
“What about Faith?” his partner protested. “She may kill someone again, and then what will you do?”
Jack smiled and stubbed his cigarette on the bottom of his boot.
“You know, Ezra, I can’t be held responsible for every woman in Washington. Let’s go get drunk - I’m buying.”