Deadly Proof: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery (39 page)

Nate thought to himself that a year spent helping Annie investigate a series of crimes had ruined any illusions he might have had about the ability to spot who was capable of what actions. But he said, “One group of individuals who weren’t charmed by him is the businessmen he ruined.”

Mrs. Sullivan replied, her voice registering her sadness, “I kept telling Joshua that he would reap what he sowed. He couldn’t expect to engage in such sharp business practices and not have it come back to haunt him. But I never expected it to lead to his death.”

Annie leaned over and said, “I know this is difficult for you. But you do see that it is possible Rashers might have had a meeting that Friday with a businessman who had a grievance during pick the time when the shop would be empty. The discussion could have gotten out of hand. In that case, the attack on Rashers wouldn’t have to have been premeditated. Then, if Orrie Childers saw that individual either enter or leave the premises...it wouldn’t be hard for her to track the man down and blackmail him.”

Nate added, “After a time, the man might feel he couldn’t keep paying her. Perhaps he agreed to meet her at the shop Saturday night, planning on killing her. My law partner, Cranston, says that often people who kill once, even accidentally, find it easier to make the decision to kill again.”

Annie nodded her agreement. “Seems to me the Orrie’s murder was definitely be premeditated since whoever the person was, he used the note, purportedly from Orrie, to frame Seth Timmons of her death. Didn’t the note say to come at eleven...but the night porter said she arrived at ten? What if the murderer changed the time on the note (or forged the whole thing) to get Seth to come after he knew Orrie would be dead? We need to get a look at the note to see if it looks like the ten was changed to an eleven.”

Nate took out his notebook from the folder of trial material he’d brought with him and made a notation then said, “He would probably hope that if Timmons was the one to find the body—he would be blamed for the murder—just the way you were blamed for Rashers’ death. Thank goodness Mr. Timmons didn’t see the note and he had an alibi for the time period of her murder.”

Nate could start to see how he could weave the similarities in the two murders into his opening statement.

Then Annie interrupted his thoughts, saying, “But wait, how could some business rival put the note in Seth Timmons’ jacket pocket earlier in the day? Or even know that Seth would be a good person to frame because Orrie had been flirting with him? Seems to me this just proves that the murderer is someone who works at Rashers—or is a confederate of someone from Rashers.”

The three of them sat silently for a moment, thinking. Then Annie said, “You know, if it wasn’t Orrie who died, I would think that she would be the perfect murderer. From all accounts, she had that kind of ruthlessly practical way of looking at the world. If Rashers stepped over the line with her or failed to live up to a promise, I can just see her taking up a bodkin and stabbing him to death. Then quite cheerfully letting you, Mrs. Sullivan, take the blame.”

Mrs. Sullivan actually chuckled, which shocked Nate.

He kept being surprised by how brutally honest women could be about life. For some reason, before he met Annie, he thought that most women were like his sister-in-law, Violet, who would faint dead away if you even mentioned murder—much less laugh at the idea that another woman might frame you for the act.

Mrs. Sullivan said, “Yes, poor girl. She didn’t have any morals. I remember trying to talk to her about this—and she said she didn’t see the point. But I can certainly picture her slipping back into the shop to see Joshua when Mr. Timmons and Dunk went out to dinner and discovering he was already talking to someone.”

“She could have hidden in the supply room until they were gone,” said Annie. “Then she could have gone into the office and seen Rashers dead or dying on the floor. She would have run away and later decided to blackmail the person she’d seen leave. Oh, Mrs. Sullivan, I’m sorry.”

Nate saw that his client had begun to tear up.

Annie put out her hand towards her, saying, “That was terribly insensitive of me. Seeing Mr. Rashers like that must have been terrible for you.”

Mrs. Sullivan straightened up. She said, “That’s quite all right, Mrs. Fuller. You know, at the time, all I could think of was my husband. While it is very possible Joshua’s own actions brought on his demise...no man deserved to die in that fashion. Let us continue to figure out who might have done this reprehensible thing.”

Nate wanted to remind her that they needed to do so to make sure she didn’t end up in prison for life...but he realized that, for this woman, finding Rashers’ murderer was a moral duty—not a self-serving one.

“One of the persons we do need to consider is Joshua Rashers’ wife,” replied Annie. “If Mrs. Rashers could blame Florence so readily, I do think we should consider the possibility that she did the deed and consciously put the blame on the woman she saw as her rival.”

“I don’t have any particular affection for Catherine Rashers,” said Mrs. Sullivan. “But wouldn’t the police have already checked to see if she had the opportunity? She very seldom came to the office. Why would she have come that night?”

Nate said, “Actually, Mrs. Fuller has found out that no one saw her at her home during the crucial times. And it is possible she came to make sure that her husband was going to go through with her demand that he fire you.”

“Fire me? Oh, if he’d only been willing to do that!”

Annie said, “But you see, Mrs. Sullivan, I think she did feel threatened by you. Not just because she knew about the earlier affair, but because her husband kept her in the dark about his business decisions. I suspect that his dependence on you to help him run the shop was a large part of her jealousy. And if she was worried that he was taking up with you again...this might have made her angry enough to kill him.”

Nate added, “If Miss Childers saw her leave the shop...she would also be an excellent target for blackmail. She could probably get her hands on three hundred dollars easily enough.”

“But would Mrs. Rashers have the strength to kill Orrie?” exclaimed Mrs. Sullivan. “Didn’t you say the girl was strangled?”

Annie said, “Yes she was. And you are correct, it might be hard to get a male jury to believe Mrs. Rashers could knock her out with a wrench or strangle her to death. But this is where I think we really need to consider if two people were involved. Mrs. Rashers and someone else. A man. And I have just the possible suspect.”

She went on to tell them about her meeting with Catherine Rashers that morning and the startling announcement that the younger Mr. Neppier was going into partnership with the widow.

“Oh my,” said Mrs. Sullivan. “I don’t know why I am so surprised. We already knew that Joshua was targeting the Neppier firm. And Mrs. Rashers said that Joshua’s plan had always been to form a new partnership?”

“Yes. And what I thought was—what if she found out about her husband’s plans before, not after, he died. And what if she approached Jack Neppier...maybe innocently at first...but then perhaps a relationship developed. I gather he is a very handsome young man. And from what Mrs. Richmond confided to me about Mrs. Rashers, she often felt neglected by Joshua.”

Nate leaned forward and said with excitement, “And what if Jack Neppier decided that killing her husband would get him both the lovely widow and the business in one fell swoop? They would certainly not be the first lovers who conspired to do away with a husband.”

“If Orrie was blackmailing them, it would be easy for them to conspire to get her to the shop Saturday evening. Mrs. Rashers could have put the note in Seth’s coat—she is certainly sharp enough to have noticed the way Miss Childers was playing up to Seth,” said Annie.

“That would be so wicked,” said Mrs. Sullivan. “Poor Mr. Timmons. You did say that he’d been cleared?”

Nate said, “Yes, although when I talked to Chief Jackson this afternoon, he said that District Attorney Dart was not giving up on the idea that somehow Mr. Timmons was in on the initial murder with you. And that he has suborned my sister and her maid into giving him a false alibi.”

“Whatever would Mr. Timmons’ motive be?” said Mrs. Sullivan.

“That doesn’t seem to worry him,” said Nate. “But I think it would be very difficult to get him even to consider that the victim’s wife or a prominent businessman like Jack Neppier would be involved.”

“I hate to sound heartless,” said Annie. “But is there anyone else with a possible motive that Dart, or at least Jackson, would consider?”

“Besides my husband,” Florence said flatly.

Nate looked over at her and said, “You don’t have to worry about that. I don’t think even Dart would be willing to go up against George K. Fitch, one of the owners of the
Morning Call.
Evidently there were some last minute changes to the Sunday edition your husband was working on, and Fitch told Chief Jackson that he was up on the print floor, in sight of your husband, all of Saturday night.”

Mrs. Sullivan visibly relaxed, her smile breaking forth. “Thank you, Mr. Dawson. I didn’t dare ask Alan about that...after having already nearly broken his heart by confessing I thought he’d killed Joshua.”

“If we can’t depend on the police taking a prominent businessman or Mrs. Rashers seriously as the murderer, then who does this leave us with?” asked Nate, suddenly feeling very tired and discouraged.

Annie reached out to take his hand and squeeze it. She said, “We mustn’t give up. I do have another possibility for the murderer—of both Joshua Rashers and Orrie Childers.”

“Who?” Nate asked.

Annie looked at Mrs. Sullivan and then back to him and said, “Couldn’t it be Franklin Griggs?”

*****

“
Franklin Griggs?” Nate and Florence Sullivan cried in unison.

Annie almost laughed at their identically shocked looks. “Yes, Franklin Griggs. Nate, do you remember me telling you that Laura said Seth was concerned about how the relationship between Orrie Childers and Griggs changed after Rashers’ murder?”

He looked puzzled and said, “Yes, but what of it? With Rashers gone, Griggs would be the one who would probably determine if she got to replace Mrs. Sullivan and get a higher salary.”

Mrs. Sullivan shook her head and said, “Poor misguided girl. There is no way that she would be able to handle my job as compositor, much less as lead typesetter. Franklin Griggs knew that, and whoever stepped in to run the company would discover it quickly enough. Even Joshua, who certainly did appreciate the attention she gave him, wouldn’t have promoted her.”

Annie said, “But Mr. Griggs did seem to be favoring Miss Childers. The days I worked there, she was seldom at her case working, but he never reprimanded her. And Seth told Laura that several times he had to reprint material because she’d done such a bad job in setting her type and had tried to proof her own galleys.”

“All that proves is that Griggs was as susceptible to flattery by a pretty girl as anyone,” replied Nate.

“Yes, but what Seth said worried him the most was the fact Orrie suddenly stopped trying to flatter the foreman. He told Laura that Miss Childs was acting like she didn’t have to worry about his good opinion anymore.”

Nate looked sharply at her and said, “You think this was because she started blackmailing him?”

Annie remembered how good it was to work with a man who appreciated her intelligence, replying, “Yes, that was what I was thinking. He certainly would have the strength to strangle her and the opportunity to frame Seth.”

“But why would he have killed Joshua?” asked Mrs. Sullivan, who was clearly distressed by this idea. “Franklin Griggs loved Joshua. He worked with him for nearly twenty-five years.”

Annie said, “I have been thinking about this off and on since this morning when I saw what good spirits Griggs was in. I thought at the time it was because he’d gotten the news that Mrs. Rashers wasn’t selling the company, but what if it was relief that his blackmailer was dead?”

Nate said, “I still don’t see how that relates to Rashers’ death?”

Annie replied, “Didn’t Mr. Griggs tell you that he knew ahead of time that Mr. Rashers was planning on the trip with his wife back east?”

“Yes, and he directly contradicted Mrs. Rashers’ claim that her husband had agreed to fire Mrs. Sullivan that night. He said that Rashers had told him weeks earlier about the trip and that he was going to promote her to forewoman since he, Griggs, would be so busy managing the company while Rashers was out of town.”

“Oh, dear deluded man,” said Mrs. Sullivan. “Joshua would never have left Franklin in charge. Joshua valued him for his unquestioned loyalty, not his skills as a compositor or a manager.”

Annie nodded. “Just what I thought. And now, according to Mrs. Rashers, her husband’s plan all along was to bring Jack Neppier in as a partner—in part to run the business so he could spend more time with his family—or other pursuits.”

“Now I see,” said Nate. “First, let’s say Griggs is lying and he didn’t learn of the planned trip until that Friday night. Second, when he does hear about the trip, he thinks this is going to be his chance to move up in the company. Third, when he goes to talk to Rashers about this, he learns that not only is he not getting promoted, but some young man is going to be running the business.”

“He would be devastated,” said Mrs. Sullivan. “He was always talking about Joshua making him a junior partner some day. But kill Joshua?”

Annie thought it interesting that she’d thought her husband capable of this act—but not Franklin Griggs. Was it because she believed her husband was a stronger or weaker person than the foreman? But she took Mrs. Sullivan’s reaction seriously, saying, “I think the question is, was he devastated enough to lash out in anger? What kind of temper does Griggs have? And if he killed once, and Orrie Childers was pushing him to the wall with her blackmail, could he do it again?”

“He is generally very genial, although I know that as of late the aches and pains of age—his joints hurt when he’s had to do a fair amount of setting type—have made him more irritable. And I’ve been worried that he’s become too dependent on alcohol to ease his pain—making him more volatile than usual.”