Free No Comfort for the Lost by Nancy Herriman Page A

when Tom had been drinking he could get mighty ornery. He’d promised to stop with the liquor, promised Li Sha because of the baby, but there’d been some sorta worriment at his work and he was upset and took to the whiskey.”
    “When did this fight occur?”
    “A week ago it was. On Friday. Li Sha came from work at the Langes’, and Tom started shouting. Hit her hard. Said he didn’t believe anymore the baby was his,” Dora continued, her words tumbling one over the other in her haste, now that she had decided to speak. “But of course it was his baby. Don’t know what made him think it wasn’t. Li Sha was true to that ornery cuss. Sorry, ma’am.”
    “I know he has a temper, Dora.” It was the reason she avoided Tom, although Celia had attempted to be cordial to please her husband. “I merely hadn’t realized he could be violent.”
    “He said some other things, ma’am, mean stuff. Threatened her. She was mighty beat up when she showed up at my door with nothing more than a raggedy carpetbag,” Dora explained. “I still have her carpetbag at my room. Do you think the police will want it?”
    “They might, Dora. I’ll ask.”
    Dora nodded. “Well, as I said, she came to my place and was hopping mad. Said she was done with Tom. Wouldn’t ever go back to a man like him. And earlier that night, the night she died, she told me she was gonna get some money. Gonna cut stick and head someplace better to raise her baby.”
    “I wonder who she thought would give her money.” It was important to find that person, who was either the last to see her or the one responsible for the crime. “She didn’t mention a name?”
    “No. I wish I’da asked, but I was in a hurry that night. Me and a friend were going to Maguire’s Opera House to celebrate her birthday, you see. Alice Kingsbury was performing in
Fanchon, the Cricket
. We sat in the gallery and it was lovely.” Her eyes shone. A visit to the opera house would be quite a treat for a seamstress, the daughter of German immigrants, who lived in a tiny room in a lodging house. “I didn’t get home ’til late. I thought Li Sha would be there, but she wasn’t. She never came back.”
    “Did she ever talk about the people she worked for at the apothecary shop?” Celia asked.
    “Talk about what?”
    “Did she ever say they were unkind to her?”
    Dora scrunched up her nose and looked uncomfortable. “Um . . .”
    “You can tell me, Dora.”
    “It was that daughter of Li Sha’s boss. She didn’t much like Li Sha. Because of Tom, you know,” said Dora. “You did know, didn’t you? I think he used to be with that woman, if you know what I mean, before he settled on Li Sha.”
    “I was aware Tom and Tessie Lange were friends—”
    “It was more than friends, ma’am.”
    “They were lovers?”
    Dora blushed. “Well . . .”
    “I wonder what else I do not know about my brother-in-law.” Dora’s information suggested Tessie had been jealous of Li Sha, the woman who had supplanted her in Tom’s affection.
And jealousy is a powerful—and sometimes violent—emotion.
    “Thank you for helping, Dora.” Celia nodded toward the young woman’s net purse. “Sip the infusion twice a day. I want to see you in three days, even if you’re feeling better. If you are worse, come sooner.”
    Dora thanked her, and Celia showed her out. Next door, Barbara was entertaining Angelo with an old battered top that skipped over the Cascarinos’ uneven walkway. The boy laughed at her antics. Barbara looked calmer and happier than she had all day.
    Celia returned to the examination room and folded the thin blanket that covered the bench. While she tidied the space, she considered how Li Sha must have felt while working at the shop of a woman who didn’t like her. Or worse, might have hated her. She must have been miserable. And who could Li Sha have asked for money? The list of possible people was not long, although there could be friends Celia was unaware of.