Free Victorian San Francisco Stories by M. Louisa Locke

Francisco Police Department, made a gruesome discovery this morning on Ellis Street. He had been asked by a concerned neighbor to discover the whereabouts of a small dog that was missing in suspicious circumstances. The sergeant sta ted, "I hated to think that a wee small dog might have been harmed, so I agreed to investigate the complaint. This wasn’t the first time I’ve used MacKenzie, my bloodhound, to search for missing animals."
    The Sergeant went on to recount how when he arrived at the residence in question the bloodhound immediately pulled him through a gate to a brick walkway at the side of the house and sat down and began to bay. "That's his signal that he has found something," the Sergeant said. The owner, a Mr. Oscar Francis, when asked if the police could dig up the bricks where the dog was sitting, became very abusive, and Police Officers Patrick McGee and Harold Armistad had to restrain him.
    What the police officers discovered when they removed the bricks and a layer of sand was not only the decomposing body of a small black dog but also the body of a woman, who had apparently been killed by a blow to the head. Mr. Oscar Francis has been arraigned on the charge of murder, and the dead woman has been identified as his wife, Mrs. Linda Francis, late of Des Moines, Iowa.
    Barbara put the paper down. Pulling out her handkerchief, she began to wipe away tears.
    Mrs. Fuller handed her a cup of tea and said, "Jamie has already heard about the murder. The neighborhood boys were talking about it on the way home from school. But Kathleen is such a sharp young woman, as soon as he burst into the kitchen with the news, she started talking about what a smart dog Dandy was to have detected that there was something wrong. Jamie was quite taken with the idea that his dog had saved the day, and, since he never actually met Mrs. Francis or Gordie, I think he won't really be too upset by it all. I do hope you feel we have handled it correctly. He is such a special boy, and we do love him so."
    Before Barbara could respond, Mrs. Fuller continued, saying quietly, "This is what you feared all along, wasn't it, Mrs. Hewitt? You did a good thing to bring your concerns to the p olice. Patrick told Kathleen, as far as they could determine, she didn’t have any family or particular friends in town that might have sounded the alarm. He could have gotten away with it.”
    Barbara sat with her own thoughts for a moment, and then she said, “Do tell Kathleen how clever I think she is. I can just imagine how thrilled Jamie is to think that Dandy's a hero. Small boys can really be quite heartless, can't they? I can't help but wish there was something that could have been done for Mrs. Francis." Sighing, she thought to herself, I remember how terrifying it felt. No one to turn to; no one who would understand.
    Taking a deep breath, Barbara looked into the perceptive but kind brown eyes of the woman across from her and said, "Mrs. Fuller, I wondered if you thought anyone would mind if I occ asionally accompanied Jamie when he visits the kitchen in the evening? I think, perhaps, I could use the company.”
     
    The End

    The Misses Moffet Mend a Marriage
     
     
    Millie felt a warm glow of pleasure as her older sister, Minnie, sailed up to the front desk at the Palace, San Francisco’s newest and grandest hotel, and announced, “Miss Minerva and Miss Millicent Moffet, for their appointment with Mrs. Andrew Roberts.”
    The desk clerk snapped his fingers at one of the bellmen, who came running over. He bowed and took the large brown-paper parcel from Minnie and her own carpetbag of sewing m aterials before leading the way to the nearest elevator. This device, the only one that Millie had ever ridden in, was an imposing wood-paneled room that miraculously ascended up to the fifth floor, with just the slightest hiss and jerk when they reached their destination. Even though they had been coming to work for Mrs. Roberts for nearly a year,