Free Unseemly Ambition by K.B. Owen Page B

never
knew.
    There is another reason
why I’ve changed my mind about taking the boy. Certain unscrupulous
people with whom I’ve had dealings are tracking my movements. I may
expose Eli to danger if he accompanies me. I’ve already had one
near miss, in an alley near the settlement house. If a good
stranger had not come along, I would have been attacked. Thank
heaven I wasn’t followed to my lodging.
    But before I leave for
good, I am resolved to spend a bit more time with the child. I
think he is coming to like me, but when I tell him goodbye, I know
he’ll be relieved to stay. I hope it won’t be too much of a risk to
remain for one more day, so we can spend it together. They haven’t
found me yet.
    If you could do something
for me: when you judge the boy old enough, please tell him my
story. Perhaps he won’t look upon his mother too unkindly. I have
enclosed a photograph of myself that I hope he would like to keep
someday.
    Please assure Eli’s new
parents that I will not trouble them in the future.
    Regards,
    Florence Tooey
    P.S.— If something should
happen to me, ask Eli to show you the gift I gave him.
—F.T.
     
    Concordia sat back in her chair, took
off her spectacles, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Obviously
“one more day” had been too long, and the men from the alley had
caught up with her. But what had happened to Eli? Had he been with
her when she was killed? Concordia shuddered.
    What had Florence been involved in,
that she had made enemies such as these?
    She glanced again at the
postscript. Ask Eli to show you the gift I
gave him. However, both Eli and the gift—no
doubt the pocket watch Florence had given him at the settlement
house—were gone.
    Capshaw needed to see this. It could
be the break in the case he needed. Besides, if Concordia were
honest with herself, she hoped to learn what progress Capshaw had
made.
    But it was nearly dinnertime. She
would be expected to accompany the students in her charge to the
dining hall and eat at the faculty table. Surely the lady principal
would understand if she didn’t attend this time, although Dean
Maynard might not.
    She would have to risk it.
     
     

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
     
    Week 5, Instructor Calendar
    March 1898
     
    Sadie led Concordia to the Capshaws’
parlor, where she found Sophia pacing, as she was wont to do when
upset. Capshaw stood beside a wing chair, imploring her to sit
down. They both stopped when Concordia entered.
    “ Aaron’s been taken off the
case,” Sophia said.
    “ When? Why?” Concordia
turned to Capshaw. “They weren’t satisfied with your progress?” She
had difficulty believing the lieutenant would fail. “It’s only been
a week, after all.”
    Capshaw made a low growling
sound in the back of this throat. “I was making progress. That’s what I
don’t understand. Chief Stiles called me to his office this morning
and notified me that I was being reassigned.”
    “ Why?” Concordia
repeated.
    Capshaw made a face. “He said I was
going too far afield in my investigation, spending too many man
hours on wild goose chases, looking into the background of Florence
Willoughby.”
    Concordia started. “Willoughby? Not
Tooey?”
    He nodded, pulling out his sheaf of
wadded notes. “Florence Cassandra Willoughby, thirty years old,
never married. Of the Providence Willoughbys. You may have heard of
them. “
    Concordia nodded. “I think so. Is that
the family who supplies half of the dry goods’ retailers in New
England, and holds the summer cotillion every year in their Newport
mansion?”
    “ The same.”
    “ Speaking of her
background,” Concordia said, fishing in her reticule, “Florence
sent me this. It’s dated the day before she died.” She passed
Capshaw the letter.
    Capshaw raised an eyebrow.
“She wrote to you ?”
He shook his head in disbelief. “Your talent for becoming entangled
in murder investigations never ceases to amaze me.”
    Concordia suppressed a smile as
Capshaw read through the