Brenda Joyce - [Francesca Cahil 03] by Deadly Affairs Read Free Book Online

she stepped out of the motorcar. She slipped on a patch of ice, and he caught her beneath both arms.
    She forgot all about murders and madmen. She clung to him and they stood knee-to-knee and chest-to-chest. For one moment, he did not release her.
    This is so hard,
she thought, staring at his mouth.
    He let her go. “Good night, Francesca.”
    Her breath seemed to catch painfully. “Good night.”
    Beside his door, he paused. “If you are free, I have tickets for Saturday. Perhaps we could even have dinner afterwards,” he said.
    “What?” she gasped.
    “I happen to have tickets to
The Greatest World
,” he said, and he finally smiled a little.
    She smiled back. Briefly, the world of murder and death faded, and in its place was something else, a world of love and dreams. He had already gotten tickets to the musical she had spoken of. “Of course I am free, Bragg. And supper afterwards would be wonderful.”
    He started back toward the motorcar. “No sleuthing,” he said.
    She simply smiled at him.
    F RIDAY , F EBRUARY 7,1902—N OON
    Francesca was summoned to her mother’s apartments at noon. This was hardly a surprise, as Julia never left her rooms before that hour. But as she entered the parlor, a large room with red-toned Oriental rugs, ochre walls, and several seating areas, she saw Andrew seated on a gold brocade sofa, his reading spectacles slipping down his nose. Francesca faltered.
    Her father glanced up. Calmly he removed his spectacles, announcing, “She’s here.”
    What was Papa doing at home? Why wasn’t he at the office? Francesca had purposely avoided him that morning by skipping breakfast and rushing off to her single morning class.
    Julia entered the parlor from her bedroom. She was dressed for a luncheon, resplendently, in an emerald-green gown. Her expression was severe. “Where were you this morning, Francesca?”
    Francesca did not hesitate. She had almost thought her mother was going to ask her where she had been last night. “The library.”
    “Sit down,” Andrew said.
    As Francesca gingerly began to do so, taking a chair adjacent the sofa, Andrew tossed a newspaper down on an ivory-topped table. And Francesca saw a glaring headline on the
Sun.
She winced.
    MILLIONAIRE ’ S DAUGHTER CAPTURES
RANDALL KILLER WITH FRY PAN
    “I cannot even begin to tell you the shock I had when I read this article,” he said.
    “And I almost had a heart attack,” Julia said, not sitting. She stared down coldly at her daughter.
    “I can explain,” Francesca said.
    “According to this newsman,” Andrew said, far too calmly, “you captured the murderer
yourself,
with a
fry pan.”
    Francesca knew the article did not mention the fact that the event had happened after both Mary and her brother, Bill Randall, had tied her up. Fortunately, she had refrained from mentioning that fact to the reporters, perhaps as a matter of pride. “Papa, Mama, it is not at all as bad as it seems. After I met with this con man, I realized hecould not be the killer and that Bragg had arrested the wrong man. So I went to the Randalls’ because there were loose ends that just could not be explained. Truly, I was only trying to help Bragg and serve justice. I never meant to confront a killer; indeed, until the last moment, I had no clue as to who the killer was.” She knew she must keep her wits about her now.
    Andrew was on his feet. “You met with a con man as well? It is bad enough that you went alone to the Randalls’. Francesca, what possessed you?”
    “Papa, I did not intend, precisely, to confront a killer, I merely wanted to help—”
    He was the most courteous man she knew; now, he cut her off. He was fully flushed, “I will not have it! I simply will not have my daughter running about the city, consorting with con men and apprehending killers. That is why we have a police force, Francesca. This behavior of yours must stop. In fact, I forbid it.”
    Francesca said, “I am a grown woman. How can you treat