Tell Me, Pretty Maiden by Rhys Bowen Read Free Book Online Page A

us to the nearest El station.”
    “I’ll agree with that,” Daniel said, eyeing me appraisingly. “You’ve certainly got a good pair of legs.”
    “Captain Sullivan!” I exclaimed in mock horror.
    “Well, you showed them to half the world as you danced across that snowy meadow,” Daniel said, smiling.
    We walked in silence for a while. “You’re very subdued,” Daniel said. “Still thinking about that girl?”
    “I can’t stop thinking about her,” I said. “Poor thing. What an awful ordeal. She could so easily have died if I hadn’t run away from you and looked for somewhere to hide.”
    He nodded. “A rum business, wasn’t it? I’ll be most interested to hear an explanation of what really happened.”
    “It seemed to me that the girl had had a bad fright of some kind,” I said. “The way she flinched away when anyone tried to touch her. And yet there appeared nothing wrong with her except for extreme cold.”
    “I wonder if she isn’t perhaps a mental patient, wandered away from her caretakers,” Daniel said. “She could be delusional.”
    I thought of those blank blue eyes. “You may be right. If she is a mental patient, her family will have reported her missing by now.”
    By the time the El reached Eighth Street, my petticoats and stockings had dried and I found myself regretting that I had not tried the ice-skating.
    “Maybe we could go skating tomorrow,” I said. “Knowing Sid and Gus they will undoubtedly have proper skating outfits. I have already agreed to have lunch with them and with their friend Nelly Bly.”
    “Nelly Bly?” Daniel exclaimed. “The newspaper reporter? She is an acquaintance of your friends?”
    “Sid and Gus know everybody worth knowing in the city,” I said with a smile. “And she seems such an interesting woman.”
    “A dashed plucky one, from what one reads,” Daniel aside. “She has put herself in harm’s way on numerous occasions, including traveling around the world in seventy-eight days. I’d dearly like to meet her.”
    “Then I’ll ask Sid and Gus if you may be included,” I said. “We can visit the hospital in the morning, lunch with Nelly Bly, and then have time to fit in an afternoon of skating before I have to shadow Mr. Roth to his evening pursuits.”
    “Couldn’t you take an evening off and let us extend our skating into dinner somewhere?” Daniel asked.
    “And what if that’s the one night that he goes on the town, or meets with undesirable people?” I said. “I have been hired to do a job, Daniel. I don’t recall you taking evenings off when you were on a case.”
    “That’s true enough. But in my case, I was on the trail of criminals and it was important that they were caught.”
    “Oh, I see,” I said haughtily. “You still think that my occupation is not serious, is that it? I’ve been in dangerous situations myself, you know.”
    “Which is why I would be heartily glad if you forsook it for a safer profession,” Daniel said. “But I admire your loyalty to your clients and your determination to see the job through. I’ll be content to wait for a dinner engagement until the assignment is over. When will that be?”
    “I’m planning to observe Mr. Roth for at least two weeks,” I said. “If I have no hint of any deviant behavior in that time, I shall report to my clients that their daughter may safely marry him.”
    “So any young man only needs to behave himself for two weeks to make an ideal husband?” Daniel asked.
    “I didn’t say that. But two weeks should be enough to form an impression of him, and two weeks is about the amount of time the client is paying for.”
    Daniel laughed.
    “I’m starving,” I said. “It’s past lunchtime and we haven’t had a bite to eat.”
    “We could go to the restaurant at the Hotel Lafayette,” Daniel said. “They do a good lunch plate.”
    “We’re supposed to be economizing,” I said. “I’ll make you lunch at home. I’ve a good soup and some