Uneasy Spirits: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery by M. Louisa Locke Read Free Book Online Page A

It was unfair of me to be angry with you because you were working, after I had had to cancel because of work myself. I was angry with my uncle for ruining our plans earlier in the week and disappointed, so I took it out on you.”
    There was a pause, and Nate looked at Annie, hoping to see some sign of softening. She was staring down at her hands, frowning.
    She glanced up at him and said, “And the Miss Moffets! You were so rude to those dear souls.”
    Nate, frustrated, blurted out, “Hang the Miss Moffets; I was rude to you, and for that I apologize.” He pressed his lips together and looked away, upset that he had let Annie goad him into losing his temper.
    There was a very long silence, and then he heard Annie say, “My goodness, Mr. Dawson. Your language, sir. I am shocked! ”
    Startled at this display of outraged femininity, he looked up and caught sight of dimples peeping out from either side of her mouth, as Annie appeared to be trying, unsuccessfully, to stifle her laughter. In that moment, the iron band that had been constricting Nate’s heart simply vanished.

Chapter Six
Wednesday afternoon, October 15, 1879
     
    “ Spiritualism—Mrs. Eggert Aiken, trance and test medium, 313 Geary Street, Sittings daily from 9A.M. to 9 P.M. Séances Sunday, Tuesday, Friday at 8 P.M.”
— San Francisco Chronicle , 1879
     
     
    “ Ma’am, I’m terribly glad you asked me to come with you to see these Framptons. I can’t but think that with such shady characters, having a respectable maid with you will make sure they mind their manners.”
    Annie smiled down at her maid, Kathleen Hennessey, who walked beside her. The young woman was nearly eighteen, but so petite you could mistake her for a child. Annie knew those looks were deceptive. In fact, from what she knew of her history, Kathleen had never had the luxury of being a child and the slight frame contained a tough, tireless dynamo who kept Annie’s home spotless and her boarders very satisfied.
    The two of them had taken a Central Rail horse car, getting on at Taylor, just a half a block from the boarding house on O’Farrell Street. The car crossed Market and went down Sixth. They got off at Harrison, the street where Simon and Arabella Frampton lived. She could understand why the couple might have chosen to live in the Rincon Hill district, which was now a far cry from the fashionable district it once was, before the Second Street cut had decimated the neighborhood and sent all the nabobs north to the heights. Some of the streets still clung to their old glory, and it was well serviced by both the Central line they were on and the South Park line that went down Third, making it easy for clients from practically anywhere in the city to get to them.
    Kathleen said, “Ma’am, while I’m glad to accompany you, I’m just not sure what you expect of me.”
    “ What I am hoping is that someone in the household will try to pump you for information while I am having my interview with Simon Frampton, who seems to be the business manager of the operation. What I want you to do, if that happens, is make it clear I have money, that I am gullible, and that some of my boarders might be good pigeons for the plucking as well.”
    “ Oh, ma’am, to be sure they won’t have any trouble believing you’re a woman of wealth, your new navy polonaise is that elegant. The Miss Moffets did a fine job. But what if they ask me personal information, I dunno, maybe about your past? What should I say?” said Kathleen, tilting her head to the side.
    “ You can tell them I’m a widow, that you believe my mother died when I was young, and that my father also passed fairly recently. That’s no more than I will be telling them myself. But remember, if you get a chance, I want you to hint that I had a child who died young. All the other information is true, of course, and I suspect that Simon Frampton and his wife Arabella have already spent the day finding out as much as they can about