Murder In Chinatown by Victoria Thompson

she wiped the tears from her eyes with her finger-tips and squared her shoulders. Sarah followed her as she made her way out of Cora’s flat, into the hallway, and up the stairs. They went up two flights, to the floor above the one where Minnie and her family lived. They could hear the sounds of families living their lives behind the closed doors. Minnie knocked on one of them.
    The woman who answered was instantly solicitous when she saw her visitor. “Hello, Minnie. Have you found her yet?”
    “No,” Minnie said, her voice nearly breaking. “I was wondering, I’d like to see Una again. She might’ve remembered something new by now.”
    “She would’ve said something,” the woman protested.
    “Not if she promised Angel not to tell,” Sarah offered when Minnie made no reply.
    “Who’s this?” the woman asked with a worried frown as she peered at Sarah in the shadows of the hallway.
    “Mrs. Brandt,” Minnie said. “She’s—”
    “Helping the family,” Sarah supplied. “Is Una home?”
    The woman frowned uncertainly, but she said, “She’s across the hall with Biddy.”
    “Thank you,” Sarah said, using the official tone she’d heard Malloy use so often. He had the authority to go along with it, but this woman wouldn’t know Sarah carried none.
    Sarah turned and went to the door the woman had indicated. She rapped sharply before looking back at Minnie and silently inviting her to join her. Minnie reached her side just as the door opened. This woman also asked about Angel, and Sarah answered before Minnie could.
    “We haven’t heard anything yet, and we’d like to ask Una and Biddy a few more questions, if you don’t mind.”
    The woman blinked in surprise. “I’m sure they already told Mr. Lee everything they know,” she said.
    “We just want to make sure,” Sarah replied.
    The woman looked back and forth between Minnie and Sarah. “Minnie?” she asked.
    “Mrs. Brandt is helping us. Please let her see the girls,” she pleaded.
    “Well, I don’t see why not,” the woman said uncertainly and stepped aside for them to enter. Una’s mother had joined them, and she stepped in behind them, still wearing her apron and looking concerned.
    This flat, like Cora’s, was well furnished and comfortable. Both of the mothers wore serviceable dresses of good quality. Their husbands provided well for them.
    “Biddy, you and Una come out here,” Biddy’s mother called.
    The girls appeared in the doorway and stopped dead when they saw the four women waiting for them. They’d been sharing a confidence that had them smiling, but the smiles vanished as they stepped into the front room.
    “What is it, Mama?” one of the girls asked the woman who lived there.
    “I’d like to ask you some questions,” Sarah said, glad to hear her voice still held that air of authority. “Are you Biddy?”
    She nodded uncertainly.
    “I’ll need to speak with the girls alone,” Sarah informed the mothers. “They’ll be more honest if you’re not in the room.”
    “Mama, what’s going on?” Una asked.
    “We’re trying to find Angel,” Minnie said, having found her confidence again. She cleared the remaining tears out of her voice. “Mrs. Brandt here is helping us.”
    The girls stared at Sarah with wide-eyed apprehension.
    “I don’t think—” one of the mothers began to protest, but Sarah cut her off.
    “Let’s go into the kitchen, girls.” She moved purposefully toward the doorway in which the girls stood, then looked back over her shoulder at the mothers. “This won’t take long.”
    As she’d hoped, they were intimidated enough to stay where they were. The girls backed into the other room, as if afraid to let Sarah out of their sight. They were holding hands.
    “Sit down, girls,” Sarah said, motioning to the well-scrubbed wooden table.
    They sat, still not taking their eyes off Sarah, who took a chair opposite them.
    “I know that Angel confided in you,” Sarah began bravely and was