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

musical comedy was always playing on Broadway. And before that she made her name in vaudeville. I remember seeing her when I was a college student. Some of her songs were very risqué. So what does Blanche Lovejoy want you to do for her?”
    “I’m not quite sure yet, but I’d like to pay her a visit at the theater this evening. However, this is where I run into a problem. I already have an assignment. I should be shadowing Mr. Roth in the evenings.”
    “You certainly can’t do two jobs at once,” Daniel said.
    “No, I can’t. Unless—” I paused for dramatic effect. “—unless I take on someone to help me. A business associate.”
    “Really? Can you afford to do that? And would they do a good enough job?”
    “I hope so,” I said. “It was you I was thinking of, Daniel.”
    “Me? You’re asking me to come and work for you?”
    “You have the right qualifications for the job,” I said, trying not to smile, because I was actually enjoying this moment. “And you told me yourself that you’re sitting home twiddling your thumbs while I have more work than I can handle. I’m offering you a chance to keep your hand in at your detective skills. I’ll give you seventy-five percent of the fee.”
    “Only seventy-five?” He was smiling too now.
    “Administrative costs, you know. I have an agency to run. Now what do you say? Have I found myself a new associate?”
    Daniel frowned. “If it ever got out that I’d been working for a woman, I’d be a laughingstock when I returned to the force,” he said.
    “Not working for a woman, Daniel. Working with a woman. You know that you and I could make a great team. You’d be the biggest asset my little agency ever had. I know I can’t pay you what you’re worth but at least you’d have some money coming in—enough to pay for cab fares to take your lady friend to Central Park.”
    I saw him frown again, and swallow hard, his Adam’s apple dancing above the starched collar.
    “If you don’t want the job, I’m sure I can find someone else who would do it for me. I believe that Ryan O’Hare is unemployed with no current play on Broadway. He’d definitely find it a huge lark to play the detective.”
    That did it, of course. I knew that Daniel despised my friend, the flamboyant playwright Ryan O’Hare.
    “You’d surely never dream of working with such a creature,” he said. “Think of the reputation of your business. No prosperous Jewish family would ever consider letting such a man work for them!”
    “Then take the assignment yourself, Daniel. It’s absolutely up your street. Following a man around unsavory neighborhoods—who better to do it than you?”
    “You’re right,” he said. “Nobody could do it better than I. Except that I am well known among the criminal element.”
    “I don’t think that Mr. Roth will be mixing with the criminal element,” I said. “At least I sincerely hope he won’t.”
    “I suppose I could try this one assignment and see how we get along,” Daniel said at last.
    “If we can’t work together for a few days, then I see little hope in planning any kind of future together,” I said. “It’s about time you learned that I will never be the demure miss who waits at home for her lord and master, doing her embroidery and playing croquet.”
    He looked a little startled at this outburst, then he had to nod. “No, I can’t see you being anyone’s lapdog, Molly. It is one of the things I admire about you. And maybe I can teach you a thing or two about detective methods.”
    “Maybe I can teach you a thing or two about mine,” I said. “Shall we shake on it?”
    I reached out my hand. Daniel took it, then pulled me toward him. “Sealed with a kiss,” he said and planted his lips firmly on mine. This time I let him kiss me, returning the kiss with full fervor.
    Mrs. O’Shea’s tap on the door was the only thing that prevented the encounter from going on a little too long.
    “Did Miss Murphy tell you that