Disclaimer: Copper is a credited to its creators Tom Fontana and Will Rokos and BBC America. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is gained from writing of this fiction.
Chapter 12
Kevin opened the ledger his eyes quickly scanning the pages for any relevant information. He suddenly whistled through his teeth. "Well, look here. $30,000 dollars paid to Neal Findley for the services of Aaron Gowdy, Eli Laffey, and Julius Siccaro of Chicago."
"Here's another entry for $15,000 to the three for the purchase of "supplies"," Francis pointed out. "Guessin' that means the dynamite. You ain' as smart as ya think ya are, Bramwell or ya wouldn' of written this down."
"That's 'cause he's rich and thinks he's above the law. Donovan thought the same way," Andrew said.
While Kevin cleaned out all the contents of the safe; Francis cuffed Bramwell's hands. "You're under arrest for the murder of a hundred and five people on July 4th, 1865."
"Take him back to the precinct," Kevin ordered the coppers who had followed them up in the Black Maria. They hustled him outside and into it.
"This is outrageous!" Stephens yelled. "That warrant does not cover searching Mr. Bramwell's safe and definitely does not cover safecracking!"
"It says we can search the house," Andrew replied. "That safe's part of the house and we gave him a chance to open it, but he wouldn't it so …" He shrugged.
They took the evidence back to the precinct where Bramwell had been placed in an interrogation room. Chief Sullivan came out of his office as they came in. "When Mr. Bramwell goes to the Tombs I want him in the Governor's Cell. I have to inform Mr. Eustace also."
"That's more than he deserves," Andrew muttered.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Norbert came into the study where Robert and Elizabeth were seated. "I was on my way home from the club and saw a paddy wagon parked in front of the Bramwell house and Alcott Bramwell in handcuffs being escorted out of his home by the police. What is going on? Has anyone heard anything?
Elizabeth rose, her hand on her breast and her face pale. "What of Julien?"
"Well, I did not see him being brought out so I am assuming he is still at the house," Norbert replied. He shook his head. "I do not know what business or authority the 6th Precinct has up here, but it was their paddy wagon I saw."
Elizabeth turned to Robert. "Robert, please go down there and find out what has happened and if Julien needs any kind of assistance."
Robert who of course knew what was going on got up and kissed his wife. "Do not worry. I will leave right now."
"The carriage is still out front. Be careful," Norbert said. "If Bramwell did do something wrong; those people down there will want revenge on anybody who is wealthy.
"Wouldn't you, Father, if someone had killed your family simply because of avarice?" Robert asked sharply.
When he arrived at the precinct he went immediately into the detectives' office. "You arrested Bramwell then?"
Kevin nodded. "He's on his way to the Tombs as we speak. We got him with the goods. We found a ledger in his safe listing all the money he's spent trying to get the land down here."
"Did he open the safe himself?" Robert asked. "I would be shocked if he did it willingly."
"Nah! Francis had to crack it," Andrew said.
"What of Julien? Elizabeth is worried about him."
"Still back at Bramwell's place," Francis replied. "He wasn' involved in any of this so we didn' arrest him."
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
"Wild Bill" Eustace had come to the precinct to congratulate Chief Sullivan and the detectives on their capture of the ones responsible for the July 4th explosions.
"I'm sorry to hear it was a wealthy person who caused all this mayhem and deaths," he said. "But greed does have its price."
He went outside to talk to the newspaper reporters who had gathered outside the precinct on hearing rumors about an arrest that had taken place uptown.
All of Five Points was soon talking about the arrests after the details were published in the papers. People were angry that somebody wealthy with malice aforethought had deliberately killed people in Five Points, some of them children, simply for greed. They were also angry that two of the guilty parties had been given life sentences rather than death.
Emma arrived at Matthew's clinic. Francis, aware of the mood in the streets, insisted on escorting her every morning. "People are in an ugly mood over the arrest of this uptown man who's accused of arranging and paying for those dynamite explosions on July 4th. There is also the fact that two of others responsible have been given life in prison rather than death sentences."
"And so they have a right to be angry," Matthew said. "But if they are denied the justice they feel they deserve I'm afraid their anger will spill over into a riot worse than the draft riot was." He worried about Sara that if there was another riot she might be traumatized all over again.
"There is that possibility," Emma agreed.
"I worry about Sara. I don't know what will happen to her if another riot does occur." He shook his head. "I suspect the Irish may turn on the Negroes again if they can't get satisfaction for the killings that happened."
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Francis had just gotten home and sat down at his desk. He had worked late the last couple of nights tying up the loose ends to cases they'd put aside to work on the Bramwell case. All of a sudden there was a frantic knocking at his door.
"What the hell?" He muttered. He cocked his gun and pulled open his door, but it was one of the neighbors. He uncocked his gun and laid it back on the table. "What's wrong, Mr. O'Shaughnessy?"
"There's smoke comin' out of that new women's apartment and we pounded on the door, but we're getting' no answer from her."
Francis tore out his door and ran down the stairs to the second floor. He spotted the smoke coming out from underneath Emma's door immediately. "Miss Sterling?" He yelled pounding on the door. "Are ya all right?" He was just about to kick the door open when Emma opened it coughing. Her face was smudged with smoke and her dress with flour.
"What happened?" He left the door open as he went in so there would be no unpleasant gossip circulating and opened her windows first thing.
"I was trying to bake bread and I thought I remembered how when Miss Dix showed us, but …" she started crying and motioned at the burned loaf and pan sitting on top of the stove.
"Here now …" Francis said sitting her down then sitting down beside her, pulling out his handkerchief, and giving it to her. "It was justa loaf of bread. No harm done."
She wiped her eyes, sniffling some. "I guess I just expect that anything I try should come out perfectly."
"You're a damn good nurse and that's what counts the most. I noticed that even while I was bein' a pain in the backside."
"Thank you," she said smiling.
Francis got up to leave. "I'll see ya in the mornin' then." He went out into the hall, shutting her door behind him and said to the neighbors, "Everythin's fine now. She just burnt a loaf of bread. Maybe one of you ladies can show her how to do it right so this don' happen again."
"I'll do it," Mrs. O'Shaughnessy volunteered. "Taught me four daughters how to bake bread just fine."
Francis nodded at her and went back upstairs.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
"I could not believe it when the police came to arrest Mr. Bramwell," Julien said. His hand that held the cup of tea Elizabeth had poured for him shook as he spoke. "And then to find out it was for that terrible crime you told me of, Libby," he added nodding at his cousin.
Robert had stopped by the Bramwell Mansion on his way back home from the precinct and convinced Julien to come back with him.
"What will you do now, Julien?" Elizabeth asked sympathetically.
"I am not sure what is proper, but I feel I should stay with Mr. Bramwell until he tells me he no longer needs my services."
"Well, my father and I have been talking and our business has increased so much that it is becoming a problem for either of us to keep up with all the paperwork and such and we have decided that we can really use the help of a confidential secretary …" Robert laughed then added, "And that we may as well keep it in the family."
Julien smiled. "That is really very kind of you."
"Not at all," Norbert spoke up for the first time. "You can expect to be working very hard."
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Eva was at La Couture for the final fitting of the dress she had ordered for her dinner with Julien. She looked in the mirror and couldn't believe what she was seeing. The dress was a dark, sapphire blue with a high neckline; and the color complimented her black hair. Black lace decorated the neckline of the dress and a black lace panel extended from the bodice to the hem of the dress in front and continued with a wide band of black lace around the skirt around the dress in the back. The sleeves were tight at the top ending with flared, draping cuffs decorated with black lace at the bottom of the cuff. "I look like an uptown lady," Eva said in amazement.
"You'll be just right for any restaurant Julien takes you to," Sara said.
Eva turned and gave Sara a hug. "I can't thank you enough for making this dress for me and on such short notice too."
"I'm very lucky that I now have two really good people working for me."
Eva paid Sara and gave her extra money to give to her employees. "They deserve it," she said.
Eva carefully carried the dress back to the saloon. All her girls rushed over to see it and exclaim over it. They all knew that Eva had a dinner engagement with a handsome uptown man Saturday night. Eva wondered if Julien still wanted to keep their dinner engagement being that his employer was currently sitting in the Tombs.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Bramwell paced around his jail cell, growling. Granted it was bigger than the others and furnished with a large bed, a sofa, and a table on which sat a decanter of whiskey, but it was still a jail cell that he could not leave it anytime he wished. He heard the cell door being unlocked and turned. His lawyer, Edward Stephens came in.
"About time," Bramwell said grumpily.
"I had to research some facts or else I would have been here sooner."
"What facts did you need to research?" He demanded. "This whole arrest was illegal and the seizure of the items in my safe was definitely illegal."
"No, it was not," Stephens replied. "The warrant does give them the right to look through everything in the house."
"But …but they certainly didn't have the right to open my safe without my say so."
"Since you refused to open it, they are on firm legal ground as far as opening it themselves." He set his satchel down and opened it. "The evidence we need to make unimportant is what is contained in that ledger found by the detectives. We need to convince the jury that you had no knowledge whatsoever of that ledger or anything inside of it."
"How do we do that?" Bramwell asked.
"We change your writing so it does not match the writing in the ledger. This is what you will do then …" Stephens began.
Bramwell's smile got wider as he listened.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Kevin, Andrew, and Francis looked over the ledger with the incriminating entries in it. It was being kept in their office. Kevin had refused to put it into the evidence locker fearing Bramwell or his lawyer might bribe someone to steal and destroy it.
"What he wrote in here ain' dated," Francis pointed out.
"Don't matter. It's what's written that counts," Andrew replied.
"This along with Findley's and Siccaro's testimony seals Bramwell's fate," Kevin said.
"If the judge accepts the testimony of two criminals," Francis pointed out. "Bramwell's lawyer might find a way ta have their testimony not heard."
"The judge will be a different from the one that issued the warrants," Andrew said.
"Don't matter," Kevin said confidently. "The evidence is strong against Bramwell and he's gonna hang!"
"Ya know though if Bramwell's lawyer pulls somethin' shady and the jury returns a not guilty verdict; we won' be able to charge him again."
"Yeah and with the way people are feeling 'bout this case already; we may have another riot on our hands," Andrew added. "And we'll have to fight our own people again like we done in '63."
"What could he find to clear Bramwell?" Kevin asked. "It's his writing in the ledger and Findley and Siccaro will testify Bramwell's the one that hired them. The owner of Armament Vault will testify that Siccaro and two others came into his business to buy the dynamite. We got him dead to rights."
Francis had a hard time believin' a rich uptown man would hang for killing over a hundred immigrants, but he kept his thoughts to himself for now. "I don' trust that uptown lawyer is all."
"Neither do I, but Bramwell's gonna hang no matter what," Kevin replied.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Eva was so nervous about her dinner engagement with Julien that she asked for Sara's help getting dressed on Saturday evening. "I want to look like an uptown lady; I don't want to embarrass Julien."
"You look just fine," Sara assured her. "If Julien can't appreciate who you are then he doesn't deserve your company." She had also volunteered to stay with Matt while Eva was gone.
Eva had her hair up on top of her head with a large sapphire blue feather decorating it. She wore black slippers, short blue wrist-length gloves and carried a sandalwood fan with a sapphire blue edging.
Just then one of the girls knocked on the door and announced that Julien was waiting in the saloon.
Eva took a deep breath. "Here goes." She walked out to the balcony, picked up the hem of her dress, and started down the staircase.
Julien's expression when he saw her was worth all the worry she had gone through. He came to the bottom of the stairs as Eva reached the bottom step. He offered her his arm and they walked through the saloon then outside.
"You look beautiful Miss Heissen," Julien said.
"Thank you and you look very handsome Mr. Cornell," Eva replied.
Julien flushed a bit then said, "I was able to get tickets to an evening showing of Our American Cousin. I've heard it is quite amusing."
"I've heard that too," Eva said.
They traveled in the Morehouse carriage. Eva would bet a month's income of The Paradise that he hadn't told the Morehouse's that she was going to be his dinner companion. He'd probably only told them that he was going out to dinner and to the theatre.
Julien took her to dinner at a French restaurant. Eva allowed him to order for her since she figured that's what a proper lady would do and besides she didn't speak French and Julien did. The meal proved to be delicious whatever it was.
"What will you do now that your employer has been arrested?" She asked.
"I will stay with Mr. Bramwell until he tells me he no longer requires my services as I feel that is the proper thing to do. The Morehouse's have offered me a job working with them as their confidential secretary once Mr. Bramwell no longer has need of me."
"It must have been quite a shock to find out what he's done."
Julien nodded and sighed. "My former employer, Lord Smethwick, always spoke so highly of him."
Eva shrugged. "It might be he was like what this Lord Smethwick believed him to be at one time, but just got too greedy and didn't care about anything but money."
Julien leaned back in his chair. "It seems that is the case."
When they got to the theatre, Julien escorted her inside and to their seats. Eva glanced around her hoping none of her uptown clientele were attending the theatre tonight or Chief Sullivan for that matter. She knew he attended the theatre frequently, but at least she could trust him not to say anything if he was here and did see her.
She enjoyed the play and so apparently did Julien as he laughed several times. When the carriage stopped in front of The Paradise, Julien jumped out and helped Eva out. He kissed her hand and said, "I enjoyed the evening tremendously, Miss Heissen. Perhaps we can do it again if you are amendable."
"I had a good time," Eva replied. "And yes, Mr. Cornell; I would be amendable as you put it."
"Excellent! I shall contact you then."
"I'll look forward to it," Eva said. She nodded at Julien, picked up her skirt, and went into saloon.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Matthew opened the envelope that was addressed to him and pulled out a copy of the New England Medical and Surgical Journal. His face split into a wide smile as he read the note Jackson Sterling had included advising him that his research article was the leading article.
He sat down, opened the journal and started reading.
"Well, don't you look like the cat that just caught the canary," Sara remarked coming into the room with a laundry basket full of clean clothing.
Matthew held out the journal to her. "This is my article about my research of the history of Collect Pond and polluted water, my theory about it being the cause of the illnesses at the Leonard Street tenement, and my research into a possible method to render the water drinkable again."
"Mr. Sterling, unlike Major Morehouse, came through on his promise to get you published. I'm so proud of you and all the work you've done to make people's lives much better," Sara stated.
"I didn't do it alone. You've helped me with it and Nurse Sterling was the one who wrote her father about it," Matthew replied modestly.
"But it was your dedication to finding a way to kill the bacillus in the water is what we're celebrating."
"I believe I will remember Hazel Turner by naming it the Turner Method."
Sara wrapped Matthew in a hug. "I believe Hazel would be proud."
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Francis walked Emma to the clinic the next morning. He could almost feel the glares of the people in Five Points on the back of his neck. In spite of Kevin's assurances he was not convinced Bramwell would be convicted and Five Points would turn into hell on earth if he was let off. People were already angry about Findley and Siccaro getting life rather than hangin'. Francis wasn' sure it wouldn' be used against them by Bramwell's lawyer. He could say they bribed Findley and Siccaro into sayin' Bramwell was guilty by offering 'em a life sentence in place of hangin'.
Emma tapped his arm and when he looked at her she said, "You are far away this morning."
"Sorry," he apologized. "Just can't help thinkin' 'bout the mood here lately. I know people are real angry that two of the ones responsible for the killin's are getting life in prison and not hangin', but they don't realize that we had to offer 'em somethin' ta get 'em to identify Bramwell, but it might end up goin' wrong on us too."
"You mean the judge might decide that the offer of life in prison rather than being hung convinced them to point the finger at an innocent man and then set Bramwell free?"
"Yeah," Francis nodded. "And God help us if he does! People still ain' over their resentment of the draft in the war and then this on top of it …" He shook his head. "The place'll go up in flames." He stopped walking suddenly and turned to face Emma. "Look, if what I think'll happen if Bramwell gets off, happens; you need to stay put at your place."
Emma immediately started to ruffle at his suggestion. "I'm not a child …"
Francis cut her off. "I know you been in a lot of tense situations in the war, but you ain' never been in a riot. The draft riot was bad …real bad and this one's likely ta be even worse. I'm gonna have to be out in the streets and I won' be able to look out for ya."
"But people will be hurt," she argued. "Dr. Freeman will need help."
"If he needs ya I'll tell him to send a copper to fetch me and I'll bring ya to his clinic or wherever meself."
Emma knew he was right. Although there had been a lot of stress and commotion when the ambulances from the battlefields started coming in one after another, loaded with wounded soldiers; she had never been in a riot. She had read accounts of the riot in the paper and knew Francis spoke the truth. "All right, you are right. I have had no experience with it so it would be best if I did not venture out into it."
Francis exhaled. At least she was being reasonable and not arguing like Andrew's Sybil would have done.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Bramwell dipped his pen into the inkwell and wrote his name on a piece of paper in several different ways, trying to decide which looked the least like the handwriting in the ledger. He would use that one and practice it until it was second nature.
The cell door opened and Stephens came in carrying his satchel. They both waited until the guard had left again before speaking. Because of the crime he was accused of no other prisoners' were in the cells around his cell.
Bramwell held out the piece of paper and asked, "Which of these resembles my normal writing the least?"
Stephens studied the samples and then pointed. "This one."
Bramwell nodded. "I'm assuming they have not yet set a trial date?"
Stephens shook his head. "I will of course let you know immediately when the prosecutor notifies me."
"What of the witnesses against me?" Bramwell asked.
"You mean the boss of the biggest crime organization in Five Points and the killers he summoned from another crime syndicate in Chicago?" Stephens asked grinning. "Those detectives are insane if they think a jury full of honorable, decent, men is going to believe anything they say. Besides the fact that they offered Findley and Siccaro life in prison if they accused the person who they wanted to be guilty. You and I know the Irish hate wealthy people and blame them for all their problems."
"Mr. Cornell is British and they hate them as much as the wealthy, possibly even more," Bramwell pointed out.
"Yes and no doubt they will riot and cause a great damage if they become as angry as they did in July of 1863," Stephens said.
"No doubt," Bramwell replied, but he could not help thinking if the vermin of Five Points rioted again he may still be able to get the land. For now he had to concentrate on changing his writing.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Emma became more and more aware of the ugly mood of Five Points. Francis was right. If Bramwell was not convicted the place would explode into a mindless rage. She wrote her parents regularly, but did not tell them what was really going on. Francis walked her everywhere back and forth to the clinic, to her former building on Saturdays so she could check on the tenants, and even to Eva's on the days when she checked on the girls.
After she was finished with the girls she sat at a table in the back of the saloon with Eva waiting for Francis to come and escort her back to the clinic. A cup of tea sat in front of her as she listened to Eva talk about her dinner engagement with Julien.
"He was so polite …and such a gentleman," Eva said. "He picked me up here in the Morehouse's carriage although I'm willing to bet he didn't tell them I was his dinner guest. Morehouse Senior would probably have a conniption, I imagine!"
Emma smiled. "He does seem like the type that would."
"We went to dinner at a French restaurant then to the theatre to see a showing of Our American Cousin."
"I saw that at Ford's Theatre in Washington …not on the same night that President Lincoln was shot thankfully," Emma replied. "It was very amusing."
"Sara did a marvelous job on my dress and she had it done within four days too."
"I should have her make me another one," Emma said. "I only have that dress that she made me for the 4th of July. Other than that all my other dresses are drab because that what Miss Dix insisted we wear outside of the hospital."
"Why on earth?" Eva exclaimed.
"It was because a lot of Congressmen, doctors, generals, and society at large disapproved of young, unmarried ladies nursing . Miss Dix only took older women at first, but a lot of them had to resign because it was too exhausting for them. She would not take younger, unmarried women because she was afraid her critics would say they only joined the nursing corp to find a husband."
"I heard she wouldn't take any of us either no matter how desperate things got," Eva said.
Emma nodded. "Yes and there were times when things got really desperate and I would have been glad for extra pairs of hands no matter who they belonged to."
"I haven't seen the detectives in here much lately. I assume I won't see too much of them until that case is settled one way or the other."
Emma nodded. "Francis is really worried about what will happen if Bramwell goes free."
"I've heard some ugly talk about it in here," Eva confirmed. "Talk of going after the coppers, wrecking the precinct, and lynching Bramwell and the other two."
"Francis is worried that there will be a riot worse than the draft riot," Emma remarked. "He made me promise to stay in my apartment and not leave it unless he was with me. He was quite insistent about it."
"Well, he lost somebody he was supposed to be protecting earlier this year and had to be there when her parents came to identify her at the morgue. From what Kevin and Andrew said; they were really hard on him for failing to protect their daughter." Eva paused for a moment then added, "And she wasn't the only one either." She thought about Molly and Ellen. They had both been selfish bitches and didn't give a shit about Maguire so she never understood why he had been in love with either of them.
"I did not know that. He has never said anything," Emma replied.
"Well, he wants everybody to think he's really tough so don't ask him about it."
Emma shook her head and changed the subject. "Do you think Mr. Cornell will ask to see you again?" She assumed he had not slept with Eva.
"Yes, he's already asked if I was amendable to another engagement with him."
"Well, that is something for you to look forward to then," Emma said. At that moment she spotted Francis coming into the saloon and stood up.
Francis came over to them. "Ready ta go back ta Dr. Freeman's?"
She nodded and took the arm he offered. As they walked back to the clinic Emma said, "Eva mentioned she has heard some ugly talk about going after the police, wrecking the precinct, and lynching the three criminals."
"Not surprised," Francis muttered.
"She was also telling me about her dinner engagement with Mrs. Morehouse's cousin, Julien."
Francis wondered how Kevin would feel about that. Even though he was with Kentagerna now; he suspected he still had feelin's for Eva. "Did it go all right? He wasn' mean towards her or anything' was he?"
"Oh no!" Emma exclaimed. "She said he was quite the gentleman …I got the impression she may have thought he was too much the gentleman."
Francis chuckled. "Don' suppose she's used to that." They arrived at Dr. Freeman's clinic and Francis waited until she was safely inside before he returned to the precinct.
"The prosecutor was just here and the court date's been set for Bramwell's trial," Kevin announced as he walked in.
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