CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

9:00 am, Wednesday July 5th, 1922

Inspector Brackenreid's Office

Oh God…

Julia Ogden did not like the look of this, not at all.

Inspector Brackenreid himself ordered her over, rather imperiously, she thought, which brought her across the laneway with a bit of an attitude - and without changing her clothes. If the abrupt summons wasn't bad enough, once she arrived she passed by a mute and terrified-looking Constable Crabtree parked stiffly on a bench. In the Inspector's office she was confronted by Ruby sitting ever so primly on the inspector's leather settee, with William looming over her radiating agitation of some kind. Was that worry or disapproval? Both probably.

She had no real idea what this was about, other than judging by the Inspector's red glower it was probably going to be bad, so she decided to brazen it out. "Just what am I doing here, Inspector? I am in the middle of an autopsy."

"Your sister!" The Inspector rustled the paper in his hand and boomed: "'Bootleg Booze Bust Burnishes Brackenreid and the Boys of Station Four.' That's this morning's front page of the Toronto Star. How in blazes did you get all these details, Miss Ogden?" He pivoted away from Ruby and straight at her. "From you, Doctor? Because the both of you are about an inch from being tossed in my cells!"

Julia barked right back at him. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Inspector. I have not seen the papers today nor spoken with my sister about this case - or any other!" She glared at Ruby. Just as I predicted for my sister to drag me into something. "If the papers are suddenly happy with you and spelled your name correctly, what is the problem?"

Next to her Ruby was uncannily quiet, calm and collected in the midst of the shouting. William was silent as well - but hardly calm. She studied him more closely. He seemed… different...

He met her eyes - uncomfortably, she thought - and he spoke: "The problem is that Miss Ogden's byline is on this story and she has details of the raid on the old munitions factory yesterday which are not publicly known. One: that the victim found in the building was born Giovanni Salieri. Two: that Mr. Salieri conducted a secret re-distilling operation at the factory which was the source of the poisoned alcohol causing the deaths of 44 poor souls and countless other illnesses. Three: that Mr. Salieri was killed during the sabotage of his operation just as the constabulary conducted a daring raid on the place. The article also mentions how the constabulary tracked his operation down and destroyed a significant portion of the illegal alcohol distribution network in Ontario."

He ticked these facts off on one hand. "There is information about the operation's finances and distribution network. As an extra they printed a public service warning about how hard it is to remove methyl alcohol when it is used as an adulterant. She also refuses to explain how she came by these facts. One obvious conclusion is that you are her source."

"That is not true!" Julia insisted, stepping up to challenge him. She noticed he was silent on the actual cause of Mr. Salieri's death by strangulation. "Ruby, did you use me? Lie to me?!"

"I must protect my sources, Detective," Ruby piped up. "However, in this case I can say unequivocally Julia is not one of them. Rather, she has been tight-lipped about her work as City Coroner…"

Julia held her breath. She knew that tone in her sister's voice. Ruby was dangling her knowledge of Julia's exploits as a warning of mischief to come.

Ruby continued, unperturbed. "...My article also explains how the derring-do of Station House No. 4, against all odds, saved the city from even more dastardly events. I only told the truth, Inspector Brackenreid. You are commander here, are you not? Detective Murdoch, did you not lead the raid with Constable Crabtree, and great physical peril to you both? And then did you not save the new city coroner's life from that collapsing building?" Ruby paused meaningfully. "As for the explosion at the distilling operation...it seems the owner of Canada Wire is more than happy to be praised for cooperating with the constabulary as a way to abate the humiliation of hosting the operation right under their noses, plus, the Mayor and Control Board are pleased to claim bragging rights for possessing such fine officers as yourself who work for Toronto the Good, in their delight to one-up the city of Hamilton."

Julia was stunned. Did she really hear that correctly? William looked equally blown over. He'd not bemoaned the events of yesterday to her, but she knew he never expected an unmitigated disaster to be portrayed as a triumph.

"Miss Ogden," William began, trying to sound reasonable, "part of our investigation was seriously compromised by leaks to the very same criminals we were trying to arrest. A leak that nearly got all of us killed. Including your sister."

Ruby cast a worried look her way, but Julia was too furious to grant any reassurance. He was turning all his interviewing powers against Ruby, who was herself no slouch in that department. He is better.

"All of which indicates corruption within a very tight circle of individuals," he continued. "You must understand that whoever gave you this information, be it from a police officer, someone in city hall...that person is in the pay of organized crime and must be brought down. I can assure you we will not connect you to him...or her...as a source for the story, but we do need to know who that is so we can investigate and arrest them."

Ruby smoothed her pink linen skirt diffidently with gloved hands. Julia had a moment of observing the contrast between herself with her hair pulled back behind her ears, in her trousers and rumpled shirt, probably with blood stains on it, and Ruby decked out in a tidy summer skirt and jacket, complete with coiffed hair under a cloche hat and white silk around her throat.

"Miss Ogden?!" This time it was Inspector Brackenreid who insisted on an answer.

"No," Ruby said plainly. "I will not reveal my source."

The inspector continued, unrelentingly. "It has come to my attention that you have been keeping company with one of my constables, George Crabtree. The information you have in your article could have easily come from him. He is about to come under suspicion and possible arrest. It will ruin him. Is that what you want?"

"God! No!" Ruby looked appalled. "But I must maintain my journalistic integrity."

"Then young lady, you are going to have some time to think harder about that in my cells. Hodge!" Inspector Brackenreid shouted.

"Sir...!" William objected and at the same time Julia did.

Ruby remained stubbornly seated, arms crossed, then she rolled her eyes. "Oh, if I must, I will reveal a little. You are correct, Inspector. I have been working on a story, but my investigation had only just started. Yesterday I received the bulk of what I based my story on from a nice man who only gave his first name as Rochbert. Said to call him Bertie. He told me he believed in justice and said he thought it was only right that whoever poisoned all those people deserved to pay for it. He said that only Mr. Salieri was to blame and deserved his fate, and he gave me all sorts of proof, copies of records...a veritable treasure trove. Our newsroom verified it and my editor said to go with it."

"Rochbert? What's a bloody German doing with all that information on an Italian gang? And why you, Miss Ogden?" Brackenreid asked.

Julia observed Ruby squirm in her seat and scoff before speaking. "He said that he gave them to me because I was the sister of the city coroner and he owed her. Something about an apology and a favour. I have no idea what that meant and he disappeared as quickly as he could."

All eyes were on her now. "Whatever for?" Julia's voice cracked in surprise. "Don't look at me. I have done nothing to alter the results of my work at the behest of anyone. The only favours I have done lately have been for Station House number four. I hardly think…" She locked her jaws shut. "This is ridiculous! Ruby, gentlemen, I have a corpse to attend to. I will see myself out." She made it almost to the station house front door, when William caught up with her.

"I apologize for that, er...Doctor," he said. "Will you come to my office, for a moment? I promise it won't take long…"

Julia hesitated, relenting only because Inspector Brackenreid and Ruby remained deep in discussion, with Ruby holding her own nicely. She allowed herself to be escorted to his office, pushing aside two huge blackboards for her to get to a chair. She laughed lightly, trying to shake her anxiety off.

" I hope you can understand how it looks," he said. "I believe I can get the inspector to see reason about the whole affair, especially since the article is rather flattering. We do have a leak, someone out to sabotage us, but I think we can rule out Crabtree and I don't think it is you. Although it is quite the coincidence your sister's newspaper story ended up exonerating all of us."

"Saved your bacon, as Constable Higgins might say."

He kept a skeptical face. She could tell he was working out how to make sense of it all.

"I…" she struggled for the correct words. "Aside from this shocking development with Ruby, is everything...I mean everything else all right? I mean not that anything's wrong…" Her eyes nervously jumped around his office, landing on his chalk boards full of names and plastered along the top with photographs of murder victims on one and suspects on the other.

"I am just fine; however, I was hoping we could make time later for a few words in private...um... Julia?"

She heard him but ignored him, her eyes riveted to a single black and white portrait. The man's intense facial expression was captured well and hard to forget. "Detective? What are you doing with a photograph of the man from the roof? I thought you did not wish to involve yourself with Station House No. 9's suicide case?" She shot him a suspicious glance. "I only gave a description - how and why did Detective Pearce give you that picture? Or are you double checking all my work?" She was starting to feel outraged.

"I beg your pardon?"

"This is the man who told me who the suicide victim was. I helped find her children and get them to their grandparents…" She rose and pointed to the picture. "Detective Pearce was going to try and find him and interview him. Is it really impossible for you to believe anyone else but you can do an adequate job?" She swung on him angrily. "I expected better of you!"

Honestly! Just when I think he and I are going to get along…

"Julia…" His voice was strained.

"What?!" she snapped, infuriated with him for such bad form.

"That is Rocco Perri!"