“No, that won’t work either. Martha has closed up the house and gone to her ailing mother. There’s nobody there.”

“Then you can stay in the house alone, surely. The hired man will have a key…”

“I suppose so,” I said, thinking of being in that remote house alone with Liam, wondering and worrying about Daniel every moment. “But you won’t be with me, will you? I’ll be all alone.”

“You’ll be safe enough there, at least for the present. The hired man lives on the property, doesn’t he? He’ll keep an eye on you.”

“That’s not the point,” I retorted. “I want to be with you, Daniel. I’ll worry myself sick about you if we’re apart.”

“I have to stay on the job. I can’t leave right now, you must see that. I’m sure Sergeant O’Halloran will let me stay at his place. But if you really will be too worried up in Westchester all alone, I’ll find somewhere for you to go for the time being—somewhere far enough away where those bully boys of the Italian gang can’t track us down immediately.”

I put my hand over his. “Then I’ll stay at Sergeant O’Halloran’s with you. I don’t want to leave you, Daniel, especially not at a time like this.”

He took my face in his hands. “Don’t you understand? I want you well away from the city, just in case these people try again. I can’t take the risk that something will happen to you. I’d much rather track down my mother and ask her to come home, but you may be right. It is remote and I’m not even sure that Westchester is sufficiently removed…” he broke off, frowning. Then he said, “Of course. Why didn’t we think of it before?”

“Think of what?” I asked.

He wagged a finger at me in an animated fashion. “Your friends in Paris. They’ve invited you enough times. You can go to them.”

“To Paris, Daniel? Don’t be absurd. I only mentioned it to you as a joke.”

“But it’s perfect, don’t you see. You’ll be safely out of harm’s way.”

“But the fare to Paris…”

“… will be paid from police coffers, I’ve no doubt.”

The desire to go to Paris and see Gus and Sid wrestled with my worry over Daniel. “I couldn’t leave you,” I said. “You need your wife and son with you at a horrible time like this.”

His hand was still resting on my cheek. “I don’t want to be without you either, but you must see this is the best course of action. The only course of action, Molly. If you remain in New York City you’ll be on my mind all the time. I’ll be constantly worrying that something terrible will happen to you and Liam. If you’re safely with friends halfway across the world then I can do my job properly.”

“I suppose so,” I said reluctantly.

He got to his feet. “Then it’s settled. We’ll send a cable to your friends. First thing tomorrow morning we’ll try and book passage on the next boat that’s sailing for France. In the meantime I’ll find a place for you to stay.”