“You’re not the one to do that,” he said. “You’d better ask your husband. All I know are my orders are to let nobody in.”

I turned away and climbed back into the cab. We said nothing as we left Greenwich Village and went up Fifth Avenue. Liam had stopped crying and now clearly enjoyed the new sights and sounds. For me it felt as if I was passing through a dream world where ladies in elegant dresses and parasols strolled as if they hadn’t a care in the world. Why should they? They all had homes to return to. At last we turned east along Fifty-seventh Street and came to a halt outside an imposing brick house, with a flight of steps leading up to its front door and bay trees growing in pots on either side. Mrs. Goodwin descended first, took Liam from me as I climbed down. I went up those steps with great reluctance. This arrangement had been made in such a hurry and I wondered whether the occupants of the house, the lieutenant’s sister and her husband, had really had time to think their kind gesture through.

How would I react if Daniel had said to me, “I’m bringing a strange woman and her child to stay with us. An Italian gang has already tried to kill them once by bombing their house. They may well try again if they find out she is here”?

The knock on the front door reverberated and soon it was opened not by a maid but by a pretty young woman in an exquisite gown. She held out her arms to me.

“My dear Mrs. Sullivan,” she said. “Come in, do. What an ordeal you’ve been through.” She half dragged me into the house. Mrs. Goodwin hesitated on the doorstep.

“And this is Mrs. Goodwin, a fellow detective in the police force, who was kind enough to accompany me here,” I said.

“Of course. I’ve heard all about you from my brother,” the young woman said. “The men are secretly impressed by you, although they would never say so to your face.”

Mrs. Goodwin actually smiled. “Kind of you to say so.”

“Come in, do,” our hostess insisted. “Take some tea with us.”

Mrs. Goodwin shook her head. “I’ve already been up all night on duty, so if you don’t mind, I’ll bid you both farewell and head for my bed.”

I took her hand. “Thank you so much. You’ve been very kind.”

“Not at all. Glad to help,” she said gruffly as if trying to hold back any display of emotion. “Good luck to you, Molly, my dear.” She went down the steps, waved, then got back into the cab, leaving me in the front hall with the lieutenant’s sister.

“This is so good of you, Mrs.…” I began, realizing that I still didn’t know her name.