Dru Faust and the Devil's Due

Part 16

I threw my handbag onto the coverlet, tearing it open to produce my own notepad and a pencil stub. "Alright, Archie. Start at the beginning. Everything you just told Officer O'Neil, you tell to me."

"Why? What are you going to do?" Archie asked, eyes huge.

"If the police aren't going to track down these–these–" My words failed me; I couldn't come up with a sufficient insult, even if my polite upbringing would have allowed me to say it in a place as public as a hospital "–bootleggers, then I'll find them. I'll wrap them up in brown paper and leave them on the front step of the precinct, if I have to!"

Alex laid a hand on my arm. "Sweetie, you can't. You'd get yourself killed."

"Well, someone has to do it, and the police don't seem to care. Two people have already died, and there are dozens more in the same condition as Archie. Some of them might make a full recovery. A lot of them won't."

"The police have already shut down almost every speakeasy in the city. What can you do that they haven't?"

"These crooks are always one step ahead. By the time O'Neil gives that information to the prohibition squad, they'll be long gone. There are only two detectives in that unit, and there are dozens–if not hundreds–of bootleggers and importers, speakeasies and people just the swell who hosted that party last night. They can't keep up. But you already know where to find them." I looked steadily at Archie. Beside him, his sister clasped his hand tightly.

"What do you want to do?" Alexandra asked me.

"I want to find the evidence the police need to make an arrest. I want to these people off the street."

"I assume you have a plan, then?"

***

We spent another half hour with Archie, going over every detail of the evening. His memory was fuzzy in places, but he was able to tell me the host's name, and give the address before the nurse came and insisted we leave him alone to get some rest. "Sunday is the day of rest, even for those who haven't been ill. Out with you, now! No more visitors for today!"

Alex and I hurried out of the ward. We took a streetcar home, and went directly to the basement.

I found his notes right where I expected to, at the end of the long work table. There were still two more bottles to test before Daddy sent the results to the police station.

"What are you looking for?" Alex asked, peering over my shoulder. She wrinkled her nose; chemistry was not her strong suit.

"I want to see which of these is the most toxic." I flipped through the lists of chemicals and the detailed notations on the tests used to determine the ratios. "Here. This one." All of the bottles were toxic, but one had been cut with straight industrial alcohol, rather than alcohol redistilled to remove the hazardous chemicals the government required manufacturers to add. In essence, they made a poison more poisonous in the hope people would stop trying to drink it. It was a highly ineffective plan, now that the main sources of alcohol were either industrial or homemade.

I reached into the crate, pulling out the bottle with the number one label: Hudson Castle Whiskey.

"You think that's the one? But where did it come from?" Alexandra asked.

"These all came from the raid Thursday night. If my hunch is right, then the police were trying to track this bottle to its source."

"If they've gotten as far as the gin joint that sold it, what makes you think they won't find the person who made it in the first place?"

"They might. But I think we can do it faster." I put the bottle back in the box, arranging the notes and samples just as we'd found it.

Elizabeth's voice at the top of the stairs made us both look up. "Oh, there you are. I thought I heard you come home. What's going on?"

Alexandra jerked a thumb in my direction. "Detective Dru thinks she can hunt down bad guys better than the police."

For some reason, Elizabeth didn't look surprised at this revelation. "Oh?"

Alex picked up the bottle again, studying it thoughtfully. "Everyone knows the police are overstretched. Half of them are dirty. They're never going to find the people responsible for this hooch. I think Dru is right."

Elizabeth stared at us like we'd gone completely off our nut. Maybe we had. I certainly wasn't expecting Alex to show her support. Still, I couldn't help but smile.

I looked at Elizabeth. "I understand if you don't want to help. But please, don't tell anyone. At least, not yet?"

Slowly, she nodded. "I understand. I won't tell, not unless I think you're in real danger. I know the police won't help. Mrs. Faust, she's one of the good ones, but cops like her are few and far between. Especially with people like me. I won't help, but I won't say nuthin', either."

I threw my arm around her neck. "Thank you."

"Now, how do you plan on doing this? How are you going to get into that swell's house?"