Bless the Bride

and tiptoed across to retrieve her tray. Then something looked strange about her and I took another look. Her eyes were open and she was staring at the ceiling. I touched her and she was cool to the touch—not quite cold, but cool. And I realized she was dead.”
    “I’m sorry,” I said. “That must have been a shock for you.”
    She nodded agreement. “I’ve worked here long enough now that I’ve seen a dead body or two, but one never gets used to it, does one?”
    “I agree,” I said. “I’ve seen quite a few dead bodies, but it’s always a shock, especially when you had grown fond of the girl and had hopes for her recovery.”
    “I don’t know about that,” she said. “One does not normally recover from consumption, but she had seemed so much brighter since the other Chinese girl arrived. Poor thing—I expect it was a shock for Bo Kei, having found a cousin only to lose her again.”
    I nodded. “She was very upset. She begged me to come and see Annie for a last time and she was emphatic about knowing where Annie will be buried so that her bones can be taken home to China one day.”
    Sarah sighed. “I don’t think we have much control over where she’ll be buried. Paupers’ graves are—well, paupers’ graves. But I’ll see what I can do. We have several resident volunteers whose families have clout in this city. Maybe we can bend the rules.”
    “You’re very kind,” I said. “Could I possibly go up and see her? Bo Kei will want to know how she looked.”
    “Of course.” Sarah turned back up the stairs. “Please follow me.”
    Up the stairs we went, one flight, then two. Annie’s body was lying covered by a sheet. I tiptoed across as if I were afraid of waking her and gently pulled back the sheet. I looked down at her, then frowned. I had expected her to look pale and translucent, the way people were always described when dying of consumption. Instead of that her face and neck had a purplish hue.
    “Was her face that color when you found her?” I asked.
    “Yes, it was. I wonder if it was the disease coming out. It’s not very pleasant, is it?”
    As I continued to stare at her, a thought was nagging at the back of my brain—something Daniel had told me once. He had mentioned skin turning purple when … the word suffocation popped into my head.
    “How was she lying when you found her?” I asked.
    “Just like this. Very peaceful, except for the purple skin and the red eyes.”
    Fighting back my abhorrence, I lifted one of her eyelids. What would normally be the white of her eye was full of little red dots. I released her eyelid and shuddered.
    “Sarah, who has been here today? Did anybody from outside go up to see her?”
    She looked puzzled. “Nobody. Nobody’s been here at all. It’s a holiday, you see. It’s been especially quiet.”
    “Who took up the breakfast tray? Was she alive then?”
    “Yes, but she was sleeping, so the worker who took up the tray let her sleep. The food hadn’t been touched, so she must have just passed away in her sleep.”
    “How many people are working in the house at present?” I asked. “Do you know them all? Can you vouch for all of them?”
    Sarah looked puzzled. “What is this all about? Why the questions?”
    I moved closer to her, glancing back at the open door. “I think she may not have died naturally. She may have been suffocated,” I said in a whisper.
    “You mean she was murdered?” Sarah put a hand to her mouth in horror.
    “I’m not sure, but I have been told that red dots on the eye are a sure sign of suffocation and she has them. Has a doctor seen her and signed her death certificate?”
    “No, not yet,” she said. “But no one in the house could have done it. I know all these people well. We were all fond of Annie. None of them would have any reason to kill her.”
    “But you said yourself that the door is always open. It would be relatively simple for an outsider to sneak in and out without being seen.”
    “I suppose so.” Then she shook her head. “Not so easy in the mornings. There is always housework going on—floors being swept, bed linens changed. Someone would have to have taken a terrible risk.”
    I went across to the window. It was open about four inches. I pushed it up and leaned out. Even the normal clatter of Elizabeth Street was subdued today. Only a few pushcarts and an ice cream vendor. From the far end of the street came the sounds of an organ grinder playing a lively Italian