Page 24

“If I might?” Harison flipped the tails of his coat, seating himself at a small table Ezra Weeks had placed close by the bed, with paper and ink set out for writing. After going rapidly through the business of taking her oath, he asked, “Can you tell us what you recall from the evening of the twenty-second of December?”

“Levi was here with us,” Ezra said immediately.

“Mr. Weeks,” said Alexander, striving not to alienate the future builder of Eliza’s house, “we must have it in Mrs. Weeks’s own words.”

Harison nodded reassuringly. “Now, my dear lady, you were saying?”

Elizabeth Weeks glanced at her husband. “We dined with my parents.”

“Daniel Hitchcock—the lumber merchant,” Ezra interposed. Given the price of wood, it seemed likely Ezra Weeks’s father-in-law was a prosperous man.

“Levi came to us when we were drinking tea, just before candlelight. He often does. The children like to see their uncle.” Elizabeth grimaced, shifting slightly.

Harison set down his pen, asking conversationally, “How many children do you have, Mrs. Weeks?”

“Two, George and Mary Ann. There was another boy before Mary Ann, but—”

Ezra Week took his wife’s hand. “There’ll be others.”

Alexander had children of his own waiting for him. “When did Levi leave?”

Harison gave Alexander a reproachful look.

Elizabeth Weeks recalled herself with an effort. “Levi drank his tea with us—and then John McComb and his wife came in. Levi stayed for a time, but the McCombs didn’t seem to be going, so . . .”

“The house clock had just struck eight when Levi left,” said Ezra Weeks briefly. “The McCombs stayed for twenty or twenty-five minutes. I lighted them out, and by the time I returned Levi was at the table.”

“Mrs. Weeks?” Alexander tried not to grit his teeth too audibly.

“Levi came back, oh, very shortly after the McCombs left.” She exchanged a look with her husband. With the air of someone reciting a lesson, she said, “They left about twenty-five minutes after eight and Levi was back by the time Ezra returned from lighting them to the corner. He stayed with us for supper.”

“My apprentice, Demas, will say the same,” said Ezra.

Alexander had no doubt he would. “How did Levi’s appetite seem to you?”

“What does that matter?” demanded Ezra Weeks.

“He ate a hearty supper,” said Elizabeth Weeks. “He talked about the work for the next day. My love—tea—do you think—for our guests? I ought to have thought . . .”

“You’re not to get up.”

“I didn’t mean to make the tea myself. Perhaps Sally . . . ? I’m so parched. . . .”

Ezra Weeks surged toward the door. “I won’t be a moment. Don’t overexert yourself.”

Through the thin walls, they could hear him shouting for Sally. Elizabeth Weeks, Alexander thought, might look mild, but she had her own ways of managing her spouse.

“Ezra thinks the troubles brought on my illness,” she said softly. “He fears this business with Levi will make us lose the babe. Levi—Levi feels terrible to have brought this trouble upon us. Not that it’s his fault,” she added quickly, looking alarmed. “Ezra wouldn’t want you to think this was any of Levi’s making.”

Ezra, thought Alexander, had a great many strong opinions. “How did Levi seem to you that evening?”

“As ever.” Her brow wrinkled, as if thought were a great effort. “He’d cut his leg that morning—I believe it still pained him. George likes to grab him around the leg. It’s a game they have together. But other than that . . . he seemed cheerful. I think.”

“Why did he go back to the Ring house at eight?”

Elizabeth Weeks smiled weakly. “If you’re acquainted with John McComb, you know he can go on. Levi was waiting to get instructions from Ezra for the day’s work—he does that every evening—and when it looked like John would never leave he took his hat and went back to the Ring house. There’s so little space here,” she added distractedly. “Ezra means to build our house . . . but he’s in such demand, and there’s so little time.”

The city was expanding rapidly and a good builder was hard to find. All the more reason to resolve the Weeks case speedily in Levi’s favor. “Did Levi say anything about being married to Elma Sands?”