ask questions, and she could find out why she’d been lied to for so long. Why had her father done it? Her mother would know his story. How many more lies of omission were there for Thalia to discover?
Thalia looked at the name on the envelope. CUTLER. “My father was still alive when this was printed. What was your husband going to do with this?”
Mrs. Von Faber shrugged. “I don’t know. I have no idea what Johan’s intentions were. But he did like to have influence. He liked to know secrets.”
Thalia’s father might not have known about her mother’s remarriage, but his story of her death was false. What about her baby brother? What had become of the infant?
So many lies. Had Nutall known any of this? Thalia considered the possibility but made herself dismiss it.
Mrs. Von Faber went on reminiscing. “I don’t think Johan ever asked for money outright. He asked for favors instead. When he needed something from someone, he would let them know what he knew. He made it clear what would happen if they didn’t do as he wished. Always, when he asked someone for a favor, they granted it.”
In other words, blackmail. Thalia thought hard. Perhaps Von Faber had kept this image of her mother to use against her father? Or against her mother? Her mother had committed bigamy. She had married a Trader in San Francisco years after she’d married Jack Cutler. Could that knowledge possibly have been used to extract anything from her father?
Favors. Belatedly, Thalia remembered the Cadwallader Syndicate. “The noncompete clause.”
“Such a fuss over that.” Mrs. Von Faber stirred more cream and sugar into her coffee. “I don’t understand contract law.”
“Cornelius Cadwallader,” said Thalia. “Was that name on one of the envelopes?”
“I called on him at his home first thing this morning. The look on his face.” When she smiled, Mrs. Von Faber looked like a big Dresden doll. “He thought I was like Johan until I explained things to him.”
“You mean he thought you were going to go on blackmailing him.”
Mrs. Von Faber’s soft chuckle had a faint undertone of scorn. “As if I needed anything from him. Johan left me and the children well provided for. No, Mr. Cadwallader didn’t understand me properly until I moved to put his envelope on the fire. Then he stopped me. Never saw a man jump so fast.”
“Do you know what was in his envelope?”
“Yes.” Mrs. Von Faber gave Thalia a sharp look. “Of course I know. I opened it. I also know that it is no one’s business but his. But I’ll tell you this. He was glad to get it back.”
With a contented sigh, Mrs. Von Faber put her empty cup down on its saucer and brushed crumbs away. “Do as you please with that. I must be on my way. Four envelopes to go. People may not be glad to see me come, but I so enjoy how happy I make them when I go.”
Thalia put the sheet of newspaper aside to escort Mrs. Von Faber out. She too was happy to see the woman go. Her thoughts were racing, repeating the same points again and again.
Her mother might truly be dead now, but in 1896, she had been alive and living in San Francisco. Her mother’s maiden name meant there was no possibility of a mix-up in images at the newspaper. Nor could it be some chance resemblance between her mother and another woman.
In 1896, Thalia’s mother had been alive. The announcement had said nothing about children. If her father had lied about her mother’s death, had he lied about her baby brother too? Was her mother still alive? Was she living in a big house on Nob Hill with her husband and her son?
Anger began to tinge the shock Thalia felt, but it was a good kind of anger. It spurred her on.
Thalia’s stunned wonder began to give way to determination. She had telegrams to send. She had letters to write. She would go to California herself. She would go to San Francisco. If she had to, she would walk to Nob Hill.
But she wouldn’t have to walk, Thalia reminded herself. She would have Mrs. Von Faber’s reward money to pay her expenses. Her first letter would be to the Dakota to apply for letters of transit on the cross-continental train.
She had lost her father. She had lost her mother, yet there was a chance she could find her again. She might even find she had a younger