Read Time of Fog and Fire: A Molly Murphy Mystery (Molly Murphy Mysteries) for Free Online

have to make sure I was not wrong.”
    I took Liam across the street to his adoring aunts, and off we went. Bridie was excited and almost dragged me forward.
    “So many of the girls at school have seen moving pictures,” she said. “One of them even went over to New Jersey to Mr. Edison’s studio and saw him making a moving picture. It was so exciting, she said, with people chasing each other and cops blowing whistles.”
    I smiled at her animated little face. Now for the first time she was able to live as a normal girl with school and friends.
    We reached the theater on Broadway where the movies were being shown.
    The latest innovations in moving picture technology, said the poster. Prepare to be astounded, touched, amused. News. Comedy. Drama. Mrs. Endicott brought out her purse and paid for us, leading us into a half-dark theater in which an organ was playing. Even though the program had already been shown several times that day the house was quite full and we had to take seats near the screen, now concealed behind red velvet curtains. After a few minutes the lights dimmed. There came an expectant murmur from the audience. The organ music became louder and grander and those velvet curtains were pulled back to reveal the screen on which flickered the words: Welcome to the World of Wonder.
    The first feature was a comedy in which some clumsy and hapless policemen chased a clever thief. The audience laughed and clapped. Beside me Bridie howled with laughter. Then came a scene shot at Niagara Falls. The cameraman must have been very daring because sometimes it looked as if we were about to fall over the edge and the audience gave a collective gasp.
    Then the organ music changed to something more dramatic and the screen announced: News from Around the World. Caruso comes to California. San Francisco awaits the arrival of the world’s greatest singer. Then we were looking down from a hill at a city perched beside a great bay. We saw funny little trolley cars going up impossibly steep hills. Then we were passing mansions.
    The most prosperous city in the West waits with anticipation for the arrival of Enrico Caruso, the famous Italian tenor, said the words on the screen. He will perform at the Grand Opera House on April 17. The image changed to show an impressive building. And he will be staying at the world-renowned Palace Hotel. Now we entered a magnificent hotel with an opulent foyer. We moved to a dining room where elegantly dressed people were dining amid palm trees. A waiter crossed the screen, carrying a bucket of champagne.
    Mrs. Endicott grabbed my arm. “There,” she hissed in a whisper. “See that table in the corner. That man with the long side-whiskers lifting a glass to his lips. That is Mr. Endicott.”
    The picture was quite clear.
    “It is definitely my husband,” she said. “No doubt about it.”
    “Shhh!” someone behind us warned, tapping Mrs. Endicott on the shoulder.
    I took in the big, powerful man, well dressed and looking rather pleased with himself as he said something to his table companions.
    “That’s all I wanted to show you,” Mrs. Endicott said. She started to stand up. “We can go now. The scene will change in a moment.”
    I was about to follow her and slip out of my seat without too much disruption when Bridie tugged my sleeve. “Look,” she exclaimed. “There’s Captain Sullivan.”
    The camera had now moved from the dining room back to a rotunda area with a domed roof. Through glass doors we could see carriages and automobiles pulling up in a forecourt, disgorging smartly dressed people in evening attire.
    Will Mr. Caruso be surprised to see the sophistication and elegance that is now San Francisco? said the words across the bottom of the screen. Here money is no object and champagne flows like water. The foyer was already crowded and many people were holding up champagne glasses in a toast. Then through a gap in the crowd I caught a glimpse of him. He was standing at the