SPOILERS!!!
Annie continues checking the books of the Potrero Woollen Mills and talking to people. She discovers that the mill has suffered some misfortunes in the last months. Then Biddy tells her that when she was keeping company to her cousin, she told her that someone had pushed her. Biddy and Annie know that they have to be cautious and be certain that what Meghan said was not under the influence of laudanum.
Biddy finds out that the person who saved her cousin from further damage is one of the Chinese men working for the mill. Annie wonders if someone started the fire on purpose to hurt the Chinese workers who were sleeping in the room above where the fire originated. And maybe Meghan was pushed because she saw something. Biddy hasn’t been able to talk to her cousin alone again, but she wants to try.
Annie visits another mill thanks to the influence of her friend, Esther Stein. In a soiree her daughter gives, Annie runs into Isobel Larkson, who she met in a previous book and whose husband owns a mill. Isobel invites her to visit the mill, and she discovers that the mill is also experiencing difficulties, and some of the mishaps happened after a competing mill wanted to buy Larkson Mills. When Annie mentions the name of the mills, William Larkson grows angry and hurls a teacup to her. Annie realises that William Larkson shows signs of dementia.
Nate is still working on the case of Ada Bateson. The law should be on her side, but Nate is worried because her brother Lyman seems to be certain that there is nothing Ada can do against him. He thinks that there may be some secret that Lyman is privy to.
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