Shadows of Lancaster County

by Mindy Starns Clark

  Located just a few blocks from downtown Dreiheit, the building sat back from the road and was flanked on one side by an insurance company and the other by an auto repair shop. I pulled into the half empty parking lot and went in through the main entrance. At the reception desk in the lobby, I asked for the office manager but was told she was already gone for the day. I then asked for Dr. Updyke but was told that he would be leaving soon and wouldn’t have time to see me.

  “Is there anyone in authority here I could speak with?” I asked, my voice catching the attention of another woman who was walking past. She hesitated, turning to look at me.

  “I’m sorry. You’ll have to come back tomorrow,” the receptionist said.

  Behind her, the other woman gave me a pointed look and gestured with her head toward the door.

  “Okay, then. I’ll do that,” I replied, turning to go out the way I had come in.

  Outside, I sat in my car and watched the building until that other woman emerged from a side door, bundled up in a coat. Again, she caught my eye, and then she started walking toward the auto repair shop. I waited a beat before getting out of the car and following her.

  “It was the hair,” she said when I caught up with her. “I didn’t recognize you at first because of the hair. How are you doing, Annalise?” At my questioning expression she added, “You probably don’t remember me, but I worked the front desk back when your brother was just an intern here.”

  “Oh, right,” I said, the memory vaguely coming back to me.

  “I guess that’s why you’ve come? To ask about your brother’s suspension? Rumor has it Lydia didn’t even know.”

  “What can you tell me about it?”

  A few snowflakes started to fall as we walked toward the end of the block. She explained that Bobby’s suspension had come as a shock to everyone. Prior to that, he had been a model employee, never in a bit of trouble, and extremely popular with both the doctors and the staff. She said they weren’t told what happened or why he had been suspended, only that the word had come down from Dr. Updyke himself, and it seemed to be over some issue between the two of them.

  “Does Bobby work closely with the doctor?” I asked. I knew he liked the man and respected his work, but my impression was that Bobby’s job was primarily done with patients.

  “Not really. Bobby handles all the blood draws, both inpatient and outpatient, so his work usually keeps him in the small front lab or on the road. Still, he and the doctor have what I guess you would call a friendship. Bobby likes to pick his brain, talk medicine and research and all that stuff. I have no idea what happened, but from what I understand he’s supposed to come back to work on Monday. Of course, now that he is missing, I guess that’s not likely to happen.”

  “What’s the gossip about his suspension?”

  “People are saying everything from an OSHA violation to a problem with paperwork. Personally, the only thing I can think of that might have landed him in this much trouble would be some sort of mix-up with the blood samples. It’s anybody’s guess really, and Dr. Updyke isn’t talking.”

  We reached the corner at the end of the block, and my companion turned around and began walking back toward the office. I knew I didn’t have much time left to ask all the questions running through my mind. Before I could think of what to ask next, she spoke.

  “How’s Lydia?” They said she called here today looking for him, and that was the first she had heard of it.”

  Rather than give her an answer, I responded with another question.

  “Would it have been unusual for him not to tell her something like that?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Have you ever sensed that Bobby was the kind of person to keep secrets from Lydia?” Thinking of the mystery person who made the ATM withdrawal in Las Vegas, what I really wanted to know was if she thought he could have been having an affair. I didn’t want to plant that idea in her head, however, so I didn’t ask my questions outright.

  “Are you kidding? Honey, that man is the perfect husband. He was probably just too embarrassed to tell her, not to mention he didn’t want her to worry about the lack of a paycheck.”

  “That makes sense.”

  As we neared the parking lot she hesitated, pointing to a black Cadillac that was pulling around from the back of the building. “That’s Dr. Updyke. I’d better go. I don’t want to get in trouble.”

  Before the car had even made it halfway to the front of the building, she was off, trotting toward the door and out of sight.

  As the car slowly approached, I moved directly into its path, waving both hands in front of me until it pulled to a stop. Rather than step around to the driver’s side, I went to the passenger’s side and knocked on the window. I was determined to have this conversation no matter what it took.

  “May I help you?” the man inside asked after lowering the window.

  Quickly, I reached a hand in, flipped up the lock, and opened the door. Before he could stop me, I was sitting beside him, holding out my hand for a shake.

  “Anna Jensen, sir. Bobby’s sister. I need to talk to you right away.”

  “Apparently.”

  “I’m sorry to be so pushy, but the situation is kind of desperate.”

  “Well, I desperately have to pick up my son from swim practice in exactly ten minutes. But you’re welcome to ride along. I can drop you back here after we get him.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I said, buckling my seat belt. As he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road, he asked if this had to do with Bobby’s suspension.

  “Yes, sir. I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but two nights ago Bobby disappeared. I’m trying to find him, and I’m hoping you can tell me a little bit about what was going on with him here at work. That might give me some idea of where he may have gone.”

  Dr. Updyke ran a hand over his wavy salt-and-pepper hair. I could tell he was carefully forming the words of his reply.

  “I’m afraid the nature of his suspension is confidential, but I assure you it had nothing to do with his disappearance.”

  He turned onto the main road and headed toward the high school. More snowflakes were falling now, and I couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the landscape. As we passed houses and farms, I fell into the old habit of looking for power lines and curtains, the two telltale signs for whether or not an Amish family lived there. If a home had neither—especially if there were dark green blinds or shades in the windows—then it was a good guess that the home was an Amish one.

  “Dr. Updyke, may I be frank?”

  “You already hijacked my car. I think frankness is a given.”

  “I know that a lot of high-level, top secret research goes on at the WIRE. Is there any chance that Bobby could have been abducted because of something he was involved with at work? By any chance was he working on some project that would have endangered him that way?” I was only thinking out loud, but considering the high stakes of cutting-edge medicine, I thought it might be an avenue worth pursuing.

  “I think you’ve seen too many movies, Ms. Jensen. It’s true that we have a state-of-the-art laboratory, and we are involved in some very exciting research, but trust me, none of us is in danger because of it.”

  “There’s a lot of money to be made in the field of DNA.”

  “There will be one day,” he replied. “For now, primarily, it’s still a big puzzle we’re all trying to figure out.”

  I asked about the general nature of their work, and though he didn’t give specifics, Dr. Updyke did a pretty thorough job of explaining the goals of the lab and the possibilities that existed in the future both for Wynn industries and in the field of DNA research in general. By the time we reached the high school, I could see why Bobby was so fascinated by this man. When I was a teenager, I considered him as nothing more than a science geek; now, as an adult, though I didn’t understand everything he was saying, I was still impressed with the clarity of his goals and the compassion wi
th which he described the more successful results.

  As we pulled to a stop near the flagpole, a young man broke away from a huddle of teenagers and ran to the car, his breath making steam in the cold air. He opened the door to the backseat, tossed in his backpack, and plopped himself heavily inside, slamming the door.

  “Hey, Pops, I got a one ten on the hundred meter breast!”

  Dr. Updyke surprised me by swinging his arm over the back of the seat. I thought he was going to slap his son, but instead their hands met in a loud high five.

  “That’s great, son. If you can repeat that on Saturday, you’ll be in good shape.”

  “That’s what Coach said.”

  With a nod to me, and not a hint of curiosity about who I was or why I was there, the boy pulled a pair of earbuds out of his front pocket, stuck them in his ears, and turned on an iPod. Smiling, I glanced at his father, who winked at me, beaming with parental pride.

  “Sorry. I guess we need to teach Michael Phelps here a few manners.”

  “That’s okay. I was his age once myself.”

  “Oh, I remember,” the doctor said as he turned out of the high school and headed back up the road we had come down. “I think you were, what, seventeen when we met? At the lab, we used to call you and Haley Wynn the Giggle Twins.”

  His mention of Haley made me think of Doug.

  “Dr. Updyke, do you think there could be any connection between Bobby’s disappearance and Doug Brown’s death?”

  “I’m sure I wouldn’t know. Given their connection, I suppose it’s possible.”

  “Connection…of working for different branches of the same company? Of both having been in the Dreiheit Five?”

  He shrugged.

  “I just meant their connection of friendship. Who knows what might have happened to either of them?”

  “I might be able to figure it out if you would tell me why Bobby was suspended.”

  “No can do,” he said firmly.

  We rode along uncomfortably for a minute until he turned off the main road and drove slowly up the block toward the lab. The snow was starting to stick now, and this less-traveled road had already turned a grayish-white.

  “At the very least, can you describe the nature of Bobby’s offense?”

  “Sorry.”

  “Look, I can either get the truth from you, or I’ll just have to check out all the rumors about it that are floating around the office. Your choice.”

  Dr. Updyke put on his blinker and turned into the parking lot, which held only a few cars at this point. Now that the sun had dipped below the horizon, the entire scene felt rather creepy.

  We pulled to a stop directly behind my rental car, but I paused before getting out, one hand on the door handle. I looked at the doctor expectantly, and finally he spoke, glancing toward his son and then lowering his voice.

  “Fine. I caught your brother trying to access restricted information. We have rules that are very well established, and policies that must be followed to the letter. He broke the rule, and so I had no choice but to enforce the policy. That’s the most I can tell you.”

  “Any idea why he was doing that?”

  The doctor hesitated, glancing again at his son, who was oblivious to our entire conversation. I thought Dr. Updyke was going to answer my question, but instead he simply shook his head.

  “I have no idea,” he said, looking me straight in the eye, and for the first time in the entire car ride, I had the distinct impression he was lying.

  I also knew, without question, that our conversation was over for now. I thanked him very much for his time, pausing just long enough to write down my name and cell phone number on a piece of paper.

  “If you get any ideas,” I said, handing him the paper, “or have any other thoughts on the subject, please don’t hesitate to call me.”

  With that, I quickly transferred from his warm luxury vehicle into my cold little rental car. I watched his taillights as he drove away, and I couldn’t help but think that the piece of paper with my phone number on it was probably going directly into the trash. He had no intention of speaking with me again.

  Making sure to lock the car doors, I started up the engine and sat there for a minute, trying to decide where to go next. Putting on the headlights, they illuminated the snow that fell between me and the ugly blond brick of the building in front of me. Looking at this place, a person would have no idea of the level of research going on inside. Despite what the good doctor had said, I had no doubt that abduction or even murder was not unheard of in high-tech industries such as DNA research. I just wished I knew more about the field in general. For the first time ever, I felt guilty for having tuned out my brother’s voice every time he went on and on about his work.

  I thought it would be helpful to speak with someone who was knowledgeable about DNA research, just to verify the things that Dr. Updyke had told me, and to get a second opinion on the possibility that Bobby’s disappearance could have had something to do with his job.

  For a moment, I thought of calling Reed Thornton down in Washington. Given that he was a medical ethicist working in the field of DNA, he could have told me everything I wanted to know. Putting the car in gear, I backed out of my parking space and headed for the main road, thinking that as much as I would have loved to hear the sound of his voice again, I knew I shouldn’t call him. I had spent so many years trying to forget him that talking to him now would be like an alcoholic with many years of sobriety suddenly tossing back a stiff drink.

  TWENTY

  Snow was falling more steadily now, and though I had hoped to get so much more done today, I didn’t want to be driving on slick roads in the dark, especially considering that I was completely out of practice. As I held on to the steering wheel with both hands, I realized I hadn’t even seen snow for seven years. Despite the reason for my being here and everything I had gone through to get here, I allowed myself a few quiet minutes to simply take in the beauty of the snowfall all around me. There was something about Lancaster County in the winter that belonged on a postcard. Maybe it was the size of the Amish farms—small by necessity because of the limitations their religion imposed on the types of farm machinery they were allowed to use. Whatever made it so quaint and picturesque, the sight of the rolling hills and rambling homes was only made more beautiful with the addition of snow.

  At least the road wasn’t very crowded, which was a good thing because I was going well below the speed limit. The headlights of the car directly behind mine were too bright, and judging from the bluish tone, likely halogen. I tilted my rearview mirror just enough to keep them from blinding me and kept going, my grip on the steering wheel firm.

  When I was about half a mile from the farm, I pulled over into a busy parking lot of a hardware store where it looked as though they were doing a brisk business with snow shovels and sidewalk salt. I had a few quick phone calls I needed to make in the privacy of my car, but I didn’t want to talk on the phone while driving.

  Sitting there in the parking lot, as well-bundled people rushed in and out of the store, I took a deep breath and dialed the number for Kiki’s cell phone. If all had gone according to plan, she would now be out of the hospital and safely ensconced at her mother’s house.

  When Kiki answered the phone, I felt a surge of emotion, a mix of guilt and sadness and relief. In turn, her voice was oddly strained, though I didn’t know whether that was a side effect of all that she had been through or whether she was upset with me.

  As we talked, it became clear it was the latter. I asked her to describe the attack from her perspective, which she did, but when I began sharing mine, she stopped me, saying that Detective Hernandez had already told her everything. She also had never heard of the Beauharnais rubies.

  “He told me a whole lot, actually,” she said, and as I waited for her to go on, the tension coming through the phone line was palpable.

  “Go ahead, Kiki. What is that you’re not saying?”

  She had me hol
d on while she shooed her mother from the room. Coming back on the line, I could hear the hurt in her voice.

  “Look, Anna, I know there’s a lot about your past I don’t know about, and that was always fine with me. I figured you had an abusive ex-husband or you testified in a big trial or something. I always figured you’d trust me enough someday to tell me what your big secret was. But now that I know you’re an ex-convict…I don’t know. I’m not sure what to think.”

  Closing my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to form the right reply.

  “First of all, it’s true I was convicted of a crime. But I was only seventeen at the time. House arrest followed by probation hardly makes me an ex-con.”

  She didn’t sound convinced, and I felt furious with Detective Hernandez for passing his prejudice along to her. The more I thought about her reaction to all of this, I felt myself growing angry. Kiki knew me. She knew my heart. Was she really willing to toss out all of that based on the malicious slurs of one person?

  “You know what?” I said finally. “I don’t want to talk about this any more. If you want the whole story, I suggest you get some copies of Time or Newsweek from August through December of 1997. Trust me, they had something about us at least once a month for that entire period.”