Let's Play Dead

by Sheila Connolly

  “I already looked everywhere I thought she might be.”

  “Do you have security cameras?”

  Arabella laughed without humor. “No, of course not. No money, and no real need. What’s to steal?”

  I was running out of ideas. “Does she have any medical problems? Fainting spells? Blackouts? A drinking problem? Anybody?” I looked around our small group. “Jason? Does she take any medications?”

  “Vitamins. Allergy pills. And she sometimes has a glass or two of wine in the evening when she gets home, but I’ve never seen her get drunk.” He was looking at Arabella rather than me as he spoke.

  “Excuse me,” Eric broke in. I think we had all forgotten he was there again. “Was she on any medication when she was at school? Because I seem to remember something…”

  Arabella shut her eyes for a moment. “She’s going to hate me for this,” she said, almost to herself. Then she looked around at all of us. “Caitlin has Asperger’s syndrome, a mild form. She doesn’t like to talk about it-but you know, right, Jason?”

  He nodded, looking miserable. “Yes.”

  “What’s that?” Nolan asked.

  “It’s a fairly mild form of autism,” Arabella said, “and it affects mainly a person’s social interactions. It’s like they simply don’t understand what other people are thinking and feeling. So they have trouble making friends. Sometimes they focus on something to the point of obsession. They can be very invested in routines. I probably should have seen it, but I was so busy, and I suppose I didn’t want to see it. I could fool myself that she was shy or awkward. I should have wondered why she never had any friends, didn’t want to bring anyone home or go to sleepovers. I probably didn’t do her any favors by sending her the message that it was just the two of us against the world. Once we had a diagnosis, her problems made a lot more sense.”

  “She seems to function very well, Arabella,” I said. “Those years at school must have done her some good. It looks as though you made a good decision, even if it was hard on you both.”

  “Thank you, Nell. It was hard. She needed more help than any of the local schools could offer. That’s when I decided to send her to Bishop’s Gate. I did a lot of research, and Bishop’s Gate has been very successful in helping children like Caitlin function well in society. Of course, she hated me at the time, and we had some incredible fights. I’m sure Eric can fill you in on her behavior there- apparently she was a real hellion for the first six months or so. Thank goodness the school could cope with her. I know I couldn’t have.” Arabella took a breath and then went on. “We didn’t get a real diagnosis until right before she went to Bishop’s Gate. I just thought she was hard to handle, and I blamed myself. Caitlin was always a difficult child. Even as a baby, she was colicky, and she cried a lot.”

  “I remember that,” Nolan volunteered. “That was one of the reasons I couldn’t stand to hang around the house-she was always whining or screaming, early on.”

  “She outgrew that, you know,” Arabella said, a touch of anger in her voice. “But she was always a handful. She challenged me, all the time. It’s like the terrible twos went on for years. Her standard response to everything was no! first, then why? She resisted everything I said. I was always the bad guy, the disciplinarian. She adored Nolan-she was always a daddy’s girl. Looking back, I guess I’d have to say he was one of her fixations. And then he left. Maybe you thought you were only leaving me, Nolan, but Caitlin took it a whole lot harder than I did. And it took me far too long to see that there was something really wrong, not just acting out. Nolan left, and I had no money. I had to find a way to support myself and my child, and that meant I had to work long hours, take classes to improve my credentials. The city schools weren’t good, so I sent her to a local private school, the best I could afford. She was a scholarship kid, but even so, money was tight. Which meant I had to keep saying no to her, because there were too many things we simply couldn’t afford. I was lucky to hang on to the house through it all.”

  “I’m sorry, luv,” Nolan said quietly. “I didn’t know. Not that I could have helped you much-I was pretty strapped myself.”

  “Well, as you can see, we managed,” Arabella said bitterly. “But Caitlin was harder and harder to handle, and puberty only made it worse. Then her school stepped in and insisted that I get her psychological testing, and that’s when we found out about the Asperger’s.”

  “She’s really all right now, Arabella,” Jason volunteered. “I mean, even with all the stress she’s been under-moving in with me last summer, working full-time, putting together this exhibit-she’s kept it together. Even when I was shocked, she was there with me all the way.”

  “Maybe that was the final straw?” Arabella said sadly. The phone on her desk rang, and she snatched it up. “Caitlin? Is that you?” She nodded at us all to indicate that it was her daughter, listened intently for a moment before saying, “Okay, I will,” and then replaced the receiver. She looked up, different emotions fighting in her expression.

  “Caitlin’s at Hadley Eastman’s, of all places. She says I have to come out there, right now-she wouldn’t explain.”

  “Did she say anything else?” I asked.

  Arabella shook her head, bewildered. “No, she just said to get there as soon as possible.”

  “How did she sound?” I asked.

  “Really worked up-all her words were rushing together. So, now what?”

  “Go to Hadley’s. Do you know where she lives?”

  Arabella started rummaging through the stacks of papers on her desk. “I know I’ve got it here somewhere-she insists on sending me letters, all the time… Ah, here it is. Someplace in Gladwyne. That’s your territory, Nell. Will you drive? Please? I’m too upset to handle driving in this weather right now.”

  I knew of Gladwyne-it wasn’t far from my own town of Bryn Mawr. However, it was in another category altogether when it came to status; I couldn’t afford a doghouse in that neighborhood. Hadley must have done well for herself with the Harriet the Hedgehog books. “Okay, I suppose. Luckily I drove to work today,” I said.

  “I’m coming, too,” Nolan announced.

  “We don’t need you there,” Arabella began, but Nolan cut her off.

  “You’ve complained that I haven’t been part of her life. Well, that can change, beginning now. Tell me, Bella-do you think everything’s all right with our daughter?”

  They exchanged a long silent look before Arabella finally answered. “I… don’t know. I think… maybe something’s wrong. And I have no idea why she’d have gone to Hadley’s, now of all times. Nell, maybe we should have a man along?”

  To do what, beat up Hadley? But I wasn’t going to argue. “Fine. Nolan, you can come. Jason, how about you?”

  “Of course I’m coming. I love Caitlin, and I’m as worried about her as anyone here.”

  “All right, it’s the four of us.” I stood up, relieved to have something concrete to do. “I’m going to go get my car, and I’ll come by and pick you up. Half an hour, maybe. Arabella, you look up the directions to Hadley’s house. Eric, let’s go.” I turned and left before anyone could argue with me, with Eric trailing behind.

  Back on the street we walked at a fast clip. “Okay, Eric-what the hell was going on in there?”

  “Nell, the more I think about it, the more I recall there having always been something a little off about Caitlin. Maybe the Asperger’s explains it-nobody ever mentioned that. I don’t know. But you can find out what’s going on.”

  “That’s my plan. It’s probably all totally innocent-maybe Caitlin had some last-minute brilliant idea for the exhibit, and she wanted to clear it with Hadley. Or vice versa. She’s an adult, and she doesn’t have to check in with her mom every time she blows her nose. I have to assume that she thought whatever it was, was important, to go haring off to the suburbs like this. The best way to find out what Caitlin’s up to is to ask her.”

  We reached the Society in a record fifteen minutes. “Er
ic, you can hold the fort while I go take care of this. I probably won’t make it back to the office today.”

  “Will do. But let me know what happens, if you can.”

  “Just as soon as I figure it out myself,” I promised.

  CHAPTER 28

  I really wasn’t happy making this trip. I still wasn’t convinced that there was any real problem here; that Caitlin hadn’t just gotten caught up in some new excitement about the exhibit and not bothered to tell anyone where she was. Why she wanted Arabella to meet her at Hadley’s was an open question, but chances were still good that it was legitimately work related.

  But even Arabella thought there was something odd about the situation, and I didn’t like what I was hearing. Caitlin had been a troubled girl, although to all appearances she had moved past that. But maybe the stresses of her recent responsibilities for the exhibit, coupled with the unfortunate accident, had triggered something?

  The weather had definitely taken a turn for the worse. It was already dark, even though it was barely five, and the temperature was dropping. I had to scrape a thin layer of ice off my windshield. The same ice coated the streets, although the early rush hour traffic wore it away quickly. I was pretty sure that the ice would be worse outside of the city. I hated driving in winter.

  I arrived at Let’s Play without mishap. When I pulled up at the front door, Arabella, Nolan, and Jason were waiting just inside and hurried out quickly. Nolan opened the front door for Arabella, then climbed into my rather messy backseat. I pointed us toward Gladwyne. Unfortunately the most direct route required taking the Schuylkill Expressway, known affectionately as the Surekill. Predictably, some idiot, or maybe several idiots, had tried to drive as though there wasn’t any ice, and managed to slam into each other, blocking all but one lane. The flashing lights of the police cruisers and the multiple tow trucks reflected off the wet surfaces-further distracting and slowing the other impatient drivers. Worse, the wind had picked up, blowing the icy rain sideways, and straight into my windshield. I should have had the brains to check the weather report this morning before I’d decided to drive into the city, but it was too late now.

  There was no alternate route. We just had to wait it out, a slow and slippery mile at a time. “Why don’t you try Caitlin again, Arabella?”

  “I have been, every five minutes. The phone goes straight to voice mail.”

  “Have you or Caitlin ever been to Hadley’s house before?” I tried to picture the three of them socializing and failed, but I held out some hope that Arabella might be able to navigate the lanes of Gladwyne.

  No such luck. “No, Hadley’s always come into the city. We aren’t exactly friends, you know. Just between us, that lady is a royal pain in the ass,” Arabella said. Nolan snorted from the backseat.

  Traffic inched forward again. Particles of sleet slid down my windshield, driven by the wind.

  Arabella started talking softly. “I was so happy when Caitlin told me she wanted to work for me-there was a job opening at Let’s Play, and I truly believed she could handle it. She’d been doing so well, at Bishop’s Gate, and then at college. She could have found a job somewhere else-she has the skills-but I was so pleased when she came to me, I guess I didn’t ask too many questions. I thought maybe we could move past the early problems and maybe even be friends, if that’s possible for a mother and daughter.”

  “And it’s been, what-two years now?”

  “Going on three,” Arabella said proudly. “It may sound horrible of me, but her Asperger’s is actually an asset. She doesn’t usually have to work with people, but she’s very good with organizing things and following through. She’s terrific at keeping track of details. I had no qualms about letting her manage the exhibit process. I’m proud of her. Of course I kept an eye on her, but I didn’t interfere, and everything has gone smoothly.”

  “I know she’s been really happy there,” Jason volunteered from the backseat, “especially since she’s been working on this exhibit.”

  Arabella turned in her seat to look at him. “Thank you, Jason. I’m glad to hear that.”

  “What about handling Hadley?” I asked.

  Arabella gave a grim laugh. “After I’d met Hadley, I realized that nobody could manage her-people skills were irrelevant. Hadley is so absorbed in Hadley that she wouldn’t notice anyway. So, to the best of my knowledge, Caitlin had no problem dealing with her. At least, Hadley never complained, and I’m sure she would have if she could have found a reason.”

  We all fell silent; the others were lost in their thoughts, and I was using all my attention to focus on the increasingly slippery road. After inching along at a snail’s pace for half an hour, the Gladwyne exit was finally approaching. I turned with a sigh of relief-and promptly slid down the ramp, managing to stop at the stop sign at the bottom of the slope only by pumping my brakes carefully for half its length. Luckily there were few other cars taking this exit, and few on the street in front of us. “Which way now?”

  “Oh, that’s right-I have the instructions.” Arabella fished in her purse and pulled out a sheet of paper, squinting to read it. “Left, I think. Yes, left.”

  I turned left, fishtailing only slightly. The two-lane road was poorly lit and slippery. “How far?” I asked, wrestling with the wheel and moving no faster than twenty miles an hour.

  “It looks like two miles, and then you’ll turn right.”

  It was definitely white-knuckle driving. We passed a road sign that showed a horse and rider, another clue that this was an upscale community. Probably a horse would be moving faster than I was at the moment. Still, I was in no hurry, and I saw no need to risk life and limb in order to find out what beef Hadley and Caitlin were hashing out.

  The turn loomed on the right, and I slid into it, past a “Dead End” sign. If anything, the new road we were on was narrower and darker than the one we’d left, flanked by looming old-growth trees tossing in the wind. “How much farther?”

  “About a half mile. The house should be on the right, if these instructions are accurate. The number’s 78.”

  We crept along, peering through the bleared windows, looking at mailboxes and, in some cases, massive pillars flanking a drive. The houses were set back from the street, and based on the number of windows I could make out through the gloom, substantial in size. Nice neighborhood, or it would be if I could see it, but I was too busy trying to avoid hitting a tree.

  “There!” Arabella pointed toward a mailbox. I pulled into the winding driveway-slick as glass-and crept along it until we reached what seemed to be the front of the house. From the look of it, every light in the place was on. There were two cars parked along the driveway. “That’s Caitlin’s,” Arabella said, pointing.

  I parked behind it, turned off the motor, and sighed in relief. We’d made it this far. How we’d get back again, I refused to contemplate. Maybe Hadley would put us all up for the night. I had to suppress a hysterical giggle at that thought; I was pretty sure that Hadley would not be a willing hostess.

  I carefully turned off the lights and removed the key. “Well, let’s go see what’s going on.”

  We formed a rather shaky procession toward the door. No one had sanded the front steps-handsome slabs of stone, now coated with a thin, glistening sheet of ice. At least the front light was on, so we could see where to put our feet. Arabella and I inched up, each of us clinging to a rail on either side of the steps. Nolan and Jason brought up the rear. When we reached the top, Arabella pushed the doorbell, and somewhere inside the house we could hear a pompous bong-bong-bong echoing.

  Arabella and I exchanged glances, and then she pounded on the door. “Hadley? Caitlin? Anybody home?”

  “It’s open,” Caitlin answered from somewhere deep in the house. “We’re in the living room.”

  I let Arabella go first. After all, this was her daughter and her problem; I was just the chauffeur. Nolan and Jason followed. We had to guess which way the living room lay-the house was long but shallow, pr
esenting an impressive front to the driveway, but with little going on behind. Ersatz Tudor, probably early 1920s, I thought, as we navigated through a surfeit of exposed dark beams and roughtextured plaster, punctuated by heavy but dim wrought-iron light fixtures. The living room proved to be at the far end on the right side. We were guided in part by a holiday tree still set up against one wall, blazing with hundreds of small white lights, shining like a beacon down the dark hallway. As we came closer, I saw what I assumed were little animal ornaments dangling from the tree. When we came even closer, I realized that they were all tiny figures from the Harriet series. Maybe it was a permanent installation. I suppressed a shiver; it was supposed to be cute, but the figures actually made it look as though the tree was infested by vermin. Dead vermin, all hanging by their little necks.

  When we reached the arched doorway to the room, I bumped into Arabella, who had stopped suddenly. I looked beyond to see Hadley and Caitlin, standing maybe five feet apart. But what was most noteworthy was that Caitlin was holding what I guessed was a Taser, not that I’d ever seen one up close before, and it was pointed at Hadley.

  Then there was a loud crack, followed several seconds later by a thud that I could feel through the soles of my feet, and all the lights went out.

  CHAPTER 29

  We all froze. The brief glimpse of Caitlin and Hadley facing off in the living room was burned on my brain, but I wasn’t sure what we were supposed to do next. It was nearly pitch dark-which meant the power failure went beyond Hadley’s house. The neighborhood? The county? It didn’t matter. Here we were, stuck in the dark.

  Arabella spoke first, her voice surprisingly calm. “Caitlin, what is going on here? What are you doing? Was that a Taser? Put it down, please!”

  “Hello, Mother,” Caitlin replied in a surprisingly cheerful voice. “You didn’t have to bring everyone-I just wanted you to come. Dad, what are you doing here? And Jason? And… Nell?”