Eleven
Dan fidgeted in his chair. "Well, where to start? First, I called Frank Stevenson. His father was chief before Dad. Frank's a good guy. He even wrote a recommendation to get me into the Minneapolis Police Academy. He suggested we meet at Millie's and insisted on picking up the check.
"Frank's father knew Dad was on patrol the night Joe Clark was run down, but he couldn't figure out how Dad knew Clark was either drunk or high, staggering down the middle of Main Street.
Kate interrupted, "That doesn't make sense. If Dad was there, how come he didn't see the car that killed Joe Clark?"
"I don't know, sis. I'm only repeating what Frank told me his father told him. Now, are you going to keep interrupting or let me finish?
"Dad told Chief Stevenson that he called 911, waited for the ambulance, and by then the hit and run car was long gone and when they got to the clinic Clark was dead. Frank told me his father thought Dad might be lying about that night, but he never did confront him."
"Moving on to child abuse in Oakton. I checked all the records I could find, and the answer is nada. Either this town keeps its secrets very well, or it never happened in the twelve years Scott Addams has been chief."
Kate asked, "Were there any records of child abuse before Dad became chief?"
Dan said he asked Madge Burns where the earlier records were kept, and she said she thought they were destroyed but wasn't sure. When he asked her who the hell destroyed records, she had shrugged and said that was all she knew.
Kate said, "I'm not surprised that there are no complaints since Dad became chief. I've been home long enough this winter to realize, a lot of people in Oakton are terrified of the man, maybe even too scared to complain. But I'm more interested in the Clark family, especially Lucy."
Dr. Gold asked, "What's on your mind, Kate?"
"Doctor, if you do some DNA testing, I have a hunch you'll find that Sally, Lucy and the baby have the same DNA."
The doctor rolled his eyes and gestured with both hands, like an Italian street vendor, "DNA testing? C'mon Kate. I thought we were looking at a simple case of pedophilia, if that is ever really simple. Now you're getting my bowels in a knot, telling me some real nasty stuff has been going on, all by one lousy pervert."
Kate went on, "I expect only Maggie has Agnes and Joe Clark's DNA."
She stopped, tilted her head, and curled a lock of hair around her finger as she thought about the strange events about something off kilter.
"Think about this. Maggie looks like Agnes, but I remember Joe Clark was five-six at best. He was Hispanic, probably changed his name at some time to fit in better in Southern Minnesota. Anyhow, he had swarthy skin and black wavy hair. Maggie doesn't have an iota of Joe Clark's swarthiness, and she's a big woman, near five foot eight, like me, not slight like Agnes or Joe."
Dan said, "Wait a minute. Are you saying Agnes could have been a victim too?"
"That's possible, kiddo. Or maybe Agnes was having an affair and passed Maggie off as Joe's kid. Not a victim, a consenting adult, or even a predator herself."
Going on, Kate said, "Let's leave Maggie out of it for now. If we're talking about the same guy raping Sally and Lucy then they'd all have DNA from the rapist. We know conception had to take place nine months before birth, but we haven't a clue about when it started and how often the guy was lucky."
Dr. Gold interrupted, telling Kate this guy probably never bothered to notice breast development or pubic hair and use protection when the girls approached puberty. He wasn't smart or lucky, just getting his rocks off.
Kate said, "You're probably right, doctor."
A knock on the door drew Dr. Joe Gold's attention away from Kate's story. He excused himself to open it and saw Mary standing there, brow furrowed, lips quivering. Mary stammered, "She...she...she's here, and wants to go in. Mz. Clark wants to see Lucy."
Joe told Mary to send Ms. Clark to his office and tell Louise Addams to please, go out the back door to the parking lot. He had a feeling it would be better if Maggie Clark didn't know a stranger had been at Lucy's bedside all night, and he wanted to keep Mary busy so she didn't tell 'Mz. Clark' anything.
The doctor watched Mary scurry down the hall, and before she went into Lucy's room, he saw her point Maggie Clark toward his office. He opened the door of his office. Kate and Dan Addams looked up at him with concern. "Is everything all right, doctor?" they said in unison.
"I'm sorry, but I have to cut this short. A family member has arrived, and I have to speak with her."
Kate asked, "Is it Maggie or Sally come to see Lucy?"
Joe dodged Kate's question by saying family members had first right to hear about how a patient was doing. She, her brother, and her mother would have to wait to speculate more until after he spoke with Maggie and cleared some things up.
"Hey, Doc!"
Joe closed the door, but not all the way, as Maggie stormed down the hall in his direction. She wore a long winter coat, and her boots went up so high that they disappeared in her coat. Her blond hair was down and curled. "What's this I hear about you keeping Lucy here? I got a voicemail from the police saying she was in the hospital. Well? What happened?"
Joe held his hands up in a defensive pose as Maggie stopped close right in front of him. "Lucy is recovering from a very difficult pregnancy. I can show you to her if you'd like."
Maggie said, "Yes. Where is she?"
Joe gestured for her to follow him, and he led her down the hall. He spied Mary showing Louise to the back exit. He didn't think Maggie would notice, but she saw Louise, pointed a finger, and yelled, "What in Christ's name are you doing here, you filthy degenerate? Haven't you and your family done enough damage? Now you're even messing with my poor Lucy."
Dr. Gold stepped between them. "Calm down, Maggie. Louise is one of our dedicated clinic volunteers. She sat with Lucy during the night in case she woke up and panicked. Mary and I are grateful to her, and you should be, too."
Maggie looked past the doctor. He glanced over his shoulder to see Kate and Dan Addams now standing in the hall with them. "And there's two more. The goddamn Addams family is all over the place. Get them out of here, doctor, or I'll start screaming."
Kate frowned at Maggie Clark. "I don't know what bug you have up your ass, Maggie, but neither me, my mother, or brother have ever done anything to hurt the Clark family. So what the hell are you ranting about?"
Maggie lurched toward her.
Kate held up her hand. "You're as bad as your witch, bitch mother, you and your wild accusations. Back off." She turned to the doctor. "We'll wait in your office, Dr. Gold."
Kate took Dan's hand and pulled him back into his office to wait for him. Louise also nodded at him and quietly left the hospital. He was glad she didn't stay to antagonize Maggie or push her way back to Lucy's side. Louise Addams was a dutiful volunteer. Dr. Gold said, "I don't know what that was all about, Maggie. If you can calm yourself, your concern should be for Lucy."
He opened the door and watched Maggie rush to Lucy's bed. He closed the door behind him to give the three of them some privacy, thinking, 'If she had been that concerned last year, the poor kid wouldn't be here.'
Maggie stood over the bed and never taking her eyes off the child asked, "What's wrong with Lucy, doctor? She seems so pale. Is she really sick?"
"No, Maggie, she isn't sick. She is a very fragile twelve year old who had no prenatal care. She went through this hell all by herself, scared, and totally unaware of what was happening to her. When did you realize Lucy was pregnant?"
"Why, doctor, I never did. The child never had much appetite. She didn't get a big stomach. I didn't notice anything different."
Maggie reached down and pushed a strand of hair back from Lucy's forehead. "Her skin's clammy. That mean's she's really sick, doesn't it?"
The doctor evaded her question. "Maggie, be honest. You must have noticed some older boy or man hanging around your house. Were you dating a man who showed an unhealthy interes
t in Lucy?"
Maggie looked at him and answered in a loud, firm voice, "No, doctor. Absolutely not! I am not dating anybody. I don't care what the town gossips think about us living out by the woods. I work hard. Mother's gone, so it's me who feeds them, clothes them."
"Don't get huffy, Maggie. This isn't the first time, remember? You gave birth to Sally when you were only twelve and then...when was it Sally had Lucy?" He stared at Maggie for a moment, "Admit it, Maggie. Lucy is Sally's baby, isn't she? Twelve years ago you left town, and when you got back there was a new baby. Sally was very close to Lucy. I was suspicious then, and I'm suspicious now."
Maggie didn't answer right away. Joe watched Maggie drop her coat to the floor, revealing a snug wool sweater and short skirt, both of which showed the woman's body to great advantage. He tried not to notice, but gave a short gasp at her outrageous outfit. He saw a twisted smile on Maggie's face as she slumped into the chair next to the bed.
Lucy stirred but did not wake. Maggie reached for a tissue on the stand next to the bed, and in a traumatic transformation Maggie broke down right in front of him. Through soul-wrenching sobs, she poured out, "You're right, doctor. Sally is Lucy's mother. As for the rest... Can I trust you, doctor? You have that doctor/patient confidentiality thing, right? You can't tell anybody else what I'm about to say?"
Joe didn't comment, just shrugged.
Her tears flowed seemingly, to him, from some deep well of guilt. "Try as I could, I could not get Sally to tell me who touched her. At that age, a kid doesn't know rape. The beast hurt us then made it feel better. If it was the same man who abused me, I know why she wouldn't tell. If she did, we'd all be dead."
Maggie blew her nose and wiped her eyes. "I can't bear to think of Sally and Lucy having to go through that torture. I didn't realize what happened until I found out Sally was pregnant because I never saw the weekly envelope on the living room table."
Joe wondered, 'Weekly envelope?' but Maggie took a deep breath and said. "It started when I was six or seven, when I started school. Mother worked all day, and I got home from school around 2:30 to an empty house. I had strict instructions to stay in the house or on the porch and not wander from the front lawn. I wasn't supposed to go near the church. She hated the priest, hated all religion.
"I obeyed her orders. If I didn't, there would be hell to pay, no supper, locked in the closet. Well, one afternoon, I was sitting on the porch playing with my doll, and the doctor came to the house."
Joe interrupted, "How did you know he was a doctor? Did he walk up and say, 'I'm Doctor So And So?' Did his car have an MD license plate?"
She paused, then shook her head. "I don't remember seeing a car, but he wore a white coat, had a stethoscope around his neck, and a cap covering his hair and a face mask they wear in surgery on TV. He said hello. I asked him who he was, and he said he was the doctor, here to examine me. He said Mother told him I would be home. He came up on the porch, very friendly, and said we should go inside.
"I led him into the living room, but he took my hand and led me into the kitchen. Apparently he knew his way around the house, so I wasn't afraid. He had me take off my clothes and climb onto the kitchen table. With his stethoscope he listened to me all over. He ran his hands all over my body, then stuck a thermometer in my mouth and spread my legs. He felt around my vagina, and I told him not to hurt me.
"He rolled me onto my stomach, hurt my ass, and then he fucked me. Goddamn, it hurt. He barked at me, 'Stop crying. You're not a baby anymore.'
"When he was through, he wiped the blood off me, but some of it stuck to the table. I'd have to scrub it off before Agnes got home or she'd scream at me.
"He said I should tell Agnes I was healthy, but I daren't say anything to anybody else or he'd come back and really hurt me. On his way out he tossed an envelope on a small table in the living room, and then he was gone.
"When Sally was about six, he didn't bother me anymore, and I figured he'd found a victim someplace else. I didn't know Sally was his victim until she got pregnant. She didn't show much. She wasn't as small as Lucy, but she wasn't very big, still isn't.
"When I asked about her last period, she said she hadn't had one for a while, but she didn't remember exactly. After some prodding, she finally told me about her 'doctor.' When she told me his tricks, I realized she suffered at the hands of the same sick pervert who messed with me."
Joe said, "Tell me, Maggie, how did she describe him? Was he a doctor?"
"All I could get out of her was that he had a white coat and a mask. We were pretty innocent about female things. Agnes never told us anything, and when we started our periods we thought it was the devil making us bleed.
"When Sally started her period, the first thing she said was she hoped nobody was going to hurt her peepee again. So I knew he fucked her like he did me. I don't know if I should be telling you this, but with little Lucy so sick and Mother gone, somebody's finally got to know."
Maggie took a tissue, blew her nose, sat back, and took a deep breath. She looked straight at the doctor and went on, "As I got older, he did more things to me and made me do some really nasty things. I've had sex with a few men, but he did things I've never had the nerve to do with any other man.
"Strange as it seems, as I got older, I sort of looked forward to his weekly visits. It hurt, and I know now how perverse it was, but it was exciting, and now I know it prepared me for adult sex, which I look forward to often."
Joe had heard rumors about Maggie. Who in town hadn't? He blushed at the thought of Maggie, her short skirt, and her long legs. She must have noticed because she smiled coyly at him. "Turns you on, eh doc?"
Thankfully, she returned to her story. "Then he got into the costume thing, like nurse and doctor, priest and nun, headmaster and schoolgirl. We played dirty games, and he got more and more aggressive. I'll spare you the more sordid details, but I grew up fast. He had one hard and fast rule. He insisted that I not see his face when he was doing me from behind. He'd punch me in the head if I even tried to look."
Maggie cleared her throat and blew her nose again. "One day, he showed up as a policeman. I was his prisoner and he handcuffed me to the bed. When he was through doing whatever he wanted to me, he asked if I knew who he was. I played coy, suggesting that maybe he really was a policeman and a very good one because he knew how to hit me and do lots of other things without ever leaving a mark.
"In the beginning, he swore me to secrecy, over and over again. He threatened that if I told anybody about what went on, even hinted that he was involved, if he let us live it would be for his use and convenience. Then he would spread our name all over the county as a bunch of lying, whoring gypsies.
"When he realized I was pregnant, it really turned him on. I don't know how I or the baby survived his wicked abuse, but Sally was born nine months later, healthy in spite of him. Did you know, doctor? Sally was born only two months after his own little girl. They look so much alike. I don't think either one of them realizes they are sisters."
"His weekly visits continued. I didn't work or go back to school until it was time for Sally to start school. Sally never saw him because she would be napping when he came by. After Sally was born he started using condoms. He complained about it, but I wasn't old enough to get birth control pills without a prescription, and he couldn't take the chance of another baby. I wondered why he didn't bully the druggist for a prescription. He bullied everybody else in town. Maybe he thought the guy would ask a lot of questions that he sure as hell wasn't going to answer."
Dr. Gold stood through Maggie's whole story. Now, he sat down on the edge of Lucy's bed. Careful not to disturb the child, he reached over and put a hand on Maggie's shoulder. He felt a slight tingle in his fingers when she reached up and covered his hand with hers.
Surprised at his reaction to her touch, the doctor reminded himself to get a grip. He was a happily married man, too old for this nonsense and too smart to get mixed up with Maggie Clark, no matter how attractive
she was. He patted her shoulder, pulled his hand back, and kept the slight bulge in his lap covered with the manila folder.
"After that, he didn't come around for a while. Then it started all over again. He complained I was too old for him. I suspect he couldn't go at Sally because she was too fragile. He couldn't risk going at her until she was stronger. Every week when he left, he would toss a white envelope on the table in the living room. I never had the nerve to look in the envelope, but it was the first thing Mother picked up when she got home. She must have known somebody came and left it, but she never said a word about it. I figured, as long as the envelopes kept coming she didn't give shit about what happened when the man was at the house.
"In Sally's seventh month, Mother took us to St. Louis. She didn't want another Clark baby born out of wedlock, so she let everyone think it was mine. Oakton had enough to gossip about. I was already the Clark family tramp.
"When I knew Sally was pregnant, I checked her for signs of bruising, like Mother did me. I never questioned Lucy, because I didn't realize she was raped, too."
Maggie started to cry. She lifted her head and looked at Joe. Through her tears, she begged him to believe her.
He said, "I do believe you because Lucy is living proof of the crime."
"So, now what are you going to do, doctor? Now that you know my family's horrible secret, what in God's name are you going to do about it?"
"It's not my job to arrest anybody, Maggie. I don't have that power. My job is to do what I can for Lucy, to help her regain her health and strength."
He said, "You say you checked Sally for bruising but didn't find any clues of violent behavior by the rapist. I didn't find any signs of rape on Lucy either. The man knows about contusions and bruising and how not to leave any tell-tale signs."
When he helped Maggie from the chair, she turned and leaned against him. Joe felt her firm breasts against his chest, her legs against his, and his body reacted. He pushed her away. "You are a very attractive young woman, Maggie Clark, and one of these days, you will meet a man who will appreciate you for who you are."
Chief Among Sinners Page 13
