Once he felt more himself he said, "I understand how hard it was for you to tell me your story. I promise not to put your family at risk, but the man is a criminal, a menace to society, and must be dealt with. Tell me everything you remember about what he looks like. You may not have seen his face, but maybe we can—"
Maggie interrupted him and wailed, "I already know who he is, doctor, but it's no use. No one can help because the man who has done this to my family, my sweet Sally and Lucy, is now the chief of police!"
Joe opened his mouth, but no words came out. Scott Addams was the rapist? It explained so much. The way the chief acted the night before, why none of the Clark girls had come forward about the crimes before. He thought, 'Now I know why Maggie was so upset to see Louise here caring for Lucy.'
Maggie looked like she would start crying again. Once the shock wore off a little Joe squeezed her hand to offer what comfort a married man could. "So, accusing him is tricky. But I swear, we will make him pay for his crimes against you and your family."
Dr. Gold retrieved Maggie's coat from the floor and helped her into it. "Right now, let's concentrate on Lucy. I'm going to let her sleep, then re-examine her when she wakes up. I'll call later when you and Sally can visit. It will be good for Lucy to see you and her mother. Do you realize, Maggie, you are actually Lucy's grandmother and great-grandmother to Lucy's baby? Now there's a startling thought for a woman as young as you. You're only thirty-six, isn't that right?"
Maggie didn't say a word as he ushered her out of Lucy's room, down the long corridor, and out the front door. He heaved a big sigh. It wasn't a sigh of relief, exactly, but it was a short pause in the day's events. 'Is it still only Monday morning?' he thought. 'I'm not ready to go back to my office and deal with Kate and Dan Addams. Do they have any idea that their father is accused of being the worst kind of monster? I need a place to be by myself and think.'
He walked down the hall and went into the public men's room. There were few people in the building, so he hoped he'd be alone there. It was no lie when he told Kate that this kind of tension tied his stomach in knots. He hurried into the first stall, locked the door, dropped his pants, plopped on the seat, and everything let loose.
He felt a little weak, but his head was still working. He exclaimed, "Holy shit in more ways than one." He believed every word Maggie told him. Sally and Lucy were living proof of the chief's crimes.
Anyone taking a good look at Sally would notice the manifestations of sexual abuse in everything about her. Insecurity, low self-esteem, self-destructive behavior, promiscuity. Maggie was the same until Agnes died. She's really taken over as the head of her family now that she's trying to get her granddaughter some help.
'Lucy has eating disorders and is slightly retarded. That could be the incest on top of the sexual abuse. And then there's the baby. The baby is wired to machines that breathe for it, eat for it, but no machine can see for it or hear for it or give it legs and arms. It is truly an anomaly. It could be because of the incest or Lucy's fragile condition and lack of nutrition for nine months. She barely survived, and there was nothing for the fetus to feed on. It isn't doing too well in ICU, but I'm not ready to write a death certificate just yet.'
With his bowels clear and that empty feeling helping his queasy stomach, Joe Gold left the bathroom stall, washed his hands and face, and looked in the mirror. 'Now I have guilty knowledge about Scott Addams. What do I do about that?'
Using his cell phone, he called Herb Gordon. They weren't exactly close, but Joe felt he could trust the rabbi. The Golds belonged to the rabbi's congregation, and his wife, Fanny, thought highly of the man. The rabbi seemed surprised by the call but agreed to meet him at Millie's in twenty minutes.
Now he had to figure out how to get rid of Dan and Kate.
Twelve
Sitting quietly with Dan, waiting for Dr. Gold, Kate said, "I know we should be concentrating on the mad molester, but I've got to find out who was leaving those dead things for the Father O'Reilly. Any ideas, Dan?"
Dan hesitated. "I don't know, sis. If we knew why they were left at the church would that help us find the pervert? Then again it might be useful to find out if the two are connected."
Kate said, "Let's assume the packages were left by somebody who knew Lucy was going through some strange things, even if, in the beginning, they didn't realize she was pregnant."
Dan said, "Can you believe it's only a few weeks since we found out about this whole bizarre thing? I've gone over everything, the variety of the packages and the pleading messages. Of course, we're missing something. As many times as I recite the list; gold fish bowl to the note, the only consistency is the red ribbon.
"And that's a dead end. I checked that out, and the clerk in the notions section of the department store told me that all the ribbon in town comes from the same wholesaler."
Before Dan could say more, Dr. Gold came back. Kate noticed a decided change in the man; his face looked gray, eyes hollow-looking, shoulders slumped. He was not the same vibrant, vigorous man who left the office, thirty minutes earlier.
Kate tried to keep panic out of her voice. "Dr. Gold, what's the matter? Did something happen? Is it Lucy?"
The doctor moved past her to sit at his desk. "No, no. Nothing happened. I did learn some things that turned my hair grayer, but nothing I can share. Doctor/patient stuff.
He wiped his brow with a handkerchief, tried to smile. "What's with you two?"
Kate glared at him. "That's not good enough, doctor. What happened in Lucy's room?"
"Sorry Kate. Can't do, but I would like to hear if you two have made any progress?"
Dan said, "I looked into a couple of angles but didn't come up with anything. So, c'mon, doctor. Tell us everything that happened."
He looked at them. "I assume you know about confidentiality, Kate. You're a lawyer. I'm not sure how much the two of you need to know."
They watched him wipe his brow again, even though he wasn't sweating. Kate said, "C'mon, doctor. We're already involved in this. Maggie must have told you something or you wouldn't be so shook up. If it isn't Lucy, it has to be about the perp. Do you know who he is?"
He spoke haltingly, "Yes. I suppose you both are involved. To a degree. First of all, Lucy is doing as well as can be expected. Neither Maggie nor Sally knew Lucy was pregnant. I believed Maggie when she told me so. Lucy is a scrawny kid, anyhow, and the baby was so small, a loose garment would cover any suspicion that something wasn't normal.
"Maggie did tell me something surprising. Believe this, if you can. Each time Agnes realized they were pregnant, she checked each of the girls for bruising or tearing but she never found any marks of rape or abuse. I didn't find any on Lucy, either. So, these weren't violent attacks by some brutal maniac."
Dan said, "So, should we assume they knew the guy who molested them? They didn't put up a struggle, didn't fight him off. So, were they afraid of him, or just the opposite, not afraid of him at all?"
Kate interrupted, "Wait a minute. Maybe he was holding some threat over the family. Maggie and Sally were so young when it began, he had no hold over the little girls, so Agnes threatened them because the perp threatened her."
Kate paced around the office. "Of course, and if it is the same man, he'd be in his late forties, early fifties, obviously still sexually active, and still predatory."
She stopped pacing and looked at the doctor. "Wait a minute! Maybe he isn't that sexually active. Maybe he can only get it up with little girls."
Both men watched her start pacing again, shaking her head. "I shudder to think what he did to that poor child. Isolated like that, living out in the woods, cut off from regular social give and take, Lucy probably didn't know much about sex, even though she was eleven years old."
Again she stopped pacing, and this time she looked at Dan. "I'm right. It must be some terrible threat he was holding over Agnes, and he'd kill them all if anybody told."
Dan said, "If you're right, sis, that's gotta b
e one hell of a secret, to let her children go through that kind of abuse."
They were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. The doctor said, "Come in." Mary put her head in and told them she heard Lucy crying and knew he would want to know.
Dr. Gold thanked her and told Kate and Dan he'd check and be right back.
When the door closed behind him, Kate said, "What do you think went on in Lucy's room? The man who came back into this office was not the same, self-composed physician who left."
Dan said, "I don't know. You're the one with the vivid imagination. What do you think happened?"
Kate said, "I'm pretty sure Maggie told him something important, maybe even who the guy is, but of course, he can't tell anybody."
"No shit, sis. You really think that's it? Why couldn't he tell me? I'm a cop. I could arrest the bastard. If the Clarks ID him, he'd be convicted in the blink of an eye. Maybe the doctor doesn't know that confidentiality doesn't protect a criminal from a major crime."
Kate said, "Maybe he can't because he knows the man is well protected. Whoever the guy is, he has a strangle hold on the Clark family, and can you believe it, it took this tragedy with Lucy to finally get Maggie to open up after twenty-four years."
Dan told Kate that he had this weird talk with Madge Burns. She told him that Chief Addams makes sure everybody in town knows about the wicked Clark girls, and the only one he ever had any respect for is the mother, Agnes. Chief Addams said Lucy was a slut, and besides being short in the brains department couldn't keep her legs together.
Dan had gotten mad and yelled at Madge that he knew Sally most of her life, and the Clark's had it hard enough without her spreading nasty gossip.
After Dan calmed down, and Madge promised to stop spreading gossip, he tried to pry as much information as he could from her. He said he asked Madge where the chief might be when his car was at the station and he wasn't. She said that if he wasn't at Millie's, she assumed he took Louise's car, although sometimes she saw him driving an old clunker.
When he was through with his story, Dan looked at Kate and asked her why she thought the chief had such a hard on about the Clark family. What did they do to make him so vicious?
Kate said, "Hey, Dan. Catch your breath. You're like a run-away wind-up toy."
She spoke slowly, letting the thoughts come with her words. "Maybe the chief learned something terrible from Joe Clark's past and that's why he's so pissed at the Clark family, and he's painting the children with the brush from the father. Remember, the only one he respects in that family is Agnes, or was Agnes. And we don't know what the doctor knows. If I could get Lucy to talk, it could blow the whole thing wide open, if Maggie didn't do that already."
Dan shook his head. "The doc knows something, Kate. If he knows the whole story, why didn't he tell us? This confidentiality thing is a bunch of crap. If there's a child abuser running wild in Oakton, what's he waiting for? The law requires him to expose the guy."
Dr. Gold came in. "Lucy is awake. I don't think she knows where she is or that she had a baby. I say that because she didn't ask to see it, which most new mothers do."
Looking at Kate he asked, "Do you think Lucy might open up to you? If she recognizes you, she might remember that you were Sally's friend."
Kate was cautious, unsure of herself. "Listen, Dr. Gold, if you know the whole story, you can't keep it to yourself. Dan's a cop. If there's a child molester in Oakton, he can arrest the perp immediately. What are you waiting for?"
He said, "I did learn some things from Maggie, but her story was so off the wall, I need Lucy to confirm. Dan can't arrest anybody until we're sure who we're talking about."
The doctor leafed through some charts. "Lucy is in pretty good shape, but she needs food to regain her strength. That's where you come in, Kate. I'll have Millie bring over a good breakfast."
Dan interrupted, suggesting the doctor ask Millie to get a hold of a small stuffed animal to put on the tray, maybe a dog, because there was no dog left behind St. Timothy's.
After speed dialing the order, the doctor opened a drawer in his desk and took out a toy terrier. He wound it up and they watched it yip, yip, flip over, and then do it again.
Dan laughed and said, "That'll do it. Got any more of those stashed away?"
The doctor smiled, reached down, and pulled out another toy dog. He wound it up, and the three of them watched it bark twice then flip over.
He said, "I love these little guys. I use them to relax. Someday I'll show you my collection. But now, I'm going back to see Lucy and evaluate her mental alertness."
A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Kate opened it. There was Millie with trays and containers of food. Dan told her it was for a patient. He put the toy dog on the tray saying he was hungry enough to finish off the food and eat the little dog, too.
Millie laughed, Kate and Dan joined in, and the tension roared out of the room and even caught Dr. Gold coming down the hall. His manner changed to a broad grin from the gray, dour look from earlier. He checked the food, thanked Millie, and ushered her out of his office.
Kate said, "You open the door, so Lucy sees you first, and I'll follow you with the tray of food."
Opening the door to Lucy's room, the doctor was pleasantly surprised to see her sitting up in bed, her face washed, and wearing a clean nightie. Mary had done a fine job cleaning her up.
"Well, good morning again, Lucy." He held the door open and Kate followed him in.
"I have a double surprise for you, a wonderful breakfast, and Kate Addams to help you."
Lucy didn't smile, but didn't panic, either. The doctor stepped aside and wheeled the hospital cart next to the bed.
Kate put the tray down and smiled. She looked around and saw that Lucy had the only bed in a large room set up for two patients. A chill went through her, looking around at the bare white walls, the gray mottled linoleum floor, snow covered branches over snow on the ground outside the large window.
She closed the window curtains and concentrating on Lucy. "I hope you're ready for some good food. Do you remember me? I'm a friend of Sally's. I used to come to your house, and you would climb up on my lap, and we would play patty-cake."
Lucy looked at Kate with no sign of recognition. Kate went on, "I'd like to sit with you while you eat breakfast. Okay?"
Lucy seemed to think that over and nodded. Kate pulled over a chair and sat next to the bed. Dr. Gold pushed a lever, lowering the bed so Lucy and Kate were at the same height.
The food looked pretty good to Kate, but how did it look to Lucy? They got their answer in a co from Lucy. Lucy watched Kate pour syrup that oozed down the sides of the short stack, then she caught sight of the little dog. "Is that for me?"
Lucy reached for the dog, hugged it, then reached for the glass on the tray, and slowly drank the cold milk. "Mmm. That was good. More, please."
The doctor took it and said he'd be right back with more, and in the meantime, she should dig into those pancakes while they were hot.
When Lucy had trouble cutting through the stack, Kate took the knife and cut manageable pieces. Lucy smiled and chewed each bite slowly. "It's good," Lucy mumbled.
The doctor returned and handed Lucy another glass of cold milk. She smiled shyly, thanked him, and he left. Lucy sipped the milk this time, then put the glass on the tray and went on eating pancakes. After eating only half of the three pancakes, she put her hands on her stomach and said, "I'm full." She drained the last of the milk, leaving a white moustache behind. Kate dampened a napkin at the sink in the small private bathroom and wiped the sticky syrup from Lucy's face and hands.
Lucy yawned, then snuggled down in bed, hugged the toy dog, and closed her eyes.
Kate tiptoed out with the tray and went back to Dr. Gold's office. Dan and the doctor were still watching a toy terrier go through its antics; yip yip, flip over; yip yip, flip over until it ran down. "Well, look at you two," she said. "Having fun?"
"You bet." Dan didn'
t take his eyes off the little dog. "How's our little girl?"
He sat back in his chair to listen.
Kate told him how Lucy went at the milk like somebody stranded in a desert, and she went at the pancakes the same way. She slowed down and ate only half of what was on the plate, and now she was sound asleep.
Kate turned to Dr. Gold. "How long do you think she'll sleep? I'll wait here all day if I have to. I must talk to that kid and find out if she knows her molester."
The doctor said, "I have no way of knowing. Mary goes off at four, but any nurse at the desk will hear noise from Lucy's room, and Lucy will probably be hungry again. Remember, not only is she undernourished but she went through a difficult labor Sunday. My God! Was it only yesterday?"
Kate said, "I'll take her a muffin and some more milk. She has the little dog in her arms. That was a good idea, Dan. Little girls like something to cuddle in their sleep. I remember that."
The doctor cautioned her to go slow. He suggested that going in short steps might work, unless Lucy was so traumatized that she locked the past out of her mind. Kate agreed, and Dr. Gold stood up, looked into his medical bag, snapped it shut, went to the door, and told them he had to make a house call and would see them later.
Dan said he would go home and look after their mother while Kate stayed with Lucy. She sat in one of the guest chairs, put her feet up, and closed her eyes for a bit. Things would get busy for her once Lucy stirred.
Millie greeted Dr. Gold as he rushed past her to join Rabbi Gordon in a booth at the back of her diner. He hung up his coat, apologized for being late, plopped into the seat, and poured a cup of coffee from the carafe on the table.
The rabbi smiled at him. "Well, Dr. Gold, here I am, as requested. What's so urgent that I had to abandon a poor Bar Mitzvah boy rehearsing his portion for next Saturday?"
The doctor wiped his brow. "I know we are both bound by strict rules of confidentiality, but we're both trying to help Lucy Clark. I know you care about what happens to her. And I know you had a long talk with Louise last night."
Chief Among Sinners Page 14
