Rabbi Gordon said, "You realize I can't reveal anything about Louise or anything she tells me." The rabbi sat back and folded his hands, saying, "But you're right, and I'll try to help any way I can. And, please, call me Herb."
"Well, Herb, I'm in the middle of something terrible, and I don't know how to handle it. I can hardly get the words into my frontal lobe, let alone say them to another person."
He took a deep breath. "Here goes. I know Chief Scott Addams did awful things to Lucy, and probably Sally and Maggie Clark. Sally and Lucy both look like they could be his daughters, and all three Clark girls manifest characteristics of abuse children."
Herb leaned forward. "Hold on, doctor. You know about Scott Addams? That was what Louise told me last night." Herb didn't build on the knowledge Joe had shares. Instead, he asked, "Do you remember last Halloween, when that whole business started, with the mutilated animals behind St. Timothy's?"
Joe sat back. "I remember hearing something about that, but what I remember about Halloween is Agnes Clark dying in that freak accident. Believe me, Herb, I looked at that body and that was no accident. It was murder. But I couldn't get the chief to look into it."
Rabbi Gordon went on, "Does that mean you're accusing Addams of murder as well as rape? With Sally and Maggie still at risk, number 1 priority is to have the chief arrested and get him off the streets."
"But, Herb, he's the chief. How do you arrest the chief of police? Take a good look at the man and you know he won't go quietly into that good night. That hulk will fight like the monster he is, breaking anything in his path. How do you stop a monster?"
Herb said, "Call Frank Stevenson. He's a bright young man and a good cop. He'll know what to do."
Dr. Gold started to raise his voice, then remembered where he was and whispered across the table, "But you don't understand. I have no proof. Just because Maggie Clark got hysterical and accused the man doesn't prove him guilty."
"You're a doctor. Do some DNA tests and you'll have your proof."
The doctor conceded that he had DNA from Lucy, and knew it wouldn't be hard to get Sally and Maggie's, but how would he get the chief to stand still for a swab? That's what he asked Herb.
"Sorry, but I don't. We'll have to think of something." The rabbi moved out of the booth and put on his coat. "Listen, I wasn't kidding. I have to get back to the Bar mitzvah kid. He's waiting at my place, and believe me, he'll walk if he thinks he can get away with it. I told him I'd be back in an hour and it's already way past that. Talk to Frank Stevenson so he can have somebody watching Maggie and Sally. Get their DNA and we'll figure something out later to get the chief's. At least for now it's a plan."
The doctor stood and took his coat from the hook. "Fannie was right, Herb. You are thoughtful and generous with your time."
Herb smiled at him. "You take care of that little girl, Joe. I'll see what else I can do."
Thirteen
Stiff and achy, Kate stretched, yawned, rubbed the back of her neck, and slowly opened her eyes. The room was dark except for a thin shaft of light under the door. She looked at the glowing numbers on her watch, 5:30. She wondered whether it was morning or evening, then light suddenly flooded the room. She sat up and saw a man silhouetted in the doorway. "Oh, it's you, Dr. Gold. For a minute I didn't remember where I am."
He said, "I peeked in earlier and you were sound asleep. I didn't have the heart to wake you. But now, Lucy's awake."
Kate jumped from her chair, banging her knee against the desk.
"Ouch!" she gasped, then looked at the doctor. "You look different, Dr. Gold. Who died? You look like shit. Oops! Excuse me."
He wiped a handkerchief across his face. "No one died, Kate, but I learned some things I wish I didn't know, and I can't share. Let's get back to Lucy. Before you go running down the hall, you should know Maggie and Sally were here this afternoon. I stayed in Lucy's room with them. Lucy didn't mention you, so you don't have to worry."
The doctor reported that when he opened the door to Lucy's room, Sally rushed in and grabbed the little girl in her arms, smothered her with hugs and kisses, and didn't let go the whole time they were there.
He said that Maggie, more reserved, kissed the child, and gave her a new nightie and some new toys. Lucy clung to the little dog from her breakfast tray and seemed unimpressed with new things, adding that for a child in the hospital, old favorites were usually more comforting.
Kate interrupted, "It's possible, doctor, that Lucy didn't have a nightie or much in the way of toys. It was new or nothing."
He told Kate that neither woman asked Lucy who abused her. They asked how she felt, if she loved them. They told her they loved her, but no questions like, "Who did this to you, Lucy?" or "How's the baby, Lucy?"
Several times they asked if she had any visitors, if she talked to anybody else, and when they came out of her room Sally asked him the same questions. He told Kate he lied and told Sally, "No visitors."
The doctor said Lucy went to sleep right after they left. She woke up a little while ago, and he was sure she'd be hungry, so it would be a good time for Kate to repeat her earlier performance, adding that hopefully she remembered Kate brought her food.
Kate said, "I'll do that, and then question her as gently as I can. I've got to know who did this awful thing to Lucy. I can't go back to school not knowing any more than I do now."
Excusing herself, she went into the small bathroom in the back of the doctor's office, emerging a few minutes later hair combed, face scrubbed, wearing lipstick, and looking more like her normal self except for the dark shadows under her eyes.
Dr. Gold opened his mouth as she came out. "Kate, I'm looking at you and I just realized...it's true."
Kate looked at him. "What's up, doc?" She giggled.
"Did you ever notice that, not only do you and Dan have a strong family resemblance, but Sally Clark looks a lot like you, Kate?"
Kate said, "In high school, Dan always said he felt like he had twin sisters who dealt him a double dose of teasing, scorn, and derision." Laughing, she went on, "He deserved it. He was the biggest pest ever."
"There's something else you should know, Kate. If I look strung out, it's because of a nasty incident that happened with your father. A few minutes before I came in to wake you up, he roared through here, raced down the hall and barged into Lucy's room before anyone could stop him. She was sound asleep, like I said, but I'd be surprised if she didn't wake up and notice that big, hulking figure in her room."
Kate yelled, "The man blew in here and tried to take over? That sounds like him. What happened? What did he do? What did you do?"
"Mary and I rushed at him with our security people, pulling and tugging him out of the room. He punched me, and you'll see my black eye very soon. I can feel it swelling already." He felt gently around his sore eye, then went on, "He shoved Mary against the wall, screamed a string of obscenities, yelling that he, and I quote, 'just wanted to see if the lying, little slut was still alive.' Then he warned us not to believe a word out of her mouth or her whoring family.
"While two security people were wrestling him down the hall, I threatened to call the police, and he screamed at me, 'You fucking idiot. I am the police.'
"Then I saw Frank Stevenson, baton in hand, striding toward us. He grabbed the chief by one arm, and when the chief saw the baton in Frank's raised hand, he calmed down.
"When the man stopped struggling, Frank told him he heard there was a ruckus at the clinic and rushed right over. He told the chief he'd be glad to drive him back to the station.
"The chief started to protest, but Stevenson turned the subject, telling him not to worry about his car because nobody's going to mess with the chief 's new car in the clinic parking lot. The deputy had a solid grip on the chief, thanked the security people, shook his head mumbling something about the chief not used to hard liquor, and steered him out the door."
The doctor went on, "Hey, it was scary. If you don't believe me, ask Mary. I didn't kn
ow if the man was going to do Lucy real harm, but seeing the size and feeling the strength of the man, I didn't think I could stop him."
The doctor watched the color rise in Kate's face. "I confess, Dr. Gold. That ruckus woke me up, so I poked my head out the door, rushed back in, and called Frank Stevenson. He's a damn good police officer. I must have been tired, because after I saw Frank escort Dad out, I sat down, put my feet up, and fell right back to sleep."
"Dad blew up at home a few nights ago. He never used to lose it, blow his top. Is it this business with Lucy, the mutilated animals behind the church, Agnes Clark found dead in her house, or maybe he's drinking again? He even scared Mom."
Shaking her head, willing herself back to the task at hand, Kate asked Dr. Gold if he had any special instructions before she saw Lucy.
He told Kate that while she was sleeping, Millie brought over hot chicken soup, the universal healer. Because it was hot, Kate had an excuse to sit on Lucy's bed to help.
"Any other instructions, doctor? We're anxious to find the perp and get some justice here, and Lucy has some answers, but I don't know how far to go tonight. What do you think?"
He said, "I'll go tell her that her friend Kate is bringing food and I'll see if she's capable of cognitive thought. It may be now or never. On the other hand, tomorrow she will be stronger, fresher. Hold the fort. I'll be right back."
Alone, Kate had a chance to think and gasped at the realization that if all three Clark girls were abused, raped by the same guy, it was the grossest sexual depravity, committed by someone who knew these children were all DNA related; biblically speaking, evil unto the third generation.
Before her thoughts went any deeper, the doctor came back and reported that Lucy's face lit up when he walked in. She was a happier child than before. When he told her Kate was bringing food, she smiled and said that was good because she was hungry.
Kate swept the evil thoughts out of her mind and picked up the tray. "Wish me luck." She walked down the hall to Lucy's room, pushed the door open, and backed in.
"Well, it's good to see you so bright and cheery. Are you hungry?" Kate asked. The little girl grinned and nodded. Kate put the tray down and sat on the bed. She arranged a large napkin around Lucy's neck, dipped the spoon in the soup, and fed her.
After the first sip, Lucy said, "Mmmm, I like it, and I can feed myself." She took the spoon from Kate and finished the soup.
Trying to keep the interaction going between them, Kate asked, "Is that a new toy?"
Lucy nodded. "And I have a new nightie, too."
Kate said, "It's a very pretty nightie. And you look very pretty in it. And did your Mommy give you that new toy?"
Lucy thought for a minute. "No, that was from Aunt Maggie. I don't know. I'm not sure." Tears glistened in her eyes, and Lucy started to tremble. Kate put her arms around her, and the child did not pull away.
She calmed down, and Kate said, "Now that you're through eating and you are wearing such a pretty nightie, will you let me comb your hair?"
She pushed up the mirror on the bed table and sat behind Lucy. Her hair was snarled, and Lucy yelled "ouch" more than once. Kate looked in the mirror to check the part. "Oh my God!"
Lucy looked at her, tears again, quivering in her eyes, "What's the matter, Kate? Did I do something wrong?"
"No no, my dear," Kate hugged her. "You didn't do a thing. I was just surprised. Here, you look." Kate moved the mirror so they were reflected together.
Lucy clapped her hands and laughed with delight. "You look like me," she squealed.
Kate answered, "I would love to have a little sister like you. Let me finish with your hair and we'll take another look."
Realizing it wasn't only Sally who looked enough like her to be her sister, Kate wanted to run away, hide, not face what was right there for the whole world to see. Instead, she controlled herself and started to do what she had come there to do, asking Lucy, "Do you have any other friends who will be coming to see you?"
Lucy snuggled down and, though her voice was muffled, Kate heard her say, "No. I think my cowboy was already here. Can I go to sleep now? Will you stay with me for a while? You smell good."
Lucy dozed off, and Kate was left staring at an empty frame in her head with no picture in it of Lucy's cowboy. Was it some imaginary playmate? When she knew the child was sound asleep, she took the tray, tip-toed out, and hurried down the hall.
The door to Dr. Gold's office was open and when he saw her he said, "From the look on your face, you have good news, right?"
Kate said, "Lucy fed herself. She knows Sally is her mother, knew that the two women visited her, knew the nightie and the toys were new, and she let me comb her hair. We cuddled and then she said her friend 'the cowboy' had already been here! What do you make of that?"
"Whoa, slow down, Kate. Let's take these one at a time. She knows Sally is her mother. What does she call the other one?" Dr. Gold asked.
"She calls Maggie, Aunt Maggie. And, not only did she cuddle," Kate went on, "she asked me to stay with her while she went to sleep."
"So now," the doctor said, "we're at 'the cowboy,' whatever that means."
"She was quite clear that her cowboy had already visited her. Has there been anybody else in her room, doctor?" Kate asked.
He thought for a minute. "Let's see, there was you, Mary, me, and the two women. Oh yes, your mother, Louise, but Lucy wasn't awake then, and the chief, who woke her up."
Kate said, "But what does she mean, cowboy? Could she mistake one of the paramedics for a cowboy? They were gone when Dan and I got here Sunday night, so I don't know what they wore or how they looked."
The doctor said he never saw the paramedics either. He remembered that the chief and Rabbi Gordon came behind the curtain while he was tending to Lucy in Emergency. She was conscious when she delivered that baby, and he didn't sedate her to do a caesarean. The rabbi left right away. The chief wanted to hang around when he saw who it was, but the doctor said he shooed him out. Lucy probably saw him, but he couldn't think of anybody else.
Kate asked, "What about a fantasy playmate? She's home alone a lot. If she watches a lot of cowboy, shoot-em-ups, maybe that's where she got the idea for her cowboy buddy.
"Wait a minute, doctor. We should talk to the paramedics, anyway. Maybe one of them sports a cowboy hat for kicks."
Dr. Gold said the paramedics could wait until tomorrow, saying that he was beat, needed to go home, and his wife was probably baking bread, cookies, and cakes, because that's what she did whenever she got nervous about where he was and what he was doing. He told Kate that before he went to bed, he would spend the next few hours telling Fanny everything, since he got the emergency call Sunday night. He told Kate to go home and get some rest.
Kate said, "Dan's on his way to pick me up. By the way, doctor, what happens when Lucy wakes up later?"
The doctor assured Kate that the nurse had instructions to comfort the child, tell her she needs sleep, her toys and pet dog need sleep, and she should sleep, and if that didn't work to put a sedative in her IV
They left the office. The doctor closed the door firmly, checked the handle to make sure it locked, and Kate followed him to the parking lot.
A small red car screeched to a stop three feet from her legs. She got in, waved at the doctor, and said to her brother who was driving, "Let's go. I've been here all day, and I'm sick of the place."
Dan laughed. "Hey girl, that's some sick joke."
Kate said, "I need to talk, but not at home. Let's hit Millie's. I'm starved."
"You're right, Kate. All that angst works up an appetite. Millie's sounds good."
Kate thought about Lucy, about how they resembled each other. 'It's something worth thinking about. Both the doctor and Dan think I look like her.'
Dan parked and they went inside to bright lights and a diner busy with end-of-shift workers from the auto parts factory in Mortonville. They headed for the empty back booth, and before they had their coats off, the
night waitress slapped down two menus, saying, "My name is Connie. I'm your server. What'll y'all have?"
Kate said, "I don't need the menu. I'll have the breakfast special with extra bacon, no sausage, and a glass of milk."
"Okay, that's a Number 4." The waitress put a quick slash on her pad. "And you, mister, what can I get for you?"
Dan said, "Just bring two of everything. That keeps it simple, okay?"
Connie turned, walked away, and yelled, "Two Number 4s, hold the sausage, double the bacon."
When they were alone, Dan said, "I was going to ask what next, but damn it all, Kate, I keep coming back to the beginning and those dead animals at St. Timothy's. That bugs the crap out of me. Who put them there and why? Terry O'Reilly couldn't know anything from those dead animals. Were they put there to frighten him, to pique his interest? I don't understand that part of this whole thing."
Kate said, "Before we get into that, don't you want to know what happened at the clinic?"
She told him about their father invading the place and how she called Frank Stevenson to come to the rescue. She told him about the doctor's black eye and ended by telling him that Frank intimated to everybody that the chief was drunk, but she wasn't so sure.
Dan said, "What the hell is with Dad, Kate? Do you ever remember him like that, especially that scene he pulled at the house? Maybe it's a phase. He can't stand getting older."
Kate said, "I don't know, but I had to tell you about Dad and the chaos at the clinic first. Now, to your question.
"Here's a theory. The Clarks live in the woods, close to the church. My guess is, Sally didn't know how to call attention to what was happening to her little girl. She was sure those mutilated animals, and the messages, would grab somebody's attention, and that somebody might start asking questions. The only place close to the church was the Clark house, so that's where somebody would look for answers. Does that make sense to you?"
"That's the only idea that does make sense. But Kate, it didn't work. Oh, here's our food. Thank you, Connie." Connie beamed her best smile at Dan, but he never noticed.
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