Chief Among Sinners

by Lois K. Gibson

  Herb wet the small towel again and handed it to Sally so she could refresh herself. She wiped her face with the towel and across the back of her neck. When she handed him the towel, the rabbi saw that her eyes were clearer and her face had regained some composure.

  She asked, "Did you guess it was me who put those things on the steps, and that's why we're here?" They nodded.

  Looking at Terry, she said, "When I realized Lucy was pregnant, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't take her for an abortion. There would be too many questions, and I was afraid I might lose her. I thought, 'Hey, the guy at St. Timothy's is a priest.' Maybe you could do an incantation or black magic that would tell you why each dead animal got bigger, the way Lucy was getting bigger. God might not hear my prayers, but if a priest prayed for those animals, maybe some of it would rub off on my Lucy."

  Terry smiled. "I know you're not Catholic, Sally. Still, you must know that priests don't do incantations and don't believe in magic, black or otherwise. We believe in a deity that often will show us the way, but in this case, we were all in the dark and still are about the dead animals. Tell us what you meant, please."

  "Well at first," Sally said with more enthusiasm. She actually perked up as she started to relate the story of the dead animals. "I'm not sure what I thought, except the little fish was dead in its own house. That meant something to me because, by Halloween, I knew Lucy was pregnant in her own house. She didn't show it, she is such a little thing, but I we talked about a woman's monthlies and I asked her about her periods.

  "She told me she hadn't had one for quite a while, but she didn't remember exactly, and when she finally told me about her 'cowboy,' I realized it was the same sick pervert.

  "She called him her 'cowboy'. All I could get out of Lucy was that he had a gun and wore a big hat and boots. Lucy doesn't know about female things. When she started her periods, she became hysterical and told me she thought someone was going to hurt her peepee again. I know the other horrors Lucy suffered, if her cowboy was the same policeman who raped me."

  Sally stopped talking. Sensing it was difficult for her to go on about Lucy, Terry interrupted the silence, "Sally, let's get back to the dead animals."

  "Okay," Sally said. "I keep telling you, I don't know what I expected. I guess I thought I was doing some black magic of my own. Half the town already thinks my family is full of witches. It wasn't hard killing those little creatures. In the end, it excited me to kill that pregnant rabbit, and when I saw that pink hairless blob come out, I hoped Lucy's baby would come out dead, too."

  "But why did you leave them at the church?" Herb asked.

  "Well, I did think somebody, I mean you, Father O'Reilly, would look for footprints, follow them through the woods to our house, see Lucy, and do something. But it was wishful thinking." She started to cry again.

  Soothingly, Herb said, "Hush now. It wasn't just Father O'Reilly. It was me too, and Pastor Schultz. We looked for footprints, but the weather worked against you. Any footprints were covered with leaves or frost. We are sorry, but we can't go back and undo it. Sit back, relax, and don't talk any more. Now we understand a little better.

  "When we leave here, we'll drive over to get the county sheriff to arrest Chief Addams, and get that monster behind bars and off our streets..."

  Sally stifled a scream, and whispered, "No, you can't. You mustn't. You don't realize, that man will not spend one minute behind bars. He's told everybody, for miles around, that the Clark women, me, Lucy, Maggie, are a bunch of whore-mongering liars. Besides, he said he'll kill us if we breathed one word of what he's done."

  Terry turned his gaping face at Herb. Even his comforting hand dropped from Sally's shoulder. Had the rabbi known what he'd let slip? And what Sally confirmed? "Chief Addams?" he exclaimed incredulously.

  Herb's face went white as he realized what he said. He didn't add to the bombshell. He only frowned grimly and nodded.

  'The chief of police,' Terry thought in amazement. 'Chief Addams. Kate's father is the sick monster who has been terrorizing the Clark family for years.' Then another thought came to him. 'Does she know? She can't know. And I can't let her. It would tear her apart to know what kind of a person her father is.' Now Terry was sworn to the same secret Herb had kept from him, a dangerous secret, one they had to share at some point so they could bring Scott Addams to justice. Just how far did the oath of the confessional go?

  While Terry adjusted to the news Herb patted Sally's hand and said, "Calm down, Sally. Chief Addams is not going to kill anybody."

  Sally said, "Listen, mister, I believe him, and you should, too. He'll keep his word and find a way to get rid us like he did my grandmother. He maybe realized she was fed up and was ready to tell our secret."

  She stopped and caught her breath. "Or we could wind up like some of his other victims, probably buried in the mud at the bottom of the Root River.

  "Listen to me, you guys. I know what I'm talking about. And here's God's truth. The sheriff will take him for a couple beers and, they'll have a good laugh together, but he'll never arrest him."

  Terry couldn't believe was he was hearing, even though he was sure what Sally said was true. But he had started this investigation, and Sally had come to him specifically to help her daughter and her family. He had to help protect her from the chief, so he said, "You make sense, Sally, but we'll find a way. Count on it."

  He stood up, motioned Sally out of the booth, helped her with her coat, and told her to go back to the hardware store. She didn't have to tell Ed anything.

  After she went out, he said to Herb, "I'm calling a meeting at the Church for 2:00 this afternoon. We'll gather everyone who is now involved with this, Kate, Dan, Dr. Gold, Louise, you, me, Mrs. Murphy, and Frank Stevenson. We each have some knowledge of the chief, and maybe the others will be able to help prove what he's capable of, especially Louise. We have to get together, and figure out what to do about him. Take me to the church. I've got to go back and face Mrs. Murphy."

  Sixteen

  Dr. Gold opened his office door to face a frustrated nurse holding a squirming, hysterical Lucy. Mary tried to pass her off to the doctor. Lucy's nose was running, her face was wet with tears, and she squirmed so that he almost dropped her. This was no baby in swaddling. Lucy was a twelve-year-old. He could sympathize with her situation and the things she'd been put through, but Joe Gold did not have time for childish temper-tantrums.

  Struggling to hold on to her, calming her, soothing her, she finally settled down. She wiped her face and nose on her sleeve, looked into his face, and asked, "Where's Kate?"

  He was sharp with her. "What are you doing caterwauling about and causing Mary such misery? Kate promised you she would come back, and you know she will keep that promise. Now let's go into my office, and we'll wait for Kate together."

  The doctor sat Lucy in the large chair in front of his desk while he sat on the edge of the desk facing her. Now that she was settled, he wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to get Lucy to identify her rapist. If she could identify Chief Addams, the state could get involved and prosecute him before he could make good on his threats to the Clark family. "Now tell me, Lucy, who is this cowboy you asked Kate about? Do I know him?"

  Listening attentively, trying to keep his anger in check, Lucy told him how her cowboy brought her skimpy costumes that exposed her peepee and her nipples. Her cowboy had held her head in his big hands, forcing her to do oral sex. Raping her time after time, the man had told her he knew how good it felt. She said now that she was used to it, she didn't really like it.

  When Joe asked Lucy why she didn't scream or try to fight him or tell her mother, she explained that when her cowboy came to play, she wasn't so lonesome. She said after a while, it didn't hurt so much, adding that Kate knew all about it.

  For the past two days, Joe had administered strong sedatives to the weak little girl . He wasn't surprised when she suddenly laid her head back against the soft leather chair, stopped talking, and her eyelids
fluttered closed.

  He went around the desk, sat in his chair, blew his nose, and wiped his eyes. He stared at the fragile sleeping child, innocent of the brutality she had endured for so long.

  Lucy said Kate knew what it meant to play with her cowboy. Joe wondered how much Kate really knew about her father. Then he had a sickening thought; what if the Clark girls weren't the only ones of Scott Addams's daughters he had abused? What if Kate had firsthand knowledge of what kind of monster her father was like?

  But that couldn't be right. Joe told himself that wasn't true be­cause Kate seemed very well adjusted compared to the Clark women. Still, she left mysteries to be resolved. Why didn't Kate rush to tell the doctor Lucy's story so they could figure out how to protect her from her abuser?

  "Of course!" Joe stood up and bumped his knee on the corner of the desk as he suddenly realized, "My God, it's her father!" If Kate hadn't been quick to tell him important facts so he could help Lucy, Louise Addams probably would be as devoted to protecting her hus­band. "Who is there to help me? Rabbi Gordon knows about the chief, but who can stop him, arrest him?"

  Joe thought about his options and who was already involved. He knew how estranged Dan Addams was from his father. Dan was a cop from Minneapolis and wasn't involved with the corruption in Oakton. But how much did Dan already know? "Maybe. Just maybe."

  He flicked on the intercom and asked Mary to come get Lucy. When she opened the door, he put his finger to his lips and a hand on Mary's arm. "After you put her down, come back to the office. I want to ask a favor."

  He stayed at the open door until Mary came back.

  "Mary, I know you've put in long hours since Lucy was brought in, but if you could stay till four—"

  "Of course, I will, Dr. Gold. Don't give it another thought."

  As Mary turned to go, she came face to face with Sally Clark, red in the face, looking to the doctor like she was ready to explode. "I was at Lucy's room, doctor. Do you know who was with her, protecting her? No one, that's who. My daughter is sleeping all alone." Sally yelled so her voice carried down the hall. "You lied to me! You swore Lucy would never be alone, that she would always have the best care. I may as well take Lucy home where she won't be alone."

  "What the hell is wrong with you fuck-ups?" She waved her purse in the doctor's face, so close she nearly hit him. He bit his tongue to keep from lashing back. He wanted to say that if Lucy hadn't stayed home alone so much, there'd be no baby and she wouldn't be at his clinic.

  Instead, adopting a somber look and trying to be reassuring, he said, "You're absolutely right, but Lucy was alone for less than two minutes. Is Lucy awake, Sally?"

  "No," Sally said, calmer now. "She was sleeping, but what happens when she wakes up all alone?" Then she started yelling, again, saying that she could hear Lucy's crying in her head even when it wasn't happening.

  Aware of her raw, erratic, emotional state, he took her arm and held the door wide. "Let's go into my office so we can talk." Assuring her that Mary was on her way to Lucy's room, he guided Sally to sit in the chair in front of his desk and he sat on the edge, facing her.

  "Now, Sally, I want you to know that Dan, Kate, and Rabbi Gor­don are on their way here to talk about what happened to you and Lucy. Later on, several of us will be meeting at St. Timothy's to figure out what to do about the chief. I think it would be a good idea if you were there."

  He leaned back, when Sally stood up and snapped, "Who told? Those church loving bastards promised me, swore to me they wouldn't tell anybody, ever. Lucy didn't tell you. Who told? I'll rip their lying tongues out. How dare they—"

  "Get hold of yourself, Sally. It doesn't make any difference how I know. I know, and that means something has to be done about the monster that raped and abused you, and your little Lucy. He may be Chief of Police, but that doesn't give him license to terrorize you and your family all these years."

  As he talked, she calmed down, and when he followed her to the door he said, "Just a minute, Sally. I haven't finished. I want to tell you about the meeting."

  He lurched backwards as she exploded at him. "Oh you're fin­ished, Doc. I ain't going to no meeting with that pervert's family. They know what he did to us. They know he paid us, like we were whores. But we ain't whores. We're victims. You just ask that prissy missy Lou­ise Addams. She knows."

  "All right, all right, Sally. With or without you, we intend to figure out a way to stop Scott Addams. He's sick, very sick. There's no other explanation for what he did to you, and there may even be others in town we don't know about."

  Answering the knock on the door, Dr. Gold said, "Come in," and the door opened to Louise, Kate, Dan, and Rabbi Gordon.

  Sally jumped up to confront them, but Joe inserted himself be­tween her and the new comers. "Hold it, Sally. I assure you that neither Rabbi Gordon nor Father O'Reilly told me anything about you. Lucy told me her story about her cowboy, and given the circumstances, I had to assume that you and Maggie suffered the same abuse."

  Gently taking her arm, he eased her toward the door. "I repeat my suggestion that you meet with us at the church at two o'clock. I expect you could probably add a lot to that meeting, but it's your choice."

  As she left, he watched her give the rabbi the finger. She look at Kate, Dan, and Louise and jerk her hand across her neck. Joe thought, 'Was that a threat or a promise?'

  Joe closed the door behind Sally, looked around his office, and said, "It looks like a small convention in here. First, let me assure you that Lucy is doing very well, a lot better than you, Herb. You look like you ate sour apples. Are you feeling all right?"

  Herb answered, "I'm fine, doctor, just a little off my feed. I heard things about the Clark family today that upset my stomach even worse than green apples." He cleared his throat, spit into his handkerchief, stuck it in his pocket, and went on, "Joe, I don't think you or Louise knew about the dead animals Father O'Reilly was finding behind the church every week after Halloween. That's when and where this mys­tery started. I never thought we'd find our answers here in your clinic."

  Joe said, "What do dead animals have to do with Lucy and the rest of her family?"

  The doctor listened as Louise announced that she knew about the dead animals from Mrs. Murphy, and there were other things she knew, things that would curl their hair, things she had choked on for years. They wouldn't believe how much she could tell them about what goes on in Oakton.

  Joe frowned at her comments. "You're right, Louise. Knowing what I do today, you're probably a lot more up on things than the rest of us. And you Kate," He turned on the young woman. "If you truly want to help, you must never desert me like that again. When Lucy woke up and you weren't there, the kid threw such a tantrum, I thought Mary was going to quit. Promise me you won't abandon that child again, while she's in my clinic, and yes, told me about her cowboy."

  Kate stared at him, her mouth open. "She told you, everything? About the costumes and what he did to her and made her do to him... all of it?"

  "Yes, and I must say you are one tough young lady, to listen to that story and not smash everything in the room." He had meant it as bait, but he didn't see any shame in Kate's eyes. He knew she wasn't a secre­tive person by nature. Maybe she truly didn't know Lucy's cowboy was her father. "You should go, Kate. Lucy is waiting for you, and raising holy hell about it."

  Louise started to follow Kate, as she walked out. Joe stopped her. "Wait, Louise." He couldn't tell her he didn't trust her with Lucy any more, not after what Herb said that morning. Instead he said, "Lucy trusts Kate. If there's more to her story, she may clam up if there are two of you. You should wait in the hall for now."

  Louise nodded, and she and Rabbi Gordon quietly left his office. Dan also turned to go, but Joe stopped him. "Please stay, Dan. I'd like to talk to you. Lucy has described her rapist, but I'm not sure who to go to with the information."

  "Generally, doctor, things like this go to the police," Dan joked, and since he could be so light hearted abou
t it Joe knew Dan wasn't aware of the rapist's identity. "I'll call the chief and get him to take your statement, or Lucy's if she's ready for that."

  Joe stopped Dan from reaching for his cell phone. "No, wait." The doctor thought over his promise to Maggie Clark. Doctor/patient privileges only went so far. This wasn't just about her now. It was about the whole Clark family, stopping Scott Addams, and putting an end to twenty-four years of corruption in Oakton. "Dan, sit down. I have something to tell you about your father."

  Herb took Louise's arm and led her out of the office to a bench in the hall. The door to the doctor's office clicked closed behind them. He waited until they were alone before holding her hand.

  The rabbi looked into Louise's eyes and said, "I only wish I could help more." He'd made a decision the night before when Louise con­fessed everything to him. In his eyes, Louise was as much a victim as the Clark family, suffering these many years under the chief's oppressive thumb. He wanted to help this sweet, caring woman more than anything.

  "I know how much you care about little Lucy, but you're the chief's wife. If he knew how involved you were with uncovering the monster he is...I worry for you, Louise."

  "Oh, Herb." He saw the love in her eyes as she said, "You don't have to worry about me." He was surprised and relieved when Louise told him that she had the key to the lock box where the guns were stored. As a matter of fact, the other day she took out a .45 and kept it handy. She reached in her coat pocket, took out the .45, and handed it to the rabbi. The metal felt cold and heavy in his hand. He stared at it for a mo­ment, thinking about all things Louise could do with a gun in her purse, then she took it back and holstered the gun in her purse again.

  "So what now?" she asked him. "Where do we go from here?"