Manny sat up straighter, fully awake. So, it was true that Ambassador Sandoval had always known Esteban had been taken from an imprisoned woman. “Would you still have adopted him?”
“Ah, that was the problem. You see, at the time, my husband worked part-time for a government ministry while going to school. Jobs were scarce in those days; the economy was terrible. The junta rulers were technically his bosses, but he did not really support their policies. He was just a—a how do you say?—flutie.”
“Flunky,” Manny said, correcting her.
“Exactly. So when the nurse, who was called Anna Herrmann then, but here she called herself Amanda Hogaarth, offered us this baby, we accepted, believing that he was an orphan whose parents had died in an accident. Six months later, my husband learned the terrible truth.
“By that time, I loved Esteban so much, my husband knew I could never have given him up. He told me he was afraid to protest the death of Esteban’s parents, afraid we would have been disappeared ourselves.” Señora Sandoval paused for a moment, evidently thinking back on those dark days. “After the regime fell, that is when he should have told me. I would have tried to find Esteban’s birth family. His grandparents, aunts, and uncles—they deserved to know that he was okay. But my husband thinks he always knows what is best.” She gave a bitter little laugh.
“So that is why I’m calling to thank you. Because of what has happened, Esteban is going to Argentina to meet his birth family. Finally, they will know that he was not raised by killers or torturers. He will tell them he had good parents. He will tell them how sorry we are for hiding the truth. I hope they understand my husband acted out of love for me and for Esteban. I hope they can forgive us.”
“I hope so, too, Señora Sandoval. Seems like forgiveness is the only way to move past what happened during the Dirty War. I guess Amanda Hogaarth was looking for a little forgiveness, too. That must be why she left all her money to a legitimate adoption agency.”
“You sound strong, Ms. Manfreda. You have not been crushed by what the Costellos did to you,” Señora Sandoval said.
“No, my leg’s a little smushed, but my spirit is strong,” Manny agreed.
“Then I hope you, too, will be able to forgive. You know, the story of the Vampire has been all over the news in Argentina. I have been reading the coverage there online every day.”
“Paco told me you didn’t follow the news.”
“That was true in the past. But I have learned my lesson. It’s not good to bury your head in the sand.” Señora Sandoval sighed. “The story of Elena Muniz Costello has been in every newspaper in Argentina. It is very sad. She was adopted by a policeman and his wife, a very brutal man who worked for the secret police during the Dirty War. He was cruel to Elena all through her childhood and her adoptive mother was powerless to stop him. Elena never understood why her father hated her so much. Then, as a young woman, she discovered the truth about her birth. But by then, her birth grandparents and aunts were dead. She never got to know them. She couldn’t believe that all of Argentina was not up in arms about the terrible injustice she and the other adopted children suffered. After that, Elena made it her mission to make sure every adopted child of the Desaparecidos knew about their birth families.”
“Even the ones who didn’t want to know,” Manny said. “I guess that explains why she did what she did, but it doesn’t justify it. And what about Frederic Costello? Was he mistreated as a child, as well?”
“No. It seems he was adopted as a toddler by friends of his birth parents after they disappeared. They never hid the truth about his past—just the opposite. They were activists in the cause. It is through them that Frederic met Elena.”
Manny shifted on the sofa. Her leg had begun to throb. “But I don’t understand. Why did he allow himself to go along with his wife’s cruel and crazy scheme?”
“I suppose we will never truly understand. But me, I think it was a case of the student surpassing the teacher. He got her involved in the cause; then she became more impassioned than he.”
“Maybe if they’d never met… if they had each married someone else …” Manny said.
“None of this would have happened,” said Señora Sandoval, completing the thought. “You would not have had to suffer.”
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m not one to carry a grudge. I’ll have to testify at Elena’s trial, but I’ll make sure she has adequate representation. She deserves a fair trial.”
“You are a very brave woman,” Señora Sandoval said. “You have inspired me to be brave, too. You know that charity, Home Again, that you got me to write the check to? I have become one of their rescue volunteers. Tomorrow, I fly to Gulfport, Mississippi, to work for a week in the shelter.”
“Good for you! I know you’ll do a great job.”
Manny hung up just as Jake came through the front door. “There you are. I thought maybe you and Sam were upstairs scrubbing tile grout with a toothbrush.”
“Ah, you’re awake. I just went out to get us some dinner. Your favorite.”
Mycroft sprang off the sofa and began to sniff the bags. “None for you, mister. You have dog food in your bowl in the kitchen.” Mycroft continued to stare. “Do you know what they do to guys like you in the joint? Can you say rottweiler?” Jake pretended to growl.
Offended, Mycroft jumped back into the protection of Manny’s arms. “Ignore his petulance, Mycroft. But I am afraid he’s right, Mikey. We can’t take any chances with your stomach. Remember, you’re currently without a vet,” she said.
As Jake arranged the carryout dinner, Manny told him about her conversation with Monserrat Sandoval. She still was troubled by Dr. Costello’s involvement, and she came back to that point with Jake. “So, I can understand why Elena was so crazy, but why did Dr. Costello go along? He seemed a genuinely kind vet. How could he have helped Elena torture and kill?”
Jake gave Manny a fork but did not release her hand. “Sometimes, when two people get together, they can assume different personalities. One without the other would have never committed crimes. Put them together and he becomes Jack the Ripper, and she, Elizabeth Báthory. It’s a phenomena we have seen in the past.”
“Really?”
“Love for a beautiful, passionate woman made the man lose his good judgment and his mind a little. I can relate.”
Manny pulled her hand away and tapped Jake’s forehead. “Your mind’s right where you left it.”
“You should have seen me when I was watching you on that Web cam, powerless to help you. It wasn’t one of my more scientifically impassive moments.”
“But you still managed to help the police figure out who the Vampire was and where we were being held.”
“Based on your hunch about Nixon’s coffee mug being bought on eBay.”
Manny grinned and dug into her comfort food. “Forensic pathology, law, shopping, and Mycroft. It’s an unbeatable combination!”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We want to continue to thank, from the bottom of our hearts, the many people whose help has allowed Manny, Jake, and Mycroft’s relationship to flourish in print. We would be remiss if we did not also thank the best veterinarian in the world, Dr. Lewis Berman of Park East Animal Hospital in New York City, who ensures that Mycroft remains healthy, and Dr. Avra Frucht, who ensures Mycroft’s pearly whites stay white. We also thank our dear friends, Judge Haskell Pitluck (ret.) and his wonderful wife, Kay, who read and reread every draft of this novel.
Bar none, the best assistant in the world, Patricia Hulbert, and her family, Todd, TJ, Amanda, and Christina, who support us in all our endeavors, deserve a special mention apart from all others.
Obviously, our agent, Leigh Feldman, along with our publisher, Knopf, and the entire team assigned to ensure the success of Manny and Jake, especially Jordan Pavlin, our editor; Erinn Hartman, our publicist; Leslie Levine, our contact extraordinaire; and our remarkable copy editor, Carol Edwards, and production editor, Maria Massey—whose skills ma
ke us look good.
As usual, we could not function without the support and encouragement of our many author friends—Ann Rule, Linda Fairstein, Kathy Reichs—just to name a few. To our handlers Maria Lago, Sondra Elkins, Colin Lively, Pilar and Paul Conceicao, and Michael Greenfield, we thank you again for your unending loyalty and support.
We want to thank Marco Pipolo and his staff at Scalinatella for their never-ending hospitality in providing the backdrop for the Italian food and heritage that has made it into our novels.
Finally, we thank our families, including our children, Christopher, Trissa, Lindsey, Sara, Sarah, and our grandchildren; along with the many forgotten families in the world, for both the inspiration and story line embodied in Skeleton Justice.
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Michael Baden, M.D., is one of America’s leading forensic experts. He is the host of Autopsy, the HBO hit documentary series. He has investigated the deaths of many, ranging from President John F. Kennedy, Rev. Martin Luther King, and Tsar Nicholas II and the Romanov family to John Belushi and Billy Martin. He has served as an expert witness in countless criminal cases, including the trials of Claus von Bulow and O. J. Simpson. He has been a consulting forensic pathologist to the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the FBI, and the Russian government, as well as a visiting professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Albany Medical College, and New York Law School.
Linda Kenney Baden is a trial attorney who has won dozens of civil rights lawsuits, participated in many high-profile criminal cases, and has appeared as a guest legal commentator on numerous television networks.
They are married and live in New York City with their dog, Mycroft.
THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Copyright © 2009 by Michael Baden and Linda Kenney Baden
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada
by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.aaknopf.com
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Baden, Michael M.
Skeleton justice : a novel / Michael Baden & Linda Kenney —1st ed.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-27204-1
1. Forensic pathologists—Fiction. 2. Women lawyers—Fiction.
3. New York (State)—Fiction. I. Kenney, Linda, 1953-II. Title.
PS3602.A358S56 2009
813′.6—dc22 2008054394
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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