Scandal in the Secret City

by Diane Fanning

  Ottinger ignored him and said, ‘Miss Clark, I need to talk to you.’

  Curious and feeling secure with Teddy by my side, I said, ‘Yes, what do you want?’

  ‘You need to stop this.’

  ‘Stop what, sir?’

  ‘You need to stop persecuting me. I didn’t do anything.’

  ‘Sir, I do not know what you are talking about.’

  ‘Irene. We’re talking about Irene.’

  ‘What about her?’ Teddy asked.

  ‘We had a little incident at the guest house and I have barely spoken to her since.’

  ‘I understand she slapped you in the face,’ I said.

  ‘Yes and she made me cut my lip on my tooth.’

  ‘And you were pretty angry about that, weren’t you?’

  ‘Well, wouldn’t you be?’

  Teddy stepped forward, putting his face right up to the man’s. ‘You are Ottinger, aren’t you?’

  ‘Yes, yes, yes,’ he said, waving Teddy away as if the fact was insignificant. ‘Miss Clark, you’ve got to stop lying to the authorities about me.’

  ‘I think you’d better move along, sir,’ Teddy said.

  ‘Wait a minute, Teddy. Dr Ottinger, what makes you think I spoke to the authorities about you? Did they tell you that?’

  ‘No. They wouldn’t tell me a thing. But I asked around. I know you’ve been trying to find out who killed Irene. And I did not do it.’

  ‘I didn’t talk to authorities about you, Dr Ottinger,’ I said.

  ‘Well, if it wasn’t you, who did talk to them?’ he asked.

  ‘I can’t tell you that, Dr Ottinger.’

  ‘Do you know, Libby?’ Ted asked.

  ‘Not now, Teddy.’

  ‘I wasn’t even here at Christmas,’ Ottinger objected. ‘And now they’re going to talk to my wife. What is she going to think of me?’

  ‘Well, Dr Ottinger, you might have thought of that a long time ago.’

  ‘I admit I joked around with all the girls and took a couple of them out for a beer at Joe’s. I know my wife wouldn’t like that. But still, it’s not as if I were doing anything else.’

  ‘Oh, really, Dr Ottinger? What about the scandal at Columbia University?’

  ‘What scandal?’

  ‘You know, you and your students. And particularly the one student who was carrying your child.’

  Ottinger’s hands flew to his head, knocking off his hat. He grasped the thinning hair on both sides of his head. ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Oh, please, Dr Ottinger,’ I said with a sigh.

  ‘I swear to you. I only left the university to continue my work here. There wasn’t any scandal. Students? A pregnant student? You’re talking about adultery? I am a Catholic, Miss Clark! I would never … Who told you that? That is outrageous!’

  ‘If it’s not true, Dr Ottinger, I am sure it will be easy to find out,’ I said, not really believing what I said, but hoping to call his bluff.

  ‘So you’re going to keep persecuting me? Are you going to talk to my wife, too? My colleagues at the university? Asking insinuating questions? Those questions just don’t go away, Miss Clark. No one will back that story because it’s not true. But the suspicion will remain there. You will destroy me, my reputation, my work, my marriage.’ He lunged toward me and his nose collided with Teddy’s fist. Ottinger made a hard pratfall onto the boardwalk. He looked dazed. A tiny rivulet of blood trickled out of one nostril.

  ‘C’mon, Libby,’ Teddy said, grabbing my hand.

  ‘But, Teddy, he’s hurt,’ I objected.

  ‘Yeah, he is. So hurry while we still have time to get away from here.’

  We ran hand in hand down the boardwalk. The darned galoshes limited my speed. The rubbery slap on the wood made me giggle. Then, Teddy joined in, laughing louder than I was. By the time we reached Joe’s, we were both laughing so hard that we could barely stand upright.

  As we ran, I didn’t give a thought to my hand entwined with Teddy’s. Once we came to a stop and Teddy still held on firmly, I grew instantly self-conscious about the intimacy. ‘Uh, Teddy …’ I said, lifting our hands up high.

  ‘Right,’ Teddy said loosening his grip and slowly releasing my fingers. ‘Don’t want to give anyone the wrong idea.’

  Breathless we arrived at the table commandeered by the group. For a moment, no one said a word. Tom spoke first. ‘So you’re both breathless and your faces are red. Do you care to explain what you’ve been up to?’

  We ran through a tag-team explanation of our encounter with Ottinger. ‘Do you believe him?’ Gregg asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘Do any of us know anyone at Columbia?’

  ‘I have a cousin there but she’s an English major. I doubt she’d know anything about anyone in the science departments,’ Gregg said.

  ‘A scandal like that should have covered the campus,’ I suggested. ‘Could you check with her?’

  ‘I imagine I could get her phone number from my mother but how could I call her and ask about a scientist here when they’re listening in to all our phone calls?’

  ‘Get the number and call her from a pay phone in Knoxville,’ Teddy suggested.

  ‘I’d have to wait until Sunday to do that. I’ll try to get her tonight and keep my questions vague,’ Gregg said.

  ‘Before you go to all that trouble,’ Tom said, ‘we should know who made the allegations. That person might have an ulterior motive for spreading the rumor. Who told you about it, Libby?’

  I paused, trying to find a good reason to not answer the question. When that failed, I said, ‘Dr Bishop.’

  ‘Bishop? You can’t be serious?’ Gregg said.

  From there a discussion about Bishop divided the group. Those who knew him, thought he was a credible source. The other chemists were far more skeptical.

  ‘I think,’ Tom said, ‘that to determine his objectivity on a more logical basis, we need to ascertain his motivation. As I see it, there are two possibilities. Either Bishop is telling the truth or at least talking about something he believes is true, or he has concocted this story for some hidden purpose. If the latter is true, it points suspicion away from Ottinger and straight to Bishop.’

  ‘Hold on,’ Gregg said. ‘There is no way Bishop could kill anyone.’

  ‘How can you be so sure about that, Gregg?’ Tom asked. ‘You have an affair. The girl gets pregnant. You don’t want anyone to find out. Sounds like a strong motive to me. How well do you know this man, Libby?’

  ‘I’ve had dinner at his home a few times. He’s stood up for me and he’s given me other information.’

  ‘Come on, Libby. If he was having an affair with Irene and he killed her, wouldn’t he want you to think he was on your side?’

  Did Tom make a logical point? I wasn’t sure but I nodded anyway.

  ‘Don’t we want to find out about Ottinger before jumping to that kind of conclusion?’ Gregg said.

  ‘I don’t see the two questions as mutually exclusive,’ Tom said. ‘Set your emotions aside, Libby. Think logically. Is it a plausible scenario?’

  All eyes turned to me. I thought about my answer before saying it. ‘I have given this possibility some thought before tonight. At first, I could not imagine Dr Bishop having an affair with anyone. The more I considered it, though, I realized it was possible. However, no matter how I turn it over in my mind, I find great difficulty in thinking he could have killed Irene.’

  That remark spawned another argument where one group of scientists was pitted against the others. When the speculative debate about Bishop started running in circles, Teddy interrupted the group. ‘We’re not going to agree on probability here. I think we just need to plan our next steps. To be thorough, we must investigate both Ottinger and Bishop. Gregg, you agreed to check out the Ottinger scandal with your cousin, right?’

  Gregg nodded.

  ‘So what do we need to know about Bishop?’ Tom asked.

  ‘We need to know if he had any o
pportunity to return to Oak Ridge on Christmas night. I had dismissed him as a possible suspect right away because he didn’t have access to his car. Now I wonder if there was another way for him to get back here that night,’ I said.

  ‘How can we find that out?’ Teddy asked.

  ‘I’ll have to talk to Ann. Her father made me promise that I wouldn’t tell her anything but I don’t think I can keep my word on that any longer. Ann will know if there was any way for him to get back here.’

  ‘What if she tells her father? And he is the one responsible for Irene’s death? Won’t that put you at great risk?’ Teddy asked.

  ‘The whole world is at risk right now, Teddy. I can’t let that get in my way. I’ll talk to Ann and deal with the consequences if needed.’

  THIRTY-NINE

  After the meeting, I insisted that I didn’t need an escort home. The most persistent offer came from Teddy. I would have liked having him walk me back but, despite our earlier indiscretion, I needed to keep him at arm’s length until the problem was solved one way or another.

  At home, I put on the kettle to make a cup of tea, fantasizing about having a cup of green tea or oolong but I hadn’t seen either of them since the war started. The only thing I could get nowadays was black tea grown in India. While it steeped, I debated whether or not to dig into my dwindling supply of sugar to sweeten the cup but decided that adding a few drops of milk would suffice.

  I sat down in front of the coal stove with my cup and The Song of Bernadette that Mrs Bishop had loaned to me the previous week – my, how things had changed in a week. Way back then, Mrs Bishop treated me like a second daughter. Last night, she had treated me like the mud on her shoes.

  I was lost in the book when I heard a knock, banging me back into the real world. I glanced at the clock – almost 10:30. My arms tingled, my mouth dried. I was afraid to answer the door but too anxious to ignore it.

  I rose, crossed the room, pressed against the door and asked, ‘Who’s there?’

  ‘It’s Sally. From the guest house. I’m sorry it’s so late. I just got off work.’

  I opened the door and shut it as quickly as I could; the wind outside was absolutely frigid. Even with the door closed, I could feel it seeping around and past the sill, making me shiver. I hurried back to the stove to warm back up.

  ‘Again, I’m sorry,’ Sally said. ‘But I did think this was important.’

  ‘Would you like a cup of tea? I still have hot water on the stove.’

  ‘Oh, thank you, yes.’

  ‘Come on in the kitchen with me and tell me what’s so important while I fix your cup.’

  ‘I know who that man is – the one who passed notes to Irene.’

  ‘Really, who?’

  ‘Someone named Dr Bishop.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Oh, please tell me you’re not.

  ‘Yes. I hope I don’t get in trouble. We’ve been told over and over not to question the guests about anything. He’s not exactly a guest and I’m hoping he won’t say anything. But I know I broke a rule.’

  ‘What did you do?’

  ‘I asked him his name,’ Sally said.

  ‘You just came out and asked him?’

  ‘Not exactly. He came to escort a visitor to one of the labs. He asked me to let the man know he was here. I pulled out a piece of paper, wrote down the date and time and said, “May I tell him who’s calling?” He just stared at me at first. I was really nervous. So I said, “New policy, sir. We have to keep a record of everyone who comes to see one of our guests.” He raised his eyebrows at me and said, “Dr Bishop.” And I wrote it down.’

  Was it Dr Bishop or was it someone else using his name? ‘Let’s go back in by the fire. This house is so drafty.’ Back in the living room, I asked, ‘What did he look like?’

  ‘Dark hair with a wave in it. A little gray at the temples. Brown eyes. A dimple in his chin. Distinguished looking. Taller than average. But not too tall.’

  That description fit Dr Bishop well – too well. ‘What did he sound like? His voice, I mean. Did he have an accent?’

  ‘Not much of one. Sounded a little bit like Tennessee. Like he was born here but had spent some time away. You know what I mean? Shoot, a year ago, I wouldn’t know what that meant. But with all the people coming and going through the guest house, I’m becoming an expert on accents,’ she said with a laugh.

  ‘So his voice was a bit like mine?’

  ‘A bit. But you definitely don’t sound Tennessee underneath your Yankee polish but there’s obviously a southern influence in your voice.’

  Oh, dear, that did sound like Dr Bishop – another arrow pointed in his direction. Could I be wrong about him? Could he be capable of killing Irene? I realized that Sally was waiting for a response to something but I had no idea what she’d asked me. ‘I’m sorry, Sally. My mind wandered.’

  ‘I was just wondering if you knew this Dr Bishop. But you look tired, I’d better get going and let you get some sleep. If I can help you with anything else, let me know. And thanks for the tea.’

  I almost urged her to stay. I needed my sleep but at that moment, I did not want to be left alone with my dark thoughts. I didn’t want to believe Dr Bishop was involved with Irene but I couldn’t deny the reality of what Sally said. An affair. I can accept that. But did he kill her, too? I didn’t want to believe that yet – and I wouldn’t – unless Gregg learned that the story about Ottinger was a lie. That would change everything.

  In the meantime, I needed to get confirmation of Dr Bishop’s alibi from Ann. I hoped she knew something that made it totally impossible for him to have returned to Oak Ridge that night.

  When I walked into the lab Thursday morning, I went past Gregg’s work station. As I approached, he shook his head. ‘Couldn’t get her,’ he said. ‘I’ll try again tonight. You won’t believe whose phone I used.’

  ‘Whose?’

  Gregg nodded his head to his left. ‘Charlie’s.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yeah. I went to his house after the meeting that night. I told him that I was concerned about some information I received that could indicate a security problem but I didn’t want to say anything to any of the authorities until I could confirm the accuracy of the information.’

  ‘That was bold, Gregg.’

  ‘Actually, he commended me for not taking any risks with someone’s reputation until I knew what I heard was fact. Anyway, he said I could come back tonight and try again.’

  ‘I know Dr Bishop was involved with Irene. One of her co-workers identified him as the man who was slipping notes to her. That doesn’t mean he killed her, but that does make his credibility about Ottinger a major concern.’

  ‘Don’t worry. I’ll follow up tonight,’ Gregg said.

  While I worked, I tried to think of a good reason to go to Ann’s desk. Failing to come up with any good ideas, I kept an eye on the hallway, hoping to see her pass by on the way to the rest room. It took a couple of hours, but, finally, there she was. I followed her.

  When I opened the door, Ann spun around and said, ‘What do you want?’

  ‘I need to talk to you, Ann. I need to tell you what I’ve been doing and how you can help.’

  Ann folded her arms across her chest. ‘OK. What’s going on?’

  ‘I’ve been looking into Irene Nance’s death. Some people – important people – haven’t been happy about that.’

  ‘That girl they found outside the fence?’

  ‘Yes. But Ann, please don’t tell your dad I talked to you.’

  ‘Of course not, Libby. I’m surprised you even said that. But why do you care about what happened to that girl?’

  I searched Ann’s face. Her expression had softened and her folded arms didn’t cling as tightly to her body as they had a few seconds ago. ‘Her sister was my roommate when I lived in the dormitory.’

  ‘Oh, so you’re doing it for her? What about the police or the sheriff – aren’t they investigating it?’

 
‘Ann, I found her body … well, my old roommate and I did. When we saw it, it wasn’t outside the fence. It was at the high school.’

  Ann’s eyes widened. ‘Did you move the body outside the fence?’

  ‘Good heavens, no.’

  ‘Then who did?’

  ‘The army,’ I said.

  ‘Whatever for?’

  ‘They claim it was both for the sake of security and for the morale of the community.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound right, but we are at war. You said I could help. How?’

  ‘I need to know if there is any chance your dad could have come back here to Oak Ridge Christmas night.’

  ‘You think my dad …? How could you?’ Ann said, her arms flying out from her body and pinwheeling in the air.

  ‘I can’t believe your dad would kill her but I do believe he was having an affair with her.’

  ‘You are a liar! You are trying to destroy my parents’ marriage. Why is that, Libby? You want my dad for yourself?’

  ‘Of course not, Ann, I—’

  ‘You just get away from me, Miss Elizabeth Clark. You stay away from me. You stay away from my dad. You stay away from my home. You hear me?’ Ann shoved the restroom door hard and stalked down the hall.

  Oh dear, that was a mistake to try and explain the situation to Ann; I should have realized that being told her father had had an affair would be too much of a shock for her to handle. What could I do about it? Not much. Not now. I filed it away for later consideration and focused anew on the work at hand.

  At the end of another long day, I bundled up before stepping outside. My hand was on the door when I heard my name.I tensed when I saw Ann hurrying towards me. ‘Wait up, Libby.’

  I fought the urge to run outside and all the way home.

  ‘Boy, you sure work late. I’ve been waiting forever for you to finish up for the day.’

  ‘Well, I’m done now. What do you have to say?’ I braced for the worst.

  ‘I need to talk to you. Come on, let’s go. I’ll walk you home.’ We walked quietly for a couple of minutes. Instead of looking at Ann, I focused on the boards beneath my feet. Finally, she said, ‘I’m sorry, Libby. I shouldn’t have jumped on you like I did earlier. I’ve been thinking about what you said and it made my parents’ fight make more sense. How do you know about my dad having an affair?’