God, I was lonely! Im lonely here, too, sometimes, but I have my garden and the sunlight and I can move about as I please. The cries are the cries of birds; the howling is the wind. Its a pleasant loneliness. No one bothers me.
And you have Ms. Crespy, Manny said, too brightly.
Yes. Shes someone I can trust. I lost all trust at Turner. The first six months there were so awful I wished for madness. To be imprisoned and sane in such a place is torture worse than a thumbscrew.
She fumbled for control, regained it. I was saved by Isabella. She was admitted in the summer my age, and also sane. She was put there by her parents, as I was by my father, only in her case it was that they couldnt afford to keep her and thought a hospital was a better place than their other option, a home for delinquent girls.
Isabella cried for weeks, because she thought her parents didnt want her and because she was in such great pain from her teeth. That turned out to be a simple thing; she got her cavities filled, and the pain went away. We were put in the same room and were friends from the first. We even learned to laugh.
Her face clouded. She met one of the new doctors. He was young, probably not ten years older than she was. He was kind to her; he was the one who arranged to have her teeth fixed. And soon they fell in love.
Manny watched the blood drain from Jakes face. He sat spellbound, his right leg jiggling up and down in his anxiety. Go on, he said hoarsely.
I was happy for her, and jealous, too. I recognized their passion for each other and wished I could feel it, too I never have, you see. When she found out she was pregnant, she was thrilled. She was going to call the baby Joseph if it was a boy, and thats how she referred to it: Joseph.
What was the doctors name? Manny asked, sure of the answer. Jake seemed incapable of speech. Can you remember?
Of course I remember. He was an attractive man, the only doctor at Turner capable of laughter. Dr. Peter Harrigan. Is he still around?
Hes dead, Jake managed.
Oh. Too bad. There was no sympathy in her voice. Soon after Isabella told me she was pregnant, my father died. He left money to the hospital in his will, but not for my upkeep, so I was released, thank God. I visited Isabella a few times right after. Her parents had been killed, died in a grain explosion on the farm upstate where they worked. Dr. Harrigan broke the news to her. She wanted to leave Turner, and had to be restrained and sedated. They put her away, and I never saw her again.
Put her away?
Yes. There was a Seclusion Room at the hospital. Lieutenant Lyons was kept there a lot. They used it for violent patients, though I cant imagine Isabella being violent.
Manny felt chilled.
They wanted to hide what they were doing to her.
Do you remember who authorized putting her in solitary?
Only one man could do that: Dr. Henry Ewing. He was the chief doctor. Mean as all get-out. The other doctors were terrified of him. Hes head of the Catskill Medical School now. Talk about rising to the top on the backs of the people youve tormented.
And Dr. Harrigan? Manny asked, watching Jake wrestle with what theyd heard.
Left soon afterward. He never did marry her, never did take her with him. That miserable son of a bitch.
MANNY DROVE them back to the city. When she tried to talk to Jake, he silenced her with a wave of his hand. Im thinking.
Granted theres lots to think about, but I dont like feeling Im only your chauffeur. Would the Great Man care to share his thoughts?
He turned to her, his face haggard and gray. Its what hell look like in twenty years, Manny thought, if I cant get him on a diet and exercise regimen and if this case doesnt kill him first.
Im thinking theres a disconnect. The Pete Harrigan whom Ms. Collier described isnt the Pete I knew.
He was young then. Couldnt he have simply matured?
Not so profoundly. Im willing to grant he was involved in those experiments, even complicit in the deaths of the people whose bones we found. He might have thought the experiments were necessary, or he was afraid to lose his job, or he was on the track of a cure flimsy excuses, indefensible but conceivable. Whats
inconceivable
is that he would treat Isabella de la Schallier that way impregnate her and then rush off without taking responsibility for her or the baby.
Men can be assholes, Manny said, thinking of her own wounds. At least most men. Thats typical behavior. Why, if you hooked up with me
Dont. No jokes. I knew Pete inside out. He was
fundamentally
decent. Goodness was part of his genetic makeup.
Maybe he was scared off by the threat of loss of his medical license or even jail.
Maybe, but he was a fighter. If he loved Isabella and she was carrying his baby, hed have died protecting them.
Manny glanced at him quizzically. Then how come he left?
Jake was sitting up straight, resolute, the fire back in his eyes. Pete will tell us.
She almost swerved off the road. What are you talking about?
Ever since we left Ms. Collier, Ive been wondering why Pete never left a clue about the baby. He left us Isabellas dental records and the
Gazette
picture clear enough that he and Isabella were together and a road map to the experiments at the hospital. A full confession of guilt. But silence when it came to the baby.
Maybe he was too ashamed of what hed done to admit it even to you.
Or maybe he wanted to admit it
only
to me. When I opened the box, thered probably be other people present: Sam or Wally he didnt know about you, of course. But maybe he wanted to tell me alone, a confession to his best friend and to no one else. Manny,
hes left me another clue.
Im sure of it.
* * *
By the time they reached the outskirts of New York City, they had devised a plan of action. Manny would go to the Catskill Medical School to speak to Dr. Ewing; Jake would stay in New York and look for the information he was convinced Pete had left.
Hes probably deluded, poor man, Manny thought, but she said nothing. The change in him was so profound, his excitement so great, his beauty so remarkable, that she wanted him to stay undeterred by doubt. There would be plenty of time after the case was closed for her to assess her feelings and for him to determine his.
* * *
The next morning, after Manny left, Jake called Wally. Can you meet me for lunch?
Delighted, Dr. Rosen. The usual place?
No, I dont want to be anywhere Pederson might see me. How about the Carnegie Deli? It wont kill you to eat real food for one meal.
* * *
Every time Jake saw Wally, he felt a tingle of pride; this time it was especially true. With Petes death, Wally was now his closest medical confidant, and he looked forward to a developing relationship during which his colleagues shyness would dissipate and his brilliance would become obvious not only in Jakes office but throughout the forensic pathology community. There are lots of good brain surgeons and heart surgeons, Jake told Wally, but very few top forensic pathologists. The future, he told Wally over pastrami, could be anything Wally wanted to make it.
Im flattered, Dr. Rosen, Wally said. Truly. But you could have saved the praise until you got back to the office. Whyd you ask me to come downtown?
Jake leaned back, enjoying himself. Ever spied on anybody?
Wallys face crimsoned. When I was in high school, I peeked into the girls locker room. It was a big deal then. Can you imagine?
Jake laughed. No, I mean
really
spied. Like followed somebody without being seen?
Yeah. He chuckled. I am now an experienced private dick. And I have the finesse of a ballerina.
You may be overqualified. Jake considered. This time you will mostly be in a car.
But I dont have a car, remember? You had to rent one when I drove to Turner.
And very expensive, too. This assignment may take a few days, and I dont want to spring for a rental. You could take mine, though. Mannyll drive me if we have to go upstate. Otherwise, Im not leaving the city.
Jake leaned forward to take another bite of his sandwich; then his body jerked back. He stood, fumbled in his pocket, and plunked fifty dollars on the table. Thats where it is! he shouted.
Of course!
Where are you going? Wally asked, looking at Jake as though he were certifiable.
Out.
But what about the assignment? Whom I supposed to follow?
Jake was already halfway to the door. This is more important.
* * *
The more he thought about it, the surer he was that he had guessed Petes hiding place.
Hide in plain sight.
Well, almost plain. His mind retraced the day they had discovered the other bodies. He had grown ill at the sight of them, particularly the mandible of Skeleton Four Isabella de la Schallier.
It wasnt because of the cancer. It was because he must have suspected after the top of her skull was dug up Friday morning. He must have had her dental records with him on Saturday and confirmed it was her when the buried jawbone was disinterred.
He had pleaded heat exhaustion, then forgetfullness, gone back to the car twice.
My car.
Jake willed the subway to go faster. Hed seen Mannys skepticism. Now he wanted her with him, wanted to share his exaltation. He got out at 103rd Street and raced to his parking garage. Ive left something in the car, he told the surprised attendant. I have to get it.
You know thats not permitted, Dr. Rosen. Ill have to get it for
Jake darted past him and ran down the ramp. He saw his beat-up Olds enclosed in a thicket of new foreign cars. He made his way through, skinning an ankle. He didnt care. He opened the passenger door and with his spare key unlocked the glove compartment. He reached in, rummaged. Tucked in back was something Jake had handled a thousand times, only never in so crucial a moment: an evidence bag.
He drew it out. Pete had left him a letter.
DR. HENRY EWING was in his eighties, Manny figured, but looked nearer sixty. His trim figure, when he rose to shake her hand, was ramrod straight, his face was rosy, his shoes and fingernails polished to the highest gloss. Now he was back behind his desk, Manny sitting across from it.
You told my assistant it was an emergency, Ms. Manfreda, he said, but you seem to be in excellent health. Ive made room for you in my schedule, but if youre merely here to sell me something
Oh, its an emergency all right. Manny loathed the man from the moment she introduced herself. She watched him intently.
Spring it on him.
Im here at the recommendation of Dr. Peter Harrigan.
A muscle twitched under Ewings left eye. He selected a paper clip from a bowl on his desk and toyed with it.
Not a bad cover-up but not good enough.
I havent heard from Dr. Harrigan in decades. Strange that he would recommend me.
Got him. He talked to Harrigan the Monday before Harrigan died.