But you were once colleagues, were you not?
He shrugged. Forty years ago. He worked for me.
Then youre the right Dr. Ewing. Its forty years ago Im interested in.
Ive interrogated tougher witnesses than this. That paper clips scrap metal. Hes limp pasta.
You see, Ive been retained to investigate the death of one Lieutenant James Albert Lyons.
Not a twitch, not a flicker.
Never heard of him. I dont know who youre talking about.
She bore in. You might not know the name, but youll surely remember the circumstance. He was one of at least four patients there may have been more who died at your hands. For him the murder weapon you used was electroshock experiments. He died of a fracture of the cervical spine.
Touchdown! The hatred in those eyes could burn asbestos.
She pressed on. Still, if you dont remember him, perhaps the name Isabella de la Schallier is familiar. You killed
her
with mescaline, I believe. But heres a question that puzzles me: How come you decided to save her baby? You can tell me, or you can tell the police.
He faced her squarely. I will not have you sully my reputation at this stage of my life. We werent in the business of killing people, Ms. Manfreda. Especially not babies.
So the deaths were accidents? Unfortunate results of vital government testing? Human experiments?
Yes.
And one patient died of strontium poisoning. Didnt you know what would happen if you fed someone strontium ninety?
Dr. Harrigan handled the strontium ninety. He fed it to patients in breakfast cereal in different doses.
And the mescaline?
Harrigan wouldnt touch that. He refused. A different doctor did it.
On whose orders?
Look at him. Hes broken.
I cant tell you that.
On your orders, right?
No.
Okay, on your orders because you yourself were ordered.
He seemed to shrivel before her eyes.
Like the Wicked Witch of the West.
I had no choice, he said. It was a government program. I was a patriot. He laid his head on the desk and closed his eyes.
Waiting for the guillotine.
Im not much of a government fan, Manny said calmly, though her heart was a trip-hammer, and Ive seen more than my share of injustice, but what you did in the governments name at Turner is beyond despicable.
Ewing raised his head. His eyes were vacant. It wasnt only at Turner, it was all over the country. Remember, this was the Cold War. We were afraid the Russians might use their bombs. We had to know the levels of radiation a person could survive. It was self-defense.
Bullshit.
And the mescaline?
The North Koreans used drugs in fifty-two, the Japanese throughout the Second World War, mescaline and all sorts of other mind-benders. Again, we had to know the levels, what a person could be subjected to before he gave up secrets, before hed betray his country.
Of course you would never have used radiation or drugs or Serratia as weapons.
A hesitation.
Never. This is America!
Righteous jerk.
So you experimented on people whose minds were already gone. Im afraid I dont understand the logic.
Isabella wasnt insane.
No, she was just pregnant. I guess that makes it all right. Did you try mescaline on nonpregnant women too? A kind of comparison shopping? Manny stood, shaking with rage. This has been
really
informative, Dr. Ewing. I thank you.
He reached out a hand. Where are you going?
To New York. Im just a simple civil rights attorney, but I suspect a great many people will want to know what happened at Turner or all over the nation, if youre right in what you say. If I were you, Id hire a good lawyer. Somebody from the Justice Department would probably be best. His bosss interests might coincide with yours.
She looked at him for one last time, feeling her stomach heave. Tell me, was it only four?
He hesistated, then shook his head.
And their bodies?
Buried in the field with the others.
No special day ends without a treat.
I suppose, then, theyll have to stop construction while we dig them up. But dont worry, you probably wont have to give back your Nobel Prize.
When shed left, he picked up the phone and made a long distance call.
* * *
Jake had guessed right. If Pete was carrying something with him, something that would explain the existence of the child, what better place to hide it where no one but Jake could find it than in the glove compartment of Jakes car?
Why not give it to me that night? Because he didnt want to be there when I discovered it. He was too ashamed.
He opened the letter. The voice of Isabella de la Schallier rang out across the decades.
My dearest beloved,
This is the most painful letter Ill ever write. When you finish it, I ask only for two things: that you do what I ask, agony though Im sure it will be, and that you keep this letter always as a reminder of my love.
Dr. Ewing told me yesterday that I will be given mescaline. He told me it was for my benefit, that it will help me with my depression, but I know thats a lie. Im not depressed you have brought me joy. And Im not sick, except sick in love. So I will be another of the Turner victims, like Lyons and Millen, Tedesco, Ryan and Cochran, and three others whose names I dont know. The ones who disappeared into the Seclusion Room before me. At worst, I will go mad. At best, I shall die.
Of course I refused. I pleaded, begged on my hands and knees. He told me that if I did not cooperate, he would kill the baby our Joseph. He said that in exchange for my participation, he would let me find a couple to adopt Joseph when hes born he would even help me if I didnt know anyone myself.
My treatment will be long and hard. Its even possible I will survive it, though I doubt that very much. The tragedy is that you will not be at my side to guide me through it. The other condition that Dr. Ewing imposed is that we are never to see each other again. I know youre going to try to save me, and I cant prevent you from trying, except to urge you to heed me. Be at peace. Im at peace. You are my Godsend, my light, my soul, and my life, and losing you is a different death, a more painful one.
You must promise, my heart. For Josephs sake and for mine, you must accept what is inevitable. God is more powerful than Dr. Ewing. I believe it is His will to take me to His bosom and to leave you and Joseph on this frail earth to live out your lives in happiness. You are forgiven by me and by God.
So this is goodbye. It is the heart that animates life. When the murmur of the heart finally ceases, the rest remains silent. I cover you with a thousand million kisses and feel yours in return.
Your Isabella
Pete had attached a note:
Jake,
For Gods sake show this to no one. It is a sacred treasure, and I entrust it to your care.
P
A treasure indeed, Jake thought. After Pete guessed who the bones belonged to, he must have swiped the dental records and the photographs from the Academie on Friday afternoon. Maybe he was still hoping it wasnt her, but when the mandible was unearthed Saturday afternoon bingo. When we discovered the other bones, he had his proof that she had not died in childbirth but had been killed, so he left the note in my glove compartment and hid the dental chart and pictures in Gardiners samples for dual protection. The poor shell of a man. What a shock it must have been. No wonder he was so sick that day. His sins had come back to claim him.
MANNY CALLED Jakes cell phone and told him everything shed discovered. Ill go to Haskell Griffith, she said. Hes the best lawyer I know. Fought the government a number of times even won a few. Ill co-counsel with him. I want to get back at those roaches, those who are still alive. Its personal.
Where are you calling from?
Home.
Youre back in the city?
Yes.
Shit.
Why? Im lying here in bed, dressed in a diaphanous La Perla nightgown, waiting for my lover to get his ass across town and fill my bedroom with the intoxicating odor of eau de formaldehyde.
Youll have to call a different ME, Jake said. Im on my way to Albany. I thought if you were still upstate, you could do the investigation with me.
What investigation?
To find Isabellas babys adoptive parents.
Manny sat up, electrified. You mean the childs alive?
Hardly a child anymore. And Ive no idea if hes alive. Still, its worth a try. Maybe Pete found him, kept in contact with him, supported him.
Talk about a needle in a haystack. Couldnt you at least wait to go until tomorrow morning?
I want to get there first thing. Ill find a motel for the night. Maybe pick up a hot tootsie to keep me company.
Try it and Ill know. I have the nose of a bloodhound.
But not, thank goodness, the looks.
I still say its a waste of time.
How many babies were adopted in this area in 1964? It shouldnt be that difficult.
If
the adoptive parents lived in the area, and
if
they still live there, and
if
theyre still alive, and
if
it was a legal adoption. Youre right: shouldnt be difficult at all.
If I cant find him, its not so terrible. Ill have only wasted a day.
Worse, Manny said. Youll have wasted a night.
* * *
It was a huge haystack. Jake sat in the Hall of Records cursing himself; the task seemed formidable. The Baxter County clerk had been a friend and admirer of Dr. Harrigan knew him when he worked at Turner. Harrigan had told him nice things about Jake. So when Jake called him and told him he needed to look through the records as a part of a murder investigation, he readily permitted it. There were over twelve thousand adoptions recorded for the year 1964.
How would I know the right couple even if I found them? Did Isabella use Petes last name?
He looked up Baby Harrigan. Nothing. Mostly the babies were listed by their first name. Baby Joseph. He riffled through the pages. Twelve Baby Josephs, though he might have missed a few. Slowly he matched them with their adoptive parents; if necessary, hed contact them all. He took out his notebook and began to jot down names and addresses.
Abbot, Cohen, Fronz, Giordano, Levine, McAuliffe, Murray, Pavlin, Rodgers, Snell, Tracy . . . He raised his head and threw down the pen. The truth hit him with the force a pilot feels when his plane breaks the sound barrier. He raced through the remaining pages, skipping U and V.
There it was. Baby Joseph.
Winnick.
* * *
Manny had slept with her previous best lover, Mycroft. Kenneth had brought the precious poodle home from Roses, and their mutual delight with the reunion was expressed in an orgy of kisses, hugs, and exclamations of delight.
Now, rested and healing nicely, she was determined to spend the day on her own work. She had the Martin settlement conference on her schedule this morning, and it couldnt be adjourned. Kenneth had called early to make sure she wasnt going to be late for court; he would bring the file in the car with him.
The phone rang as she was going out the door.
Ms. Manfreda?
Speaking.
This is Lawrence Travis in the MEs office. Dr. Rosen called from upstate. He wants to apologize for not calling you himself, but hes at a crime scene where theres no cell service. He needs to show you something important, and then he wants to take you to dinner. He wants you to meet him at Bellevue later around six oclock.
Manny would be finished with the Martin hearing by three; it would give her the rest of the afternoon to catch up.