The Bloodwater Mysteries: Doppelganger (13 page)

Mrs. Doblemun limped into the living room and collapsed on the sofa, positioning herself so she could see into the kitchen through the doorway. “I think I need a doctor,” she said. Her ankle was swelling visibly. “That child—” She glared at Roni. “That child attacked me with a skateboard.”

Kyung-Soon took a bag of frozen peas from the freezer and put it on Mrs. Doblemun’s injured ankle. “Time for the doctor later,” she said. She poured hot water into the teapot. “Time now to tell my story. My story of two sons, and my father, and my family’s shame.”

She bowed her head as if in prayer. Then she started to talk again in her low, slow voice. “I was very young when I became pregnant, only a girl, too young to know it could even happen. I had two boys. Twins. My father was very
angry. My mother cried and cried. But I was happy. I had two beautiful sons. Then one night my babies disappeared. My father had taken them away. Later, I found out that he had split them up. He thought twins could not find a good home together, because who would want to adopt two children at once? One boy he left on the steps of the police station in Taegu City. The other he left at a hospital in Kyongsan. They ended up being sent to the same orphanage, but no one there knew they were brothers. A few months later, they flew to America, both on the same airplane, to live with different families here in Minnesota.”

She poured the tea into five small ceramic tea bowls. “I screamed, I cried, I was furious at my father. I swore that one day I would find my children. I worked as hard as I could and saved money, hiding it from my father. I learned English. Three years later, I came to America. I hired a private detective, like the famous Sherlock Holmes.”

Roni and Brian looked at each other.

“I wanted to know, at least, that they were okay,” Kyung-Soon continued. “I knew I could never have them back, because the laws in this country would never allow it, but I had to know that they were with good families. Safe. Happy. My twin boys.

“After many months and much money, the detective found them, both in Minnesota.” She looked at Brian. “You were living in a place called Cannon Falls, with good parents. I could see that they loved you. I was sad that I could not hold you in my arms, but you were safe and happy.”

Brian was glad to hear that Kyung-Soon had liked the Samuelses.

“I had a dog,” he said.

“Yes, I saw the dog. I left a Korean coin in his doghouse, for luck. Did you find it?”

“Yes! I still have it. A ten won piece. My dad says—ouch!” Roni had kicked him under the table. She wanted him to shut up, but it was his story, too. He kicked her back.

Kyung-Soon continued. “Different story with Dak-Ho. Billy. They called him Bryce. He was with the Doblemuns, and they fought. I would see them fighting. They fought every day, and the child cried in the night. I worried. I kept watch. I did not know what else to do.

“At last I had found them, two small boys of my own heart, but one was living in a house of unhappiness. One night I was watching. I crept up to the house, very quiet, and looked in the window. Dak-Ho was sitting with his back to me, watching the television.

“The woman was cleaning the table. The man had a bottle of beer in his hand. Suddenly he started yelling. I did not know the words—my English was not so good back then—but he was very angry. I wished my small boy did not live with this loud man.

“I could only see the dark back of his head, Dak-Ho. Very quiet. Not moving. I wished I could see his face. I wished I could touch his hair. I wished I could tell him he was my small boy and my love is as large as the ocean.

“The man yells again. The woman throws a plate at him.
He catches it and slams it down on the floor, very hard. Pieces fly. He is also coming apart. His hands fly out. One hits her in the face. She tries to get away, but he grabs her and throws her, and her head hits the edge of the table, and she falls broken to the floor.

“There is much blood.”

Brian looked over at Billy, who was sitting very still, listening. Brian could tell he had never heard this story before.

Kyung-Soon reached over and touched Billy’s hair. “Dak-Ho sat so very quiet. What a good boy he was. I wanted to run in and take him away, to make him safe, but the man walked over and lifted him and carried him up the stairs. A few minutes later he came back down the stairs, and he was alone.

“The woman had not moved. Her eyes were half open, not blinking, staring at her own blood dark on the floor. The man knelt down beside her. He knelt for a long time. I watched from the window, thinking of my small boy in the dark upstairs.

“Suddenly the man stood up. He stepped over the woman. I heard him open the door on the back of the house and go outside. Then I saw Dak-Ho come down the stairs. He went to the woman. His eyes were wide and open. He touched the blood with his little finger. He touched her light hair, so different from his.”

Kyung-Soon began to weep. “I tried the door by the window, but it would not open. Then the man came back inside,
and the small boy ran up the stairs. I could do nothing. I waited.

“The man closed the woman’s eyes with his fingers. The eyes stayed closed. That was when I knew that those eyes would never open again.”

A gasp came from the living room. Brian looked to see Mrs. Doblemun sitting up, eyes wide. “You are lying,” she said in a broken voice. “Tell me you are lying.”

Kyung-Soon shook her head and said, “I am sorry. I am sorry for your son. For you. For all of us. Your son is a murderer.”

ki-nam

Roni saw Louella Doblemun’s face crumple. The woman, so frightening and formidable half an hour ago, seemed to collapse in on herself. She began to sob. Roni actually felt sorry for her. What could it be like to discover that one’s own son is a murderer?

“Lance Doblemun dug a hole in his backyard, very deep,” said Kyung-Soon. “I watched him. And when he dragged his wife outside and put her in the hole, I climbed into the house through a window and I took Dak-Ho away with me.

“That was ten years ago. I had made friends here in St. Paul. They helped me. But I did not tell what I saw, because I was afraid the police would take Dak-Ho away from me. After a few weeks I went back to the place where Dak-Ho had lived. All that was left was a burnt bottom of house. I knew where the woman was buried, but I was afraid.

“I got a job teaching Korean, and Dak-Ho forgot all about that house of death and sorrow, and he grew tall and strong and happy. I gave him a new name. Billy. Billy Kim.”

“So you never told the police what you saw?” Roni asked.

Kyung-Soon shook her head. “I was afraid if I came forward they would take Dak-Ho. He is not legally my son.”

“But he
is
your son,” Roni said.

“No, he’s not.” Louella Doblemun had recovered from her shock and was sitting up on the couch, looking entirely too much like her old self. “Bryce is my grandson. He belongs with his adoptive family.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” said Billy.

Mrs. Doblemun raised one painted eyebrow. “Oh, really? When I call the police, they’ll return you to your rightful parent. Or, since my son may have legal troubles of his own, I will no doubt become your legal guardian.”

Roni said, “You don’t even
want
Billy—you just want to collect the reward.”

Mrs. Doblemun shrugged. “Since the Kays have been so kind as to offer, I would not turn the money down. Now, come along, Bryce. Help your grandmother out to her car.” She tried to stand, but gasped in pain when she tried to put weight on her ankle. She fell back onto the couch.

“My son is going nowhere with you,” said Kyung-Soon. “Neither of them.”

“The authorities may disagree with you,” Mrs. Doblemun said. “I plan to collect both the boy
and
the reward.”

“I’m confused all over again,” Billy said. “What reward? Who are the Kays?”

“That does it,” said Brian, pushing back his chair. He went to the phone by the refrigerator and dialed a number.

“Who are you calling?” Kyung-Soon asked.

“My other mother,” Brian said.

Brian, Roni, and Kyung-Soon all gathered around the speakerphone in the kitchen and talked to Brian’s mom, giving her the whole story. Even Louella Doblemun got into the act, screeching from her perch on the couch that no matter what her son had done, Bryce was her legal grandson, and that her poor son Lance was probably innocent anyway, and that she had a lawyer who would make shredded wheat out of anyone who tried to stop her.

Brian imagined his mother rolling her eyes and holding the phone away from her ear.

Although she said it was against her better judgment, Mrs. Bain agreed with Kyung-Soon’s request not to call the St. Paul police immediately—at least not until she could get there to assess the situation. She also persuaded Louella Doblemun to sit tight for the time being. Not that Mrs. Doblemun had any choice—her ankle had swollen to the size of a cantaloupe. Brian’s mom promised to straighten everything out once she got there. She also informed Brian that he should prepare himself to be grounded for all eternity.

“I’ll be there in about forty minutes,” she said, and hung up.

Billy looked at Brian. “Grounded for all eternity?” he said.

“It was worth it,” Brian said. He looked at Kyung-Soon. “Do I have a Korean name?” he asked.

Kyung-Soon smiled. “You are Ki-Nam,” she said. “It means ‘strong boy.’ I named you well.”

“My American name—Brian—that means ‘strong,’ too,” Brian said.

“Tell me about this reward,” Billy said.

Brian and Roni told him about Vera Doblemun’s parents, Alexander and Marianne Kay. “Do you remember them at all?” Brian asked.

Billy shook his head. “I was really little. I don’t remember anything.” He got up and went to the back door and looked out at Lance Doblemun. “I don’t remember
him
at all.”

Lance Doblemun, still securely bound, glared up at them. Darwin was stretched out on the chaise, snoring.

“I bet you blocked it out,” Roni said. “It must have been awful.”

“You know, if anybody turns me in for the reward, I might not be able to stay with my mom. She might get in trouble for taking me away. And for not reporting the murder.”

“I know,” Brian said, “but I think my mom—my adoptive mom—can help.”

“She’s really a cop?”

“Yep.”

Kyung-Soon called to Billy from the kitchen. He went back inside and talked with his mother in Korean for a few minutes, then turned to Brian and said, “Could you guys wait out in the backyard? My mom and I need a few minutes.”

“Wait—I have one question,” Brian said. “When is our real birthday?”

Billy laughed, and then told him.

“Wow,” Brian said. “I’m nine days older than I thought!”

Louella Doblemun was not thrilled about getting up off the sofa, but with Darwin’s help they were able to move her onto the chaise longue outside.

Brian and Roni sat on the steps. They could hear movement and occasional bursts of rapid Korean from inside the house.

“What are they doing in there?” Roni said.

“I don’t know,” Brian said. “My mom will be here soon, and she’ll know what to do.”

“Would somebody
please
tell me what’s going on?” Darwin said.

Roni took pity on him and explained the situation, with frequent corrections and embellishments from Brian. Mrs. Doblemun lay on the chaise, rolling her eyes, making
tch
sounds, putting her hands over her ears as Roni described what Kyung-Soon had seen the night she abducted Billy. Lance, meanwhile, stared at each of them in turn with an expression of hatred and despair.

When Roni had finished her story, they sat in silence. The sounds from inside the house had ceased, and all they heard was the chittering of crickets and the faint rush of distant traffic. After a minute or two, Roni said, “It’s awfully quiet in there.”

Brian had a thought. He jumped up and opened the back door.

“Hello?” he called out.

No answer.

He raised his voice. “Billy?”

Nothing. He entered the house and went from room to room. He ran up the stairs and looked into the bedrooms. No Billy. No Kyung-Soon. He ran back downstairs and out the front door.

Kyung-Soon’s car was gone.

two families

Two days later, as Roni was rereading
The Hound of the Baskervilles,
her favorite Sherlock Holmes story, she heard the slap of the newspaper hitting the front steps. She ran downstairs and searched until she found the paper under the juniper bush. She opened the paper and saw the article immediately, right on the front page.

There was more. The article ran all the way down the page. Roni read the whole thing, every word, about ten times, each time pausing to admire the photo of herself at the bottom of the column and the caption beneath it:

“Article written by P. Q. Delicata, a student at Bloodwater High School. Ms. Delicata plans to be an investigative reporter.”

The phone rang. Roni ignored it. Part of her punishment for the unauthorized trip to St. Paul was no phone and no computer for one solid week.

A few seconds later, Nick called to her.

“Roni! That was Darwin, from the garage.”

“What did he want?” Roni asked, following her mother’s voice into the kitchen.