“And that’s part of a plan? That’s an awfully elaborate plan for the suburbs. You’re making no sense.” Wallis did remember the news story on the television and remembered switching the television off when they started talking about the family. Too much misery that had nothing to do with her.
“Just before that so called accident Kristen cornered Ray, told him what she knew. They worked together at the utilities department, down in the city. Better pay there and great benefits. I gotta sit down.”
Stanley sunk into the old chair that still clung to some of its lost elegance and picked up the book on Paris, letting it rest in his lap. He pulled a starched white handkerchief out of his back pocket and wiped his face and neck. For a moment it made Wallis think of her dad, of Walter, trying to unwind after a week on the road selling brocade and seersucker further south. Seersucker had always been big further south.
“Stanley,” she said more softly, “I can see that you’re upset and because of Ray it’s understandable, but you have five minutes to pull some of this together or I’m out of here and we don’t speak again, on any topic, ever.” Wallis saw the small shake in her hands.
“She claimed she’d been recruited,” he said, waving his hands around, raising his voice for a moment, before taking a deep breath. “She said she was invited into this group but Ray called it recruited. Kristen had gone to a tea in her neighborhood that was supposed to be a kind of welcoming party for a new neighbor, Faye something. This was all years ago when Jimmy was still in elementary school, but he was having problems even then. Not drinking, not yet, but he wasn’t exactly doing well in school. Kristen had to miss a lot of work to meet with the school or specialists trying to do something about Jimmy. She was a little desperate. She went to this tea and they all started talking about their kids and of course, Kristen started complaining about Jimmy, saying she wasn’t sure what she was going to do. Someone told her about a therapist who was supposed to work wonders and gave her a name and number. You know how parents are always a little desperate when it comes to their kids.”
“I’ve seen it a few times in my profession,” said Wallis.
“Yeah, right,” said Stanley, snorting again. “Black widow, I forgot. Sorry, no offense.” Stanley shifted uneasily in the chair, the sharp lines of his arms and legs moving around, trying to find a comfortable position.
“Keep going, Stanley.”
“Kristen said the therapist offered her a plan. A kind of civil service plan. The way she explained it was the therapist had given Jimmy a lot of tests and interviewed the entire family and said Jimmy had a lot of untapped potential. Boy, don’t you know Kristen bit at that one.” Stanley’s voice came out in a whine. “She said there was an opportunity for Jimmy, a long-term opportunity, but it was a little unusual. Kristen claimed it was a secret society, you know, like the Masons, to help young men and women from good families who weren’t getting what they needed. But they had a few conditions.”
“Like what?” said Wallis, feeling her stomach sour.
“Like keeping it secret, for starters. And sticking with the plan they laid out, no veering, no grilling. They apparently never actually said making a public nuisance of yourself was grounds for dismissal, and maybe it wouldn’t have been if Jimmy hadn’t managed to make the newspapers.”
“Who exactly are they?”
“I’m not sure I know that.”
“How can you be sure your friend didn’t kill himself? How can you be sure this isn’t all paranoia on his part? How can you be sure he didn’t draw up this list?”
“For one thing, Ray was afraid of guns. He had been all his life. His uncle used to take the two of us out hunting when we were small boys. He said it was to toughen us up. But all it did to Ray was turn him against guns of any kind, forever. That’s unusual for most men who grew up around here. Not everybody would realize that unless they really knew Ray, like me.” Tears ran down in slow streaks across Stanley’s cheeks, pooling in the corners of his mouth. “And I was with Ray when he first looked at the list.”
Wallis felt it, knew it was the tipping point over onto the other side. The moment she knew what he was saying was true and even if she walked away and refused to do anything about any of it, she’d carry the weight of the secrets.
“Do you know who killed Ray Billings?” Wallis’ body shuddered. I don’t really want to know, she thought. Then I’ll have to do something about it. I can still stop and walk away.
“No, not really. But I know they’re there. They leave nasty little messages everywhere to let me know.”
“Know what?”