“There was nothing.” Marcy got up and began collecting coffee cups. “Terry visited his father, we had a nice vacation, we flew home. We didn’t eat at Tommy and whatever it was, and we didn’t steal a van. Now I’d like you to—”
“Daddy got a cut.”
They all turned to the door. Sarah Maitland was standing there, looking pale and wan and much too thin in her jeans and Rangers tee-shirt.
“Sarah, what are you doing down here?” Marcy put the cups on the counter and went to the girl. “I told you and your sister to stay upstairs until we were done talking.”
“Grace is already asleep,” Sarah said. “She was awake last night with more stupid nightmares about the man with straws for eyes. I hope she doesn’t have any tonight. If she wakes up, you should give her a shot of Benadryl.”
“I’m sure she’ll sleep through. Go on, now.”
But Sarah stood her ground. She was looking at Ralph, not with her mother’s dislike and distrust, but with a kind of concentrated curiosity that made Ralph uncomfortable. He held her gaze, but it was difficult.
“My mother says you got my dad killed,” Sarah said. “Is that true?”
“No.” Then the apology came at last, and to his surprise, it was almost effortless. “But I played a part, and for that I’m deeply sorry. I made a mistake I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.”
“Probably that’s good,” Sarah said. “Probably you deserve to.” And to her mother: “I’ll go upstairs now, but if Grace starts yelling in the middle of the night, I’m going to sleep in her room.”
“Before you go, Sarah, can you tell me about the cut?” Ralph asked.
“It happened when he visited his father,” Sarah said. “A nurse fixed it up right after it happened. She put on that Betadine stuff and a Band-Aid. It was okay. He said it didn’t hurt.”
“Upstairs, you,” Marcy said.
“Okay.” They watched her pad to the stairs in her bare feet. When she got there, she turned back. “That Tommy and Tuppence restaurant was right up the street from our hotel. When we went to the art museum in the rent-a-dent, I saw the sign.”
19
“Tell me about the cut,” Ralph said.
Marcy put her hands on her hips. “Why? So you can make it into some kind of big deal? Because it wasn’t.”
“He’s asking because it’s the only thing he’s got,” Alec said. “But I’m interested, too.”
“If you’re too tired—” Howie began.
“No, that’s all right. It wasn’t a big deal, just a scrape, really. Was that the second time he visited his father?” She lowered her head, frowning. “No, it was the last time, because we flew home the next morning. When Terry left his father’s room, he smacked into an orderly. He said neither of them was looking where he was going. It would have been no more than bump and excuse me, but a janitor had just finished mopping the floor, and it was still wet. The orderly slipped and grabbed Terry’s arm, but went down anyway. Terry helped him up, asked if he was all right, and the guy said he was. Ter was halfway down the hall before he saw his wrist was bleeding. One of the orderly’s nails must have gotten him when he grabbed Terry, trying to stay on his feet. A nurse disinfected it and put on a Band-Aid, like Sarah said. And that’s the whole story. Does it solve the case for you?”
“No,” Ralph said. But it wasn’t like the yellow bra strap. This was a connection—a confluence, to use Jeannie’s word—he thought he could nail down, but he would need Yune Sablo’s help. He stood up. “Thanks for your time, Marcy.”
She favored him with a cold smile. “That’s Mrs. Maitland to you.”
“Understood. And Howard, thanks for setting this up.” He extended his hand to the lawyer. For a moment it just hung there, but in the end, Howie shook it.
“I’ll walk you out,” Alec said.
“I think I can find my way.”
“I’m sure you can, but since I walked you in, it makes a nice balance.”
They crossed the living room and went down the short hall. Alec opened the door. Ralph stepped out, and was surprised when Alec stepped out after him.
“What was it about the cut?”
Ralph eyed him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I think you do. Your face changed.”
“A little acid indigestion. I’m prone to it, and that was a tough meeting. Although not as tough as the way the girl looked at me. I felt like a bug on a slide.”
Alec closed the door behind them. Ralph was two steps down, but because of his height, the two men were still almost eye to eye. “Going to tell you something,” Alec said.
“All right.” Ralph braced himself.
“That arrest was fucked. Fucked to the sky. I’m sure you know that now.”
“I don’t think I need another scolding tonight.” Ralph started to turn away.
“I’m not done.”
Ralph turned back, head lowered, feet slightly spread. It was a fighter’s stance.
“I don’t have any kids. Marie couldn’t. But if I’d had a son your boy’s age, and if I had solid proof that a homicidal sexual deviant had been important to him, someone he looked up to, I might have done the same thing, or worse. What I’m saying is that I understand why you lost perspective.”
“All right,” Ralph said. “It doesn’t make things better, but thanks.”
“If you change your mind about telling me what it was about the cut, give me a call. Maybe we’re all on the same side here.”
“Goodnight, Alec.”
“Goodnight, Detective. Stay safe.”
20
He was telling Jeannie how it went when his phone rang. It was Yune. “Can we talk tomorrow, Ralph? There was something weird in that barn where the kid found the clothes Maitland was wearing in the railway station. More than one thing, actually.”
“Tell me now.”
“No. I’m going home. I’m tired. And I need to think about this.”
“Okay, tomorrow. Where?”
“Someplace quiet and out of the way. I can’t afford to be seen talking to you. You’re on administrative leave, and I’m off the case. Actually, there is no case. Not with Maitland dead.”
“What’s going to happen with the clothes?”
“They’re going to Cap City for forensics examination. After that, they’ll be turned over to the Flint County Sheriff’s Department.”
“Are you kidding? They should be with the rest of the Maitland evidence. Besides which, Dick Doolin can’t blow his own nose without an instruction manual.”
“That may be true, but Canning Township is county, not city, which makes it the sheriff’s jurisdiction. I heard Chief Geller was sending a detective out, but just as a courtesy.”
“Hoskins.”
“Yeah, that was the name. He’s not here yet, and by the time he makes it, everyone will be gone. Maybe he got lost.”
More likely stopped somewhere for a few pops, Ralph thought.
Yune said, “Those clothes will end up in an evidence box at the sheriff’s department, and they’ll still be there when the twenty-second century dawns. No one gives a shit. The feeling is Maitland did it, Maitland’s dead, let’s move on.”
“I’m not ready to do that,” Ralph said, and smiled when Jeannie, sitting on the sofa, made fists and popped two thumbs up. “Are you?”
“Would I be talking to you if I was? Where should we meet tomorrow?”
“There’s a little coffee shop near the train station in Dubrow. O’Malley’s Irish Spoon, it’s called. Can you find it?”
“No doubt.”
“Ten o’clock?”
“Sounds good. If I have to roll on something, I’ll call and reschedule.”
“You have all the witness statements, right?”
“On my laptop.”
“Make sure you bring it. All my stuff is at the station, and I’m not supposed to be there. Got a lot to tell you.”
“Same here,” Yune said. “We may crack this yet, Ralph, but I don’t know if we’ll like what we find. This is a pretty deep forest.”
Actually, Ralph thought as he ended the call, it’s a cantaloupe. And the damn thing is full of maggots.
21