THIRTY-THREE
‘No!’ Alex cried. ‘No. She’s dead?’
‘She’s not dead,’ said Robinson. ‘Thanks to you, she’s not dead. After you came around raising hell like that, Witkowski decided to go and make an unscheduled check on her cell. He found her just in time. She’d used her bedsheet to make a noose. She’s in the hospital though.’
‘Oh my God. Is she gonna live?’ Alex asked.
Robinson nodded. ‘Luckily she didn’t snap her neck. And didn’t have time to asphyxiate herself. The doctor said she’s gonna be all right. I swear, it was just luck that you came by and raised hell about that. It turns out you were right on the money.’
‘Oh, Lord,’ said Alex. ‘Oh, Dory.’ She turned on Joy who was still on the floor, sniffling. ‘This is your fault,’ she said. ‘You framed her. Both times. Did you hide that knife so it would look like Dory was the one who attacked me?’
Joy nodded, her body shuddering with quiet sobs. ‘I had to,’ she said.
Alex glared at her. ‘You have not done Therese any favors. Although you’re probably more likely to go to jail than she is.’
Joy stared ahead blankly and did not reply.
Alex turned to Officer Robinson. ‘Look, I shouldn’t ask you for another thing, but I don’t think I can drive. I’m too shaken up. Could I ask you to take me to the hospital where Dory is?’
‘Sure. That’s one reason I came by. I figured you might need someone to take you there. It seems like the least I could do. But we have to stay here a little longer until the police arrive. They’re going to want to question you.’
‘How long will that take?’ Alex asked.
‘Not too long, I hope,’ he said. ‘Try calling the hospital.’
‘Which one? I don’t even know where she is.’
Officer Robinson took her phone and began to punch numbers into it. He handed the phone to Alex. ‘At least you can check on her condition.’
There were sirens approaching and it sounded as if the noise was going to engulf the house. Alex put a finger in her ear and waited while the phone rang.
‘Boston General,’ said a pleasant voice.
‘Hi,’ said Alex. ‘I’m calling to check on my sister’s condition. She was brought in to emergency this evening.’
While Alex sat on hold, listening to a classical music quartet, a phalanx of policemen entered the house, led by Officer Robinson who had greeted them at the door. Robinson pointed out Joy, who was curled up on the porch floor, seemingly oblivious to the cold night air.
‘This woman was planning to blow up this house and everything in it. Including herself and this young woman over here on the phone. I found this one gagged and tied to a chair.’
Alex’s call had reached the nurse’s station. ‘I’m calling about my sister, Dory Colson. They brought her in earlier.’
The nurse hesitated. ‘This the one they brought in from the prison?’
‘That’s the one,’ said Alex.
‘She’s stable. But she’s not leaving. She’s under observation in the psych wing.’
‘Thank you,’ said Alex. At least she’s stable. That was some consolation, she thought. Before she gave the phone back to Officer Robinson, she made one more call. The phone rang and a woman picked up.
‘Elaine,’ said Alex.
‘Yes?’
‘This is Alex. I’m calling about Dory. She attempted suicide at the jail this evening.’
There was a silence from Elaine’s end of the phone.
‘She tried to hang herself but luckily they found her in time. She’s at Boston General. She’s stable. She’ll survive.’
‘Why are you telling me this?’ asked Elaine in a confrontational tone, although her voice was shaky.
‘You’re her mother. I thought you would want to know,’ said Alex. ‘I thought you also might want to know that Joy tried to blow up my house this evening. With me in it.’
‘Joy? Our Joy?’
Our Joy? Alex thought. What about our Dory? ‘Yes, your Joy. She tried to kill me. She’s about to be arrested for that. Also for stabbing me in the back last week and hiding the knife in Dory’s room,’ said Alex. It was undeniably gratifying, relating all this to Elaine.
‘I don’t understand,’ said Elaine weakly.
‘Well, it’s a long story, which will all come out in due time. But I’ll tell you right now. Dory had nothing to do with Lauren’s death. That’s for sure.’
‘How do you know that?’ Elaine demanded.
‘Because now I know who her killer was.’
‘Who?’ Elaine demanded anxiously. ‘You have to tell me what you know.’
Alex looked up at the detective in charge, who was waiting to talk to her. She liked the idea of Elaine having to wait. How long had she made Dory wait? ‘I can’t talk now. I have to go,’ Alex said. ‘I have to go get my dog free. She locked him in the shed out back. I just called to let you know about Dory.’
It was almost an hour before the police were finished with Alex and Joy had been taken away, under arrest for attempted murder. Alex looked regretfully at Officer Robinson. ‘It’s late. You probably want to get home,’ she said. ‘You’ll miss dinner.’
Officer Robinson shook his head. ‘I promised I’d take you to the hospital,’ he said.
‘I can get a cab,’ Alex demurred.
‘You can get a cab home,’ he said. ‘Once you get over there, they may try to tell you that it’s too late for you to see her. I can smooth the way with that.’
Alex thanked him profusely and, in a few minutes, she was in the car and on her way to Boston General.
As Robinson had predicted, the nurses on duty told Alex she was too late and couldn’t visit at this hour. They immediately deferred, however, to the oversized corrections officer who insisted that Alex be allowed in to Dory’s room. As Alex reached the doorway, Officer Robinson greeted the uniformed corrections officer who was standing guard there. ‘Hey,’ he said, ‘I am going to head home now. Hannity here will help you. Whatever you need.’
Alex held out a hand to Robinson and he shook it. ‘I can never thank you enough,’ she said. ‘I owe you my life, for heaven’s sake.’
‘Buy me a hero sandwich one of these days,’ he said, ‘and we’ll call it even.’
‘You’re on,’ she said.
He waved as he disappeared down the hall and around the corner to the elevators. Alex waved for as long as she could see him and then, giving Hannity a shaky smile, she took a deep breath and tiptoed into Dory’s room.
Dory had been looking out into the darkness but she turned her head when Alex came in and fixed her with a vacant stare.
‘Dory,’ Alex exclaimed. She rushed to the side of Dory’s bed and peered down at her. She put a gentle hand on Dory’s shoulder. There was an abrasion on Dory’s neck that was turning purple. ‘Oh my God, Dory. I’m so glad they found you in time.’
‘How did you know I was here?’ Dory asked dully.
‘Somebody from the jail told me. It doesn’t matter. I’ll tell you all that when you’re better. There’s just one thing that I have to tell you right now: you’re not going back to jail. These charges against you are going to be dropped, just like the other ones were. You’re going to walk out of this hospital free and clear.’
Dory looked at her blankly.
‘I mean it, Dory,’ said Alex. ‘Joy has been arrested for attacking me and for hiding the knife in your room. The police know it was her. They may have dropped the charges already.’
‘Joy?’ Dory asked. ‘Joy Ennis?’
Alex looked at the door and then back at the frail woman on the bed. ‘It’s all going to come out. She told me what happened. It was Therese who killed your sister. She killed Lauren. Everything Joy did was to cover up for what Therese had done.’
Alex expected to see surprise. Relief. She did not know what form it would take – smiles or tears – but she certainly expected one or the other. What she did not expect was the grave, unchanging look of hopelessness in Dory’s eyes.
Dory frowned and turned her head to the window. The view from her room was a blur of lights on the expressway below. Dory looked out at the moving traffic under the inky sky without speaking.
Alex pulled up a chair and sat down beside her sister. She wondered if perhaps Dory had sustained some kind of cognitive impairment from the lack of oxygen she suffered before they found her, hanging in her cell. ‘Dory. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?’
‘Yes. I think so,’ said Dory. ‘Therese. Why? Why would Therese hurt Lauren? Lauren was her idol.’
‘Well, it turns out that Joy and your sister were secretly lovers. When everyone thought Joy left her family to go to a yoga retreat, she was actually living with Lauren. The day that Lauren died she was trying to convince Joy to come back to her, to move back to Branson with her. Therese overheard it and flipped out.’
‘Wow,’ said Dory thoughtfully.
‘Joy just reacted. She thought she was protecting Therese. And she didn’t care who got hurt.’
‘Meaning me,’ said Dory dully.
‘Yes. She sacrificed you for her daughter. And when you were set free from prison, she attacked me to try to blame you. To have you sent back. She didn’t care what happened to anybody but her daughter.’
‘That’s what mothers do, right?’ said Dory bleakly.
‘But it’s all going to come out now. At least now we know who really killed Lauren.’
‘That’s good,’ said Dory.
‘Thank God you didn’t succeed with this,’ said Alex, putting her hand over her own throat. ‘You are cleared, once and for all.’
‘I wonder if my mother will believe it,’ Dory said, a rueful note in her voice.
‘She’ll have to believe it. She won’t have any choice,’ said Alex impatiently.
‘I guess not,’ said Dory in a dull, scratchy voice.
Alex nodded. ‘Well, I guess it will take a little while for all this to sink in. It’s got to be a little bewildering.’
‘I hope it won’t upset her too much. She loves Therese like a grandchild. I don’t know how she’ll take this news,’ Dory murmured.
‘Therese is not her child,’ said Alex with a trace of bitterness.
Dory nodded slightly. ‘No one believed me,’ she said.
‘I know,’ said Alex, blushing. ‘You’re right. I’m so sorry about that.’
‘Doesn’t matter,’ said Dory.
Alex reached over and covered Dory’s hand with her own. Dory’s was icy cold. ‘Everyone will believe you now,’ she said.
Dory sighed. ‘Maybe.’
‘Look, Dory. When you get out of here,’ said Alex, ‘I want you to come back home with me. You can stay there as long as you like. Remus keeps looking for you.’ Alex didn’t actually know that to be true, but she felt as if Dory needed something to hold on to. Something to give her the will to recover. Alex wasn’t about to tell her that Joy had tranquilized Remus and locked him up. There would be time to explain all the details another day.
Dory’s faint smile came and went, like a fleeting ray of sun on a cloudy day. ‘He’s a good dog,’ she said.
‘He really is,’ said Alex.
An awkward silence fell between them. Dory seemed to have no further interest in all that had happened. No more questions about the events which had led to her exoneration.
Finally Dory sighed. ‘Well, you better get going. Remus will need walking.’
‘You’re right about that,’ Alex said.
There was a rustling noise near the door of Dory’s room and voices in the hallway. Dory glanced past Alex in the direction of the door, and suddenly there was a stunning change of expression on her face. Her eyes widened in surprise, and then a smile began to break across her face like the dawn.
Garth and Elaine had entered the room. Garth was holding his hat and steering Elaine by the elbow. His eyes were fastened onto the pale figure in the bed. Elaine hung back, looking frightened.
‘Hey, darlin’,’ Garth breathed. He came over to the bedside, leaned down and scooped Dory carefully up in his arms. ‘Wow, I’m glad you’re OK.’
While her father embraced her, Dory stared past his shoulder at Elaine.
Garth reluctantly loosened his grip and let Dory back down onto the pillow.
‘Dory has company, Garth,’ said Elaine, nodding toward Alex.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Dory hastily.
Alex tried not to take offense. She stood up. ‘Well, I need to be going anyway.’ She stepped away from the chair and offered it to Elaine.
Elaine sat down. Immediately Dory reached out a hand to her. ‘Mom. You’re here,’ she whispered.
Elaine hesitated and then took the proffered hand. ‘You’re like ice,’ Elaine observed. But she continued to let her hand rest in Dory’s.
‘OK. I’m gonna go. I’ll be back to see you tomorrow,’ said Alex to Dory. ‘Remember what I said about staying with me.’
Dory nodded but did not reply. She was oblivious to everything but those intertwined hands on the bedsheet. Elaine frowned and shifted uneasily in her chair. But she did not let go.