‘Do you remember when she left for Philadelphia?’
‘No.’ Elma shook her head. ‘It’s been a while.’
‘Maybe April? Around Easter maybe?’
‘Yes.’ Elma’s rheumy eyes lit up behind her bifocals. ‘I remember because she came to visit me on Easter, to say good-bye. She brought me a hyacinth. I love hyacinth.’
‘So do I.’ Maggie glanced at Kathy, thinking that it confirmed that PG was the imposter. ‘Does she call you?’
‘Sometimes. Not in a while. I try not to worry. She’s a strong girl. Got a mind of her own. She wants to be president.’
Maggie fell silent a moment, sad for Elma.
‘You know what PG calls me? Not Elma, Elmo. Like the toy.’ Elma patted her head. ‘I had red hair when she was little, and she called me Granny Elmo. Her brother, too. They thought that was so funny. They would sit right there watching that show.’ Elma pointed at the floor. ‘Sesame Street. I put it on for them. Burton Ernie. I thought the puppet’s name was Burton Ernie. They said, “No, it’s Bert and Ernie.” ’
Maggie smiled. ‘I thought PG didn’t have a brother.’
‘Her half-brother, Roy. He’s older by three years. Roy and PG were thick as thieves when they were little. But he lost his way when he grew up.’ Elma frowned. ‘Fell in with the wrong crowd. They got him into trouble. He got locked up for a while.’
‘Elma, what’s Roy’s last name? Is it Tenderly?’
‘No, Watson. He’s a Watson, through and through. Him and his father, the low-lifers. Low-lifers.’ Elma shook her head. ‘I told my daughter, that man will get you in trouble. He’ll steal anything ain’t nailed down. He stole from me. He stole my check when it come in. He stole out my wallet. He stole my late husband’s wedding band out my jewelry box!’
‘Does Roy stay in touch with PG?’
‘Yes, he says she’s doing real good. She got an office job down there.’
Maggie knew it was a lie, so Roy must have known that PG was impersonating Anna. ‘Did he say where the office job is?’
‘Don’t remember.’
Maggie was thinking that it was time to go to the police and tell them about Roy and PG. Her purse was in the car, and she’d call when they left. ‘Where does Roy live, Elma?’
‘Few blocks over, on East Road. He drops off my groceries every other week. He’s got a good heart, that boy.’
‘What does he do for a living?’
‘He’s a truck mechanic.’
‘Is he married?’
‘Oh no, no way. He plays the field. His friends, too.’ Elma frowned deeply. ‘I don’t like them, not at all. Connie’s the main one. Another low-lifer.’
‘Connie?’ Maggie repeated, catching Kathy’s eye. ‘Is Connie a man’s name?’
‘Yes, he’s not from here. Konstantine. With a K.’
‘What’s his last name?’
‘I forget, I couldn’t pronounce it anyway.’
‘Where does he live?’
‘Oh, look, speak of the devil.’ Elma’s head turned to the window, and Maggie rose and looked outside, alarmed to see two men running up the front walk, kicking up snow. The bigger man took the lead, and when they got closer, she could see him slide a handgun from his jacket pocket.
‘He has a gun!’ Maggie ran to the door, locked the old deadbolt, and pressed her hands against the door.
‘A gun?’ Elma repeated, shocked. ‘No!’
‘Oh my God!’ Kathy bolted to the door and tried to hold it closed.
‘Open up, you bitches!’ one of the men shouted, banging on the door.
And in the next moment, the hinges gave way.
Chapter Seventy-nine
Noah, After
‘Where are we going?’ Noah walked between CO Stanislavsky and CO Evesham. He scanned the hallway looking for escape routes, but there were none. The hallway was long, with security cameras mounted near the ceiling.
‘We got a phone you can use,’ CO Stanislavsky answered, his tone noncommittal.
‘Where is it?’ Noah kept his tone equally noncommittal. He didn’t want to alert them to the fact that he suspected anything. Adding to his nervousness was his complete disorientation. He wasn’t familiar enough with Graterford to know where he was in the prison. Behind him was the locked door of the ACU and ahead of him lay another locked door.
CO Stanislavsky sucked his teeth. ‘We’re improvising, since we can’t take you back to Cellblock C. The muckety-mucks are still here because of the Jeremy Black murder and they’re using up the conference rooms.’
‘So where are we going?’ Noah asked again. They came to the end of the corridor, but there were no windows in the metal doors so he couldn’t see what was on the other side.
They stopped, and CO Evesham extracted a jangling set of keys from his belt and unlocked the door. ‘Dr Alderman, please stand aside.’
Noah did as he was told. They hadn’t answered his question. He worried they were waiting for the right moment. CO Stanislavsky kept sucking his teeth, apparently nonchalant.
CO Evesham unlocked the door, and Noah’s heart began to pound. Adrenaline dumped into his bloodstream, his body alerted for fight or flight. He reminded himself he was bigger than he used to be. He could throw a punch if his hands were freed. He could sprint if he had to do that, too.
‘Go ahead, Dr Alderman.’ CO Evesham gestured him through the open door, and Noah passed through with CO Stanislavsky behind him.
‘This way,’ CO Stanislavsky said, as they walked down another hall.
Noah fell into step. They went down a short flight of stairs, then entered another long cinder-block hallway, which felt stifling. They must’ve been closer to the boiler room.
Noah’s heart thumped hard. He looked for a place to run, but there was nowhere. The security cameras were at regular intervals. He told himself they couldn’t disable every security camera. Still he had no idea where they were. It seemed suspiciously off the grid.
‘Where are we going?’ Noah asked again, as they encountered another hallway and another set of metal doors, which CO Evesham moved to unlock and then held open.
‘Stand aside, Dr Alderman.’ CO Stanislavsky motioned to the corridor as the door swung wide open.
Noah was about to run for his life when he saw that CO Evesham was walking down the hallway to a metal door and just as he was about to unlock it, two female COs came out. They laughed when they almost collided with CO Evesham.
‘Mark! What are you doing down here?’ the one CO asked, a blonde whose name tag read LUNDY. She held a tinfoil tray of half-eaten vanilla sheet cake.
CO Evesham gestured at Noah. ‘Our celebrity inmate needs to talk to his lawyer, and the conference rooms are full.’
‘Oh Jeez.’ CO Lundy made a funny face. ‘We woulda cleaned up if we knew company was coming.’
‘Yeah,’ said the other female CO. ‘We woulda baked a cake! Oh, wait, we did!’
The COs laughed merrily, then stood aside as CO Stanislavsky gestured Noah forward, saying, ‘The phone is all yours, Dr Alderman. Press nine to get an outside line. It’s unmonitored. You have fifteen minutes. We’ll wait outside.’
‘Go ahead, Dr Alderman,’ CO Stanislavsky said, impatiently.
‘Would you uncuff me, Mr Stanislavsky?’ Noah asked, turning to offer them his wrists.
CO Evesham burst into laughter. ‘Stan, you dumb Polack! How’s he supposed to dial the phone?’
The COs laughed again, and CO Stanislavsky uncuffed Noah and closed the door behind him. The room was a small kitchen with a round Formica table and blue-Plexiglas bucket chairs. Against the wall was a wood cabinet, an old white microwave, and a tan landline. Noah crossed to the phone and pressed in Thomas’s cell number. The call was picked up after two rings.
‘Thomas, it’s Noah Alderman.’
‘Noah, how are you?’ Thomas asked warmly. ‘Where are you?’
‘In a kitchen in Graterford. Did you read about the Jeremy Black murder?’
‘Sure, yes.’
‘You gotta get me out of here,’ Noah said, then told Thomas everything that had happened, including naming Jimmy Williams as the murderer of Jeremy Black. When Noah finished, he asked, ‘So what do you think? Can you get me transferred?’