The Sin Eater

by Lee McIntyre

  “Friend of the family.”

  Castro got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Wanda and the rest of the office were right outside, but this didn’t feel right.

  But this was about the kids, dammit. She needed to toughen up.

  “Then you aren’t eligible to work as a foster parent for them,” she said.

  “Why is that?”

  “If you don’t understand, I can’t explain it to you.”

  Castro didn’t like the look that came across his face, but she couldn’t exactly read it either. It wasn’t anger. It was more like she had touched a nerve and he recognized her from a previous life. Another bitch, his look seemed to say. Castro’s feet started to twitch, but she refused to be intimidated.

  “She’s with a stranger now,” he said evenly. “How is that better?”

  “They’ve been screened.”

  “So screen me.”

  Castro shook her head. This needed to be over. Now. “You’d have to undergo an extensive personal history and background check. Family. Employment. Even then you couldn’t choose which child you got placed with. It doesn’t work like that. Oh, and we’d have to check your criminal background too.” Castro really didn’t like the look on his face. “So, you have a criminal record?”

  “Nothing civil.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It was under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. You can run an NCIC on me and it’ll come back clean.”

  “I’m sure I could, but I think we’re done here.” Castro stood up, but wondered if her legs would support her.

  “Now just give me a minute,” Tugg said. “I’m here to help my friends. If they can’t watch Emma, why can’t I?”

  Castro put her hand on the door and swung it open. “Mr.Morgan, if you don’t leave now, I’m going to have to call security.”

  Tugg got up from his seat and slowly walked by her. “Well, I tried.”

  Castro shut the door and finally took a breath.

  Chapter 12

  The courtroom didn’t look anything like those polished wood, high-ceiling movie sets from To Kill A Mockingbird or Twelve Angry Men. This one had industrial carpet, acoustical tile, and anyone could tell that the judge’s desk was made of fake wood. The room was tiny and had no windows.

  Originally, Adam was glad that the hearing had been scheduled so fast, but it sure didn’t seem fast. Every day of delay had been another day without Emma. Was she okay? Was she safe? They’d had no contact, no visitation and no suggestion of any time horizon for when they might be able to get Emma back. But that’s what today was about, wasn’t it?

  The last four days had been one long descent into hell. From the peak of happy news of Kate’s pregnancy and Carnap’s optimistic prediction about today’s hearing, they’d had nothing to do but worry about every possible thing that could go wrong. Would they get Emma back? Was she going to be psychologically scarred when they did? And what toll was all of this stress having on Kate? And the baby?

  Even Tugg had been a little moody. He left the house every day for a long ride to “clear the cobwebs.” Tugg never said where he’d gone that day when he left the hospital. Just a cryptic note at the nurse’s station saying, “I heard that everything’s cool and I’ve got something to do.” Best leave that alone. Stress could have a bad effect on Tugg, the military doctor had said. Maybe that explained why he had spent the last three days acting like a hockey player in the penalty box, anxious to get back in the game.

  Adam felt marginally reassured by Carnap’s presence. And by Tugg, who was sitting in his accustomed seat in the back row. Kate’s wheelchair was parked in the no man’s land between what Adam guessed were normally the prosecution and defense tables, so that everyone had to go around her when they came down the aisle to approach the judge. For a modern courtroom, there apparently had been little thought of how to accommodate a handicapped defendant.

  Lisa Castro was joined at the other table by a very tall black woman. Probably a state attorney. The attorney had shaken Adam and Kate’s hands before sitting down, but Castro refused even to look them in the eye. That couldn’t be good. She looked pretty agitated, actually, and kept swiveling her head back past the empty rows to look at Tugg. Maybe she couldn’t figure out who he was, or why someone with no interest in the case would be sitting there. Maybe she recognized him from a previous life.

  “All rise,” the bailiff called.

  Judge Malachi Gordon appeared from a rear door and ambled to the bench. He looked old enough to have known Thomas Jefferson personally, and peered down at them from comically thick glasses that he’d probably had since the 1980s. Carnap had said he was a good pick for their purposes. Good to hear. But why was a guy that old still presiding over family court?

  Emma should be here. This is about her and she should have a chance to show how much she wants to come home. Is she somewhere in the building?

  Adam choked up. Emma wouldn’t understand all this, of course, but Adam was aching to see his little girl. Why didn’t they have Emma here to ask her about the phony report from Rachel?

  “Okay, what have we got today, Ms.Loving? Parental fitness — why do so many of these seem to come across my desk these days?”

  “I apologize, your honor. We’ve been a little stacked up.” Her voice was smooth and fluid. Must be a killer for the other side.

  “Let’s get to it, then.” The judge picked up a sheaf of papers as if he were seeing them for the first time.

  Ms.Loving spoke first. “Thank you, your honor. I would like to introduce Ms.Lisa Castro, Director of Placement for the Multnomah County Office of Child Protective Services.”

  Not a trial, Adam thought. It all seemed pretty informal. So why did they get to go first?

  Castro stood and looked straight at the judge. “Your honor, today’s hearing was requested by the parents of Emma Grammaticus, a three-year-old girl who came into our custody as a result of a complaint of parental abuse by Ms.Rachel Norwood, the Grammaticus’ nanny. There is also a history of other alleged abuse as an infant and, unfortunately, there are other complicating circumstances as well.”

  Castro still refused to look over, even as she reached out in a vague gesture toward Adam’s table.

  “Complications? Of course there are. It’s family court. We’ll get to that, but first let’s hear from the nanny.”

  “Your honor, that is the complication,” Ms.Loving said. “Ms.Norwood is deceased.”

  Steve Carnap shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Finally he stood. “Your honor. My name is Steve Carnap and I represent Adam and Kate Grammaticus, Emma’s parents. In the brief you have before you, I’ve explained the problem with pursuing an allegation of abuse when the party who made the claim cannot appear and there is no affidavit. It is unfortunate that Ms.Norwood died, but it can hardly be held against my clients’ interests that her allegation cannot be presented today. If it were, it could be challenged.”

  “Mr.Carnap, I’ve seen you in this courtroom before, correct?”

  “Yes, your honor.”

  “Then you know the rules. Can we please hear just a little more about what the claim is before you go trying to refute it?”

  Carnap sat.

  “So who’s going to tell me?” the judge said. “How did she die?”

  Castro was still playing staredown with the judge. “She was stabbed, your honor. Eight days ago. Two days after our initial visit to the Grammaticus home.”

  “Stabbed?” The judge looked around the room. “That doesn’t happen every day. Do they know who did it?”

  Carnap began to speak, but the judge cut him off.

  “And it is too relevant, Mr.Carnap. Do you think I can rule on this without knowing more about the nanny?”

  Castro looked about to continue, but Loving touched her arm and took over.

  “The police don’t know yet, your honor. The investigation is ongoing. But Mr.Grammaticus has been a person of interest. In fact, that is what leads u
s to today’s request, which is that Emma Grammaticus’ status be elevated from foster care to protective custody. We wish to terminate all parental visitation and notification of her whereabouts.”

  Adam heard a sob escape from Kate, as Carnap erupted from his seat.

  “Your honor, this is highly prejudicial! Mr.Grammaticus has no criminal record and there is no history of abuse. He has not been arrested for this crime, nor has he been charged with anything. He also has an absolutely unimpeachable alibi. This is all just unsubstantiated paranoia from CPS.”

  “Mr.Grammaticus was arrested recently,” said Loving.

  “What?” said the judge.

  “Yes, for assaulting Ms.Castro, at the time of Emma’s removal.”

  “All charges were dropped,” Carnap said.

  “You opened the door to his criminal record, counselor,” Loving replied.

  The judge looked at the ceiling. “Family court, ye gods. Look, we’ve got a problem here, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” The judge looked at the defense table and addressed Adam. “You can’t kill your parents, then ask for mercy because you’re an orphan, Mr.Grammaticus. If you’re a person of interest in the investigation of the nanny’s murder, it doesn’t seem quite right that you should benefit from her inability to be here today to testify. I know. I know, Mr.Carnap. He hasn’t been arrested, or charged, or even really alleged to have done anything yet, but let’s leave that out for a minute. Let’s go back to the original charge, can we? Ms.Castro, you never told me what the alleged abuse was.”

  “Do you mean the recent one or the one before that?”

  “There are two of them?”

  Carnap erupted again. “There is no prior abuse charge! Can we just settle that once and for all? It’s all in the brief, your honor. It’s explained.”

  The judge gave Carnap a skeptical look. “I’ll look into that,” he said, and turned back to Castro.

  “Yes, the most recent allegation —” Castro began.

  “The one from the nanny?” said the judge.

  “Yes, the one from Ms.Norwood. She alleged that Emma told her one day that her father had hurt her with a sharp tool.”

  A stormy look crossed the judge’s face. “A sharp tool? Something with a blade?”

  Adam felt sick.

  “We don’t know,” said Castro. “We did not have time to do a full deposition with Ms.Norwood before she died. And Emma has never admitted to this under questioning.”

  “Mr.Carnap, what do you have?”

  Carnap dropped his papers and just started talking. “Your honor, this is all a series of unsubstantiated allegations and misunderstandings. Mr. Grammaticus is a loving father and a prominent executive at Tektel here in town. Mrs.Grammaticus is confined to a wheelchair and has worked in the past for Families in Transition. Until recently she had been caring for Emma while working out of her home. They hired Ms.Norwood a month ago. We don’t know why she made this dubious allegation, but what seems clear is that it was not examined very closely by CPS before they intervened and removed Emma Grammaticus from her home. There has been no proof of anything. It is mere supposition.”

  “You understand that suspicion is strong enough for family court, don’t you, Mr.Carnap? When we’re dealing with child welfare, we don’t have to leave the child in a risky situation while we gather proof of abuse. It’s not about proving past abuse, it’s about the danger of future abuse. And the mere suspicion of that is sufficient to remove a child.”

  Carnap nodded.

  “Your honor, that brings up another point,” Loving interrupted. “We have recently learned that Mrs.Grammaticus is pregnant. CPS is concerned about parental fitness for that child as well.”

  Adam exploded. How the hell did they even know about this? “You must be crazy! You want to take our unborn baby, too?”

  Kate yelled something incomprehensible and looked like she was trying to stand.

  “Bailiff, go over there. Both of you, just settle down.”

  Blood throbbed in Adam’s neck. He wondered if it was possible to have a stroke from anger.

  The judge waited for calm, then turned to Castro. “So you want the three-year-old upgraded to protective custody and you want me to consider removing the second child, once it’s born. But you haven’t offered much for me to go on, have you? I don’t need proof, but I need something, Ms.Castro.”

  Adam felt like he was on a plane in free fall and the pilot had suddenly found the stick.

  Loving whispered something and Castro stood up. “Your honor, we know that this is not a criminal court. And we understand that Mr. Grammaticus is entitled to the presumption of innocence on any allegation of his role in Ms.Norwood’s death. But I would ask you to defer to my strong suspicions based on the preponderance of evidence: the intake evaluation detailing injury to the infant two years ago, the report from the nanny, Mr.Grammaticus’s violent attack on me personally a few days ago, and his role as a person of interest in the nanny’s death. All of this makes me very concerned for Emma’s welfare in that house. There should be no presumption of innocence where a child is concerned.”

  “Oh so?”

  “With respect, your honor, I am not prepared to prove anything here today. But you said yourself that in family court the standard is different. And I am afraid that when the police have concluded their investigation, they will find that Mr.Grammaticus may have had a role in Ms.Norwood’s killing.”

  “Your honor, this is outrageous,” said Carnap. “Now she’s claiming to be able to outsmart the police? There is no evidence here, your honor. It is all just speculation.”

  The judge turned back to Castro. “What about Mr.Grammaticus’s airtight alibi, Ms.Castro? Isn’t that somewhere in Mr.Carnap’s brief?” The judge dropped his eyes and began leafing through the pages.

  “Yes, your honor,” Castro said. “Mr.Grammaticus’ alibi suggests that he could not have physically killed Ms.Norwood himself. But has it occurred to any of the investigators that he might have hired someone to do it for him?”

  Castro kept her eyes fastened on the judge, but Loving turned around to look at Tugg. One by one, so did the bailiff, the judge, and even Steve Carnap.

  “Oh for God’s sake,” the judge said. “Who is that? This is family court, not a murder trial. Are you saying that Mr.Grammaticus was smart enough to hire a hit man, then stupid enough to bring him to court? Let’s get to the bottom of that, shall we? That’s what the criminal courts are for. But I don’t see the rush in all this. The child is safe now, right?”

  Castro and Loving both nodded.

  “Then let’s leave her right where she is while the police do whatever investigation they need to do. Motion for protective custody is denied.”

  “But, your honor,” Carnap interjected.

  “Sit down, Mr.Carnap. Your motion is denied as well. The child will stay where she is until the police investigation is over. And we’ll settle the issue of custody for the baby when that event befalls us.” The judge looked down at Kate. “Ma’am, how many months along are, you please?”

  “Two,” Kate managed.

  “That gives us plenty of time,” said the judge. “For God’s sake, the child isn’t even born yet.”

  Chapter 13

  Adam looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows of Steve Carnap’s office at the stunning view of downtown Portland with Mount Hood in the distance. Was Emma in one of those buildings? Or was she off somewhere else, beyond the city? Now that the protective custody motion had been denied, maybe they could find out. Or even see her. That wasn’t as good as getting her back, of course, but it was better than the wall of silence they’d gotten so far. If they had to wait for the police investigation into Rachel’s murder to be completed before they could get Emma back, they’d have to make some arrangements to get more information.

  Adam and Kate were getting more agile with the wheelchair, which made them fifteen minutes early for their appointment. When they got there, the receptionist brough
t them straight to Carnap’s office and told them to wait, while he finished something in the conference room.

  As they sat in silence, Adam reached over and took Kate’s hand. They were both so devastated from court that morning that there wasn’t much to say. Tugg was off on one of his motorcycle rides so, instead of bothering to go home, Adam and Kate had drifted around Pioneer Square and the park blocks, killing time. If they didn’t get Emma back soon, there’d be a lot more of that in their future.

  Carnap breezed past them and sat down at his desk. “Sorry about that,” he said. “I was meeting with the partners to see if we could get a consensus.”

  Adam felt as if he were sitting in a doctor’s office awaiting the results of a biopsy.

  Carnap leaned toward them. “We all think that the best way forward is for you two to split up.”

  The words hung in the air for a second before Adam realized that they actually had a meaning for his own life.

  “I was afraid of this,” Kate said in a whisper.

  “Afraid of what?” Adam said. “Why would we do that? Wouldn’t they see through it? It’s just a ploy.”

  “You’d have to do it for real,” Carnap said. “Adam, you would have to move out, and Kate, you would have to file for a legal separation. It’s the only way. Adam is the one under suspicion here. If you don’t split up, there’s a chance that in seven months they could try to take the baby.”

  Kate winced.

  “If I’m charged with a crime,” Adam said. “Which I shouldn’t be, because I had nothing to do with Rachel’s death.”

  “Yes,” the lawyer said, “but think about the short term for a minute. Do you really want Emma to stay in foster care all those months while the murder investigation is going on? Once you’re out of the house, Kate can petition to get Emma back. You’d need to find some help around the house, but then you’d be all set.”

  “All set?” Adam said.

  “Adam, I’m sorry but you know that you’re the threat here, not Kate. There’s no worry of future abuse if you’re out of the house. But they’d have to be convinced that you would stay out of the house. Then Emma could come home.”