by Helga Zeiner
“I have no idea who she is.”
Stanley abruptly sits up. “A woman?”
That much I can admit. After years of being touched and manipulated by the Purple Shadow, I should know.
“Her body was quite square, her grip was very firm, but I think of her as female.”
“Can you describe her face?”
I need time to think. The implications of what I have just discovered are too far reaching. I can’t even comprehend what this means for my future. How to react to it. How to deal with it. It’s all too much. It’s not a simple case of crying a little and feeling better—what’s inside me is breaking me apart.
Behind my hands, I weep hot tears. I shake with disgust.
He backs off. “Don’t worry about it now, let it rest. Is there anything you remember about her?”
Oh, dear Stanley. I remember so much. And I can’t tell you.
After many minutes I finally take my hands off my face. My expression is stiff with the knowledge I need to hide.
“She always wore a long cape of sorts that covered her from head to toe, one like some of those Muslim women wear, only hers was purple.”
He doesn’t look surprised at all by this. “I’m wondering if you’d be willing to talk to the police about it.”
The police? Only if it’s Macintosh.
“I’m sure they want to hear about this person, and about the involvement your aunt had in this. You realize she has committed a serious crime, don’t you?”
Gracie? Ah yes, he means her staging me for the rape. I nod. I have hated Gracie for so long without knowing why, I’m more than ready to do so with a stamp of approval. From Stanley. From the police. Even from Mom.
Chapter 48
Macintosh and Harding watched Louise for a while through the two-way mirror. Sitting in a nearly empty room with nothing to do unsettled most people. Not Louise—she had brought a book. They went into the interrogation room.
She looked up and smiled.
“Good morning, detectives.”
Macintosh pulled up a chair.
“How often have you met with Tiara, since she was back in Canada?”
“Quite often,” Louise said.
“So you know her well?”
“Actually, I don’t. The girl was growing up and had her own mind.”
They bombarded her with one question after another, giving her no time to think, but she held her ground. No, she didn’t meet any of her friends. No, she didn’t know their names, hadn’t she explained that before? No, she had no idea why Melissa had wanted to come back. Yes, she had driven down to Texas to pick up her daughter and grandchild, again, a fact known to them.
“When you were in Texas, did you meet Tony Alvares?” Macintosh asked.
Louise’s head jerked up. “Uhm … no, no I didn’t.”
“But you know of him?”
“No … uhm … well, yes, I’ve heard his name mentioned.”
“By whom?”
“By Melissa, I guess. Let me think, well…yes, wasn’t he the dance instructor who taught Tiara for a while? Long before I took them back home. So I didn’t meet him, no, never.”
“Apparently, he didn’t only give dance lessons.”
Louise stared at him. “From what I know from Melissa, there was nothing else.”
Macintosh stared straight back. “What did Melissa tell you?”
“Well … uhm … she only said, he must have gotten ideas, but she wasn’t interested. She never got over Mike, she didn’t want another guy. Tony didn’t take no for an answer, he made some advances, that’s why she fired him. That’s all.”
Harding spoke: “What advances? Are you saying, he was after Melissa?”
“She wasn’t in such bad shape in those days. She was still attractive then.”
Macintosh had never taken his eyes off Louise. “Are you sure those advances were directed toward Melissa, and not toward Tiara?”
“What nonsense is that? Of course he was after Melissa.”
“Let me show you something.” Macintosh opened his laptop and continued to speak while he set up the video clip. “I should like you to watch this and then tell me everything you know about Tony, about his involvement with your daughter and granddaughter, and anything else, like the connection they had with Graciella Rodriguez.”
Now Louise’s face twitched.
So she knew about Graciella but had so far neglected to mention the existence of Tiara’s aunt. What else did Louise keep secret, and why? Macintosh made a mental note to question her about this later on, turned the laptop around to Louise and hit the start button. He didn’t need to see the clip again, all he wanted was to watch Louise’s reaction.
When she recognized Tiara, she froze, but it took at least a minute of her watching the handler undressing her granddaughter before she processed what was happening. Then she broke down. She started to cry and covered her face, refusing to view the images on the screen. Macintosh turned it off, closed the laptop and hit the lid with his bare hand.
Louise winced at the loud bang.
“We have reason to believe that the person clad in purple is Antonio Alvares.”
Louise slowly lowered her hands. “He … Tony did that to her?”
“We also have reason to believe that Tiara’s aunt Graciella Rodriguez was involved in the sexual exploitation of your granddaughter.” Macintosh leaned forward a bit and softened his voice. “I’m sure you had nothing to do with it, and I’m sorry you had to find out this way, but if you know anything, anything at all, now is the time to tell us.”
“I … I … oh my God, I don’t know. This is too dreadful. I really can’t say—”
“Let’s be clear on this, Louise, this case started out as a potential homicide investigation. What we’ve discovered since, what happened to Tiara, surely had an impact on her development and will be taken into account by a judge, but it has also altered our investigation. Our counterparts in Texas, who work very closely with us, are now investigating this case. The clip you’ve just seen has been sold via an internet pedophile ring and trust me, any connection to such a criminal organization will be treated very seriously here in Canada as well. If you knowingly withhold any information relevant to this investigation, we’ll go after you with all the might of our judicial system. Mark my words, I’ll personally make sure you land in the slammer!”
Macintosh watched Louise’s head turn red, if from shame or indignation, he couldn’t tell. She fought hard to hold it together. Her hands were prayer-knotted so tight, her knuckles turned white.
“When Melissa called me three years ago, I immediately understood that it was a desperate cry for help. She said Tiara was in trouble with some people doing drugs. That happens with young ones all over the world, it’s nothing unusual. And when I got there, it certainly looked that way. Melissa met me up at the NASA Center, the Space Institute, you know, where they keep all the rockets from the scrapped programs, and we drove straight to her home. Melissa was in quite a state, and that’s understandable too, considering that her daughter was doing drugs and all. That’s the impression I got anyway. And on the way there she told me that she had given Tiara something to make her sleepy, something Gracie always had in the house, so I naturally assumed Gracie, that’s Graciella Rodriguez—”
Macintosh nodded. She was picking up speed, feeling more confident now.
“I asked Melissa if Gracie was involved in some drug deals, and she told me Gracie had always supplemented their income with peddling drugs. That’s why she had to get Tiara out of the house in such a hurry. Gracie was away for a few days, which presented the perfect opportunity. Melissa acted really scared, and I said, calm down, even if she comes back, we pack your stuff and leave, Gracie can’t stop us.”
“Why was Melissa so scared?”
“She told me, Gracie would kill us all if she caught us leaving, and I said, no way, I don’t believe that. I really didn’t, I mean, honestly, I didn’t know this woman, but h
ow could she, she was a relative, right?”
Louise fell quiet, trying to figure out what to tell him. “Melissa told me Gracie always keeps some money hidden in her room, money from her deals, and that she’d taken some of it once, quite a large amount, and that she suspected Gracie had found out and was really mad about that. Let’s hurry, she said—and we did. In case you’re wondering what that has got to do with Tony, I’m coming to that.”
Macintosh gave her an encouraging smile. “Tell us everything you remember. No matter if you think it’s relevant or not.”
Louise stopped twisting her hands and let them finally rest in her lap.
“When we arrived at the house, first thing Melissa carried Tiara to the car and laid her on the backseat. Tiara was so out of it, she hardly noticed I was there, in fact, I don’t think she noticed it at all.”
“Tiara had no idea that you were taking her back to Canada?”
“No, it was all very hectic and secretive. Nothing had been prepared. When Melissa came back in, I helped pack her things. She hadn’t dared before, just in case Gracie would come back while she was out picking me up and then her whole plan would blow. We were in the middle of stuffing clothes into large plastic garbage bags when the doorbell rang. Jesus, Melissa jumped like she was hit by an electric current, it made me freak out as well. But I took control of myself quickly and said, stay, I’ll open the door and if it’s Gracie I’ll give her a piece of my mind. I felt I owed her that, after all, she’s my daughter.”
“So Gracie came back?”
“It wasn’t Gracie, it was Tony who asked to speak to Melissa. For a moment, I didn’t know what to do, then Melissa pushed me aside. She was as white as a sheet and he didn’t look much better. I thought then already there was something going on between them and later on Melissa admitted … I mean, I asked Melissa about it … and, as I told you before, Melissa said he had made unwelcome advances toward her. Anyway, those two, white as ghosts, glared at each other. Melissa was dragging the last bags with her and told me to get the rest from the house while she deals with him. That’s more or less all there was to it. I didn’t tell you I met this guy because it was so brief I had practically forgotten. Now I understand why Melissa needed to get Tiara away, I bet she suspected something. It wasn’t about drugs at all. All those years I had thought she had been involved in some shit, pardon my language, some illegal stuff Gracie had gotten her into, when in fact it was … you know … those things going on.” Louise started to cry.
“You said Melissa told you that there was something going on between Tony and her.”
Louise looked up sharply. “I did not.”
Harding checked his notes. “Yes, you said you thought there was something going on between them and Melissa admitted it. You stopped yourself, but that’s what you wanted to say.”
She hesitated. “So what if she did?”
“If she had a fling with Tony, she must have been involved in or at least known about the exploitation of your granddaughter.”
Macintosh’s expression wavered between disgust and sadness.
“Your granddaughter was molested by a guy who walked in and out of Melissa’s house and probably carried on an affair with her to disguise his true inclinations. She must have known about it or closed her eyes to protect him. At least until something he did upset her enough to jolt her into action. Maybe he dumped her.”
“I don’t know about that.” Louise frowned, then indicated with a flick of her chin to the laptop. “But I don’t believe for a minute she had known about that.”
“Let’s find out,” Macintosh said, all nice again. “Do you have a mobile with you, Louise?”
She frowned. “Yes. Why?”
“Can I see?”
She handed it to him.
“Thank you. We’ll be back shortly.”
The detectives left the room. With no phone in the interview room Louise couldn’t contact her daughter, and Macintosh doubted she knew they weren’t legally entitled to hold her. It seemed important to keep her in the building until they spoke to Melissa.
As soon as they were back at their desks an urgent call from Dr. Eaton came in. Macintosh picked it up, listened, said 'sure thing, right away’, hung up and turned to Harding.
“Tiara had had a breakthrough of sorts and is willing to talk to me. Gotta rush.”
Chapter 49
We sit at the round table in the Center’s meeting room, with the inevitable plate of cookies placed in the middle. I take an Oreo and bite off a chunk. The black crumbs sprinkle on the table top. Unsure if I should wipe them away with my sleeve, I gather them with my left hand and swipe them into my right. Then I’m unsure where to put them. Stanley hands me a tissue and points to the basket behind me. I take it with a big smile. All is well, my friends, I’ve found my inner balance again. I can handle this.
“Thank you for seeing me again,” Macintosh says. “I really appreciate it. Dr. Eaton said you have some information that might help us piece things together.”
Although he acts more formal in Stanley’s presence, today his face looks kinder than on his last visits. The kindness still fights with his usual expression of bitterness and disillusionment, but it’s there all the same. People tend to forget that their thoughts and actions engrave themselves into their features until they mirror their character. Deep down and unbeknownst to him, Macintosh is kind, I decide. He smiles with his eyes, not with his mouth. The lines on his forehead come from thinking, not from worrying, and his energy radiates warmth, not aggression. He is the second man in my life I like. That makes me giggle.
He cocks his head, sets to ask a question, and halts again.
I decide to put him at ease. “So far, there were only three men in my life who mattered. Tony, Dr. Eaton, and now you. That just made me think of the song ‘Two out of three ain’t bad.’ To set the record straight, I didn’t like Tony.”
He chuckles as soon as he gets it. Then he asks what I remember.
I tell him about the photo sessions and about the time Gracie took me to the motel room when I was ten and about the rape two years later. I tell him the truth, but not the whole truth. Even with Macintosh doing his utmost to look empathetic—or because of it—it’s difficult to put this oh-so-close-to-the truth into words. Stanley is assisting me whenever I begin to flounder, until we finally reach the unknown person who has controlled so many of the photo and filming sessions.
Just like Stanley, Macintosh asks me if there is anything, anything at all, I remember about the Purple Shadow.
“I’m sorry.” I decide to carefully navigate through the rapids. No matter what they ask me, I will not lie to those two. But nobody can blame me for avoiding the obvious hazards. “She’s always been covered with a purple coat and I’ve never seen her face at any of the sessions.”
“Her?”
Stanley interrupts and explains to the detective that I think of the Purple Shadow as female, but that this may not necessarily be a fact. My mind may have played tricks with me.
Macintosh squirms in his chair. Then he comes out with a strange question. “Could she have worn a mask?”
“A mask?”
“To hide her face?”
“Now that you mention it, there’s been a black hole where her face should be. Like there is no face at all.”
Macintosh seems pleased with this answer, but before I can figure out why, he presses on. “Your aunt Gracie, what was her role in those shoots?”
“She brought me there, checked that everything was set up correctly and left. After the session was over, she came back and took me back home.”
“But she knew what kind of pictures and movies were taken.”
“I guess so. We never talked about it.”
“Why not?”
“It wasn’t something I could discuss.” I’m getting irritated. “I wasn’t old enough to argue with grown-ups, was I?”
He backs off right away. “Has your dance instructor Tony ever been pre
sent at those sessions?”
The truth. The truth. Stick as close to the truth as you can. “No, of course not. He was my dance teacher for as long as I was doing pageants. After that he dropped by the house a few times, visiting Mom, trying to get his job back, but Gracie never took him on again.”
Macintosh seems puzzled. He scratches his prickly chin.
“Did you know that he was the owner of the studio where the photo sessions happened?”
Now I’m baffled. The implications don’t hit me right away.
“Tony? The Stick? Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
Now it sinks in.
“But if he was, he would have known, wouldn’t he?”
“I’m afraid so. Him, and your aunt Graciella, and maybe even your—”
I don’t want to hear the end of this sentence.
“Well, you better ask Gracie then.”
Stanley and Macintosh lock glances, exchanging a silent consultation that finishes with Stanley giving the detective, with a minute nod, permission to proceed.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. Your aunt is dead.”
Hell, that’s a bombshell! Positively flooring. Gracie dead? I think my mouth has dropped down to my chest, I must look like an idiot.
Macintosh tells me that she was the victim of a house fire—and enlightens me at the same time that my previous home in Texas has burnt to the ground. The second mind-blowing news of the day. The thought of Gracie charred beyond recognition is a joke of course. I know that this woman can’t be destroyed. But to know that the house is gone is uplifting. It sets something free inside me.
“Pity the studio didn’t burn to the ground too.”
This brings Macintosh back to its owner.
“Could it have been Tony hiding under the purple cloak? Behind the mask?”
Could it?
“No, I don’t think so. Unless he stuffed his stomach with a huge cushion.” The idea seems ludicrous.
Stanley and Macintosh relax a bit when they hear me giggle. They’ve been so tense, my two men, the young one who is an old friend and the old one who is a new one. They get ready to leave.