by Jan Burke
“No. When do you expect him back?”
“Tomorrow,” he said. “But I can’t give you an appointment then — he’s booked up through June. What is the child’s name and age?”
“I don’t think I’ll make an appointment just now. Thanks.”
I ended the call, perhaps a little abruptly. I spent a little time doing Internet searches on Dr. Arnold Fletcher, came up with a rather blah Web site for his practice and the kind of information just about any dentist might have on any site, but clearly he was devoted to children’s dentistry.
Why would Sheila, new in town, without children of her own, call a children’s dentist? If this dentist was the source of those teeth Altair “discovered,” why had Sheila chosen him as her supplier?
I had a lot of work to do on my missing children story, which wouldn’t run until later in the week, but it was a major project.
My curiosity about the dentist would have to wait.
CHAPTER 25
Tuesday, April 25
7:45 P.M.
HARRIMAN-KELLY HOME
LONG before the end of dinner, I was glad Caleb had agreed to come over. Ethan had never complained to us, but I could see that he was enjoying spending time with someone else who was under thirty.
Ben was quieter than usual, but everyone had expected that, and we liked him too much to force him to pretend we were cheering him up. The dogs made more of an effort at changing his mood than we did, and succeeded better, too.
We were sitting at the table, dishes cleared, drinking coffee, when I asked Caleb if the Fletcher dentists were relatives of his.
“I don’t know. There are a zillion Fletchers in Las Piernas. My dad kind of pulled away from the family, so I don’t really know more than one or two of them.”
“A zillion?” Ethan raised his brows. “I think I’m very close to zero in my own family. There’s an aunt and a couple of cousins somewhere, but that’s it.”
“You may be luckier than you think. I have over twenty uncles and aunts, but I was just a little kid the last time I was around most of them.” He smiled. “My dad called them the F.C. and used to tell my uncle Nelson that it stood for Fletcher Clan, but he told me and Mason that the F stood for… uh, something else.”
“Do you know why he thought that?” I asked.
“Yeah, he talked about it with Mason and me, ’cause he didn’t want us to get trapped into their whole deal.”
“What whole deal?”
“Dad thought that after my grandmother Fletcher died, it almost became more like a cult than a family. You were supposed to send your kids to their school, you were supposed to go to the doctors and lawyers and accountants who were members of the family. Dad thought it was weird.”
Ben shot me a look that I read perfectly: I had better not be working my way toward talking about the family murders.
To my surprise — and Ben’s — Frank was the one who brought up the topic.
“Is Mason’s new lawyer still trying to get the conviction overturned?”
“Yes,” Caleb answered. “There are a lot of steps to go through, though.”
I glanced at Ethan. He obviously knew this much of Caleb’s history.
“Fill me in,” I said.
“It’s kind of a long story,” Caleb said. “You know the basics?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, so my mom’s dad died about a year after Mason went to prison. And my Grandmother Delacroix… well, I guess you’d say she started thinking differently when he wasn’t around.”
“In what way?”
“She was never as hard-nosed about Mason as Grandfather Delacroix had been, and I think after Grandfather died, she started to regret the way she acted during the trial. With Jenny missing and Mason in prison, I was the only available grandchild, and I had stopped speaking to my grandparents after Mason got arrested. I was so angry with them for believing he could hurt Dad or Jenny.” He paused. “I still hope to find out what happened to Jenny. I still think it’s possible that she’s alive. But at this point… I understand why other people don’t share that belief. I think one reason my grandmother and I started to get along again was that she started to believe that Mason is innocent and Jenny might be alive.”
“What about your mom?” Ethan asked. “Did she get along better with your grandmother after your grandfather died?”
Caleb smiled. “She did until Uncle Nelson became her new husband. Grandmother Delacroix couldn’t stand Uncle Nelson. He kept trying to get her to let him ‘take care’ of her finances, and I think he must have been a little too pushy about it. When she made out her will, she made sure my mom and Uncle Nelson couldn’t touch any of her money. Not that they needed it, but I know it chapped Uncle Nelson when he found out about it after she died.”
“So did she leave it all to you?” Ethan asked.
“Before she died, I convinced her that Mason had been framed. It was… I guess if I end up failing at everything else, at least I did that for Mason. She got Mason to fire his attorney and hire a new one. She set up a trust to help with his legal fees, and so he’d have something to live on after he got out.”
“And you?”
“She left me enough to pay off my undergraduate loans, made it possible for me to stay in graduate school, and gave me a couple of my dad’s paintings. She had bought them a long time ago, kind of helping my folks when they were first starting out, I think. It was the coolest thing she could have done for me, because after my dad died, we had to sell all of his other works.”
“The new attorney shouldn’t have any trouble getting the conviction overturned,” Frank said. “Mason’s case is on the LPPD crime lab’s potential dry-labbing list.”
“What’s dry-labbing?” Ethan asked.
“One of the worst things a forensic scientist can be accused of. Basically, faking results — claiming you tested material you didn’t really test. You know there was a scandal in our department’s lab?”
“Yes. I just didn’t know that term.”
“We fired a few people over it. And it’s costing the city a fortune to deal with all the problems it has caused. An independent team investigating the lab has looked at all the cases those people worked on, and come up with a list of cases that will need review.”
“They’ve already had to let some people out of prison, right?” Ethan asked.
“A few. There will undoubtedly be more, especially in those cases where there are no eyewitnesses or clear motives. I’d think Mason’s would have a good chance of being overturned if the forensic evidence wasn’t really there.”
“It isn’t easy to get someone out of prison once they’re in,” Caleb said. “Even if they’re truly innocent. No one could place Mason at the scene, but the murder weapon was with him.”
“I’ve always thought that scene with the car was a little too perfect,” Frank said.
Caleb gave him a grateful look. “I don’t hear that too often from the Las Piernas Police Department.”
“I don’t imagine the department would be as pleased as you are if they knew that one of their detectives said it,” Ben said dryly. “So let’s keep this discussion confidential.”
“Sure,” Caleb said, “but still — thanks, Frank.”
I mentally reviewed what I had read in newspaper accounts about the evidence in the case.
“The evidence was processed by our lab, not San Bernardino Sheriff’s?” I asked.
“Crime started in Las Piernas,” Frank said. “The case was ours.”
“The headache, the paperwork, and the costs, you mean,” Ben said.
Frank smiled. “Yes, those, too.”
“I have copies of most of the reports,” Caleb said to me. “Are you interested in seeing them?”
“If she’s not, I am,” Ethan said.
Ah. A cure for Ethan’s boredom. “Let’s both take a look at them. Frank, don’t you know some of the guys in San Bernardino’s department?”
“Sure.”
“Tadeo Garcia,” Caleb said. “He’s retired. He’s not too friendly. At least he wasn’t to me.”
“Is he married?” I asked.
“Yes. His wife is nice. She was mad at him for not talking to me.”
“How long ago did you try talking to him?”
“Oh, it wasn’t long after Mason was charged. Maybe four and a half years ago, something like that. He wouldn’t talk to Mason’s new attorney, either.”
“Well, maybe it’s time for someone else to have another try. I may make a trip out to San Bernardino.”
“Take me along?” Ethan pleaded.
“If your doctor says okay, sure.”
WE made it an early evening — Ethan was wearing down, and I could tell he was determined to get enough rest to get the doctor’s permission for the trek to San Bernardino. Not a grand outing, but he was excited about the idea of any change of scenery.
As Ben and Caleb were leaving, Ben let Ethan, Frank, and Caleb walk ahead of us a little bit. When they were out of earshot, Ben said to me, “Thanks for offering to help Caleb with his brother’s case.”
“I thought you were opposed to my getting involved.”
“Irene, there was never a chance in hell of your keeping your nose out of it.”
“Speaking of nosing in, I should probably tell you that Anna came by for lunch today.”
“No need to report contact with her,” he said, seeming faintly amused.
“If it’s any comfort, she didn’t want to gossip about you.”
“I’m not surprised,” he said, then gave me a crooked grin. “I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that I’m also relieved. Talk to you soon — I want to know why you are interested in dentists.”
I swore under my breath and he laughed, causing Frank and Caleb to look back at us.
It’s so damned hard to get anything past Ben. And judging from the looks on the three other faces, he wasn’t the only one I had to worry about.
A reporter, a homicide detective, and two forensic scientists. I was going to have to watch my step.
CHAPTER 26
Wednesday, April 26
9:15 A.M.
HUNTINGTON BEACH
CARRIE allowed her mother to fuss over the cut on her hand. The cut wasn’t deep, and there was no chance that it was infected — it had been treated immediately, of course. Mom was worried, though, and had been hovering over her ever since it happened.
This was both a good thing and a bad thing. It was good because right now Mom wasn’t paying any attention to Genie, who was outside the house, going through the next-door neighbor’s recycling bin. Dad was gone, away at a meeting of some kind, and the boys were here, watching Mom change the bandage. They were staring with fascination at the cut, which looked much worse than it felt.
The bad part was not the pain of the cut but the guilt now weighing on Carrie. Why should she question anything about her parents? She had a good life. She knew other children were unhappy and uncared for, were lonely and ignored. Her mother loved her and was so protective of her. Sure, sometimes she felt a little hemmed in by that, a little smothered, but what was really wrong with being loved so much? Dad loved her, too. Her parents never hurt their children, they really rarely lost their tempers.
Why ask herself about before? It just might turn out to be something bad. Wouldn’t that be the only reason it was a secret? And if it was bad, then it might bring an end to this life she had now. Maybe she would be taken away from these loving people who had adopted her. Maybe she would never see Genie or Aaron or Troy again. She felt a tear roll down her cheek at the thought of how bad she had been, sneaking around, eavesdropping, wanting to know things that were none of her business.
Her mother saw the tear and gently wiped it away, saying, “Oh, honey. I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”
“No—” she choked out.
She could hear Genie coming upstairs, going into her room briefly, then heard her washing up in a nearby bathroom.
“Is Carrie going to die?” Aaron asked, his face puckering up in sympathetic reaction to her distress.
“No, silly,” Carrie said with a watery laugh, hugging him to her side with her free hand. “I’m just being a baby.”
“It could get infected,” said Troy, almost hopefully.
“We won’t let it, will we?” said Mom.
“We Fletchers take care of one another,” Aaron said, already knowing the family gospel.
Genie came into the room just then and said, “Of course we do.” She came closer and frowned in concern, though Carrie wasn’t sure if the frown was at the sight of the cut. “Everything okay?” Genie asked, studying Carrie’s face.
Suddenly Carrie thought about Genie risking getting into big trouble, just to help her. Genie, who also had a before.
“Everything’s fine,” she said.
We Fletchers take care of each other.
“Do you think you’ll feel up to our shopping trip?” Mom asked, her head bent in concentration as she lightly wrapped the injured hand in gauze. This was their day to go to the grocery store. Dad would watch the boys while Genie and Carrie accompanied Mom to the supermarket. Carrie always loved this outing.
“Sure, I’m fine, really.”
IT was just before they went to the store that Genie managed to whisper to her, “I couldn’t find one.”
“No newspapers?” Carrie whispered back in disbelief.
“I tried five houses.”
“Five! Oh my gosh — you could have been caught!”
Genie waved a dismissive hand at this danger. “Everyone around here gets the Orange County Register. We need the Las Piernas paper. I should have looked for it at Grandfather’s house. Maybe we can get it at the store.”
But when they went to the store, they didn’t go in through the entrance they usually used. Carrie and Genie exchanged a glance. They didn’t need to say what they both knew at that moment — Mom used this other door because the newspaper vending machines were next to the usual one.
Genie quickly signed, Don’t worry. I’ll get one.
Carrie didn’t know whether to fear or admire the look of determination on her sister’s face.
CHAPTER 27
Wednesday, April 26
9:15 A.M.
LAS PIERNAS
THE four men sat in silence. Giles, Nelson, and Dexter had listened to their brother Roy without interrupting him. Giles, the oldest of the four, was pleased that the silence stretched.
Graydon Fletcher had often said that if someone laid his or her problems before you, you were to think of it as a privilege, and not respond without taking time to carefully consider what had been said to you. One of Dad’s many lessons.
Nelson would be the first to speak, of course. Nelson didn’t really have a tremendous amount of impulse control.
Roy was better at keeping his head, but he was also better at keeping secrets. That was useful unless those secrets were kept from his brothers. Giles wondered if Nelson and Dexter suspected that Roy was not being completely truthful just now.
Dexter probably did. Dexter would have made an excellent spy, Giles thought. He could ferret out information from anyone, with the possible exception of Giles. Dexter wouldn’t dare to question Giles — he held his eldest brother in a kind of awe. It pleased Giles that this should be so.
Dexter wasn’t the only one who looked to Giles for guidance — Nelson and Roy thought of Giles as their problem solver, a role he had taken on from an early time in each of their lives.
Giles knew things about each of them that none of the others knew. He knew, for example, that Nelson still felt guilty for lusting after their late brother Richard’s wife. Although Elisa was Nelson’s wife now, Nelson had wanted her for years before Richard’s death. It was as if Nelson carried Richard’s ghost with him, even into bed. If Nelson didn’t learn to get over that, he would ultimately ruin his mar
riage.
Nelson had also badly mishandled matters with Caleb. Giles frowned, thinking of it. He must make additional efforts to bring Caleb closer to the family.
Nelson was doing better with Mason. He had used the family’s considerable influence and resources to ensure that his stepson was placed in a facility closer to Las Piernas. The boy was initially ungrateful, but Giles thought that perfectly understandable, given Nelson’s testimony at the trial. Elisa had known how much effort Nelson had made, though, and her gratitude had helped Nelson’s courtship.
Eventually, Mason came to appreciate Nelson’s regular visits. Giles thought of Mason as one of the Fletchers, and hoped to one day help the boy win his release, if it wasn’t going to cause the family too many problems. Mason was bright and talented, after all. Giles was keeping an eye on the situation. At the moment he was far more concerned that Nelson’s fear of losing Elisa would ultimately drive her away.
Dexter, whose birth parents must have been extraordinarily good-looking to produce such a handsome child, suffered no similar worries about his wife, Maggie. He was as emotionally detached from her as she was from him. She enjoyed being connected to the Fletchers. She enjoyed Dex’s wealth. She also enjoyed the envy her marriage to a handsome man brought out in other women. She would do nothing to jeopardize any of that. On the whole, Giles was glad Dex and Maggie had no children, adopted or of their own. She worked at the school, where she was the sort of teacher who inspired the children’s attachment simply because she was hard to win over.
He thought that might have been the case with Dex — he was attracted to the aloof. Now that he had captured Maggie, she was no longer of interest to him. That led him to hunt on other, more dangerous ground at times. But Maggie would not cause problems for the Fletchers. Giles had no concerns about Maggie — which did not mean he relaxed his vigilance. His vigilance was exactly why he had no concerns.
Roy. Roy’s wife, Victoria — formerly Bonnie Creci Ives — had been difficult from the beginning. Roy had been crazy about her when he first met her, insistent on bringing her into the family. He was her rescuer, in those days. So the family had taken extraordinary measures to include her and her child in their number, rather than risk losing Roy.