The Devil's Cradle

by Sylvia Nobel

  “No shit she has a physical problem,” Tugg said with a derisive snort. “Hells bells. I’ve covered a bunch of weird stories in my time, but this one’s got to win some kind of prize.”

  “I’ve hardly begun,” I said, flipping the page over. I went on to recount Dayln’s twenty tortured years of existence after leaving Morgan’s Folly, her string of failed relationships, odd jobs, and brushes with the law until she’d connected with a support group called the Berdache Society. She received guidance from sympathetic counselors who assisted her through what is termed as “passing” into “full-time” which is the period of one year when transsexuals have the opportunity to become completely habituated to their role performance, or in other words, live openly in the role of the opposite sex. After conferring with a qualified physician, the transsexual is also required to consult with a psychiatrist who can prescribe large doses of either female or male hormones, which must be taken during the year prior to the sex-change surgery. In Dayln’s case, she was taking large doses of testosterone, which shrank her breasts and increased her facial and body hair.

  “So, that’s why the guys at the bar thought he...or rather she was gay at first,” Tugg said. “She’d just started taking the hormones and beefed up as time went by.”

  “You got it. It also accounted for her wild mood swings and because of the expense and the large amount of drugs required, she paid Archie to fence the goods she took from the house, including the car at Toomey’s garage. She then used the trips to Mexico with Marta as a cover to buy the drugs at the pharmacia and save for the sex-change surgery.”

  “How much does something like that cost?”

  “The change from male to female can exceed fifty thousand and conversely, female to male can run substantially higher. That’s why the town of Trinidad seemed familiar to me. I’d read an article in a magazine last year about it being the sex change capital of the United States because the doctor who runs the hospital there does two or three of these surgeries a week.”

  “Jee-zuss,” Tugg muttered. “This is all beginning to click now.”

  I continued. “With nowhere else to turn for the amount of money she was going to need she returned to the one place in the world she knew she could get it. Dressed in men’s clothing and wearing the photo chromic lenses helped hide her identity and allow her to live openly as a guy. She was then free to steal things from her own house, which she justified in her own mind as being rightfully her own stuff. And hey, why not bump off her lecherous old dad to boot.”

  “Sounds like he certainly deserved it.”

  “No argument on that from me.” Last night, Dayln had admitted taking advantage of Grady’s deteriorating condition to dispense her own unique method of justice. She began by making anonymous calls from the pay phone at Toomey’s garage then, using her intimate knowledge of the house she was able to carry out her masquerade as the ‘angel of death’. Her position as night watchman at the Defiance allowed her to come and go at will using the abandoned mine road on Devil’s Hill. That explained the reflection I’d seen last Thursday when I’d returned unexpectedly to get the photo albums, which she had already gone through to remove any remaining pictures that might reveal her identity. I thought it fortunate that she’d inherited her mother’s soft features instead of the telltale dark brows of the Morgan family.

  “But,” I told Tugg, “she swears his death was accidental. With the intent of blackmailing him for the balance of the money she needed, she admits confronting him that night with her true identity. She claims he was backing away from her in disbelief when he toppled over the edge. His final words mean something now. He didn’t say ‘the day is come’, he said, ‘Dayln has come. Justice is done.’ We can only guess that perhaps he had an attack of conscience in his final moments.”

  Tugg huffed impatiently. “It was a tad late. I hope he and Satan are spending a lot of quality time together.”

  I agreed and went on. “After his fall, she panicked and was heading for the back door when she tripped over Princess who ran out and hissed at Marta when she entered the living room seconds later. Dayln barely made it outside and was hiding in the bushes when Marta discovered Grady in the ravine. When Marta went back inside to call the sheriff, Dayln made a dash for her place. That’s when Marta caught a glimpse of her in the moonlight and that’s when she lost the barrette.”

  Tugg fell silent again and then asked, “But, why the hell did she wait twenty years to come back to Morgan’s Folly?”

  “That’s the second fascinating part of this story. She couldn’t come home because she lived in abject terror that she would be charged in connection with the fire that killed all those kids at the Children’s Colony.”

  “Did she set it?”

  “Not directly.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I’ll explain.” After leaving Dr. Orcutt’s house that morning, I’d cornered Bitsy Bigelow at the coffee shop. Without disclosing D.J.’s true identity, I revealed just enough of the story to convince her that I had proof she’d been at the asylum that night and she tearfully confessed her unwitting role in the tragedy.

  “Up until then Bitsy had ignored Dayln’s impassioned letters that she come visit her,” I told Tugg, “because she believed Grady’s deception that Dayln had been seeing Archie behind her back. But, Dayln persisted and finally convinced her that she and Archie were just good friends and of course, that was the truth. She never had a romantic interest in Archie. Her interest was in Bitsy, which she could not divulge. Anyway, Bitsy finally agreed to come and hear her out. She had a friend drive her out there and she brought along a few personal items Dayln had requested, including cigarettes and matches. Now, because Grady feared the true story might leak out, Dayln was never allowed visitors unless he, Rita or Dr. Orcutt was present. Rebellious as ever, Dayln developed an ongoing friendship with one of the male attendants who was able to sneak Bitsy inside. For his own entertainment that night he also smuggled in his current Hispanic girlfriend who was not only an illegal, but a minor as well. Bitsy said the two of them talked all evening and around ten o’clock Dayln offered to trade her gold charm necklace to the attendant’s girlfriend if the two of them would go get some booze. A few of the older kids joined in and I guess it was quite a party during which Dayln confided to Bitsy that she had devised a foolproof plan to escape using whatever means were necessary.”

  “Like burning the place to the ground?” Tugg’s words were laden with disgust.

  I cut in, “Don’t jump to conclusions. I’m not through yet. Bitsy left around midnight and afterwards Dayln claims she fell into a drunken stupor. Unfortunately, someone fell asleep with a smoldering cigarette. She says she’d drunk so much vodka that night, it was a miracle she survived. The smoke and screaming of the other kids woke her and the only reason she escaped the inferno, was knowing which kitchen door had been left unlocked. That’s when the woman Ida Fairfield hired to keep an eye on things saw her running away and that’s how the story that she started the fire began.”

  “Okay, if she didn’t start it, who did?”

  “No one knows. But get this. To save his own skin, the male attendant never uttered a word about his liaison with the illegal Hispanic girl and because she was never reported missing, that solves the mystery of the correct body count of twenty-eight. No further investigation was considered necessary and because the girl was wearing Dayln’s necklace, she’s the one buried in Weaverville.”

  “Man oh man,” Tugg said, “so, that’s why the Bigelow woman didn’t want to talk about the Morgan girl. She thought Dayln had started the fire.”

  “Yep. And she was scared to death that she’d be implicated.”

  “There’s still something I don’t get. Why was D.J. so doggoned positive from the get-go that Audrey wasn’t Rita Morgan’s kid?”

  “Oh, I forgot the most important part. After Dayln’s second suicide attempt at the institution…”

  “Hold it, hold it. If there w
asn’t really anything mentally wrong with her, why was she trying to kill herself?”

  “According to Dayln, she could not reconcile in her mind that there was a baby growing inside her. How could a man physically have a child? The very thought of it was so repugnant, so alien to her, she went off the deep end.”

  “Pretty sad, ” Tugg sighed. “But anyway, back to my original question.”

  “Yes. Well, Rita, who had miscarried again, came to visit Dayln at the facility. Apparently, she’d finally consulted with another physician who gave her the unhappy news that she would never be able to bear children. She shared this information with Dayln and begged her to not harm herself for her baby’s sake. Dayln remembered that conversation, so two weeks ago when she overheard the phone call between Dr. Orcutt and Haston, she was totally convinced that Audrey was an imposter scheming with Dr. Orcutt to claim her inheritance.”

  I flipped the page and continued reading from Dayln’s confession. Head bowed and choking back tears, she admitted that desperation for money drove her to initiate the attempts on Audrey’s and subsequently my life, starting with the phone call to Audrey impersonating Dr. Orcutt’s nurse in order to lure us to Boneyard Pass. It was Archie’s white truck I’d seen disappearing around the bend in the road ahead. They’d unlocked the gate, removed the warning sign, set the old drainpipe in the road to slow us down and then lay in wait to send the boulder plummeting down on us. When they learned later that I was a reporter, they’d hatched the pathetic ruse to have Archie waylay me that first day outside the Muleskinner.

  The day of our planned Bisbee trip, she had been hiding in the old kitchen and overheard me telling Tally about her association with Archie. Fearful that Audrey would then fire her, she tampered with the brakes on the red Corvette she had prepared for us to take on the mountainous road. Of course that plan failed when we chose the Packard instead so she took advantage of the storm that night to frighten Audrey again by masquerading as the ghost. But it wasn’t until she’d read the epilepsy book I’d left in my room and overheard Audrey bragging about the driving lesson I’d given her, that she’d conceived the idea to lure the unsuspecting young woman to the mine and stage the accident. My trip to Weaverville fit perfectly into her plans. At the edge of town, she faked engine trouble and arranged for Toby to continue on to Mexico with Marta in his car. The morphine she’d injected in my arm had come from the same pharmacia where she obtained her Deca-durabolin. She claimed that Archie had actually done the dirty work by taking me to the abandoned mine where they’d arranged to have my death look like an unfortunate accident.

  Tugg was understandably upset when I laid that news on him. “Promise you won’t say anything to Tally about that last part. I’d prefer to explain what happened when I see him in person.”

  “He’s gonna go ballistic.”

  “I know. And I’ll be the first to admit this one was a bit close for comfort.”

  “Hang on a minute,” Tugg said. I heard him conversing with someone and then he came back on the line. “I’ve got to talk to the electrician, but one more thing before I go. Why, after the elaborate subterfuge about Dayln’s baby dying at birth and all that did Rita Morgan give up everything, take Audrey, and run out on Grady in the dead of night three years later?”

  “Can’t you guess?”

  There was a heavy silence and then, “Oh, no, don’t tell me.”

  “Afraid so. It seemed life was finally going right for Rita until one night she happened upon Grady and Audrey in the tower room.”

  He muttered, “Christ. Does she know?”

  “I think she had a glimmer of it last week when we were in there briefly, and even though she may not remember now, Dr. Orcutt suspects she will have to deal with it sooner or later. Of course, Rita knew at that instant that Dayln had been telling the truth all along, not to mention the awful realization that Audrey was actually Grady’s own daughter.”

  Tugg grunted, “What a sicko.”

  “Yeah. It’s no wonder the poor woman suffered from depression all those years. Not only did she live in terror that Grady might somehow track them down, but she also had her own guilt to deal with.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Remember when I told you that Audrey said Rita would never acknowledge that she knew anything about her epilepsy?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Dr. Orcutt told me that Rita believed that she was responsible for it because of Audrey’s fall down the stairs that night.”

  “Oh, what a tangled web,” Tugg said and then his tone brightened. “Well, my dear, looks like you’ve got a winner. This piece is going to double our circulation for sure!”

  “Yeah.” Why wasn’t I ecstatic? This was the greatest story of my career. I should have been on top of the world.

  “So, when are you coming back?” Tugg asked.

  After informing him of my plans to depart in the morning, I thanked him again for his help, returned to the bedroom to finish writing my copy, and pack the remainder of my clothes. It was closing in on seven o’clock and I was growing more and more curious about Audrey’s whereabouts. Why hadn’t she returned? Then, as if my thoughts had somehow been relayed, I heard the distinctive growl of the red Jaguar. From my window, I watched it glide to a stop near the kitchen door. Duncan jumped out, ran around the front of the car and opened Audrey’s door.

  In the lengthening shadows of early evening, they stood facing each other, talking in low tones, and then Duncan pulled her into his arms. She leaned into his chest and he tenderly kissed the top of her head. My eyes stung and my heart soared with the delicious realization that I was witnessing the dawn of something wonderful and the demise of the ancient feud between the Claypools and the Morgans. I waited until Duncan’s car had vanished through the gate in a haze of dust before I walked down the steps to join her in the driveway. “So, I gather things are working out to everyone’s liking?” I said, flashing her an expectant grin.

  Her lips curved in a secretive little smile. “I hope so. After Jesse got over her tantrum, we made some progress. There are a hundred details to work out, but I’ve decided to allow Haston and Duncan to reopen the mine.”

  Chills ran up my arms. This was indeed a story made in heaven. “If that happens, I don’t think you’ll be simply mayor of Morgan’s Folly, I’m pretty sure they’ll give you a crown and declare you queen for life.”

  “Queen of Morgan’s Folly sounds pretty cool, but like I said, it all depends on whether we can iron out all of the other problems.”

  Speaking of problems yet to be resolved, I hadn’t seen hide or hair of Dayln the entire day and wondered what must be going through her mind. Earlier this afternoon, I’d witnessed Dr. Orcutt’s anticipated pilgrimage to her cottage. As he drove past, he’d made fleeting eye contact with me and the expression on his face could only be described as profound dread. But, I was gratified to see Fran seated beside him wearing an air of grim determination.

  I said, “No doubt one of your problems will be Willow Windsong. When she gets wind of the mine opening again, she’s sure to rally the troops against you.”

  “I hope not, because I intend to honor the agreement my father didn’t. Jesse and Haston had a monster hissy fit but I wouldn’t budge. I insisted that part of the property be set aside for a riparian preserve or the mine stays closed.”

  I nodded approval. She’d turned into quite the little negotiator. But, I detected another subtle difference in her too. It was there in her eyes, a new boldness fortified by self-confidence. “And what about you, Audrey? Are you going to stay here or go back home and let the men handle things?”

  A little shrug accompanied her sigh. “I’m still not sure. I think I might stay around for a while. There are a lot of things I like about Arizona. Especially the sunsets,” she added, inclining her head towards the blazing horizon.

  I grinned. “The sunsets. Of course.”

  A comfortable silence ensued until I broke it. “Audrey, what are we goin
g to do about...” I gestured towards D.J.’s cottage.

  A sudden look of uncertainty superceded her newly acquired confidence. “I don’t know. After you went to bed last night, we talked longer and she told me she was the one who snitched to Grady about Duncan’s offer to buy the mine. She said that after everything she’d been through, she couldn’t stand by and have the mine be sold out from under her. She admits that she relished causing as much trouble as possible, but, she also said that it’s been sheer torture not to be able to come forward with the truth.”

  “Does that mean she intends to challenge the will?”

  Audrey’s face softened. “She says no, Kendall, and she seems...truly sorry about everything that happened. She claims she’ll be happy as long as she can get the money she needs for...well, you know.”

  “And what about you, Audrey? Are you okay with this...situation?”

  She looked heavenward as if the answer lay there. “I don’t know, Kendall. The whole thing is still totally mind-boggling. I mean, I can’t ever think of her as my mother, and she won’t exactly be my sister so...I guess I’ll have to settle for having...what? An older brother?”

  In thoughtful silence, we both watched the sky behind Devil’s Hill ripen from coral into a brilliant sea of cinnamon dotted with islands of gray clouds. Musing aloud, I said, “It’s kind of a strange twist of fate, isn’t it?”

  “What is?”

  “Thy will be done,” I murmured. “Remember? That was Dayln’s promise to her grandmother’s portrait. Think about it. Completion of the surgery means she will fulfill the prophesy and become the male heir all the Morgans so desperately craved.”

  She absorbed my comment and her gaze grew introspective. “The money will be nice, really nice for both of us, but all I really want is to try and have some kind of normal life and now, I guess that sort of depends on you.”

  I drew back. “Me? How?”

  She edged me a look of quiet desperation and turned to stare out over the rooftops nestled in the valley. For long seconds, there was no sound save the muffled cheeping of birds settling into the treetops. When she spoke, her voice quavered. “Kendall, I don’t even know how to begin to thank you for all you’ve done for me and I don’t know how I can ever repay...”