by H. P. Bayne
“You think he would have just forgotten him like that?”
“What I do know is that he didn’t have much of a relationship with him. Most of David’s time was spent with his mother. I got the distinct impression Gerhardt’s always been a workaholic, and when he was around, he was the kind of father a kid would rather forget.”
“The whole suffocation thing. I wonder if he remembers that?”
“It could be he blocked the memory. It happens sometimes with trauma.”
“Maybe,” Dez said. “We need to talk to him about it.”
Sully caught Dez’s arm before he could return to the house. “Wait, Dez.”
Dez turned, met his brother’s eye. Sully’s expression—furrowed brow and slightly parted lips—suggested some sort of internal conflict was raging. He gave Sully a moment to get his thoughts together before voicing his question. “What?”
“I don’t know, I just…. Are you sure we should tell him?”
“He has a right to know. Hell, maybe he already does.”
“I don’t think he does. I think he might have some vague memory, but I think he’s found a way to put a lot of it behind him. He made a new life with the Raynors, and I know he’s really close to his dad. I get that. I found you guys, and you weren’t just my adoptive family. You were my family, and you were all I needed. I don’t know, sometimes maybe it’s better not to know the truth.”
Dez scanned his boot tops, hearing more in Sully’s statement than he’d perhaps intended. “You wish I hadn’t told you about Gerhardt, don’t you? I’m sorry. I really wish I hadn’t said anything.”
“No, I’m glad you told me the truth, Dez. It gave me the chance to confront him with it. But Forbes won’t have that same chance now.”
Dez met Sully’s eye. “Except he’s involved with the investigation. If it comes out he is who you’re saying he is, he’d be in a major conflict situation.”
This time, it was Sully gazing down at his boots. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Listen,” Dez said. “Why don’t Lachlan and I go talk to Chuck, see what he has to say? I mean, we do need to sort out what happened to Eloise, don’t we? You’ll need to help her move on.”
“Yeah, you’re right. She needs answers too.”
Dez settled a hand on Sully’s shoulder, then moved closer and draped his arm fully around his brother, pulling him into a half-hug as they turned back toward the house. “Come on. One problem at a time, all right? We’ll get this sorted out.”
“Thanks, D.”
Only then did Dez shake his head at the absurdity of the situation.
“You know what’s weird?” he said, his hand on the door handle. “Never in my wildest dreams would I ever have pictured myself giving a damn about Forbes’s feelings.”
27
Charles Raynor was a busy man, so busy it seemed at first he would have no time to talk to Dez and Lachlan.
“He’s swamped today,” the receptionist in the mayor’s office said. “He’s preparing for a meeting with the city planner this afternoon. If you’d like to leave me your names, I can—”
Lachlan, though, had an ace up his sleeve. “Eloise Gerhardt. If you could just pass along the name to him, I’m sure he’ll see us.”
The receptionist’s face was the picture of confusion, but she followed through, picking up her phone and dialling. “I’m sorry, sir, but Mr. Fields has asked me to provide you with a name. Eloise Gerhardt.”
A pause followed, and a lengthy one in Dez’s approximation. He cast Lachlan a quick side-eye, checking for a reaction. Lachlan’s face held a smile, the sort of cat-got-the-canary grin he’d likely worn into his share of suspect interviews during his storied policing days. Dez would have hated to be on the receiving end of one of those smirks had he ever landed on the wrong side of an interview room.
At last, the receptionist provided the answer Lachlan, at least, seemed to be anticipating. “End of the hall, corner office on the left.”
Charles occupied a massive space, floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides, making the office appear even larger. Given the mayor’s office was on the twenty-second floor of City Hall, it boasted some of the best views in the city, looking out over the urban sprawl of Kimotan Rapids, the river close enough to watch the boaters in the warmer months.
Charles stood at one of the windows, casting his gaze somewhere beyond this office, possibly even beyond the city.
“What can I help you with?” he asked. No polite greeting he was so known for. He simply sounded exhausted.
“Mr. Mayor, I’m Lachlan Fields and this is—”
“I know who you are.” Charles at last turned to face them. Dez wasn’t surprised the politician’s characteristic grin was down for the count. “I don’t have much time to talk. Please, make this quick.”
Lachlan took a seat in one of a set of plush chairs this side of the mayor’s massive desk. Dez remained standing.
Lachlan had just taken a breath to speak when he was interrupted by Charles, his eyes having settled on Dez’s large form. “You’re Deputy Chief Braddock’s son. I hadn’t clued in right away for some reason.”
“I am, sir.”
The mayor took a few steps and, to Dez’s surprise, extended a hand to him. “I know it’s two years too late, but allow me to extend my condolences. I know Flynn and I didn’t always see eye to eye, but I’ve come to respect the job he had to do. It can’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t,” Dez said. He still wasn’t sold on the guy, but decided to be big about it. He thought his dad would want that. “Thank you,” he said before breaking the handshake.
Charles motioned to the other guest chair. “Please, have a seat.”
Lachlan waited until Dez and Charles had sat—the latter not on his own chair as Dez had expected, but on the edge of his desk, facing his two visitors. It could be it was an attempt at appearing open—more open than he intended to be. Or it could be the way he normally was. It was anybody’s guess until the questioning started.
“Let me begin by saying we’ve managed to piece a few things together,” Lachlan said. “We’ve been working on solving the disappearance of David Gerhardt, and the trail’s led us to your doorstep.”
Charles paled. Dez guessed the mayor now regretted his choice of seat.
“Are you all right, sir?” Dez asked.
It took a few seconds to get an answer, but Charles at last replied, “Fine.” The hushed sound of the word made him sound anything but.
Dez opted to take over. The situation required tact Lachlan didn’t often use. “We’ve learned a fair bit about the kind of life David lived in the Gerhardt home. He was close to his mother, and she was good to him, but his father was a sociopath who we believe tried to kill him. As a result, Eloise set out to find a way to protect her child. When she found out she couldn’t do it alone, she was forced to look for another solution. We have information that you and your wife were that solution.”
Charles stood shakily, keeping one hand on the desktop to balance him as he circled it. Once in front of his chair, he collapsed into it. His eyes, usually full of smiles whenever a TV crew was nearby, appeared nearly dead by comparison. “Where did you come by this information?”
“We have a source,” Dez said. “Someone who made some connections and brought them to us.”
Charles sat forward, imploring eyes settling on Dez and Lachlan in turn. “How much do you want? I have no doubt you’re being paid by someone for your services. I’ll pay more. Just please, whatever you think you’ve learned, I need you to keep it to yourselves.” His eyes widened. “God, Forbes doesn’t know, does he?”
“He doesn’t remember?”
“He remembers his birth mother, but he doesn’t remember much about her besides her first name. He’s blocked a lot out, I think. Val and I took him to a child psychologist after he came into our lives, given we were informed about the attempt on his life. The psychologist said Forbes remembered something about not being able t
o breathe, but little else. He didn’t seem to remember why, and said nothing about an incident with a pillow. That never changed throughout his youth, nor did he ever mention anything about Roman Gerhardt.
“He asked me once, when he was a teenager, who his birth parents were. He’d never discussed it before that, although he’d sometimes talk about his memories of Eloise. I talked to him about her, the good person she was, how she’d allowed us to raise him because she was unable to do it herself. He said he had no memory of his father. I told him a partial truth, that he wasn’t a good man. Forbes didn’t question me further. I think part of him wanted to know more; that’s natural. But I think he was afraid too—afraid of what he might find if he went looking. As far as I know, his search for answers began and ended that day.”
“How did the boy end up in your care?” Lachlan asked.
“I knew Eloise’s father. He was a good man, a kind man who loved his family dearly. His wife died young and he brought the girls up himself. There was nothing he wouldn’t have done for them and for his grandson. When Eloise and Mariel went to him with what Gerhardt had done, and how Eloise’s attempt at escape with the child had failed, he helped them arrange a new family for Forbes. Eloise knew Gerhardt might let her go if she was alone, but he’d never let her take the child. She needed a permanent solution, so they faked his kidnapping. Her father brought Forbes to Val and me, and we raised him as our own.”
“How did you avoid being found out?” Dez asked. “I mean, it was all over the news.”
“We kept his presence a secret for a long time. We homeschooled him, and we didn’t take him out anywhere for a while. But we quickly realized it was no life for a child, so we moved. We left the province entirely, settled down on an acreage. We continued to homeschool him, though. Too many eyes in the public school system. If I have one regret, it’s that we didn’t do more to ensure he had some friends growing up. He didn’t. We couldn’t afford a situation where someone recognized him. It got easier when he got older. He looked different: His hair darkened, he grew taller and broader, his facial features matured. I had been working for a small-town police service, but I really wanted badly to work in Kimotan Rapids. Anyway, Val’s health had deteriorated by then, and she was back in KR. It was a long way to go to visit, but there wasn’t any help for her where we were living.”
“Help?” Dez asked. “You mean Lockwood?”
Charles’s gaze snapped down to his lap. “I know what you must think of me, putting her into that place with that monster.” He returned his eyes to Dez’s. “But you need to understand, Lockwood was all there was. It still is the only dedicated mental health facility within a three-province radius. I’d tried taking her to a regular hospital, one with a psychiatric unit. They looked after her there for a time. But it soon became apparent her breakdown was not to be of short duration. The episodes were coming more and more frequently, and she was rarely herself. Sometimes, the people she became scared me. I worried about leaving Forbes alone with her when she was like that. At any rate, it quickly became clear Lockwood was the only option.
“I met with Gerhardt first. I wanted to see whether he showed any indication of suspicion of me or my wife, something to show he knew about us. But he didn’t. He actually seemed kind in his dealings with Val. I’ve heard that about him, that he could be remarkably good with his patients, despite the way he treated others. I felt I had no choice. God help me, I had her committed. Then one day, I got a call from Gerhardt saying she’d managed to take her own life.”
Lachlan edged forward slightly in his chair. “Did you suspect that, perhaps, he’d had a hand?”
“I did, naturally, question it. I insisted on an autopsy, and I asked the pathologist to check for any signs of foul play. Given I was working with the KRPD by then, I had an existing relationship with the pathologist, and I’m certain he told me the truth. He assured me there were no signs of anything untoward. She’d hanged herself, no signs of a struggle, nothing in the toxicology to suggest she’d been drugged. I think she knew she was ill and wouldn’t get better. She just couldn’t deal with it anymore.”
“I’m sorry,” Dez said.
Charles offered a small smile and nodded his thanks.
“Can I ask you something else?” Dez asked. “Are you familiar with a group called the Circle?”
“I’m aware of them, yes.”
“Are you a member?”
“No. I was approached around the time I started working in civic politics, but I turned them down. I knew enough about the Circle to know I didn’t trust their tactics. And I knew Gerhardt was a member. I would never join anything that would put me in proximity with that man.” He met Dez’s eye. “To be honest, I’ve always wondered whether that was where the corruption claims originated. I made some enemies in the Circle’s ranks when I refused to join, and I think the false claims might have been a way for them to get back at me. And I also wonder whether they weren’t eager to have one of their own members in the mayor’s office.” He sat forward, his gaze intensifying as he regarded Dez. “I’m afraid I was very embittered by the whole thing at the time, and I took it out on your father. I know he was only doing his job; I’d been a police officer myself, of course, and I knew how it worked. I sure wish I could take back some of the things I said to him.”
“It’s okay,” Dez said. “I’m sure he knows, wherever he is.” That could have been right here, for all Dez knew. Only Sully would know for sure.
Something else needed to be discussed, the most difficult topic. Charles seemed like a good guy, and Dez wasn’t thrilled about having to broach the topic of Eloise’s murder, but there was no way around it. She’d never been found, and she deserved to be.
Thankfully, Lachlan fielded that one. “Did you ever find out what happened to Eloise?”
“No,” Charles said. Dez saw no tells he was readying for a lie. “Val and I suggested she could come around for occasional visitations with Forbes, but she never came to see him. I think at first, it was hard for her to get away, what with Gerhardt being how he was and all of the police and media attention on the case. Val and I, too, felt very hemmed in at that point, like we couldn’t move a finger for fear of someone seeing and reading into it.” He paused, thinking. “You know, come to think of it, Val did tell me once that Eloise came to see Forbes. He and I had gone for a fishing break that time, I think. I remember asking because Forbes found a bag stashed by the stairs containing a few of his things from his old life: books and toys and things like that. Val said Eloise had dropped the things off and left.”
“And you’re sure that’s what happened?”
“Of course.” Charles sank slightly in his chair. “Why? Are you suggesting something more?”
“I’m afraid so, sir,” Lachlan said. “We have reason to believe Eloise was murdered by your wife.”
“That’s absurd!”
“Is it? You know how deep emotional strain can sometimes trigger people with dissociative personality disorder. Our information is that Eloise went there that day to take her son back. Understandably, Val was badly shaken and upset by this, and we believe she lashed out violently. I don’t think she fully knew what she was doing, if that helps. It’s quite possible she would have been found not criminally responsible for the offence. But I think if you were to search the property, you might find that Eloise is still there somewhere.”
Charles stared at Lachlan a long moment. Then he crumpled. His face dropped into the shelter of his hands, and he sobbed, shoulders quaking with the rush of emotion.
Dez pitied the man.
Close to a minute passed before Charles uttered anything more. What he said came out as a muffled moan behind his hands. “Oh, Val. Val, what did you do?”
Another half-minute ticked by before Charles withdrew his hands. His face was a mess, eyes red and tear-filled, skin mottled, nose running. He grabbed a tissue from a drawer and blew his nose, then needed a second.
“Are you all right, sir?”
Dez asked.
Charles nodded, but the movement didn’t match what Dez was seeing. “I’m sorry. God, I—” He wiped tears from his cheeks before returning his gaze to Dez. “I didn’t know. You have to believe me. I didn’t. But, heaven help me, I suspected something might have happened. That bag didn’t just contain toys and books. There were clothes and a few toiletries. I understood why she’d want him to have some of his favourite things, but the rest didn’t make sense. Not unless the explanation was what you’ve just suggested. I wondered. I did. But I didn’t ask. Val gave me her explanation, and I didn’t question it, because the alternative was unthinkable. I was a police officer, and I knew something was off. I did search for evidence to show something had transpired, but I never found anything—no blood, no hair, nothing broken, no notable injuries on Val. I did notice our butcher knife was gone, but she said she’d broken the blade so had thrown it out. Oh, God, you don’t think—”
“We think so, yes,” Lachlan said. “I know it isn’t easy to hear. You knew Val best. Do you have any idea what she might have done with the body?”
Charles shook his head. “I never even accepted she’d done anything wrong. I didn’t ever get as far as trying to think where a body might have been concealed. One thing, though, she wouldn’t have kept Eloise at the acreage. She wouldn’t have risked either myself or Forbes finding her. This happened before we moved away, and we lived very near the Black Woods. It’s quite likely, I suppose, she might have taken the body there. Oh, God. I know what you need to do, and I understand it, but this will ruin Forbes and me.”
“You had nothing to do with it,” Lachlan said. “I believe you on that. I’ll go to bat for you publicly. It could be with the right public relations, the impact on your career can be minimized.”
“I appreciate that, but it isn’t my career I’m talking about. It’s my relationship with my son. He was close to Eloise. He talked about her all the time as a child, and he always asked why she didn’t come to see him. I’m worried he’ll think I had something to do with either the death or with covering it up, or that he’ll blame me for not doing enough to prevent it. Regardless, this will bring the truth out, and that will break us. He’ll never see me again.”