Wrong Turn (12 page)

‘That brings me to my second problem, sir,’ she said and explained about Trevor’s presence at the crime scene. ‘We need to talk to him.’

‘He’s still a minor, Pierce.’

‘Right now, the parents of his deceased mother are his legal guardians but we have to act fast. Phillips has filed to regain his parental rights and custody of his son. And I am not betting that the courts will protect Trevor from his biological father.’

‘Go see the grandparents. Find out if they’ll cooperate – without any coercion, Pierce. Play good cop for a change.’

Lucinda exhaled with enough force to make her lips buzz. ‘Captain!’

‘OK, OK, I know you can do that but sometimes you get too jacked up when you have a goal in your gun sights.’

‘I think I ought to take a child psychologist with me, too. Getting the truth from him is going to be a traumatic experience. I want someone there to help him afterwards.’

‘The in-house shrink won’t do?’

‘I think we need someone who specializes in children, sir. I realize that this is an added expense, but . . .’

‘Just do it, Pierce. But don’t hire someone right away. Make sure you have the go-ahead from the grandparents first. It would be a total waste to take someone out there only to be turned away at the gate.’

‘Yes, sir. I’ll make the first visit during school hours so that Trevor won’t be present.’

‘Good thinking. Now. You said there was a third thing – something to do with the Sherman case?’

Lucinda wiped both hands across her face. ‘There appears to be deliberate tampering and cover-up of evidence. I would have to speak to Martha Sherman or her trial attorney to be certain.’

Holland stared at her, his left eye twitching, color rising in his neck.

After a few moments, Lucinda said, ‘Sir?’

‘Have you lost your mind?’

‘Sir?’

‘Do you have any idea of how the DA would react if you contacted those whom he considers his enemy?’

‘But, sir . . .’

‘It is one thing to review our records, our investigation. It is quite another to approach the other side.’

Lucinda lurched to her feet. ‘You said that woman was, in all likelihood, wrongfully convicted.’

‘Yes, I did. Sit back down.’

Lucinda remained standing. ‘You said she should be released immediately.’

‘Yes, I did, but attacking the DA’s office is not the way to go about resolving this issue.’

‘It is not this DA.’

‘But it is his office and his predecessor was his mentor.’

‘Yes he was. But Boz was mine. And now, I look at the evidence: erased interview tapes, redacted statements, and the information from Lisa Pedigo that was contained in the missing or altered files, and where else do I go.’

‘You will destroy Boz’s reputation.’

‘Maybe that’s what should happen. It makes me hurt,’ Lucinda said, pounding her chest with her fist. ‘It makes me want to cry, but it also makes me feel stupid and outraged. But this cannot stand, captain. It cannot stand.’

‘Martha Sherman will be released eventually, Pierce. Just have patience. The courts will release her in due time.’

‘You expect me to put faith in the courts? You expect me to be patient? That woman should have never been put in prison. And she should not remain there one minute longer,’ she said, bashing her fist against the surface of his desk.

‘Back off, Pierce. Sit down. Now. That’s an order.’

Lucinda glowered at him as she slowly sank down on the edge of her chair.

‘You cannot expose one of our own.’

‘Oh, really?’ Lucinda said. ‘No matter what?’

‘I wouldn’t say that, Pierce. Short of a crime involving physical harm to another human being – yes, anything but that.’

‘And you don’t think Martha Sherman has been physically harmed?’

‘Emotionally maybe, but not physically. She can be compensated for her loss of freedom.’

Lucinda popped back up to her feet. ‘That’s lame, captain. How long has it been since you’ve been to a prison? They are brutal, violent places. Even women’s prison. There are nasty individuals – lifetime criminals – locked up with her. Women with a history of drug use, assaults and murders.

‘And there Martha was, a sheltered woman raised in a normal, middle-class home, married to a wealthier man. How much exposure do you think she had to the raw side of life? How well do you think she was equipped to deal with professional manipulators and cons – women who’d kill their own grandmothers for pocket change?

‘We have no idea of the physical torment she has suffered. Even if she wasn’t beaten or assaulted, there’s still damage. Only time will tell how much the stress of that environment will impact her health, shorten her life. But without a doubt, there is physical damage, captain. You can’t deny it.’

‘But I can tell you this, Pierce: you cannot attack an honorable, deceased officer and destroy his family’s memories when his only crime was following orders.’

‘I can’t?’ she said, turning from him and walking to the door. In the threshold, she stopped and spun back to face him. ‘Just watch me, captain,’ she said and fast-walked out of his office and out of the building. She heard him shouting, ‘Pierce! Pierce! Get back here this minute! Pierce!’ But she did not break her stride.

In her car, she sped out of the parking lot and headed down the street. A mile away she pulled into a parking space behind a dumpster at the public library. Her temper had flared hot and uncontrollable. But now, her sanity reasserted itself. She needed time to think – and time to cry.

O
nce Lucinda felt her self-control and composure had reached a point of equilibrium, she pulled out of the lot and drove to the Spencer condominium to check on the situation with Charley. She was greeted warmly by Charley’s father Evan.

‘I am so glad to see you. This has been a nightmare.’

‘Charley’s home, right?’ Lucinda asked.

‘Yes, she’s in her room. She won’t talk to me.’

‘Really? What happened?’

‘I told her no matter what she did I would always love her and then asked her about her involvement in the vandalism.’

‘Oh, no.’

‘Yeah, well, sensitivity has not always been my strong point.’

‘That’s not what I hear from your patients, Evan.’

‘Somehow it’s different – I’m different – when it’s so close to home. I saw the anger flash through her eyes. The moment she turned from me, I apologized. I tried to take back my words but she would not stick around to listen.’

‘Let me go talk to her,’ Lucinda offered.

‘I don’t know. Her lawyer told me not to let her talk to anyone connected to the prosecutor or to law enforcement.’

Lucinda stared at him. ‘I can’t believe you’re saying this to me, Dr Spencer.’

‘Oh Jeez, there I go again.’

‘Don’t play pathetic with me, Dr Spencer.’

Evan slumped against the nearest wall. ‘Oh, c’mon, can we go back to Evan?’

‘I doubt it. Can I talk to Ruby? Or is that forbidden, too?’

‘Of course, you can. She’s in the family room watching
Kung Fu Panda
for the millionth time.’

Lucinda walked into the room and spotted six-year-old Ruby’s eyes riveted to the screen, her mouth hanging open, her little fingers mindlessly fidgeting. ‘Hey, Ruby,’ she said. ‘Could we pause the movie and visit for a bit?’

Ruby did not respond, not even flicking her eyes from the animation before her eyes.

Lucinda lowered herself to the floor next to the little girl.

Ruby jerked her head, saw Lucinda, turned back to the screen and then back to her visitor. ‘Lucy,’ she squealed, throwing her arms around the detective’s neck.

Lucinda wrapped one arm around her and grabbed the remote with the other hand, pressing the pause button. ‘I’d say you’re glad to see me,’ she said with a laugh.

‘Lucy, nobody talks to me. Charley won’t let me in her room. Daddy just sits still and tries to be nice but he doesn’t do real smiles. I ask him questions and he just pats me on the head and says, “I love you, Ruby”. I don’t understand and nobody will explain nothing.’

‘Well, Ruby, Charley’s gotten into a little trouble and she’s very upset about it and so, your daddy is upset, too.’

‘Charley? In trouble?’ she said, her eyes wide and filled with disbelief.

‘I do not think that Charley did anything bad but some people think she did.’

‘Bad people?’

‘No. Some policemen think she did a bad thing because the bad people said she did.’

‘Why do they listen to bad people? Why would they be mean to Charley? Charley is good.’

‘Yes, she is, Ruby. But the bad people don’t want anyone to know that.’

‘Will you tell them?’

‘Yes, I will Ruby.’

‘Will you put the bad people in jail?’

‘I’ll make sure everyone knows that they are responsible for the bad things, OK.’

‘Put them in jail, Lucy.’

‘They’re little kids, too, Ruby. Jail’s probably not the best place for them.’

‘I don’t care. They’re mean to Charley. I want them in jail.’

‘Ruby, I promise you, I will do the right thing. For now that will have to be enough, OK?’

Ruby’s eyes scanned Lucinda’s face. She blinked several times and then said, ‘OK,’ and turned back to the screen. Grabbing the remote, she pressed the play button.

Lucinda rose from the floor and walked back to the front of the home. She planned to leave without saying goodbye to Evan but he intercepted her. ‘I called Charley’s lawyer—’

‘The attorney I recommended?’

Evan winced. ‘Yes, I called Bill Waller. He said you were the exception. You can speak with Charley – if she’ll talk to you.’

‘Nice, Dr Spencer. As well as you know me, you did not trust me to put Charley’s best interests first.’

‘Lucinda, it’s not—’

‘Oh, yes, it is, Dr Spencer. That’s exactly what it is about. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go talk to Charley.’

‘If she talks to you, I’d like to know what she says – and so would Waller.’

‘If she talks to me, Dr Spencer, I will decide exactly what is in Charley’s best interests and then take the appropriate action.’

‘But—’

‘Just go see to your own business, Dr Spencer. Don’t worry about me. I can let myself out.’

In the hall outside of Charley’s room, Lucinda took a couple of deep breaths to clear any signs of anger or irritation out of her voice and off of her features. She knocked gently on the young girl’s door.

‘Go away!’ she shouted from inside the room.

‘Charley, it’s Lucy,’ Lucinda said and waited. Two full minutes passed before the door creaked open.

‘What do you want?’ Charley asked.

‘I just want to come in, sit down and talk to you a bit, Charley.’

‘Have you been sent to interrogate me?’

‘No, Charley.’

‘Did the police think you could get a confession from me?’

‘No one in the police department knows I’m here.’

‘Oh, Daddy sent you up here to find out how much damage I did to that place. He probably just wants to get an estimate so he can write a check and make it all go away.’

‘Oh, Charley please let me help you.’ A single tear rolled down from Lucinda’s eye.

Charley’s lower lip trembled. Her face crumpled up and sobs followed. She threw her arms around Lucinda’s waist and wailed. Lucinda led the girl over to the small love seat and sat down with her, stroking her head as she sobbed out the accumulated stress of the last couple of days.

Her emotions exhausted, Charley pulled back and sighed. Her eyes were red, her cheeks blotchy and her nose running.

Lucinda pulled a tissue out of a nearby box and handed it to her. ‘Could I go to the kitchen and get you a glass of water?’

A weak smile crossed Charley’s face. ‘Daddy put a little ’frigerator in here,’ she said, pointing to the appliance on the floor beside her desk. ‘I’m not allowed to keep soda in it but it’s got lots of water and juices. Could you get me a Fusion?’

‘Sure can,’ Lucinda said, crossing the room.

‘And get something for you, too. Anything you want.’

‘Thank you, Charley,’ she said, grabbing a bottle of water along with Charley’s drink.

Charley took a long swallow, smacked her lips and said, ‘OK, fire away.’

‘Fire away?’

‘Ask me any questions you want?’

‘Charley, I was just kind of hoping, you’d tell me what happened? I mean, I’ll ask questions if I’m not clear about what you’re saying but really, I just want to know what happened.’

‘And you’ll believe me?’

‘Of course, Charley. You’ve never lied to me before. And I have no reason to believe you’ll start now.’

‘You mean that?’

‘Yes, Charley, I do.’

Charley smiled and told Lucinda the whole story from the moment she heard the conversation in the restroom to the minute the cops walked in on her in the apartment. ‘And that’s how I got myself in this big mess,’ she concluded with a sigh.

‘Oh, Good grief, Charley. I hope you’ve learned a lesson.’

‘Yes, when you hear someone coming, run – even if it is the cops.’

‘Charley!’ Lucinda admonished.

Charley burst into a giggling fit. ‘Just kidding, Lucy.’

‘Seriously now. What did you learn?’

‘That you and Daddy and probably everyone else would be a whole lot happier if I told an adult what I thought was happening instead of investigating it myself.’

‘But do you get it? Do you see how it’s better that way?’

Charley hung her head and twisted her neck to look at Lucinda. ‘I can’t lie to you, can I?’

‘I sure wish you wouldn’t.’

‘No,’ she said. ‘I don’t realize that because it’s not true. I know it went bad this time but most times I do OK. And besides, I didn’t know if they did anything wrong or not. If I start telling every time I think I know about something without knowing for sure, it’d be like that boy – you know the one who cried wolf. And then everything would be an even bigger mess.’

‘Oh, Charley,’ Lucinda said putting an arm around her shoulder. ‘I know you mean well but you sure scare me to death sometimes. Promise me one thing?’

‘What?’

‘Don’t do any investigation of anything until we get this disaster cleared up first. OK?’