Front Page Teaser

“Sorry to wake you, but I thought you’d want to see this. You not only scooped the World but got the front page, too. Take a look.” Wiping his feet on the mat, he handed her two newspapers. Then he set down a bakery box and two Styrofoam cups of coffee on Liz’s coffee table.

In uncharacteristic uppercase type the World’s front page announced, “ABUSE QUESTION RAISED IN MISSING MOTHER CASE.” In the article, Mick Lichen made much of his observations through Veronica’s window:

A child’s portrait of her father raises the question of sexual abuse in the Newton household that has been home to tragedy since Ellen Johansson, 34, went missing from it December 18. Ever since they stripped the wallpaper in the bedroom of Veronica Johansson, age 8, last week, police have been mum about the clue they found written on the wall. Now, based on exclusive observation of Veronica’s bedroom, we can report the writing on the wall spells trouble for Erik Johansson, 37, husband of Ellen and father of Veronica.

The drawing depicts a large protuberance extending outward from the chest or midriff area of a figure labeled “DADDY.” According to Dr. Lesley Choate, professor of child psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, “The huge ball-and-rod–shaped protuberance appears to be a classic depiction of the male member as seen by an abused child. The drawing is particularly disturbing in that it depicts a symbol of rape in a scene of innocent play or father-and-daughter companionship.”

Lichen went on to suggest that child abuse accounted for all the problems in the household, including serving as the spur for Ellen’s leaving it. However, because she didn’t see Veronica’s drawing as an indicator of abuse, Liz knew that notion was false. In addition, she still could not visualize Ellen leaving her daughter in danger. There must be another reason she departed.

The World also ran an article by Nancy Knight about developments with the rental car. Like Manning in the Banner, Knight read the cast-off jewelry, particularly the wedding ring, as a sign there was marital trouble, but she followed in Lichen’s footsteps and based the spousal discord on the premise of child abuse. The large front page of the World also held room for a piece by Lichen, headlined “Blood of a Stranger,” in which Lichen let on the World had no idea who’d been injured in the kitchen with Ellen.

In contrast, the Banner’s front page screamed, “POINSETTIA POINTER: Was Hackney Hacked in Mystery Kitchen?” Liz’s lead article was accompanied by a file photo of the Johansson kitchen showing the poinsettia there and by a cameo shot of Cormac Kinnaird scrutinizing a poinsettia petal with a magnifying glass. Manning’s article about the rental car, headed “WEDDING BAND BLUES,” speculated on marital discord and showed the car rental clerk as gaga about getting her name in the paper and incapable of spitting out a sentence without several “likes” and a “whatevah.” A photo of the clerk captured her in the act of chewing gum while screwing a cap on a jar of nail polish. Finally, a front-page teaser zooming in on Veronica’s drawing of the wind-blown tie, was emblazoned with the words, “DADDY DEAREST: Veronica’s Drawing Tells All.”

“I’m sorry you had to realize the truth about Erik,” Tom said. “I know you liked him. I heard on the radio, as I was driving over, that the Department of Social Services is stepping in to take temporary custody of Veronica, based on newspaper reports.”

“Not mine!”

“But it says here, ‘DADDY DEAREST.’ Doesn’t that mean you wrote about the abuse? That teaser makes me think of the movie Mommie Dearest, about Joan Crawford’s abuse of her kid.”

“No! For once the Banner headline writers’ words can be taken literally. Sure, they tried to pique readers’ interest by making it look like a parallel to that case. But that’s just to get readers to turn to Page Three.”

“Well, it fooled me. Especially since there’s that penis drawing right there. It makes me think Erik Johansson is guilty as sin. Not everybody is going to read any further, Liz. If your story says Erik is a good guy, it’s not clear from this front-page teaser.”

“He is all right, at least in this regard. I talked with Veronica myself yesterday and she told me her drawing depicted a windy day when Erik’s tie blew into his face while he flew a kite with her. That drawing is not evidence of sexual abuse.”

“Well, I sure hope the Department of Social Services reads past Page One of the Banner then, because the World won’t help them here. Maybe you should call them and inform them of what you know.”

Before Liz could cross the room to it, her telephone rang.

“Liz. This is Olga. I have to thank you for your piece about Veronica’s drawing. When I called it to the attention of the Department of Social Services, they said they’d release Erik later this morning, as soon as they can complete their paperwork on this. I have to question, though, the box on your front page. If you didn’t know better, you would think the paper was reporting on a child molester rather than a misunderstood child’s drawing. The way they enlarged that picture of the tie is utterly irresponsible.”

“I see that, Olga, and I’m sorry for it, but remember, even without that drawing, the World got the story completely wrong. At least we printed the truth.”

“Yes, and now the truth has come out about the car rental, too. I can’t tell you how relieved I am. This means Ellen was alive and well enough to rent a car two days ago.”

“Yes, but one has to wonder what kept her in the area and away from her family throughout the holidays.”

“I know, I know. There has to be an explanation. There just has to be. It must have something to do with that taxi driver. Maybe he was a crazed man, stalking my daughter.”

“I understand your impulse to blame the cabbie, but remember the book list you showed me? One of the titles on it suggested Ellen was planning to disappear.”

Olga was silent. Had she forgotten about the book list?

“Must you always upset me?” she demanded at last. “I’m trying so hard to focus on the good news that my daughter is alive, and now you try to tell me she wanted to run away.”

Olga hung up without another word.

After telling Tom what had ensued, Liz phoned the United Nations in New York. The central office receptionist could not confirm that Nadia had ever worked for them. “That doesn’t mean much,” she added, “since literally thousands of individuals do work for people who are on the official UN payroll. They may be translators, couriers, or personal assistants, but if they are paid by the UN employee instead of directly by the UN, we would have no record of them here.”

“Another dead end,” Liz said to Tom after hanging up the phone.

“Well, at least I have some good news. I found the Charlotte’s Web wallpaper. Wait a minute while I get the sample book.”

The big book held an eighteen- by twenty-inch sample sheet of the wallpaper. With its pink pastel tone and Garth Williams line drawings of Wilbur and a spider’s web that read, “SOME PIG!” the paper introduced a much- needed moment of pleasure to the tension-packed morning.

“It’s perfect! Veronica will love it.”

“Since it appears Erik will be welcoming Veronica home after all, I’d better get going on picking up that wallpaper,” Tom said. “Then I’ll try to reach him to set up some time to hang it over the weekend.”

Before he could leave, Liz wrapped her arms around Tom. This time, she was the last to release the embrace. After Tom left, she slipped out of her robe, dressed for work, fed Prudence, and drove straight to South Boston and the Van Wormer Piano Workshop.

Located in the basement of an architecturally pleasing, three-story brick row house, the workshop was accessible through an arched front entrance underneath and shaded by the first floor’s front steps. A small sign with a keyboard motif identified the premises and drew Liz’s attention while she waited for the proprietor to open the door. The nonagenarian piano man kept the door chained so it would open only about two inches until Liz introduced herself and showed him her I.D.

“Old habits die hard,” he said in a German, or perhaps Dutch, accent. “This used to be a much more dangerous neighborhood.”

“I tried to phone to make an appointment but your message machine has been filled.”