“The only way I can do that—
“Orrin’d run from an argument with his hands over his ears. He’s
“And I’m sorry I have to ask this, but was your mother ever aggressive toward Orrin?”
“She had her meth fits sometimes, especially toward the end. Some scenes. Nothing serious.”
“You mentioned that Orrin liked to tell stories. Does he ever write them down? Did he keep a journal?”
Ariel seemed surprised at the question. “No, nothing like that. His printing is neat but he don’t practice it much.”
“Did he have a girlfriend back in Raleigh?”
“He’s bashful around women, so no.”
“Did he worry about that? Resent it?”
Ariel Mather shrugged.
“Okay. Thank you for your patience, Ariel. I don’t believe Orrin needs to go into custodial care, and what you’ve said tends to confirm that.” Though it raised other questions, Sandra thought.
“You can get him out?”
“It’s not that simple. We’ll have to sort out whatever happened this afternoon that led Dr. Congreve to believe he’s violent—but I’ll do everything I can.” A thought occurred to her. “One more question. What was it that caused Orrin to leave Raleigh, and why did he come to Houston?”
Ariel hesitated. Her posture remained stiff as a spindle, as if her sense of dignity had settled into the knobs of her spine. “He has moods sometimes…”
“What kind of moods?”
“Well… most of the time Orrin seems young for his age, I guess you noticed that. Every once in a while, though, a mood takes him… and when Orrin’s in a mood he don’t seem young at all. He’ll give you a look like he sees right through you, make you think he’s older than the moon and the stars put together. Like a wind blows through him from somewhere far away. That’s what Mama used to say when Orrin was like that.”
“And does that have something to do with why he came to Houston?”
“The mood was on him at the time. I don’t know for sure he even meant to go to Texas in particular. He never said anything to me, just took the five hundred dollars I was saving toward a new car, took it from my dresser drawer when I was out at work. He asked our neighbor, Mrs. Bostick, to drive him to the bus station. He didn’t pack a bag or nothing. He wasn’t carrying nothing but an old pad of paper and a pen, Mrs. Bostick said. She guessed he was meeting somebody at the depot. Orrin didn’t deny it. But once she left him there he must’ve bought himself a ticket and got on an interstate bus. The mood was on him for some days before that, him all quiet and far-eyed.” She gave Sandra a calculating look. “I hope that don’t change your opinion of him.”
Complicates it, Sandra thought. But she shook her head: no.
Ariel Mather had arrived in town early this morning. Bose had helped her check her into a motel before their aborted visit to State, but she had barely had time to unpack her suitcase. She was tired, and she told Bose she wanted to get a decent night’s sleep. “But thank you for the dinner and all.”
“I still need to discuss a few things with Sandra,” Bose said. He asked the waiter to call a cab for her. “While we’re waiting, Ariel, one more question?”
“Go ahead.”
“Did Orrin contact you after he arrived here in Houston?”
“One phone call to let me know he was all right. I was mad enough to light into him for leaving but that just made him hang up, and I was sorry afterward. I should’ve known better. Yelling at him never does any good. A week later I had a letter to say he was working steady and he hoped I wasn’t too mad at him. I would’ve wrote back but he didn’t put down any return address.”
“Did he say anything about where he was working here in town?”
“Not as I recall.”
“Nothing about a warehouse? A man named Findley?”
“No, sir. Does it matter?”
“Probably not. Thank you again, Ariel.”
Bose said he’d call her tomorrow to let her know how things were progressing. She stood up and made her way to the door of the restaurant with her chin thrust forward.
“Well?” Bose asked. “What’s your reaction?”
Sandra shook her head firmly. “Oh, no. No. You don’t get anything more from me until
“I guess that’s fair. Listen, I need a ride home—I came in a cab with Ariel. Can I beg a lift from you?”
“I guess so… but if you bullshit me, Bose, I swear I’ll leave you by the side of the road.”
“Deal,” he said.
It turned out he lived in a new development off the West Belt, a longish drive and out of her way, but Sandra didn’t object: it gave her time to assemble her thoughts. Bose was patient in the passenger seat, hands in his lap, quietly attentive as she pulled into traffic. It was another mercilessly hot night. The car’s air conditioner struggled gamely.
She said, “This is obviously not standard police work.”
“How so?”
“Well, I’m no expert. But your interest in Orrin seemed unusual from the day you escorted him into State. And I saw you slip the cab fare to Ariel—don’t you need some kind of receipt? For that matter, shouldn’t you be interviewing her downtown?”
“Downtown?”
“At police headquarters or whatever. In the movies they always call it ‘downtown’…”
“Oh.
She felt herself blushing but persisted: “Another thing. At State we talk to HPD referrals every day. A lot of them are considerably less tractable than Orrin, but some are just as scared and just as vulnerable. As a professional I have to behave like a clinician no matter who I’m dealing with. The cops who drop these cases at State, on the other hand… for them it’s the end of a tedious necessity. Their interest in the individuals they remand to us is less than nil. Except on legal business, no cop
“Maybe I happen to like him. Maybe I think he’s being railroaded.”
“Railroaded by who?”
“I’m not sure. And if I haven’t been entirely frank, it’s because I don’t want to involve you in something potentially dangerous.”
“Your chivalry is noted, but I’m already involved.”
“If we handle this badly, you could be putting your job at risk.”
Sandra laughed despite herself. “There hasn’t been a day in the last year I didn’t half hope to be fired. My resume is out at hospitals all over the country.” This was true.
“Any takers?”
No. “Not yet.”
Bose looked down the highway into the simmering night. “Well, you’re right. What you said. This isn’t standard police work.”
