Silent Partner

“… you made all the handsome boys love you… and now your man has come.”

Mrs. Lipschitz slept. He pushed her across the green cement, exchanging greetings with some of the other old people, got to the bottom of the ramp and told me: “Wait here. I’ll be with you soon as I’m through.”

I stood around, got drawn into conversation with a thick-waisted old man with one good eye and a VFW cap who claimed to have fought with Teddy Roosevelt at San Juan Hill, then waited, belligerently, as if expecting me to doubt him. When I didn’t he launched into a lecture on U.S. policy in Latin America and was going strong, ten minutes later, when Castelmaine reappeared.

I shook the old man’s hand, told him it had been educational.

“A smart boy,” he told Castelmaine.

The attendant smiled. “That probably means, Mr. Cantor, that he didn’t disagree with you.”

“What’s to disagree? Emes is emes, you got to keep those pinkos in line or they eat your liver.”

“The emes is, we gotta go, Mr. Cantor.”

“So who’s stopping you? Go. Gey avek.”

We walked back across the green cement.

“How about a cup of coffee,” I said.

“Don’t drink coffee. Let’s walk.” We turned left on Edinburgh and strolled past more old people. Past sweating windows and cooking smells, dry lawns, musty doorways.

“I don’t remember you,” he said. “Not as a specific person. I do remember Dr. Ransom visiting with a man, because it only happened once.” He looked me over. “No. I can’t say that I remember it being you.”

“I looked different,” I said. “Had a beard, longer hair.”

He shrugged. “Could be. Anyway, what can I do for you?”

Unconcerned. I realized he hadn’t heard about Sharon, gritted my teeth and said:

“Dr. Ransom died.”

He stopped, put both hands alongside his face. “Died? When?”

“A week ago.”

“How?”

“Suicide, Mr. Castelmaine. It was in the papers.”

“Never read the papers- get enough bad news just from living. Oh, no- such a kind, wonderful girl. I can’t believe it.”

I said nothing.

He kept shaking his head.

“What pushed her so low she had to go and do something like that?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”

His eyes were moist and bloodshot. “You her man?”

“I was, years ago. We hadn’t seen each other for a long time, met at a party. She said something was bothering her. I never found out what it was. Two days later she was gone.”

“Oh, Lord, this is just terrible.”

“I’m sorry.”

“How’d she do it?”

“Pills. And a gunshot to the head.”

“Oh, God. Doesn’t make any sense, someone beautiful and rich doing something like that. All day I wheel around the old ones- fading away, losing the ability to do anything for themselves, but they hang on, nothing but memories to keep them going. Then someone like Dr. Ransom throws it all away.”

We resumed walking.

“Just doesn’t make sense,” he repeated.

“I know,” I said. “I thought you might be able to help me make some sense of it.”

“Me? How?”

“By telling me what you know about her.”

“What I know,” he said, “isn’t much. She was a fine woman, always looked happy to me, always treated me well. She was devoted to that sister of hers- you don’t see a lot of that. Some of them start out all noble, guilty for putting the loved one away, swearing to God they’re gonna be visiting all the time, taking care of everything. But after a while of getting nothing back, they get tired, start coming less and less. Lots of them disappear completely. But not Dr. Ransom- she was always there for poor Shirlee. Every week, like clockwork, Wednesday afternoon, two to five. Sometimes two or three times a week. And not just sitting- feeding and fixing and loving that poor girl and getting nothing in return.”

“Did anyone else ever visit Shirlee?”

“Not a one, excepting the time she came with you. Only Dr. Ransom, like clockwork. She was the best family to one of those people I ever saw, giving, not getting. I watched her do it steadily up until the day I quit.”

“When was that?”

“Eight months ago.”

“Why’d you quit?”

“’Cause they were gonna let me go. Dr. Ransom tipped me off that the place was going to shut down. Said she appreciated all I’d done for Shirlee, was sorry she couldn’t take me with her, but that Shirlee would continue to get good care. She said I’d made a big difference. Then she gave me fifteen hundred dollars cash, to show she meant it. That shows you what she was like. Makes no sense for her to get that low.”

“So she knew Resthaven was going to close.”

“And she was correct. Couple of weeks later, everyone else got form letters, pink slips. Dear employee. A friend of mine was working the wards- I warned her but she didn’t believe me. When it happened she didn’t get any notice, no severance, just bye-bye, Charlie, we’re bankrupt. Out of business and so are you.”

“Do you have any idea where Dr. Ransom took Shirlee?”

“No, but believe me, it had to be somewhere fine- she loved that girl, treated her like a queen.” He stopped, turned grim. “With her dead, who’s gonna take care of the poor thing?”

“I don’t know. I have no idea where she is. No one does.”

“Oh, Lord. This is starting to sound mournful.”

“I’m sure she’s all right,” I said. “The family has money- did she talk much about them?”

“Not to me she didn’t.”

“But you knew she was rich.”

“She was paying the bills at Resthaven, she had to be. Besides, anyone could tell she had money just by looking at her- the way she dressed and carried herself. Being a doctor.”

“Dr. Ransom was paying the bills?”

“That’s what it said right at the top of the chart: All financial correspondence to be directed to Dr. Ransom.”

“What else was in the chart?”

“All the therapy records- PT, OT. For a while Dr. Ransom even had a speech therapist come in but that was a waste of time- Shirlee was nowhere near talking. Same with a Braille teacher. Dr. Ransom tried everything. She loved that girl- I just can’t see her destroying herself and abandoning the poor thing.”

“Was there a medical history in the chart?”

“Just some early stuff and a summary of all the problems written out by Dr. Ransom.”

“Any birth records?”

He shook his head.

“Were any other doctors involved in Shirlee’s care?”

“Just Dr. Ransom.”