Let's Play Dead

moving in with me last summer, working full-time, putting together this exhibit-she’s kept it together. Even when I was shocked, she was there with me all the way.”

“Maybe that was the final straw?” Arabella said sadly. The phone on her desk rang, and she snatched it up. “Caitlin? Is that you?” She nodded at us all to indicate that it was her daughter, listened intently for a moment before saying, “Okay, I will,” and then replaced the receiver. She looked up, different emotions fighting in her expression.

“Caitlin’s at Hadley Eastman’s, of all places. She says I have to come out there, right now-she wouldn’t explain.”

“Did she say anything else?” I asked.

Arabella shook her head, bewildered. “No, she just said to get there as soon as possible.”

“How did she sound?” I asked.

“Really worked up-all her words were rushing together. So, now what?”

“Go to Hadley’s. Do you know where she lives?”

Arabella started rummaging through the stacks of papers on her desk. “I know I’ve got it here somewhere-she insists on sending me letters, all the time… Ah, here it is. Someplace in Gladwyne. That’s your territory, Nell. Will you drive? Please? I’m too upset to handle driving in this weather right now.”

I knew of Gladwyne-it wasn’t far from my own town of Bryn Mawr. However, it was in another category altogether when it came to status; I couldn’t afford a doghouse in that neighborhood. Hadley must have done well for herself with the Harriet the Hedgehog books. “Okay, I suppose. Luckily I drove to work today,” I said.

“I’m coming, too,” Nolan announced.

“We don’t need you there,” Arabella began, but Nolan cut her off.

“You’ve complained that I haven’t been part of her life. Well, that can change, beginning now. Tell me, Bella-do you think everything’s all right with our daughter?”

They exchanged a long silent look before Arabella finally answered. “I… don’t know. I think… maybe something’s wrong. And I have no idea why she’d have gone to Hadley’s, now of all times. Nell, maybe we should have a man along?”

To do what, beat up Hadley? But I wasn’t going to argue. “Fine. Nolan, you can come. Jason, how about you?”

“Of course I’m coming. I love Caitlin, and I’m as worried about her as anyone here.”

“All right, it’s the four of us.” I stood up, relieved to have something concrete to do. “I’m going to go get my car, and I’ll come by and pick you up. Half an hour, maybe. Arabella, you look up the directions to Hadley’s house. Eric, let’s go.” I turned and left before anyone could argue with me, with Eric trailing behind.

Back on the street we walked at a fast clip. “Okay, Eric-what the hell was going on in there?”

“Nell, the more I think about it, the more I recall there having always been something a little off about Caitlin. Maybe the Asperger’s explains it-nobody ever mentioned that. I don’t know. But you can find out what’s going on.”

“That’s my plan. It’s probably all totally innocent-maybe Caitlin had some last-minute brilliant idea for the exhibit, and she wanted to clear it with Hadley. Or vice versa. She’s an adult, and she doesn’t have to check in with her mom every time she blows her nose. I have to assume that she thought whatever it was, was important, to go haring off to the suburbs like this. The best way to find out what Caitlin’s up to is to ask her.”

We reached the Society in a record fifteen minutes. “Eric, you can hold the fort while I go take care of this. I probably won’t make it back to the office today.”

“Will do. But let me know what happens, if you can.”

“Just as soon as I figure it out myself,” I promised.

CHAPTER 28

I really wasn’t happy making this trip. I still wasn’t convinced that there was any real problem here; that Caitlin hadn’t just gotten caught up in some new excitement about the exhibit and not bothered to tell anyone where she was. Why she wanted Arabella to meet her at Hadley’s was an open question, but chances were still good that it was legitimately work related.

But even Arabella thought there was something odd about the situation, and I didn’t like what I was hearing. Caitlin had been a troubled girl, although to all appearances she had moved past that. But maybe the stresses of her recent responsibilities for the exhibit, coupled with the unfortunate accident, had triggered something?

The weather had definitely taken a turn for the worse. It was already dark, even though it was barely five, and the temperature was dropping. I had to scrape a thin layer of ice off my windshield. The same ice coated the streets, although the early rush hour traffic wore it away quickly. I was pretty sure that the ice would be worse outside of the city. I hated driving in winter.

I arrived at Let’s Play without mishap. When I pulled up at the front door, Arabella, Nolan, and Jason were waiting just inside and hurried out quickly. Nolan opened the front door for Arabella, then climbed into my rather messy backseat. I pointed us toward Gladwyne. Unfortunately the most direct route required taking the Schuylkill Expressway, known affectionately as the Surekill. Predictably, some idiot, or maybe several idiots, had tried to drive as though there wasn’t any ice, and managed to slam into each other, blocking all but one lane. The flashing lights of the police cruisers and the multiple tow trucks reflected off the wet surfaces-further distracting and slowing the other impatient drivers. Worse, the wind had picked up, blowing the icy rain sideways, and straight into my windshield. I should have had the brains to check the weather report this morning before I’d decided to drive into the city, but it was too late now.

There was no alternate route. We just had to wait it out, a slow and slippery mile at a time. “Why don’t you try Caitlin again, Arabella?”

“I have been, every five minutes. The phone goes straight to voice mail.”

“Have you or Caitlin ever been to Hadley’s house before?” I tried to picture the three of them socializing and failed, but I held out some hope that Arabella might be able to navigate the lanes of Gladwyne.

No such luck. “No, Hadley’s always come into the city. We aren’t exactly friends, you know. Just between us, that lady is a royal pain in the ass,” Arabella said. Nolan snorted from the backseat.

Traffic inched forward again. Particles of sleet slid down my windshield, driven by the wind.

Arabella started talking softly. “I was so happy when Caitlin told me she wanted to work for me-there was a job opening at Let’s Play, and I truly believed she could handle it. She’d been doing so well, at Bishop’s Gate, and then at college. She could have found a job somewhere else-she has the skills-but I was so pleased when she came to me, I guess I didn’t ask too many questions. I thought maybe we could move past the early problems and maybe even be friends, if that’s possible for a mother and daughter.”

“And it’s been, what-two years now?”

“Going on three,” Arabella said proudly. “It may sound horrible of me, but her Asperger’s is actually an asset. She doesn’t usually have to work with people, but she’s very good with organizing things and following through. She’s terrific at keeping track of details. I had no qualms about letting her manage the exhibit process. I’m proud of her. Of course I kept an eye on her, but I didn’t interfere, and everything has gone smoothly.”

“I know she’s been really happy there,” Jason volunteered from the backseat, “especially since she’s been working on this exhibit.”

Arabella turned in her seat to look at him. “Thank you, Jason. I’m glad to hear that.”

“What about handling Hadley?” I asked.

Arabella gave a grim laugh. “After I’d met Hadley, I realized that nobody could manage her-people skills were irrelevant. Hadley is so absorbed in Hadley that she wouldn’t notice anyway. So, to the best of my knowledge, Caitlin had no problem dealing with her. At least, Hadley never complained, and I’m sure she would have if she could have found a reason.”

We all fell silent; the others were lost in their thoughts, and I was using all my attention to focus on the increasingly slippery road. After inching along at a snail’s pace for half an hour, the Gladwyne exit was finally approaching. I turned with a sigh of relief-and promptly slid down the ramp, managing to stop at the stop sign at