Nat was more relaxed now, and Alex knew that if he could keep him talking, there was a chance that they could end this peacefully. He could see the cops in the rearview mirror. And the ever-present humming of the helicopter’s rotor blades still rumbled in the night sky overhead.
“So how come they let you keep the breast tissue?” Alex prompted. “That’s kind of unusual, isn’t it?”
“One of the good things about having the Chief Administrator in your pocket is that you can get away with things that you wouldn’t normally. I told them I wanted it and they gave it to me — in a refrigerated bag. You have to remember that they were kind of vulnerable. They’d broken the law by doing the gender re-assignment. I hadn’t broken any law by having it done.”
“And then you used the breast tissue to frame Burrow.”
“That’s right. I went back to his place, broke in easily enough and planted the breast tissue at the back of the freezer. You know people never look in the back of their own freezer. They leave stuff there for years.”
“But once in a while they clean it out.”
“But not very often — especially trailer trash like Burrow.”
“And what about the panties and the knife?
“I’d kept the panties from the rape because I was originally considering going to the police.”
“And the blood on the knife?”
“It’s no big deal to get a small amount of one’s own blood.”
“But how
“I had enough money left over to pay for a forged passport. With modern computers and printing technology it’s a lot cheaper than it used to be.”
“That’s why there was no return stamp in your passport.”
“That’s right. I got a new passport in my new name. Turn left. I want to stay on Highway 1.”
“Any particular reason for that name — Nathaniel?”
Nat smiled.
“What do you mean?”
“Well I was just thinking. After Esther told me about my name — “Sedaka” — meaning charity or righteousness, I found this website where you can look up the meaning of names. I started looking up names with a view to working out what Dorothy might be calling herself. I noticed that Jonathan — from the Hebrew Yonatan — means ‘God gave.’ And Dorothy comes from Doro Thea. That’s Greek for ‘God’s gift.’ It’s like Theodore in reverse. I thought there might be some significance in that.”
“And?” prompted Nat smiling.
“Well I also noticed that Nathaniel also means God’s gift — in Hebrew. It uses another of God’s Hebrew names: El. Natan-El, God gave. At the time I thought it was just a coincidence that you had a name with the same meaning as both Dorothy and Jonathan and didn’t give it a second thought. I was too busy thinking about what Dorothy might be calling herself if she was still alive. Only now I’m wondering…”
“It was partly that. But it was also a tribute to an author I very much admire. But that’s another story. Anyway, you’re on the right track. Mom gave both of us names that mean ‘God’s gift.’ To her, I guess, we
They shared a weak smile at the irony.
“And what about Anderson?”
“Another bit of Greek. Andros means man. I was the son of man — even if I didn’t know at the time
“When did you find out that Edgar wasn’t your father?”
“I’d known from an early age that Edgar wasn’t my real father. I’d heard it in arguments before I was even old enough to understand these things. He’d get into drunken rages and then she was the ‘whore’ who’d slept with another man on the eve of the wedding. I was the ‘little mamzer’ who wasn’t even his daughter. I had it drummed into me even when I was a child. Then I found the picture.”
00:28
“He turned left. They’re going round the Valley.”
“Copy that, Larry. Any sign of slowing down?”
Slowing down would have been an indicator that someone was planning to make a run from the car on foot. The controller doubted this, but Larry had raised the possibility and they were now coming up to the big test of the fugitive’s intentions.
“That’s a negative. Suspect vehicle is still maintaining speed.”
“Looks like you were wrong, Larry.”
“Let’s not get our hopes up. They’re still a minute away from the trees.”
“You want to make a bet on it?”
“Yeah, two tickets to the world series.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding!”
“Okay, one of the games.”
“You’re on.”
“By the way, if he does go for cover, you’ll have to send in a relief crew. I’ve only got enough fuel for another hour.”
00:29 PDT
“The picture of your mother?”
“No, the one I found with it.”
“What was that?”
“I’d been rummaging round in the closet in my parents’ bedroom, looking for my dad’s clothes to try on — I mean, Edgar’s.”
Nat wiped a tear from his eyes. Alex realized how hard it was to distance himself from thinking about Edgar Olsen as his father, even though he had known for such a long time.
“Go on.”
“I think I must have been about twelve or thirteen at the time. And I found these pictures of this young man and woman. They were in an old shoe box with a pile of old pictures, not exactly hidden away, but pushed right to the back of the closet, as if it was like buried away. You know, burying the past and all that.”
Alex nodded, signaling Nat to continue.
“And I recognized my mom, but I didn’t know who the man was. So I took just took the pictures and then I waited until I could find a suitable moment to ask Mom.”
“And did you?”
“Yes. She told me about the party and the one-night stand and all that. And I could tell by the way she was talking to me that there was more to it. So I asked her — point blank — if the man was my father. And she said yes.”
“And she let you keep the picture? She didn’t try and take it back?”
“No, I asked her if I could keep it. With all the shit in my life I needed something to cling onto, like my real father. And she saw the look in my eyes and … I think…” He was struggling against the threat of tears once again. “I think … that she knew how I felt, how strongly I wanted it. So she said I could keep it. And I’ve kept it ever since.”
“But did you ask her who it was? Did she even know the name?”
