it's about me; I forget sometimes how strong you are. But you're my
only family left, kid. I don't want anything bad to happen to you.'
Why hadn't I seen it that way before? 'Nothing's going to happen. Hey,
a couple psychopaths came after me, and I still turned out OK.' We both
laughed. 'Seriously, Dad, I am so sorry for what I said. I snapped at
you because, honestly, I've got some doubts myself about how I'm going
to learn to get through days like this one. I went out to the crime
scene this afternoon, and seeing her body I can't stop thinking about
it. But I really want this assignment. I'll probably do more than my
fair share of whining about it,' I added, 'but I want to feel like it's
OK to do that around you without you telling me to take myself off the
case, all right?'
'In other words, the old man needs to lay off.'
'Dad '
'I'm kidding,' he said, cutting me off. 'Get some sleep now, OK? You
must need it after the day you've had.'
I was still feeling guilty about my little tirade. 'Can I come over
for dinner tomorrow night?'
'You know you don't need to ask. You can even bring the it runt.
He was referring, of course, to Vinnie. Dad had taken him in while I
was gone, saving me from a choice between the kennel and sneaking
Vinnie into the hotel.
When I hung up, Vinnie turned away from me, still pissed off about the
temporary abandonment. He caved when I headed up the stairs, though.
By the time I hit the sheets, he had grabbed his Gumby doll and jumped
in with me.
No matter how important the missing person, an investigation moves more
quickly once the body is found.
Dennis Coakley, who had been dragging his heels yesterday, had hurried
to a slow crawl. I got his message first thing Tuesday morning: 'I
heard the terrible news about Clarissa and wanted you to know I'm still
working away here, the highest possible priority. I'll call you when
I'm done.'
We'd see about that.
I also had a message from Susan Kerr, who clearly moved at a much
faster clip. 'Hi, this is Susan Kerr. Obviously, I've heard the news,
and I won't even bother trying to tell you how horrible the night was
for everyone. I think the reality is still setting in for all of us.
Anyway, I wanted you to know that I'll be helping Clarissa's family
with arrangements they're obviously not in the best state right now to
pay attention to all the details. Tara's doing OK, definitely a help
to her parents. Townsend, on the other hand well, quite frankly, I'm
worried about him. In any event, I'm doing what I can, so, if you need
anything from anyone, please feel free to call me. Anything at all.'
Before she hung up, she left every possible number where she might be
located.
Susan was dealing with death by taking charge. My mother had been the
same way. The few times she'd lost anyone and I mean anyone: a
neighbor, a cousin, her father she went straight to work. Call the
funeral director, the insurance companies, the creditors. Prepare
frozen casseroles and lasagnas to store for the family. It was like
she had a death checklist, full of tasks to keep her busy until the
body was in the ground.
Watching my mother in action, I had never understood her motivation.
Did she need to stay distracted from the death itself? Was it a means
of obtaining control over a world that felt unpredictable? Or was it
just an earnest desire to help those who weren't as strong as she was?
Whatever Susan Kerr's motivation, I was glad someone close to Clarissa
could play that role. Having seen Townsend attempt to deal with the
mere possibility of his wife's death, I couldn't imagine what the
confirmation of his worst fears had done to him.
I replayed the message to scribble down her phone numbers, then went on
to the next voice mail. 'Hi, Samantha, Susan Kerr again. Just wanted
to let you know I think I'll go ahead and call Duncan, just to make
sure you've got all the support you feel you need, OK? Thanks,
Samantha. I appreciate having someone devote her personal attention to
my friend.'
I wasn't surprised that someone with Susan Kerr's resources already
knew my boss. If she wanted to make sure he was giving me all the
support I deserved, I was all for it.
With the voice mails out of the way, I called Johnson to check in.
'We broke the news to the family last night. The parents and sister
first, then the husband. Nothing unusual. The sister gave us the
official ID while we were working on the search.'
'The husband didn't have a problem with it?'
'No. We explained that a search of the vies house is standard and that
we had a warrant. He said he understood that the investigation needed
to proceed.'
