Unspeakable

husbanddotedon.'

George had hands as big as tractor seats, and he made a mess of tearing open a packet of brown sugar. 'Sometimes you can't read the signs because you don't know what the signs mean. That's why I'm telling you thatI'mto blame too. I went to interview the Joseph family only seven weeks ago, and I could see then that Elliot was severely delusional, and getting worse.'

'I saw your report. That's another reason why I feel so guilty.'

'Uh-huh. Don't be. You couldn't see what he was delusionalabout. Like I say, many Native American alcoholics have nightmares based on ancient Indian beliefs. Yourwhitealcoholic, okay, he hears voices and he sees bugs climbing up the walls-frightening enough, I'll grant you. But your Native American alcoholic sees reallyprimalterrors: monsters and devils that are deeply ingrained in his tribal psyche. I had one guy who insisted he was being followed by the Eye Killers, who can stop your heart just by staring at you; and another guy who was thought that Bear Maiden was hiding under his bed. Bear Maiden is supposed to be covered all over in black hair, and she can break your neck with one bite.

'It seems more than likely to me that Elliot Joseph believed Daniel was possessed by a Native American devil. I don't know which one.'

Holly said, 'He kept saying it was black, like a shadow.'

'Could have been Raven. Raven is usually a bird, but he can take on any shape he feels like. Traditionally he's very cunning and dangerous, a scavenger. But whatever devil it was, it obviously scared Elliot so much that he felt he had no other choice except to exorcize it. That was a danger I should have anticipated and warned you about.'

He took his spoon and scooped the froth off the top of his cappuccino. 'I just want to say this, Holly: You and I, we were partly responsible for what happened here, I'll admit it, but it was a very unusual incident, very difficult to predict, and we went through all the correct procedural steps. I don't think that we should fall over ourselves to acceptallthe blame.'

'It's just that I could have saved him,' said Holly. 'You should have seen him, George. He was allbroken.' She was so upset that she couldn't say any more.

George reached across the table. On his right hand he wore a heavy silver ring with a profile of Chief Looking Glass embossed on it. 'You're shaking.'

'I'm a little cold, that's all.'

'Holly? you don't have to be braveallthe time. It's not an official job requirement.'

'It's just that? Elliot Joseph? I don't know. I feel like he's tainted me.'

George nodded as if he understood exactly what she meant. 'The Nimipu have a saying, Holly: We all live in one another's shadow.' He paused, and then he said, 'Come on, you look beat. Finish your coffee and go on home. I can take the bus.'

'Mickey Slim' Brings Lilies

At elevenA.M. the next morning, Holly was just about to go into a meeting with Doug and all the other department heads when Mickey appeared out of the elevators at the far end of the corridor carrying a huge bunch of white lilies wrapped in cellophane. He waved the lilies from side to side as if he were flagging down a train, and he shouted out something, but he was too far away for Holly to see what it was.

Katie said, 'MyGod. He must have stolen those from the cemetery.'

Mickey came jogging up to them, out of breath. 'Hi! Holly!Fwoff!I just came by to see how you were! And to bring you these!'

'Those are forme?'

'Because of what happened yesterday. You know? you getting attacked like that.'

'Oh.'

Mickey raised his hand and gently touched her forehead, close to her hairline. 'That's a heck of a bruise you've got there. Did you put an ice pack on it?'

'Frozen peas.'

'Well, here,' he said, and handed her the lilies.

'I'll catch up with you in a minute,' she told Katie. Katie winked at her and went into the meeting.

'You, ah, how do you feel?' asked Mickey.

'Bruised. Battered. What do you think?'

'I heard that Daniel Joseph made it through surgery.'

'Yes, he did.'

'So he's going to be okay?'

'Probably not. There's only a twenty-five-percent chance that he's not going to suffer from some kind of physical impairment. Probably mental too. Cerebral edema.'

'That Elliot Joseph. What a piece of shit. Excuse my language.'

'Yes, well, I have to get into my meeting. Thank you for the flowers.'

Mickey narrowed his eyes. 'Do I sense some lack of warmth here?'

'Lack of warmth? I wouldn't call it that.'

'No? What would you call it?'

Holly gave a defensive shrug. 'I think I'm just surprised, that's all. Taken aback.'

'Oh, yeah?' said Mickey, with an exaggerated expression of bafflement. 'Taken aback by what exactly?'

'What you did to Elliot Joseph, what else?'

'I'm sorry, I'm not following you.'

'You knocked his teeth out, Mickey. I couldn't believe it. You deliberately knocked his teeth out.'

Mickey laughed in disbelief. 'Holly, the man is an irredeemable psychopath.'

'That didn't giveyouthe right to act like an irredeemable psychopath too.'

'Hehityou, for Christ's sake. If we hadn't got there when we did, he probably would have killed you. I lost my temper, that's all.'

'It didn't look to me like you were losing your temper. You looked completely calm.'

'I'm always calm when I lose my temper. Chilled- that's me. The only time I get excited is when the Beavers are two games down.'

'You still didn't have to knock his teeth out.'

'Holly, there's one thing you have to understand. That piece of shit hit you, he hurt you, and as far as I'm concerned, if anybody hurts you-anybody-they're going to get hurt back. In spades.'

Holly didn't really know what to say. All through her life she had always taken care of herself, and to have somebody else looking out for her was a strange experience. She didn't know whether she felt flattered or uneasy. Did Mickey feel protective toward her because he found her attractive, or because her deafness made her so vulnerable? Or an odd combination of both?

'Listen,' he said, 'if I upset you, I'm real sorry. The last thing in the whole world I wanted to do was upset you.'

'No,' she said, 'I'm not upset. Not really. Not now. I can't say that I approve of what you did, but-well, I guess it was understandable.'

'You're sure?'

'I'm sure. I could have ended up like Daniel, couldn't I?'

Mickey pressed his fingertips against his forehead, as if he were having difficulty thinking of the right words. 'I don't usually? well, I don't want you to think that knocking people's teeth out is something that I'm in the habit of. But, you know, like W. C. Fields said, it's a hard world out there. It's amazing that any of us get out of it alive.'

He looked up to judge her reaction. She said nothing, because she didn't really know what to say.

'By the way,' he added, 'Elliot Joseph comes up in court tomorrow. The DA is opposing bail, on the grounds that he's a continuing threat to his wife and son-and to child welfare staff too.'

'Good,' said Holly. 'We'll be making a preliminary application to have Daniel taken into care.'

Katie appeared in the doorway. 'Holly, can you come in now, please? Doug's reading the minutes.'

Holly turned to Mickey and said, 'I really have to go. Thanks for the lilies.'

'That's okay. You should have seen what they were charging for them, per bloom. Good thing I'm a cop and they give me a hundred- percent discount.'

Holly laughed. She had been telling him the truth when she said that she liked him, but whenever he came close to her, she always felt as if she ought to be cautious, although she didn't exactly know why. She had met him nearly two years ago at the Children's Welfare Department barbecue, when she was holding a hot dog in each hand, one for her and one for Daisy, and she had liked the look of him even then. But she often felt that his eyes never quite agreed with what he was saying. She sometimes thought that there was a hidden 'Mickey Slim,' a verywatchful'Mickey Slim,' who very rarely showed himself.

'I'll talk to you later,' she told him.

'You're really okay, though? I mean, Elliot Joseph hit you pretty hard, didn't he?'

'I'm okay.'

'Okay, then. I'll see you later. Okay?'

The Ghost Boy

She was packing up her briefcase to leave when Katie came into her office. Katie was wearing a nubbly hand-knitted sweater in broccoli green and French mustard, and Holly knew that she was going to ask her something awkward because her head was tilted back and her glasses pushed right to the end of her nose. 'Holly, I don't know if you're up to doing this. I mean, do tell me if you're not.'

'Depends what it is. I'm in no condition to have a fistfight with anybody just at the moment.'

Katie flapped a telephone message at her. 'It's nothing much, just a backup call. A woman onSoutheast Boise called the police just after ten o'clock this morning. She said she could hear a child screaming in the first-floor apartment right below her. The police attended and talked to Mrs. Hannah Beale. Mrs. Beale has an eleven-year-old son calledCasper who is suffering