Bone Box. Faye Kellerman

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СКАЧАТЬ You know, just because you identify as the other gender doesn’t mean that your biological gonads don’t function. He was dressed as a woman and I was the man with my top surgery, but we were still technically boy and girl. What a world, huh?”

      McAdams nodded, but remained silent.

      “We were both going to get surgery that summer. But then Lorraine got it in her head to have a baby. What could I do?”

      Decker came back. “I told Joanne that we’d be there in an hour.” Silence. To Karen: “This might be as good a time as any to make contact with her.”

      Karen looked at her watch. “I’ve got class in ten minutes.” When Decker didn’t answer, she said, “I suppose I should get it over with. I named my son Aesop because those were Lorraine’s favorite stories. Believe it or not, she loved morality pieces. They provided absolutes in our ambiguous world. Are we done here?”

      “Yes,” Decker said. “When can I get your Pettigrew file?”

      “Come to my place around eight. By then the kids are asleep and if we need to talk at greater length, I can concentrate on you instead of the children.” She looked at her watch again and stood up. “I gotta get this call over with. I’ll see you tonight.”

      After she left, Decker said, “What did you two talk about?”

      “How they fell in love and wanted to marry: she as a boy and he as a girl. I know that none of this is relevant, but even she admitted it was a strange world.”

      “It is a strange world. But as a detective I don’t care about those things. All I care about is who put Pettigrew in the ground.”

      It had been an emotional day with tears coming in all directions. There was one positive upshot. As he and McAdams were talking to Joanne, Karen and Jordeen dropped by with Aesop and Birgitta. That’s when the waterworks became unstoppable. It was a good time to make an exit and leave the newly formed family in peace.

      After dealing with Joanne, they went back to Manhattan. Decker went to the local Staples and made two copies of Karen’s files, which she had brought to Joanne’s. By the time he was done, it was close to six in the evening. He walked back to the Park Avenue apartment. The door was open when he knocked.

      McAdams was stretched out on a rose-colored silk brocade sofa in his pajamas. He had his nose in a book. “Wassup?”

      “Good book?”

      “A course book.” He put it down. “One year down, two to go.” He shrugged. “What’s our next step?”

      “I’m going to Brooklyn for dinner.”

      “Have fun.”

      “You’re not coming?”

      “I didn’t know I was invited.”

      “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course, you’re invited. I’d like to make it to Brooklyn within the hour so you might want to change.”

      “Funny ha-ha. Where are we going for dinner?”

      “Does it matter?”

      “How should I dress, Old Man?”

      “In street clothes would be a start. Rina made supper so we’re eating in. Dress lightly. Sammy and Rachel have very poor AC.”

      “So why don’t we go out?”

      “They couldn’t find a babysitter.”

      “So why not just take the kid?”

      “I don’t make the decisions, Tyler, I just follow orders. When you’ve been married as long as I have, you just show up and smile. Rina invited you. Do you want to come or not?”

      “Yes, I’ll come. Jeez.”

      “By the way …” Decker plopped down a box onto the floor. “Your copy of the files. We can go over them tonight after dinner.”

      “Where? Here?”

      “I’d like to stay here for one more day. There are people on the list who live in New York. Might as well question them while I’m here. And I have to return all the original files to Breck and to Karen now that we have copies.”

      “What about the Staten Island police? Do you think we should talk to them since Joanne filed a report with them?”

      “We should give them a courtesy call and help them clear their missing persons file. But since Pettigrew was murdered in Greenbury, they don’t have anything to do with the case.”

      McAdams stood up and hefted the box. “We’ve got a lot of reading to do.”

      “And it’s only going to grow once we get the e-mails and the phone records. Get dressed already.”

      “Patience, man. I know you’re starved, but I’m not the cause of your low blood sugar.”

      “I know you’re not the problem. But, at present, you’re the only scapegoat I have. Put some clothes on and let’s get out of here.”

      Tyler had retired an hour ago, but at two in the morning, Decker was wide awake. By three, he finally crawled under soft down covers. It had been a good night. Gathering all the files and cross-referencing proved to be beneficial. He had put almost all the names listed into four categories: Pettigrew’s relatives, his closest friends, his work people, and his old friends from his Greenbury days, this last category being the smallest but the most important because Pettigrew was murdered there. As for the others, he had narrowed the New York City field down to four people he still wanted to interview:

      1 Harold Cantrell: Pettigrew’s boss for two years at a place called the McGregor Fund.

      2 Marta Kerr, aged thirty: described by PI James Breck and Karen Osterfeld as a close friend of Pettigrew. He had even stayed with her for a couple of months. Her address was in Chelsea and there was an associated phone number.

      3 Darwin Davis, aged twenty-five: a friend of Pettigrew from his Morse McKinley days. They reconnected once Davis graduated and moved to the city.

      4 Dr. Elwood Marshall (aged, well, who really cares?): Pettigrew’s surgeon and doctor, who specialized in sex reassignment surgery. He had been working with Pettigrew since he was twenty up until his disappearance five years ago.

      Decker would make the calls first thing in the morning. He was thinking about how he’d arrange his day when he drifted off and lost himself in a world he wouldn’t remember in the morning.

       Chapter Ten

      The medical practice was in the East Village, near Washington Square and in a maisonette that fronted a six-story residential brick building. Dr. Elwood Marshall specialized in cosmetic and reconstruction surgery, and judging by the amount of people in the waiting room, he did well. All the couches and chairs were taken, and there was a small line at the reception window. Decker waited his turn and it took almost eight minutes before he faced СКАЧАТЬ