P. Parrish - An Unquiet Grave

There was no body to bury. But it was because Claudia had been murdered just like Sharon Stottlemyer. And just like Sharon, she had been left in a shallow grave somewhere out there-the cemetery, the woods, the apple orchards-never meant to be found.

It was a cover-up. Hidden Lake buried rocks not just to cover up Claudia’s murder but to cover up the fact that they couldn’t find her body. He could almost understand it, given the hospital’s need to protect its reputation and the prominence of Claudia’s family. Hidden Lake had faked Claudia’s death certificate and then buried the rocks just in case anyone in the family ever came to visit.

And someone did. Rodney.

But that still didn’t explain the visitors’ log. No matter how Claudia died, why should there be any question about when?

Somebody was wrong. Or somebody was lying.

If Dr. Seraphin had been involved in the cover-up, there was no way she was going to tell him anything. There was no one at the hospital who could help now. Rodney DeFoe’s name was on that visitors’ log. And only Rodney could explain why he was visiting his sister who had supposedly died four months earlier.

The sound of a key in the front door made him look up, and Louis headed up the short staircase to greet Phillip and Frances. But Phillip was the only one on the landing and he turned to Louis slowly. He looked lost, and very alone. Louis didn’t speak, waiting for Phillip to say something.

“She left me,” Phillip said softly. “Fran went to her sister’s in Brighton.”

Louis put out a hand to Phillip’s shoulder. “I’m sorr y.”

Phillip eased away from him and moved down the stairs to the living room. Louis followed him. It was dark, but Phillip didn’t turn any lights on. He sank into a chair, his jacket still on, head bowed.

“Fran told me to take the time I needed and maybe when I’m finished, maybe then. .”

Louis let his words hang, then glanced to the kitchen. “Can I fix you something to eat?”

“No,” Phillip said. “Maybe a beer.”

“Sure,” Louis said.

“Grab yourself one, too. I want you to bring me up to date. You haven’t told me anything in days.”

Louis didn’t reply. When he came back, he handed a beer to Phillip, then sat across from him on the sofa. The only light came from the kitchen and the room was full of shadows and the shimmering of tiny white Christmas lights winking behind the frosted windows.

Louis took a sip of his beer. He knew it was time to tell Phillip everything he had found out. But he searched now for the right place to start.

“I met a woman named Millie Reuben,” Louis said finally. “She was in the same ward as Claudia in 1952.”

Phillip was quiet, almost invisible in the deep chair.

“She told me Claudia spoke of you,” Louis said.

Phillip took a drink and Louis heard him sigh with a sadness that reminded him of how he had felt when he closed Claudia’s file a few minutes ago.

“Tell me more,” Phillip said.

Louis did, taking him from Millie Reuben, the isolation periods, the insulin and shock therapies, the cremation cans, and eventually to the rapes, the burns, Sharon Stottlemyer’s bones, and Rebecca Gruber’s torture and murder.

And the longer Louis talked, the more he sensed Phillip was sinking deeper into himself. Louis finished up with what he was planning to do next-go through the E Building records to narrow down the hundreds of possible suspects.

“So you think. .” Phillip whispered. “You think Claudia was murdered by this man?”

“I don’t have any proof. Nothing I can use to make any accusations. But that’s the way I’m leaning.”

Phillip gave out a small sob, and his hand came over his face. Louis stared at the carpet, fingers tight on the bottle, his throat so dry he couldn’t swallow. He had comforted many people before, men and women alike. But this was Phillip, his father in so many ways, and it seemed so strange to be the stronger one.

Louis rose and moved to him, kneeling down in front of the chair. “Phil,” he said. “None of what happened to her was your fault.”

Phil leaned forward, into him. Louis held him.

By 11:30 the next morning, Louis was standing at the front door of the DeFoe house. He had rung the bell seven times and gotten no response. There was a black Jag XJ6 in the circular drive and he could see one light on inside the house, so he was sure someone was home. Where the hell were the servants? A monster place like this had to have a whole army of them.

He gave up on the bell and started in on the massive lion’s-head door knocker. The sharp pounding sound it made on the heavy wood door echoed loudly in the portico.

No answer. But he was determined that the long drive to Grosse Pointe wasn’t going to be for nothing. He pounded again.

Finally, the heavy door swung open.

“All right! All right! Who the hell-” Rodney drew up short at the sight of Louis. “You. What do you want?”

“I need to talk to you.”

Rodney had a white apron tied around his waist, one of those big things that professional chefs wore. His top lip was swollen with a crusted scar from where Phillip had decked him.

“I tried talking once already,” Rodney said. “All it got me were two stitches inside my mouth. So, you here to take a swing at me, too?”

Louis shook his head. “I just need some answers.”

“About what?”

“Your sister.”

Rodney’s eyes were wary. “I already told you this is none of your business.”

“And I already told you I am not going to give up looking for her remains. Even if you do scare Phillip off with legal threats, you’re still going to have to deal with me.”

For a moment, Louis was sure Rodney was going to slam the door in his face. But then, Rodney just moved aside and nodded for him to come in. The heavy door closed behind them. The foyer was dark and drafty, not that much warmer than outside.

“Leave your coat there. No sense in you dripping all over the Oushak,” Rodney said, flipping a hand toward a worn Oriental.

Louis glanced around and finally left his wet coat on a spindly chair. Rodney had gone down the hall toward a lighted room in the back of the house and Louis followed. Down another short hall and he emerged into a brightly lit kitchen. It was warm and fragrant with cooking smells.

Rodney’s black velvet slippers made flapping sounds on the old black-and-white tile as he moved to the stove. He picked up a wooden spoon and began to stir something in a large copper pot. The kitchen was huge and, to Louis’s eye, oddly old-fashioned looking, with an old porcelain sink, glass-windowed pantries, and a mammoth butcher-block island in the middle. The island was strewn with vegetables and bowls of fish, oysters, clams, and shrimp. There was a bottle of red wine and a delicate bubble-shaped wineglass.

Rodney set the spoon down and came over to the island. He picked up the glass and took a drink. As the glass came down, his eyes met Louis’s.

“Do you like wine?” he asked.

Louis shrugged.

Rodney picked up the bottle. “This is a Pomerol. . sixty-six Vieux-Chateau-Certan. Would you like some?”

Louis noticed the bottle was almost empty. “You go ahead.”

Rodney smiled slightly. “Wise decision. It’s really too tannic and I brought it up out of the cellar much too early, I’m afraid.” He poured the rest of the wine into his glass, spilling some on the wood block. Louis noticed there was another empty wine bottle over by the sink.

Rodney took a healthy drink. “Excuse me, it’s time to add the tomatoes.” He picked up a cutting board of sliced tomatoes and slid them into the copper pot.

“I’m making cioppino,” he said, turning back to Louis. “It’s an Italian fisherman’s stew. Quite tasty. I got the recipe when I was living in Vernazza.”