Michael Baden - Skeleton justice

"Why, do you want the job?"

"No thanks, although I do have some free time now that all the charges against Travis have been dropped." Manny sipped her coffee. "What about the Sandovals? Has Senora Sandoval had a complete nervous breakdown since she's learned the truth about her family?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Sam said. "She called while Jake was picking you up at the hospital. She sounded good to me-asked how you were, said she'd call again later."

"And the Vampire's other victims? Were they really all watching Travis and me getting chased by that damn dog?" Manny asked. "Did it have the effect the Costellos were hoping for?"

"They watched," Jake said. "But I think their reactions are as different as they are as people. Lucinda Bettis is the only one still in denial. The others may have some interest in learning more about their roots, or they may prefer to put it all behind them."

"That's what drove Elena Costello crazy: She couldn't accept that not everyone clung to their anger as she has," Manny said. "She was right that we should never forget the victims of the Dirty War. But she let her anger destroy her."

Jake took her coffee cup from her. "That's enough talking about the investigation. Why don't you relax and watch a little mindless TV?" He handed Manny the remote control. "No CNN, no Fox News, no MSNBC."

"Yes, Doctor." Manny snuggled up with Mycroft and began rolling through the channels. "Sorry, buddy-no Animal Planet, either." They settled on a home-decorating show. Turn an old chest of drawers into a high-tech entertainment center… paint an Oriental rug on your wood floor… Manny dozed off just as she was about to learn how to banish the musty smell from an antique armoire.

Her painkiller-induced dreams churned with vivid scenes and choppy transitions, an art-house movie for one. Jungle animals sat on a jury; winding corridors led to rooms full of broken glass; an exam for which she had no answers was interrupted by the ringing of the school bell. The bell rang and rang.

Manny sat up, hot and disoriented. There was no exam; the ringing was real. Looking out through the living room window, she could see daylight fading. Sam and Jake were nowhere around. She stretched to the end table and picked up the phone.

"Hello."

"Hello, is that Ms. Manfreda?"

"Yes. Who's this?"

"Monserrat Sandoval. I hope I am not disturbing you, but I wanted to call and thank you."

"Hi, Senora Sandoval. I was just asking about you earlier. How are you? I know Paco has been very worried about you."

"Ay! I have had a long talk with my son and my husband." Her voice sounded strong and confident. "I told them they were very foolish to keep secrets from me all these years. So much pain could have been avoided if my husband had told me the truth when Esteban was a baby."

Manny sat up straighter, fully awake. So, it was true that Ambassador Sandoval had always known Esteban had been taken from an imprisoned woman. "Would you still have adopted him?"

"Ah, that was the problem. You see, at the time, my husband worked part-time for a government ministry while going to school. Jobs were scarce in those days; the economy was terrible. The junta rulers were technically his bosses, but he did not really support their policies. He was just a-a how do you say?-flutie."

"Flunky," Manny said, correcting her.

"Exactly. So when the nurse, who was called Anna Herrmann then, but here she called herself Amanda Hogaarth, offered us this baby, we accepted, believing that he was an orphan whose parents had died in an accident. Six months later, my husband learned the terrible truth.

"By that time, I loved Esteban so much, my husband knew I could never have given him up. He told me he was afraid to protest the death of Esteban's parents, afraid we would have been disappeared ourselves." Senora Sandoval paused for a moment, evidently thinking back on those dark days. "After the regime fell, that is when he should have told me. I would have tried to find Esteban's birth family. His grandparents, aunts, and uncles-they deserved to know that he was okay. But my husband thinks he always knows what is best." She gave a bitter little laugh.

"So that is why I'm calling to thank you. Because of what has happened, Esteban is going to Argentina to meet his birth family. Finally, they will know that he was not raised by killers or torturers. He will tell them he had good parents. He will tell them how sorry we are for hiding the truth. I hope they understand my husband acted out of love for me and for Esteban. I hope they can forgive us."

"I hope so, too, Senora Sandoval. Seems like forgiveness is the only way to move past what happened during the Dirty War. I guess Amanda Hogaarth was looking for a little forgiveness, too. That must be why she left all her money to a legitimate adoption agency."

"You sound strong, Ms. Manfreda. You have not been crushed by what the Costellos did to you," Senora Sandoval said.

"No, my leg's a little smushed, but my spirit is strong," Manny agreed.

"Then I hope you, too, will be able to forgive. You know, the story of the Vampire has been all over the news in Argentina. I have been reading the coverage there online every day."

"Paco told me you didn't follow the news."

"That was true in the past. But I have learned my lesson. It's not good to bury your head in the sand." Senora Sandoval sighed. "The story of Elena Muniz Costello has been in every newspaper in Argentina. It is very sad. She was adopted by a policeman and his wife, a very brutal man who worked for the secret police during the Dirty War. He was cruel to Elena all through her childhood and her adoptive mother was powerless to stop him. Elena never understood why her father hated her so much. Then, as a young woman, she discovered the truth about her birth. But by then, her birth grandparents and aunts were dead. She never got to know them. She couldn't believe that all of Argentina was not up in arms about the terrible injustice she and the other adopted children suffered. After that, Elena made it her mission to make sure every adopted child of the Desaparecidos knew about their birth families."

"Even the ones who didn't want to know," Manny said. "I guess that explains why she did what she did, but it doesn't justify it. And what about Frederic Costello? Was he mistreated as a child, as well?"

"No. It seems he was adopted as a toddler by friends of his birth parents after they disappeared. They never hid the truth about his past-just the opposite. They were activists in the cause. It is through them that Frederic met Elena."

Manny shifted on the sofa. Her leg had begun to throb. "But I don't understand. Why did he allow himself to go along with his wife's cruel and crazy scheme?"

"I suppose we will never truly understand. But me, I think it was a case of the student surpassing the teacher. He got her involved in the cause; then she became more impassioned than he."

"Maybe if they'd never met… if they had each married someone else…" Manny said.

"None of this would have happened," said Senora Sandoval, completing the thought. "You would not have had to suffer."

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm not one to carry a grudge. I'll have to testify at Elena's trial, but I'll make sure she has adequate representation. She deserves a fair trial."

"You are a very brave woman," Senora Sandoval said. "You have inspired me to be brave, too. You know that charity, Home Again, that you got me to write the check to? I have become one of their rescue volunteers. Tomorrow, I fly to Gulfport, Mississippi, to work for a week in the shelter."

"Good for you! I know you'll do a great job."

Manny hung up just as Jake came through the front door. "There you are. I thought maybe you and Sam were upstairs scrubbing tile grout with a toothbrush."