Karen Rose - I’m Watching You

„I wasn’t parish priest then, you understand,“ he said, adjusting his glasses on the edge of his nose. „I didn’t arrive until 1965. Father Reed was two generations before me. He was old in 1943. I think he died before the war was over.“

„We figured we wouldn’t find the priest that married them alive,“ Abe said. „Do you remember any Barnetts in this parish? His name was Colin and hers was Genny.“

„I can’t say that I do, but the parish was much bigger then.“ He looked over his half-glasses with mild reproach. „People don’t go to church like they used to.“

Abe fought the urge to stare at his shoes. „Yes, sir,“ he said. „So how about the birth records? The baby would have been born around March 1944.“

Delaney chose a bound volume and slowly flipped the pages, his fingers thick and twisted with age. Finally, he looked up. „A son. Christened Robert Henry Barnett on March 2, 1944.“

One step closer. „Did they have any other children, Father?“ Abe asked.

„If you can wait, I’ll look.“

After what seemed like hours, Delaney’s old fingers came to a stop again. „A daughter, christened Iris Anne, May 12, 1946.“ Again, his fingers crawled from page to page. „Another son christened Colin Patrick, September 30, 1949.“

„Is it possible Genny is still alive?“ Mia asked.

„She’d be close to eighty now,“ Delaney said. „The death records are in another room. If you wait here, I’ll go check.“

When he was gone, Abe turned to Mia. „They didn’t name their firstborn Colin, Junior,“ Abe said, his voice barely a whisper.

Mia lifted a brow. „Seven-month baby. Jig was up. I wonder if Colin Senior knew ahead of time, or if he was surprised by a full-term son two months early.“

„She named her firstborn Robert Henry.“

„Hank is short for Henry.“

Abe nodded. „Either Colin Senior was a most forgiving man, or Genny slid that one in on him. She gave her son his biological father’s name.“

„Let’s hope at least one of the Barnett kids still lives in Chicago.“

„When the good Father comes back, we’ll check it out.“

Thursday, February 26,

10:30 A.M.

Kristen hung up the phone, frustrated with her attempts to reach the final few people on her victim list. Some had moved, some had just disappeared.

Spinnelli approached her, his face grim. „I was waiting until you were off the phone.“

„What’s happened?“

He handed her the list she’d given him that morning. One of the names had been circled in red. „Gerald Simpson didn’t show up for court this morning.“

Kristen pursed her lips. Simpson was a dedicated defense attorney. In his mind, all offenders could be rehabilitated, and prosecutors were vindictive and power-mad, just looking to convict to hasten their promotions. He defended with great zeal, but with little compassion for the victim. „So maintaining our assumption that this is connected to Hillman, we just narrowed the field considerably. I only faced Simpson in Hillman’s courtroom six times. Are we going to put any surveillance on those six defendants?“

„Already ordered. We’ve got a bulletin posted for Simpson’s car. I’m going to go interview his wife since Abe and Mia are still in the field. Maybe Mrs. Simpson will know something.“ But his expression clearly said he expected she would not.

„I’ll call the six victims.“

Spinnelli ran a frustrated hand through his hair. „Anything on Paul Worth, the son?“

„Records is checking. They said they’d call me back when they found anything.“

Thursday, February 26,

2:30 p.m.

No Barnetts still lived in the parish, but Father Delaney had given them a list of his oldest parishioners. Viola Keene had been a member of Sacred Heart parish all her life. Church membership had done nothing to sweeten her disposition. „Sure, I remember the Barnetts. Why do you want to know?“ Viola Keene frowned at their feet. „I just mopped in here. Can you shake the snow off your feet?“

„We’re sorry, ma’am.“ Abe made an honest effort to clean his shoes and Mia did the same. „It’s slushy out there.“

„Maybe we’re gonna have a thaw,“ the old woman said irritably. She really wasn’t that old, Abe thought. She wasn’t even sixty, but she seemed older. It was the way her mouth bent in a perpetual frown. The severe hairstyle and black wardrobe didn’t help.

„One can only hope,“ Mia murmured and Abe bit back his smile.

„Well, what do you want to know?“ Keene snapped. „I got a business to run.“

She owned a small hat shop, but it appeared their privacy was assured. The layer of dust on the hats indicated Keene hadn’t had customers in quite a while. Go figure.

„The Barnett family,“ Abe said. „How did you know them?“

„I went to school with Iris Anne. Foolish girl she was.“

They approached the long counter where Miss Keene was bent over what looked like a big bow. „How so, ma’am?“ Mia asked.

„Always worrying about boys and such. Never one much for her studies. Now her brother, he was a different tale.“

Mia leaned closer to see the woman’s face. „Which brother, Miss Keene?“

Keene looked affronted. „The older one, of course. Robert worked hard at his studies. He helped his father in their store, like a good son should.“ Impossibly, her face softened and she looked ten years younger. „He took good care of Iris and the other one.“ She frowned again. „The youngest…“ She paused, trying to remember. „Colin. He was a spoiled one. Always gettin’ into trouble, pickin’ on kids in the neighborhood.“ She sniffed. „He got his.“

Mia glanced up at him from the corner of her eye, then back to Keene. „How so?“

„Colin picked on the wrong kid.“ Keene picked up the bow and began fussing with the ribbon. „Kid beat him up, put him in the hospital. It was quite the neighborhood event“

„So what happened?“

„Colin died.“

Mia blinked. „Wow. That was some neighborhood event.“

Keene fluffed the bow. „The kid had a knife in his boot. Colin never saw it comin’.“

Abe hid his surprise at the old woman’s casual rendition of the tale. „What happened to Robert?“

Again her face softened, became almost wistful. „It got even worse for him at home after that. Finally, he ran away. Broke Iris Anne’s heart.“

Miss Keene’s, too, he suspected. „What do you mean, it got worse? Was it bad before?“

Keene looked up, angry. „Mr. Barnett was hard on Robert. Iris and Colin could do whatever they liked, but Robert had to work hard. If he didn’t breathe right, his father would take a cane to him. Like I said, he finally ran away. I never saw him again.“

„Miss Keene,“ Mia said softly, „what happened to the kid who killed Colin?“

Keene dropped her eyes back to the bow. „He went to jail. One of those reform schools. But when he got out, he got in a bar fight and ended up stabbed, just like Colin.“ She held the bow up to the light. „Poetic justice, the papers called it. Never caught the guy who did it. Most people figured he’d made some enemies along the way, but me and Iris, we used to wonder if Robert came back.“ She sighed. „Of course it was just girlish wishing. I thought I saw him once, a few years later, but I was wrong.“

„Where was that?“

„At the funeral. His parents and Iris Anne were killed in a car accident.“

„I’m sorry,“ Mia murmured and Keene shrugged.

„It was almost twenty-five years ago.“ Then she surprised them both by smiling at Mia. „But thank you. She was my dearest friend.“

„Why did you think you were wrong about seeing him, Miss Keene?“ Abe asked.