“I’m acquainted with him,” Lucy said. The minute she said it, she realized that it sounded absurd.
“Mrs. Spenser,” the policeman said. “Please have a chair.”
“Isn’t this unlawful detainment? What is the charge?” Lucy said.
“Mrs. Spenser, we are not trying to make a charge at the present moment. We are concerned because we need to determine whether there has been foul play.”
“I’d kill him,” Lucy said.
“Mrs. Spenser, we need your consent as legal guardian to have your niece examined.”
Lucy put her hand over her mouth.
“Mrs. Spenser, please. Your niece is fine. Do you want to see her? She has fallen asleep. Let’s get her, so you can hear her version of the story.”
The policeman looked at Noonan. “Mr. Spenser?” he said.
“I’m a friend of the family,” Noonan said.
“Mr? …”
“Noonan.”
“Mr. Noonan. We’re going to let you hear her version of the story. Are you a lawyer, Mr. Noonan?”
“A journalist,” Noonan said.
“That’s the same thing,” the policeman said. “Mr. Noonan, please step this way with Mrs. Spenser.”
Noonan began to have a sneezing fit. He was about to fall asleep, so he found it hard to keep his balance when the sneezes shook him. Lucy was walking down the corridor in front of him. He ran to catch up, sneezing violently.
“Where is she?” Lucy said.
Noonan began to sneeze convulsively. He reached in his pocket for the Afrin, threw his head back and squirted it in each nostril. “God help me,” he said.
“If he’s done anything, I’ll kill him,” Lucy said.
The policeman threw open a door. Nicole was asleep on a couch, a pile of uniforms on top of her.
“She’s sleeping,” Lucy said stupidly.
“Mrs. Spenser. We want you to talk to her. We need your permission to have her examined. I must tell you that if you refuse permission, we will begin proceedings to obtain permission.”
Noonan began to sneeze wildly. Nicole heard him and shot up. She saw Lucy and was disoriented. Then she reached out and tried to grab Lucy, but she had no muscle coordination; she had been roused from a dead sleep. “Lucy?” she said. “You believe me, don’t you?” Nicole started to cry. “Can we go home?”
Suddenly Nicole seemed shorter and thinner than Lucy remembered her. She was just a little girl, lying on a sofa. Lucy turned and stared at Noonan.
“Hi,” Noonan said, holding up his hand.
“Hi,” Nicole said.
Nicole struggled to one elbow. “We were just taking pictures,” Nicole said. “You believe me, don’t you?”
“Why were you taking pictures?” Lucy said.
“I made him do it. Oh, it’s not his fault. This girl in California was jerking him around, and I thought he should send her some funny pictures. We just got in the back of Peter’s car—”
“God, no,” Noonan said. “Peter’s car?”
Nicole turned toward him. “I was taking silly pictures of Edward on the rug,” she said.
“Do you know the person the car is registered to?” the policeman said.
“What were you doing with Peter’s car?” Noonan said.
“I must tell you that the person who owns this car may be in a lot of trouble,” the policeman said.
“We borrowed it for the afternoon. We just wanted to take the pictures,” Nicole said. “The cops are crazy. They almost killed us. They pulled in behind us at about a hundred miles an hour, and we weren’t doing anything. We weren’t doing anything but taking pictures — to send to his girlfriend. This is crazy,” Nicole said, starting to cry.
The policeman was staring at Noonan. Noonan said, “I know the person who owns the car. Yes.”
“And did the person realize what the car was being used for?” the policeman said.
“What happened?” Noonan said to Nicole.
“I was only taking pictures. I told you. Why are they making such a big deal out of this? They were going to be funny pictures for his uptight girlfriend. Nobody could see us. He was on the floor of the car.”
“Mrs. Spenser,” the policeman said. “May I speak to you in the other room?”
Lucy left Nicole crying on Noonan’s shoulder.
“Mrs. Spenser,” the policeman said, preceding her into the corridor, “we found a naked man in the back seat of a car with a minor. There are charges that pertain to this situation. When the film is developed, if we find any pictures of your niece … For your own peace of mind, I am sure that you want to ascertain whether or not there was foul play. We have confiscated the camera and film. Tomorrow, when the lab opens, the film will be developed. If there are pictures of your niece nude, I am afraid that the charge is going to be much more serious. Mrs. Spenser: perhaps you already see why we request a medical examination of your niece.”
“Don’t you believe her?” Lucy said.
“Mrs. Spenser, I don’t believe anything anybody tells me,” the policeman said. “Mr. Bartlett is in the lockup, and he tells me he should be released.”
“Keep him there,” she said.
When Lucy went back into the room, Nicole was calmer. Noonan was sitting with his arm around her shoulder.
“Nicole,” Lucy said. “At any point, did you have your clothes off?”
“Why would I?” Nicole asked shrilly. “They were pictures for his girlfriend.”
Lucy looked at the policeman. He looked back, as if he pitied her. Lucy wondered if she was crazy.
“You do realize that you were in a car in the woods with a naked man?” Lucy said.
“It was just Edward.”
The policeman showed his surprise. He looked at Lucy.
“Let me talk to her privately,” Lucy said.
The policeman looked doubtful. Then he left without saying anything. Noonan looked at Lucy and she nodded. He followed the policeman out of the room.
“Don’t tell them who I am,” Nicole said. “They don’t have any idea who I am.”
“Do you see the trouble you’ve caused?” Lucy said, so frustrated that she was close to tears.
“And don’t tell Piggy. I’m not just saying that to protect myself. If Piggy finds out, your life is going to be miserable. I’m telling you. He’s crazy about stuff like this.”
“What ‘stuff like this’?” Lucy said. “This is pretty bad, Nicole.”
“I swear to you,” Nicole said, “it was just a joke. They want to charge him with all sorts of things that are ridiculous. How can it be indecent exposure when we were in a car? Nobody was around.”
“Apparently the police were.”
“They almost killed us. They came tearing into the woods and almost hit the car. They were driving crazy. Lucy: you’ve got to believe me.”
“Whose idea was it to take the pictures?” Lucy said.
“It was mine. I swear it was mine.”
“Terrific,” Lucy said. “Think about it. Don’t you think that’s rather odd, that you’d have that idea?”
“I never said I was normal. You’ve got to talk to the cops. You’ll see tomorrow. There’s nothing of me on the roll. I told that guy over and over. Nothing happened.”
“Enough happened to ruin my night,” Lucy said.
“Lucy, please say something to that cop. Get me out of here. Come on.”
Lucy was getting angry now. “You’re fourteen,” she said. “Fourteen-year-olds don’t get in the back seat of a car with a naked man.”
“It was for a joke. It was Edward.”
“You’re fourteen years old,” Lucy said.
“Come on, Lucy,” Nicole said. “That’s not fair. You know nobody ever thinks about that.”
14
