He sounded angry but exhilarated.
"You have a good feeling about this," I said.
"Don't know about that, but I will tell you one thing: this is a helluva lot more to my liking than movies and all that hocus-pocus about Peake's gibberish. This is the world as I know it: bad guy gets out on the street, bad things happen… Guess my faith in crappy endings has been validated once again."
I heated up some of the leftover soup and chewed on a hard roll as I thought about Milo's enthusiasm for Wendell Pelley.
In addition to his being clear for the Dada murder, Pelley had used a gun, not a knife. But maybe twenty-one years had changed his killing style. And he had bolted the halfway house.
Still, Milo was relying on what he hated most: theory. If he'd looked at it coldly, he might've tempered his enthusiasm. I hadn't said a thing. I'd continue to keep my doubts to myself. One thing doing therapy had taught me: timing is all.
My service rang at three-twenty-three. I'd been expecting a call from Heidi Ott, but the operator said, "It's a Dr. Hert-zlinger, from County General Hospital. She says it's about Dr. Argent."
"Put her on."
Click. "Dr. Delaware? Mary Hertzlinger. I was calling Detective Sturgis, but someone at the station gave me this number."
"He's out, asked me to take some messages. What's up?"
"After you and he left, I found myself thinking more about Claire. And I began to wonder if I'd misspoken. About that strange parting shot-'So many madmen, so little time.'You asked me if Claire seemed upset when she said it, and I said no, she was actually smiling. But the more I considered it, the more I realized how unlike Claire the remark was. Because she'd never joked before. Never displayed any sense of humor, really. I don't mean that unkindly-she was just a very serious person. Off the job, I try not to analyze people, but you know how it is. Anomalies attract me."
"Me, too. Occupational hazard."
She laughed softly. "Anomalies also make me wonder about anxiety."
"You think Claire was anxious about switching jobs?"
"It's just speculation," she said, "but she just rattled off that line as if she'd rehearsed it. Had been reciting it to herself. Because, let's face it, it was a strange thing to do. Claire's job was secure, Dr. Theobold liked her. To just pick up and leave for a place like Starkweather? She'd never worked with patients, let alone homicidal psychotics. It really doesn't make sense."
"Maybe after doing all that research, she wanted to help people directly."
"Then why Starkweather? Who gets help there?"
"So you're saying the decision scared her but she went ahead, anyway," I said.
"Yes, but that doesn't make sense, either, does it? If she was nervous, why do it? I'll bet if she'd marched into Dr. Theobold's office and announced she'd changed her mind, he'd have taken her back in a flash, no questions asked. So it's confusing. I tried to think back, what her demeanor had been as we cleaned out those boxes. What we'd been talking about. I couldn't remember much, but I did recall something: she mentioned leaving some material behind in the office closet, said she'd be back for it later in the afternoon. But I was in the office all day and she never returned. Ever. After I met you, I went to check, and sure enough, there it was, back in a corner. Two cartons with her name on them. The flaps were closed but not sealed, so I opened one up-I hope I didn't ruin anything by doing that?"
"No," I said. "Find anything interesting?"
"Mostly they were journal reprints. Claire's own publications and some articles related to her alcoholism research. But there was also a plastic bag full of newspaper clippings. Photocopies, actually, and when I read them, I knew I had to call Detective Sturgis. They were all about a mass murder that took place sixteen years ago-"
"The Ardullo family," I said. "Ardis Peake."
Silence. "So you already know."
"Peake's at Starkweather. He was one of Claire's patients."
"Oh, my… So Claire was interested in him before she went there-maybe he was one of the reasons she took the job. But why would that be?"
"Good question," I said. "Where are the clippings now?"
"Right here in front of me-I won't touch another thing, haven't even gone near the second box. Someone can pick them up any time before eight tonight, and I'll be back in around seven A.M."
"Thanks," I said. "And thank you for calling. Soon as I can reach Detective Sturgis, I'll let him know."
"This Peake," she said. "He's still in there-incarcerated?"
"Yes."
"So it couldn't have been him," she said, sounding relieved. "I started to read the clippings. The things he did… Anyway, that's it."
"One more thing," I said. "Did Claire ever mention loving the movies?"
"Not to me. Why?"
"We've been told it was a main form of recreation for her."
"I suppose that wouldn't surprise me," she said. "Sure. I could see that-losing herself in fantasy."
"You saw her as someone with an active fantasy life?"
"I saw her as someone who might've depended upon an active fantasy life. Because she didn't-I don't want to be cruel, but the truth is, she just didn't seem to have much of a real life."
Interested in Peake before she'd taken the job.
Her project. Trying to increase his verbal output.
Or so she'd claimed. What about him had really caught her interest?. Stashed the clippings along with her research data.
Because she considered the clippings data?
Why would an alcoholism researcher raised in Pittsburgh and schooled in Cleveland be concerned with a sixteen-year-old atrocity in a California farm town?
A town that no longer existed.
I thought about the abolition of Treadway. An entire community obliterated. What role had been played by Ardis Peake's savage night?
Peake's blood walk… I wrestled with it some more. Claire, a researcher, coming upon something…
It was three-forty, and Heidi Ott still hadn't called. I checked out with my service and drove back to the library.
Chapter 18
First I photocopied and reviewed the murder articles I'd pulled up yesterday. No new insights. Using "Ardullo" and "Ardis Peake" as keywords, I went back twenty years before the crimes and pulled up five references, all from the L.A. Times. November 24,1929:
ARDULLO LEADS INDIANS
TO GRIDIRON VICTORY Red Schoen, Times sportswriter
Two fourth-quarter record-breaking runs by star quarterback Henry "Butch "Ardullo led the Stanford Indians to a 21-7 victory over the UC Bears in last Sunday's cliffhanger game.
Ardullo, already renowned for his passing, showed his leg-stuff, accomplishing a pair of unimpeded Mercury imitations to the touchdown line, 70 and 82 yards respectively. The capacity crowd showed its appreciation with a standing ovation, and professional scouts, alerted to Ardullo's stellar performance all season, were reputed to be eyeing the husky junioK No one will be surprised when Butch is tapped on the shoulder for stardom, maybe even while still in his cap and gown. More important to assembled Pah Alto stalwarts and alums, a Rose Bowl place for the Redskins is all but assured.
Decembers, 1929:
INJURY SIDELINES GRIDIRON STAR Red Schoen, Times sportswriter
A broken femur suffered during practice yesterday led to Stanford great Henry "Butch " Ardullo being carried from the field on a stretcher.
Ardullo, the Pacific College League's high-scoring quarterback, had been expected to lead the Indians in their upcoming Rose Bowl game with USC. Doctors treating the injured junior have pronounced his football career over.
August 12,1946:
FARMERS GROUP SAYS IMMIGRANT LABOR