“You had a lot to deal with. It wasn’t your responsibility to protect anyone else,” said Allison.
“I guess… also, like you were saying before, I didn’t really figure out it was abuse. I thought it was…”
“Attention.”
Beth faced me. “I had no feelings back then, it felt like attention.”
Tears trickled from her eyes and she turned back to Allison. “What you said last week, Dr. Gee? Everyone looks for someone to attach to? I guess that was it.”
Allison walked around her desk and stood next to Beth. Beth held out her hand and Allison took it.
“I’m okay. Really… sir- Doctor- you can ask questions.”
“You’re sure?” I said.
“Yeah.”
Allison patted Beth’s arm and returned to her seat.
I said, “Do you think Mrs. Daney knew what Mr. Daney was doing?”
“I don’t know. He was always lying to her. About little things, like it was fun to fool her.”
“What kind of little things?”
“Buying doughnuts and candy and hiding them in his Jeep. He’d be like, ‘Cherish doesn’t want me to spend money on junk food, but we won’t tell her, huh?’ Then he’d wink. Like I was part of the… scheme, I guess you’d call it. But then he didn’t share the doughnuts and the candy. He was like, ‘You’ve got to keep that fantastic figure, Bethy.’ ”
She laughed. “Like I was some supermodel. Mrs. Daney was the strict one. Making all the rules, making the kids do their lessons. She could be a little bossy. I figured she didn’t have much fun.”
“Why’s that?”
“She was stuck in the house, cooking, cleaning, while he was driving around to all his nonprofits. He told me, ‘Cherish doesn’t like to have fun.’ Then he’d be like, ‘I’m so glad I’ve got you, Bethy, because you’re so beautiful and young with that gorgeous figure and you do know how to have fun.’ Then, he’d go off on some religious stuff.”
“He talked about religion?”
“Like a sermon in church. Like ‘Fun’s not a sin, Bethy. God made a beautiful world and if we don’t enjoy it, that’s the sin, Bethy.’ ” She smiled. “That was usually right before he’d unzip his pants. It was like he had to… convince himself what he was doing was okay with God.”
She waved a hand impatiently. “He’d go off on these long stupid speeches about God and fun. About God not being a God of vengeance like in the Old Testament. God was basically this cool guy who wanted everyone to have fun.”
The Creator as party animal. Hollywood would love it.
Beth Scoggins emitted a ragged laugh. “It was like he had to convince himself he was a nice person. Then I got pregnant and it was like, ‘You’ve got a problem.’ I think he enjoyed it.”
“Enjoyed what?”
“Getting me aborted. On the ride over he was real quiet, but when it was over he was in a great mood. Let’s go out for doughnuts. Like the whole thing was fun.”
I asked her if she remembered the name of the abortion clinic.
“Woman’s something.”
“The Women’s Wellness Place?”
“Yeah, that’s it. They had all these posters about AIDS and safe sex and making smart choices.”
“Did the doctor do anything besides the abortion?”
“Like what?”
“Blood tests, a general checkup.”
“No, nothing. Like I said, she was real fast. Something for the pain before, then scrape scrape, it’s over, here’s some Midol if it starts to hurt.”
She shivered. “Kind of spooky, no one was there, most of the building was dark. And I was by myself. Drew handed me over to the doctor and left. He was parked out on the street when I came out.”
“Did you go back for a follow-up visit?”
“Uh-uh,” she said. “I took the Midols, that’s it. Drew offered me some different pills, I think they were Demerol. I didn’t take them. I’d been pretty clean and sober since they put me in the shelter.”
Except for a Rohypnol to get things going. “Beth, do you know if he abused any other girls besides Miranda and you?”
“I never saw anyone, but probably. ’Cause he was like… there was no nervousness. It was like something he was used to, you know? And he had only girls in the house. Why are you investigating him?”
I turned to Allison. She said, “It’s okay.”
“A girl he cared for committed suicide.”
Beth’s eyes remained steady. “How?”
“She cut her wrists.”
“That’s terrible,” she said. “That would hurt.”
I asked if there was anything else she wanted to know.
“Nope.”
Thanking her again, I got up and shook her hand. No warmer.
Allison said, “I’ll be back in a sec, hon,” and walked me out. It was nearly nine and passersby strolled Montana Avenue.
“As far as I’m concerned,” she said, “I’ve got no obligation to report because she’s nineteen. He’s a monster but that’s not my problem right now. She may change her mind but in the meantime I insist you don’t bring her into any police investigation.”
“No argument.”
She touched my hand. Her lips looked parched. “I need to get back in there. We’ll talk later.”
“I can come back when you’re through.”
“No,” she said. “I’m bushed and I’ve still got two more patients. Tomorrow’s pretty heavy, too. I’ll call you.”
I leaned in to kiss her.
She squeezed my hand and offered her cheek.
CHAPTER 35
Back at my office, I found the citations I’d printed for the Women’s Wellness Place.
The only full-time physician was the medical director, Marta A. Demchuk, M.D.
Four hits for her. The oldest, five years ago, was a state medical board listing of doctors facing legal prosecution or ethical censure. The charge against Demchuk was billing fraud.
Five years ago, but she was still in practice. No answer at Milo ’s house but I connected with his mobile.
“Out on the town, big guy?”
“If the town’s Van Nuys,” he said. “Just got finished talking to a creepy little lady doc about the specifics of her gynecology practice.”
“Marta Demchuk?”
Silence. “What the hell? If you were hiding in a corner, I didn’t see you.”
I recounted Beth Scoggins’s story.
He said, “Allison’s patient? Talk about karma.”
“Unfortunately, she won’t be available for follow-up.”
“Why?”
“Allison’s protecting her.”
“Maybe you could- ”
“I can’t.”
Silence. “Okay.”
I said, “How’d you get onto Demchuk?”
“The more I thought about that clinic the worse it started to stink. Daney gets minors aborted there, the bills are probably padded, and he’s listed on the board with a fake divinity degree. I ran the same search you did, found out who the boss was and that she was brought up on fraud charges. I did a little more background, learned she’s Ukrainian, had to take the licensing exam three times before she passed. So now I’m figuring some Russian scam and I call a guy I know at the medical board. From what I can tell, abortion’s always been Demchuk’s thing, she started doing it the minute she got licensed. First at other clinics, also run by Ukrainians, then she started her own place nine years ago.”
“Women’s Wellness.”
“The main wellness is hers,” he said. “It’s strictly Medi-Cal, she’s into high volume, rakes it in.”
“She claims to be nonprofit. All those fund-raisers.”
“What that means is Demchuk filed as a nonprofit and lists herself as an employee. She takes a huge salary, and the clinic never makes it into the black. What got her in trouble six years ago was sloppy record-keeping that led to some duplicate billing. She claimed clerical error, ignorance of what her staff was doing, got a sixty-day suspension of Medi-Cal billing privileges.”