“I’ll get him out of there. He’s stayed long enough.”
Godwin disappeared down the hallway. A few minutes later Alex came back alone. He walked like a man in a tunnel underground, but his face was more serene than I’d ever seen it.
He paused in the doorway. “Dr. Godwin said you were here.”
“I’m surprised to see you.”
Hurt and embarrassment flickered across the upper part of his face. He brushed at it impatiently with his fingers. Then he stepped into the office, shutting the door behind him and leaning on it.
“I made a fool of myself today. I tried to chicken out.”
“It takes guts to admit it.”
“Don’t gloss it over,” he said sharply. “I was really lousy. It’s funny, when Dad gets upset it has a peculiar effect on me. It’s like sympathetic vibrations: he goes to pieces, I go to pieces. Not that I’m blaming him.”
“I’m blaming him.”
“Please don’t. You have no right to.” His eyebrows knitted. “The company’s talking about bringing in computers to handle most of the work in the office. Dad’s afraid he can’t adjust, and I guess it makes him afraid of things in general.”
“You’ve been doing some thinking.”
“I had to. You started me off with what you said about annulling myself. I felt that way when I went home with Dad – as though I wasn’t a man any more.” He pushed himself clear of the door and balanced himself on his feet, his arms swinging slightly at his sides. “It’s really amazing, you know? You really can make a decision inside yourself. You can decide to be one thing or the other.”
The only trouble was that you had to make the decision every hour on the hour. But he would have to find that out for himself.
“How is your wife?” I said.
“She actually seemed glad to see me. Have you talked to her?”
“Dr. Godwin wouldn’t let me.”
“He wouldn’t let me, either, till I promised not to ask her any questions. I didn’t, but the subject of the revolver came up. She’d heard two of the aides talking about some newspaper story–”
“It’s in the local paper. What did she have to say about the gun?”
“It isn’t hers. Somebody must have hidden it under her mattress. She asked me to describe it, and she said it sounded like her Aunt Alice’s revolver. Her aunt used to keep it on her bedside table at night. Dolly was sort of fascinated by it when she was a little girl.” He breathed deeply. “Apparently she saw her aunt threaten her father with it. I didn’t want her to go into all that stuff but I couldn’t prevent her. She calmed down again after a while.”
“At least she’s stopped blaming herself for Helen Haggerty’s death.”
“She hasn’t, though. She still says it was her fault. Everything’s her fault.”
“In what way?”
“She didn’t go into it. I didn’t want her to.”
“You mean Dr. Godwin didn’t want you to.”
“That’s right. He’s calling the shots. I guess he knows more about her than I ever will.”
“I take it you’re going on with your marriage?” I said.
“We have to. I realized that today. People can’t walk out on each other when they’re in this kind of trouble. I think maybe Dolly realizes it, too. She didn’t turn her back on me or anything.”
“What else did you talk about?”
“Nothing important. The other patients, mostly. There’s one old lady with a broken hip who doesn’t want to stay in bed. Dolly’s been sort of looking after her.” It seemed important to him. “She can’t be so very sick herself.” It was an implied question.
“You’ll have to take that up with the doctor.”
“He isn’t saying much. He wants to give her some psychological tests tomorrow. I told him to go ahead.”
“Do I have your go-ahead, too?”
“Naturally. I was hoping you’d take that for granted. I want you to do everything you can to settle this thing. I’ll give you a written contract–”
“That won’t be necessary. But it’s going to cost you money.”
“How much money?”
“A couple of thousand, maybe a good deal more.”
I told him about the Reno end of the case, which Arnie and Phyllis Walters were handling, and about the Bridgeton situation which I wanted to explore. I also advised him to talk to Jerry Marks first thing in the morning.
“Will Mr. Marks be available on a Sunday?”
“Yes. I’ve already set him up for you. Of course you’re going to have to give him a retainer.”
“I have some savings bonds,” he said thoughtfully, “and I can borrow on my insurance policy. Meantime I can sell the car. It’s paid for, and I’ve been offered two five for it. I was getting pretty tired of sports car rallies and all that jazz. It’s kid stuff.”
Chapter 18
The front doorbell rang. Someone trotted past the office door to answer it. It was getting late for visitors, and I went out and followed the aide along the hallway. The four patients were still watching the television screen as if it was a window on the outside world.
Whoever had rung the bell was knocking now, rather violently.
“Just a minute,” the aide said through the door. She got her key into the lock and opened it partly. “Who is it? Who do you want to see?”
It was Alice Jenks. She tried to push her way in, but the aide had her white shoe against the door.
“I wish to see my niece, Dolly McGee.”
“We have no such patient.”
“She calls herself Dolly Kincaid now.”
“I can’t let you in to see anyone without doctor’s permission.
“Is Godwin here?”
“I think so.”
“Get him,” Miss Jenks said peremptorily.
The girl’s Latin temper flared. “I don’t take orders from you,” she said in a hissing whisper. “And keep your voice down. We have people frying to rest.”
“Get Dr. Godwin.”
“Don’t worry, I intend to. But you’ll have to wait outside.”
“It will be a pleasure.”
I stepped between them before the nurse closed the door and said to Miss Jenks: “May I speak to you for a minute?”
She peered at me through fogged glasses. “So you’re here, too.”
“I’m here, too.”
I stepped out under the outside light and heard the door shut behind me. The air was chilly after the hot-house atmosphere of the nursing home. Miss Jenks had on a thick fur-collared coat which made her figure massive in the gloom. Droplets of water glistened in the fur, and in her graying hair.
“What do you want with Dolly?”
“It’s none of your business. She’s my flesh and blood, not yours.”
“Dolly has a husband. I represent him.”
“You can go and represent him in some other constituency. I’m not interested in you or her husband.”
“But suddenly you’re interested in Dolly. Does it have anything to do with the story in the paper?”
“Maybe it has and maybe it hasn’t.” In her language, that meant yes. She added defensively: “I’ve been interested in Dolly since she was born. I know better than a lot of strangers what’s good for her.”
“Dr. Godwin isn’t a stranger.”
“No. I wish he was.”
“I hope you’re not thinking of taking her out of here.”
“Maybe I am and maybe I’m not.” She dug some Kleenex out of her purse and used it to clean her glasses. I could see a newspaper folded small in the purse.
“Miss Jenks, did you read the description of the revolver that was found in Dolly’s bed?”
She replaced her glasses quickly, as though to cover the startled look in her eyes. “Naturally I read it.”