Outside, the rain was cascading into the street so much that the stormdrains were overflowing, and the roofs of the passing taxis carried a fine mist of spray. Tyrone knelt down and held both of Holly's hands. "Do you know something?" he said. "I'd give a million dollars if only you could hear my voice."
The Heilshorn Home
Holly arrived at the Heilshorn home a few minutes after threeP.M. The rain had long since passed over and the sky was streaked with thin gray clouds, like unraveling wool. The Heilshorn home was right at the end of a new housing development called Hawthorne View, a three-bedroom home with a neatly trimmed lawn and unnaturally bloodred chrysanthemums glittering with raindrops. A girl's pink bicycle lay on its side on the path outside, along with a bracelet of bright plastic beads.
She rang the doorbell. At first there was no answer, but when she rang it again, Mrs. Heilshorn appeared behind the frosted-glass door and opened it.
"Yes?" she said blankly. She was a small woman with intensely black hair and bright red lips. She was wearing a wraparound dress in cerise satin with a large gold brooch in the shape of a spray of roses, and large gold earrings. She had a deep, finely wrinkled cleavage and a sharp little up-tilted nose that saidovercorrective surgery.
"Mrs. Heilshorn?" Holly produced her ID card. "Holly Summers, Portland Children's Welfare Department. We have an appointment, if you recall."
"We do? What day is it?"
"Thursday."
"Oh my Lord, I forgot all about it. I'm so sorry. I have a memory like a sieve."
"That's all right, I can be pretty forgetful myself sometimes. Do you mind if I come in?"
"Well, you're welcome, but I'm afraid that Sarah-Jane isn't here right now. She's out playing with friends."
"I do need to see her, Mrs. Heilshorn. Can you tell me where she is?"
"I'm afraid I don't have any idea. Her friend's mother has taken them all out for the day, goodness knows where. Maybe the zoo."
"What time do you expect her back?"
Mrs. Heilshorn shrugged and widened her heavily made-up eyes. "Who knows? She may even sleep over."
Holly stepped into the hallway.
"You won't mind taking off your shoes, will you?" said Mrs. Heilshorn, although it wasn't really a question. Holly slipped out of her pumps and followed her into the sitting room.
"We've just had a new carpet fitted," Mrs Heilshorn explained. "And I do like everything to stayperfect,don't you?"
The sitting room looked as if nobody was ever allowed to draw breath in it, let alone sit in it. It was almost psychotically neat and tidy, with a sculptured nylon carpet in the palest of honey colors, wallpaper with brown-and-cream curlicues, and a coffee table with a glass top and fluted brass legs, on which was spread an arrangement of shells and pebbles and a china figurine of a mermaid sitting on a rock, as well as a pristine copy ofWoman's Ownwith the cover lineEasier Orgasms!
Above a sandstone fireplace hung a large reproduction of a Gypsy girl with sultry eyes and a blouse that had slipped down from her shoulder to reveal a single bare breast.
Mrs. Heilshorn perched on the arm of one of the large brown brocade armchairs, crossing her legs as if she were posing for a magazine cover. Holly sat on the couch, opened up her briefcase, and took out her notes. "You know why I'm here, don't you?"
"Well, I know that there was some ridiculous nonsense about Sarah-Jane having bruises."
"Sarah-Jane's phys-ed teacher noticed last Monday that she had bruising around her upper thighs and wrists. Her class teacher has also reported that in recent weeks Sarah-Jane has changed from being one of the most outgoing girls in the fifth grade to one of the quietest and least involved. She's been having no problems at school, either with her classwork or with her relationships with other pupils, so her teacher concluded that something must have upset her at home."
"Such as what?"
"That's what I'd likeyouto tellme,Mrs. Heilshorn. Has she had any kind of argument with you or your husband? Is there somebody else in the neighborhood she could have had trouble with? Either a neighbor or one of her friends?"
"She's probably starting her period."
"That's not impossible. She's ten and a half, after all. Has she mentioned anything to you? Asked you about it?"
Mrs. Heilshorn shook her head.
"Have you tried to broach the subject yourself? I mean, given her sudden change in behavior."
"To be honest with you, I can't say that I've noticedanychange in her behavior. Her teachers might call her 'outgoing,' but as far as my husband and I are concerned, she's never been anything but difficult."
"Really? In what way difficult?"
"Why do you think we've had to go to all the expense of having a new carpet? Sarah-Jane walked in here with her shoes on and tracked in dog mess all over the last one."
She looked around the room with such irritation that Holly half expected to see that the footprints were still there.
"Couldn't you have had it cleaned?"
"Cleaned?That would have totallyruinedit. Have you ever seen what cleaning does to your pile? Flattens it, mats it, makes it go every which way. Maybe a less particular person wouldn't mind about it butIalways would. I have to have everything-" She didn't actually say the wordperfectagain, but the word was there, hiding behind her pursed red lips.
"I see. What else did Sarah-Jane do that was difficult?"
"Do you want a list? She broke one of my Wedgwood saucers from Woodburn's. Just dropped it on the kitchen floor when she was drying it. She took a peanut butter sandwich to bed and wiped peanut butter all over the throw. That was pure merino wool, that throw. Do you know what peanut butter does to pure merino wool?"
Holly made some notes while Mrs. Heilshorn arched her neck to try and see what she was writing. "Is that all?" said Mrs. Heilshorn when she had finished.
"I have to ask you about the bruises on Sarah-Jane's thighs and wrists."
"Riding her bike," said Mrs. Heilshorn, with several emphatic nods.
"Riding her bike?"
"She's always riding her bike. I don't know where she goes off to, half the time. She's supposed to be home, doing her homework and helping with the chores. Well! If you can call breaking one of my Wedgwood saucers from Woodburn's helping with the chores But she rides her bike a lot, and when she rides her bike, I guess her thighs get a little bruised. Have you ever seen a kid with no bruises? I never saw a kid with no bruises. When I was her age, I was one big bruise all over. You wouldn't think I was such a tomboy, would you, to look at me now? How old do you think I am?"
Holly hesitated. "I really couldn't say, Mrs. Heilshorn. What about the bruises on her wrists? Did she get those from riding her bike too?"
Mrs. Heilshorn gave an exaggerated shrug. "Maybe some boy tried to grab her."
"Does she have a boyfriend to your knowledge?"
"Sheknowsboys-of course she does. I'm forty-one next September twelfth."
"I'll have to talk to her personally, Mrs. Heilshorn. Can we make another appointment?"
"I don't know what Sarah-Jane can possibly tell you that I can't."
"It's routine, Mrs. Heilshorn. If a teacher or a doctor expresses any concern about a child's well-being, we have to investigate. I'm sure you can understand why."