The Angel Maker - 2 Read Free Page A

the piano player is terrific."
    "Mediocre on his best nights," Boldt replied. "You must be hanging around with some critically tone-deaf people."
    "They're your friends- "My point exactly. Homicide, right? You are selling something." "How is the baby?" she asked. "Miles?
    Terrific, thanks." just the mention of the boy made Boldt homesick. "And Liz?"
    That took some real courage.

    "Fine," he answered honestly. "Happy, I think.- "And how about you?" she asked. He nodded. "The same," Why should it feel odd to admit such a thing? "You?"
    "I'm good. I'm volunteering at The Shelter now."
    "So I've heard," he said. "I've kept up, too," he added, wanting her to hear this. "Through Dixie," she said, referring to King County medical examiner Dr. Ronald Dixon, a close friend of Boldt's. A short silence fell between them. "Are you going to tell me about it?" he asked. "The case," he added, trying to sound smart. It worked; she gave him one of those impressed looks. "She's sixteen-years old."
    "Is or was."
    "Is," she confirmed. "She walked into The Shelter this afternoon in real bad shape. Drugs. Evidence suggesting the use of electroshock therapy. A fresh incision right here," she touched her side. "Too fresh. The bleeding kind of fresh.
    We thought she might be an escapee. We checked with hospitals and institutions. No one had record of her. Her stitches had popped, hence the blood. We admitted her to the Medical Center.
    I can't tell you what drew me to her, Lou. Not exactly. It was more than curiosity, more than sympathy. You run out of those after a few weeks at The Shelter. You're the one who taught me to listen to the victim-"
    "Victim?,, he interrupted. "They got her stitched back up, I take it." Exactly what was Daffy after? Why the compliments?
    She was a professional manipulator-he had to watch that. She knew her way around the human mind. Dealing with her was like playing blackjack with someone who could count cards.
    She answered "They stitched her back up. But they took X-rays.
    She's missing a kidney." She let it hang there a second.
    "No hospital record of any such operation. She has no memory of any surgery. None. No explanation at all. I'm looking for the explanation."
    "Phil went along with this?" he asked curiously.
    As staff psychologist, Daphne reported to Lieutenant Phil Shoswitz, Homicide, the logic of which was known only to the upper brass. if there were to be an investigation and she part of it, it would more than likely be overseen by Shoswitz. "He doesn't even know about it yet," she admitted, looking away-an uncommon gesture for her. "That's one of the reasons I've come to you," she added. "I need your help, your expertise."
    Trouble! He knew her too well. "Help?"
    "Her name is Cindy Chapman. She's been on the road for seven months. Left Arizona last winter after her stepfather sexually abused her. She went through Flagstaff, Salt Lake City, and ended up here about a month ago. Her long-term memory is fine.
    But she's lost a twenty-four-hour period during which she was exposed to electroshock and her kidney was removed. Let me tell you this: No two medical procedures could be less related to one another. I've studied this stuff, Lou. This is my turf. But investigating it? That's why I'm here."
    He felt the stability of his marriage was at stake. Police work swallowed him whole. He and Liz had come to certain agreements.

    "What are you saying? Someone stole her kidney?"
    "if a hospital or an institution is involved, it has to be local. These kids stick to a pretty small area. They develop small societies of self-help or selfabuse. When they move away, it's forever. On to Portland, San Francisco, L.A. You champion the cause of the victim. it's the victim that can tell you the most about a case, dead or alive. Right? You're the expert on the victim."
    more compliments. He fought like hell to maintain his guard.
    "She may have been raped. She won't admit to consensual sex.
    The evidence is there, but she doesn't