Burying Ben (43 page)

Sgt. Lyndley follows me. “Hey, Doc, g
o
t a
m
i
nute?
Any chance you can co
m
e to the FTO
m
eeting day after to
m
orrow?
W
e don
’
t have any new recruits to discuss, probably w
o
n’t get any
u
ntil we get a new chi
e
f, but I have a couple of a
n
nounce
m
ents to
m
ake, and I’d appreciate it if you were there.”

“That’s
m
ysterious.
W
h
a
t
’s up
?
”

He pats
m
y shoulder be
f
ore going back into
the auditoriu
m
.
“
Cu
r
iosity killed the cat. See you when I see you.”

W
e
f
ile into the b
r
ie
f
ing roo
m
, coffee
cups in hand, and take
o
ur places at the table. Lyndley is the last to enter. Manny is behind hi
m
. My heart sinks. Manny is still on probation. Probies don’t attend F
T
O
m
eetings, not unless they’re in big trouble. I can’t look at hi
m
.

“Morning everyone,”
L
yndley says. “Anybody catch the Chief’s retirement ceremony?” No one responds. “Don’t know what this
m
eans for the future except that we get a break, no new
trai
n
e
e
s
f
or a whil
e
. Takes a while to
f
ind a new chief, especially if the
y
’re going outside to look.”

There’s
m
u
mbling. So
m
eone mutters “Doesn’t
m
ake any difference who’s chief. We do the work.”

“
W
hich brings
m
e to the reason I called
this
m
eeting.” He turns to Manny. “Stand up here with
m
e, please
.
”

Manny gri
m
aces and gets up.

“Officer Ochoa,
o
n his own initiative, and with the assis
t
ance of Dr. Meyerhoff,” – eve
r
yone turns to look at
m
e – “started an investigation i
n
to the circu
m
stances surround
i
ng Ben Go
m
ez’ death. He did an excellent job despite
s
o
m
e
m
ajor challen
g
es.
L
ast night, he and I arrested April Patcher Go
m
ez on charges of fraud and abetti
n
g a suicide.” Everyone applauds. Manny is looking at his shoes. “After our D.A. finishes her investigation, there
m
ay be additional cri
m
inal and civil charges brought to bear. Any questions?”

“How did it go down
?
” so
m
eone asks.

Lyndley raises an eyebrow and asks Manny to answer the question.

“She wasn’t exactly hap
p
y to see us. She said she
tried to
s
t
op
Ben
f
rom
killing
h
i
m
self. That she was scared he would kill her too so she left him
alone in the
m
otel. She ad
m
its she wrote the suici
d
e note.
Didn’t t
h
i
n
k it would
d
o any harm
because he was already dead. She needed money to get an apart
m
ent and her
father wouldn’t give her any.”

“And then all hell broke loose,” Lyndley says. “
S
he and her
f
ather went at each other like wildcats.
W
e had to call the locals for back up. It
took four of us to get the situation under control. Patch
e
r got hauled off to his own jail, and April
w
as so crazy we 5150’d her and took her to Prescott
b
ecause t
h
ere weren’t any
beds for psychos available at the county hospital.”

“Oh
m
y God,” I say. “
D
id you know her
m
other’s in Prescott
?
”

“
W
e do now. Mrs. Patcher was folk-danc
i
ng in the lobby with the other in
m
ates when we dragged April in. Like daughter, li
k
e
m
other. They both went berserk, started throwing t
h
ings, beating on us, beati
n
g on each
other, beating on the staff. They a
m
assed so
m
any
f
elonies
f
or d.
v
. and assault a
n
d batt
e
ry a
g
ainst a poli
c
e o
ff
icer, it will take t
w
o judges to try them
all.”

Lyndley bends to t
h
e group. “Here’s the corker. Prescott has one locked ward. Guess who gets to be roo
m
mat
es
?
I hope the orderlies have hazardous duty pay.”

“Cat fight, cat fight.” A s
m
all chant goes up from the group.

“One
m
ore thing,” Lyndley says. He
cla
m
ps Manny on the shoulder. “This young
m
an has done such a go
o
d job, I’m
cutting
h
i
m
loose from
p
r
obation early. You’re on your own buddy, congratulations.”

T
hey shake hands.
W
e all clap.

“T
hanks, Sarge. Thanks, everyone.“ Manny r
a
ises his hand to quiet us. “Like the Sarge said, I didn’t do this alone.” He points at
m
e. “If it w
a
sn’t for the Doc, I wouldn’t be standing here, and Ben would be forgotten. We talk t
r
ash about shrinks behind her back, but she’s one deter
m
ined lady. She
m
ay be s
m
all, but she has a big brain and a big heart
.
”

Lyndley asks
m
e if I w
a
nt to say anything. I do, but I can’t, not without crying.

Chapter Forty One

We are on our way to Pinky
’
s, a 28 day residen
t
ial treat
m
ent center for cops with drinking proble
m
s. Fran is driving her van, I
’
m in t
h
e passenger seat and Manny is sitting behind
m
e, keeping his eye on Eddie who has passed out in the back seat.

“So, Doc. We picked up the kid
w
ho’s been vandalizing houses in your develop
m
ent. Probably the sa
m
e idiot who trashed your place.”

And stole my tennis bracelet?
I think to myself. I don’t ask because Patcher remains my prime suspect. It doesn’t matter now. He’s facing bigger problems than a simple B & E. So is Melinda, my other suspect, although she seems an uncommon vandal, given her aesthetic sensibilities. More than likely she demanded that Mark buy her one like mine and he did, the poor love sick fool. He never was much of an original thinker.

Eddie snorts, startles hi
m
self
a
wake, and passes out again.
H
e hasn
’
t had a drink since we a
m
bushed him
early this
m
orning
at his apart
m
ent and begged, pleaded and threatened
u
ntil
h
e agreed to acce
p
t
h
elp. The smell of booze rises off his body like t
h
e stink off an old kitchen sponge.

Fran lowers
her window. The air o
u
tside is cool and s
m
ells of grass.
W
e are heading north t
h
rough the wine country. Grapevines inch along the wires that run between wooden posts. Straw-hatted farm
workers
m
o
ve along rows of plants, inspecting the new crop. I can see tiny rainbows bobbing in the wake of the powerful spinning sprinklers.

Pinky
’
s isn
’
t the t
o
tal a
n
swer, but it
’
s a start. A safe place where Eddie can face his de
m
ons without having to worry that the per
s
on sitting next to him
is so
m
eone he once arrested. There will be 24 hour support from
a cadre of cops who have been there before him
and know every trick in the book when it co
m
es to alcoholis
m
.

“You can
’
t
bullshit a bullshitter,” is what the
m
an on inta
k
e
told
m
e. “Haul the sonofabitch up here.
W
e
’
ll fix hi
m
.”

We are quiet on the way ho
m
e. None
of us wants to stop to eat.
W
e have a victory that we don
’
t want to celebrate.

”I can
’
t get the pict
u
re
o
ut of
m
y he
a
d, Eddie sobbing like a baby when we drove away, running after us, so scared and confused.”
Fran wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. Manny leans over the seat and
puts his hand on her shoulder.

“He
’
s better off. S
a
fer. The way he
’
s been
drinking, he
’
ll be dead unless he stops.”

Fran looks at
m
e.
“
W
hat
do you think, Doc
?
”

“
W
e did the right thing. Now it
’
s up to Eddie.”

I’m
exhausted by the time Fran drops
m
e off.
My sto
m
ach is ru
m
bling with hunger, but I’m
too tired to eat. My house is dark. I need a glass of wine and a good night’s sleep. More than that, I need so
m
e hu
m
an war
m
th. I pick up the phone and call Frank. It’s been weeks since we’ve talked. Ple
n
ty of ti
m
e for h
i
m to forget about
m
e and find so
m
eone else. The p
h
one rings
fo
ur ti
m
es be
f
ore his v
o
ice
f
ills t
h
e quiet room
like a spicy fragrance.