Part 2 (1/2)
aThey call you Erasmus, I understand,a she said to him. He looked at her with his gentle dark, eyes but said nothing. aIs that your real name?a aWhatever the man called every living creature, that was its name,a he said, after a brief pause.
aThatas a quote?a she said.
aFrom Genesis,a contributed the dean. aEr, the Bible.a aFine, Iall call you Erasmus if you like, but I do need to know your real name.a aThat which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.a aShakespeare,a murmured the dean.
aRight. Okay. Weall come back to names later. You saw the article this morning that one of the homeless men who lives around Golden Gate Park died and that some of his friends there attempted to cremate him. I think the article said his name, as well?a aHe was not the Light,a said Erasmus with a nod.
aYou told me that before.a aEr, Inspector? That phrase is used in the New Testament about John the Baptist,a said the dean. aWas this manas name John?a aIt was. Did you know John?a she asked Erasmus. Again, there was a short delay before he answered, as if he needed to consult some inner oracle.
aA fellow of infinite jest,a he said dryly.
aWould you take it that means yes?a she asked the dean.
aProbably.a aThis is going to be such a fun report to write up,a she grumbled, and took the mug of coffee from the waitress, poured cream in it, and took a sip. aSir, can you tell me where you were on Tuesday morning?a Erasmus smiled at her patiently, tore open a packet of sugar, and stirred it into his own cup.
aDoes that mean you donat remember, or you wonat tell me?a He put the cup to his lips.
aIt may simply mean that he canat think of a quote that fits the answer,a suggested the dean. Erasmus smiled at him with an air of approval.
aDid you know the man they called John?a she persisted.
aI knew him, Horatio,a he said clearly and without hesitation.
Thank G.o.d, one answer anyway, thought Kate. Iall just have to choose my questions to fit a cla.s.sical tag line.
aDo you know his last name?a Erasmus thought for a moment, then resumed his drinking. With a regretful air?
aDo you know where he came from?a Erasmus began to hum some vaguely familiar tune.
aDo you know where he stayed?a There was no answer. aWhat he did? Who his close friends were?a Erasmus looked at his cup.
aWhy do you do this?a Kate threw her spoon down in irritation. aYouare perfectly capable of answering my questions.a Erasmus raised his eyes and studied her. His eyes were remarkably eloquent, compa.s.sionate now, but Kate could make no use of that kind of answer. Suddenly he leaned forward, held his hand out in an att.i.tude of pleading, and began to speak.
aI am a fool,a he p.r.o.nounced. aAnd thus I clothe my naked villainy with odd old ends stolen forth of holy writ, and seem a saint when most I play the devil. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, all is vanity. A manas pride shall bring him low,a he said forcefully, and his eyes searched her facea”for what? Understanding? Judgment? Whatever it was, he did not find it, and he turned to the dean. aA manas pride,a he said pleading, ashall bring him low,a but the dean gave him no more satisfaction than Kate had. He turned back to her, the muscles of his face rigid with some powerful but unidentifiable emotion. He swallowed and his voice went husky. aThen David made a covenant with Jonathan, because he loved him as his own soul. Would G.o.d I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son. Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? A foolas mouth is his destruction.a Seeing nothing but confusion in his audience, he sat back with a thump and forced a weak smile of apology. aI am a very foolish fond old man, forescore and upward, not an hour more or less, and to deal plainly, I fear I am not in my perfect mind.a While weare talking quotations, thought Kate, how about acrazy like a foxa? They were interrupted by the waitress bringing two plates, and Kate instantly regretted not ordering something to eat. She half-expected Erasmus to say a prayer, or at least bow his head over his food, but instead he calmly spread his napkin onto his lap and began to eat.
aSo,a she said, ayou cannot tell me anything about the man John?a She did not hold out much hope for an answer, but he surprised her.
aA back-friend, a shoulder-clapper,a he said promptly, his face going hard. aThe words of his mouth were smoother than b.u.t.ter, but war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.a He took a forkful of food and chewed it thoughtfully for a moment, then added, aChoked with ambition of the meaner sort. His heart is as firm as a stone, yeaa”as hard as a piece of nether millstone.a He returned to his omelette.
aYou donat say. Your friend Beatrice would certainly agree with that.a Erasmusas stern features relaxed. aHer voice was ever soft, gentle, and lowa”an excellent thing in a woman.a aDo you know how John died?a He paused briefly.
aCan a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?a He began to b.u.t.ter a piece of toast. aMors ultima ratio.a a aDeath is the final accounting,aa translated the dean sotto voce, around a mouthful of eggs and cheese and chili peppers.
aAnd John had much to account for?a Kate suggested. She did not know whether or not to take the first part of his statement as an a.s.sertion that John had actually died by firea”something to be explored later.
aForbear to judge, for we are sinners all. Close up his eyes and draw the curtain close, and let us all to meditation.a aThatas fine for some,a answered Kate. aHowever, itas my job to find how he died and if someone hurried him on his way. Even an obnoxious sinner has a right to die in his own time.a Erasmus surprised her again, by smiling hugely.
aO tigeras heart wrapped in a womanas hide!a he boomed into the startled restaurant. The dean stifled a laugh, but Kate refused to be distracted. She looked him in the eye and bit off her words.
aDo you know anything about Johnas death?a The seriousness of her questions, what they meant for the man on the pyre and all involved with him, seemed suddenly to reach the figure in the ca.s.sock. Erasmus studied the food on his plate as if searching for an answer there, and when he did not find it, he brought his left hand up and laid it flat on the table, studying the worn gold ring that encircled one finger. Gradually his mobile features took on the same appearance they had shown when he had knelt on the ground to declare his abject inadequacies. He was not far from tears. aThe voice of your brotheras blood is crying to me from the ground,a he whispered finally. The dean choked on a piece of food, shot a brief glance at Kate, and then, despite the half-full plate in front of him, he looked at his watch and began to make a business of catching Aprilas attention. Kate ignored him, staring at Erasmus, who seemed mesmerized by the gold on his hand.
aErasmus, do you know how he died?a she said quietly.
The man took a long breath, exhaled, and then looked up at her. aAm I my brotheras keeper?a The dean stood up so rapidly, his chair nearly went over. He looked from Kate to Erasmus helplessly, and when the bill was placed in his hand by the pa.s.sing waitress, he could only throw up his arms and go pay it.
aErasmus,a Kate began evenly, ayou have the right to remain silent.a
SEVEN.
He was, among other things, emphatically what we call a character.
Kate closed the back door of the departmental car and turned to the unhappy man standing beside her on the sidewalk.
aIs this really necessary?a he said, more as a plea than a protest.
aYou heard what he said back there. Even I know the Bible well enough to remember that aAm I my brotheras keeper?a is how Cain answers the accusation that he killed Abel. Which, if I remember rightly, he did. That comes very near to being a confession, the way Brother Erasmus talks. You canat argue with that,a she pointed out, though in fact he was not.
aThe manas mixed up, but heas not violent, never harmful.
You canat arrest him on the basis of biblical pa.s.sages.a Kate was not about to go into the technicalities of precisely what const.i.tutes an arrest, particularly in a fuzzy situation like this one. Still, she had to tell him something. aI havenat actually arrested him. I read him his rights because at that point he changed status, from being a witness to being a potential suspect. He is not in handcuffs,- he is with me voluntarily.a aWhat will you do with him?a aAs you heard me tell him, Iall take him back to the City, interview him, and then weall either let him go or, if information received during the interview demands, weall arrest him. Personally, I doubt that will happen, at least not today.a aIad like to be informed,a he said with authority.
aCertainly.a Kate retrieved a card from her shoulder bag and handed it to him. aI have a few questions I need to ask, if you donat mind.a aI did promise to take this seminar.a aTen minutes,a said Kate, knowing that if head eaten the abandoned breakfast, he would have taken at least that. aHow long have you known Brother Erasmus?a aHeas been coming here for a little over a year now.a aAnd you didnat know him before?a aNo.a aHave you any idea what his real name might be?a aNo, I donat. It might actually be Erasmus, have you considered that?a Kate ignored the deanas sarcasm. She was used to that reaction to police questions. aWhat about where he might have come from?a aIam sorry, Inspector, but no. I donat know anything about him.a aCan you narrow it down, when he first appeared?a aLetas see,a said the dean. He stood thinking for a while, oblivious of the curious looks they were receiving from young pa.s.sersby with backpacks and books. aI was on sabbatical two years ago, and I came back in August, eighteen months ago. Erasmus appeared in the middle of that terma”say October. Heas come regularly as clockwork ever sincea”during term time, I mean. Last summer and during breaks and intercession, he shows up from time to time.a aHow does he get here?a aThe last few months, one of our students who lives in San Francisco has brought him.a aIad like the studentas name, address, and phone number.a aI suppose I could give that information to you. Iall have to check and see if thereas a problem.a aThis is an official murder investigation,a said Kate sternly, hoping the postmortem hadnat found a heart attack or liver failure.
aI know that. Iall call you with the information.a aIad appreciate that, sir. What can you tell me about his movements here? When does he come,- when does he go, where does he sleep,- does he have any particular friends here?a aWell, he sleeps in one of the guest rooms.a aThatas verya generous of you,a commented Kate, wondering how the other guests felt about it.
aItas only been for the last few weeks.a The dean seemed suddenly to become aware that the subject of their conversation was sitting practically at their feet, albeit behind the car window, and he moved away across the sidewalk and lowered his voice. aBack in the first part of November, he showed up one Tuesday in bad shape. He looked to me like head been beaten upa”his lip was swollen and split,- one eye was puffy,- he had a bandage on his eara”a real mess, and, well, shocking, seeing that kind of damage, especially to an old man. It wasnat fresh, probably three or four days old, though he was obviously in some pain, but he was still just carrying on. However, he was in no condition to sleep out, so we got together and put him into a hotel for the next three nights.a aWe?a aSome of the other professors and I pa.s.sed the hat. The next week, he was better, but it was raining, so we did it again, and then the third week he seemed to have made other arrangements. It wasnat until the fourth week that we discovered the dorm had formed a conspiracy and had him sleeping in their rooms the nights he was here.a aWhich nights are those?a aTuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, usually.a aSo you just gave him a room?a aNot exactly. I mean, we did, but only after a tremendous number of meetings and discussions, and student pet.i.tions. The students themselves did it, pointing out gently but firmly that to collect funds for Thanksgiving meals and preach Christmas sermons on the theme ano room at the inna and then to lock the gates against an individual who by that time was a part of the community was perhaps not operating on Christian principles. They did it very well, too. Not once did they even use the word hypocrisy, which I thought was very mature of thema”have you ever noticed how students love that word? Anyway, to make a long story short, we presented the case to the board and they agreed to a trial period of two months. Thatas nearly at an end now, and I expect itall be renewed.a He saw the polite disbelief on her face, so he strung the explanation out a bit further. aYes, it was more complicated than that, insurance and security and all that. But what won them over was Erasmus himself. He hasa itas difficult to explain, but I suppose thereas such an air of sweetness around him, even administrators feel it.a Kate decided to let it go for the time being. aYou said he comes on Tuesdays.a aYes. The young man he rides with is an M.Div. student.a (Whatever that is, thought Kate.) aHe has an afternoon cla.s.s at three, I think, or three-thirtya”a seminar on pastoral theology, but he may come over earlier and work in the library, I see him there quite a bit. He has a couple of kids, so itas hard for him to work at home.a aDid you see him this Tuesday? Or Erasmus?a aI had meetings pretty much all day. I didnat see anyone but university bureaucrats.a aAnd when does he usually leave Berkeley?a aBerkeley as a whole, I canat vouch for, but we rarely see him after Friday morning.a aYou donat know how he leaves?a aNo.a aWhat about friends here? Does he have any particularly close relations.h.i.+ps with students or professors, or with any of the street people?a aJoel, the young man who brings him over on Tuesdays, is probably the student closest to Erasmus. I suppose Iam his best friend among the faculty. I wouldnat know about the homeless, or anyone out of the GTU area, for that matter. Look, Inspector Martinelli, I have to go.a aJust one thing. Iad appreciate it if you could write down for me where those quotes he used today come from.a aAll of them?a aWhatever you can remember.a aWhy? Surely you canat consider them evidence?a aI donat know what they are, and I donat know that I will want them. But I do know that if it turns out I need them in two or three weeks, you wonat remember more than a handful. Right?a aProbably not. Okay, Iall do my best. And Iall be talking to you. Uma can I say good-bye to him?a Kate opened the back door of the cruiser and Dean Gardner bent down, holding his hand out to Erasmus.
aSo long, old friend,a he said. aSorry youall miss dinner tonight, I hope weall see you next week. You remember my phone number?a Erasmus just smiled and let go of the hand. aWell, call me if you need anything.a He stepped back and allowed Kate to slam the door, her mind busy with the image of Erasmus in a telephone booth. Why was that so completely incongruous?
She told the dean she would talk with him soon, got in behind the wheel, and drove away from Berkeleyas holy hill.
Kate kept her eyes firmly on the road, for Berkeley had long been a haven for the mad cyclist and the blithe wheelchair-bound, although on this occasion it was a turbaned Sikh climbing out of a BMW convertible who nearly came to grief under her wheels. She did not glance at the pa.s.senger behind the wire grid until they were on the freeway, pa.s.sing the mud-flat sculptures, but when she did, she found him sitting peacefully, displaying none of the signs of the guilty killer apprehended: He was not asleep, he was not aggressive, he was not talking nonstop. He met her eye calmly.
aThe driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nims.h.i.+, for he drives furiously,a he commented.
aYeah, well, if you donat dodge around a bit, you get mowed down.a Glancing over her left shoulder, she slipped over two lanes and then slid back between two trucks and into the turnoff for the Bay Bridge. Once through the toll booths, she looked again at Erasmus, who again met her eyes in the mirror. She had been dreading the drive, fearing the mindless recitations and the inevitable stink of the wine-sozzled unwashed, but he smelled only of warm earth, and his silence was somehow restful. He s.h.i.+fted slightly to ease his cramped position beside the long staff that had barely fit in, and the toy star she had pinned to his chest caught the light.
aHow did you know I was a cop?a she asked.
aI have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee.a aThat doesnat explain how you recognized me.a He answered only with a small and apologetic shrug. Perhaps, she realized some time later, it was one of those places where exact quotes were unavailable.
aDo you mean you saw my picture somewhere?a she tried.
aThe morning stars sang together,a he said gently. Right: the Morningstar case. Really great when even the homeless had your face memorized from papers salvaged out of the trash cans, she reflected bitterly, and wrenched the caras wheel across to the exit for the Hall of Justice. She drove around to the prisonersa entrance and let him out, wrestled with his long staff and the small gym bag the dean had fetched from the room Erasmus stayed in, and began to lead him to the doors. Erasmus stopped, a large and immovable object, and looked down at her from his great height. His eyes were worried, but not, Kate thought, because of what might happen in this building. Rather, he searched her face as if for an answer.