Part 22 (2/2)

For one moment, shaken by this news about Chief Fuller, Tess forgot about why she had called. And then, instantly, it returned to her, like a stabbing pain in her own heart. Erny.

She came out of the kitchen and into the hallway. Her mother was standing between the two casually dressed men she had seen in the parking lot. One was short with dark hair and a mustache and the other was a large overweight man with small porcine eyes.

”Miss DeGraff?” said the dark-haired man. ”I'm Chuck Virgilio. This is my partner, Mac Swain. Chief Bosworth sent us over. We sent the press jackals packing like your mother asked us to. I don't know how long they'll stay away, but...for the moment...”

Tess nodded. ”Thanks.”

”We'll be monitoring your phones in case anyone calls about...ransom.”

Tess's knees felt like jelly. ”Ransom.”

”Don't get me wrong. We're still betting your son got lost in the woods. The search party is going to keep on looking for him. But meanwhile, we're covering this end. Believe me, I understand how stressed out you are. I'm a parent myself. Anything we can do to help, we will.”

”Thank you,” said Tess.

”I'm here to help, too, if I can.”

Tess turned around and saw Ben Ramsey emerging from the library. Tess stared at him, too shocked to speak.

”Listen, I heard about Erny's disappearance,” said Ben. ”I had to come.”

”You've got a lot of nerve,” she said.

”Why don't we step outside,” Ben said. ”You look like you could use the fresh air.” He pulled her jacket from a hook in the foyer and offered it to her.

Tess s.n.a.t.c.hed it from his hand. ”Please leave,” she said.

”Tess, come outside for a minute,” said Ben in a low voice. ”I really need to talk to you.”

”You heard the lady. You'd better clear out of here, Counselor,” said Officer Virgilio. ”Get going.”

”Okay, I'm leaving,” said Ben to the police officers. ”Tess. Two minutes. Please. I may be able to help you.”

”If you know anything pertinent to this case, Mr. Ramsey,” said the larger officer, Officer Swain, in a menacing tone, ”you'd better tell us about it right now.”

”That's right,” said Tess. ”If you have any idea where Erny is...”

Ben shook his head. ”Of course I would tell you. Immediately. Please, Tess. I just want a word with you. Come outside with me.”

”I don't want to go outside,” Tess complained. ”It's cold. And I need to be here if Erny calls or-”

”I'll come get you right away,” said Dawn. ”Go ahead and talk to him. Just stay close by.”

Tess saw the intense expression in her mother's eyes and realized that Dawn was not making a suggestion. It was more like a command. Tess sighed and then threw on the jacket Ben had handed her. ”Two minutes,” she said. She opened the door, walked out, and stood on the granite stone of the entryway. She heard Ben step out and close the door carefully behind him. Tess gazed past the circular gravel driveway to the wooded lane bounded by a stone wall. With the reporters gone, it was the image of peace and tranquility. It was the kind of picturesque view that drew people to New England. Historic and unchanging. A fairy-tale place. A mirage. ”All right, what is it?” she said without looking at Ben.

”Come and sit down,” he said.

He indicated the pair of wooden, church-pewlike benches, painted the same green as the shutters, that flanked the front door. Behind each one was a white wooden lattice screen that extended up to the low overhanging roof. In summer, roses grew on the lattice. Now, in late October, there were only brown vines. Tess hesitated, but she could not resist. She did feel wobbly on her legs. She sat. He sat beside her. She still did not look at him. It was chilly sitting on the wooden bench. She s.h.i.+vered and jammed her hands into her pockets.

”Look, I know you're angry with me...” he began.

Tess turned and looked at him. His silver hair glinted, even in the gloom of the afternoon. And his frowning eyes seemed to refract light like a prism. ”Do you think so?” she said.

”I'd like to explain to you what happened,” he said.

”No, I'll tell you what happened,” said Tess. ”You got Nelson Abbott sprung on some technicality and somebody killed him and tried to dump his body. And in the process, that person kidnapped my son. My son is with a murderer. For all I know...” She tried to continue, but her voice broke. She wiped her eyes angrily and looked away.

Ben ignored her tears. His voice remained calm and matter-of-fact. ”Look, I know you want to blame someone, but I had no way of predicting this. And I'm as sorry about it as I can be. Both for you and for Nelson.”

”Nelson Abbott?” she cried. ”You feel sorry for him?”

”Tess, it was not some technicality, as you'd like to think, that exonerated him.”

”Sorry. I meant to say 'const.i.tutional protection,'” Tess said sarcastically. ”The rights of the accused. I know all about it. You found out that I obtained that hat with Nelson's DNA without telling him. Went into his house and walked out with his filthy hat. I can just imagine your righteous indignation. I'm surprised you didn't have the cops arrest me.”

Ben shook his head, but did not respond.

Tess pointed a shaking finger at him. ”The police were doing nothing. Somebody had to trap Nelson Abbott in his lies. When I brought the hat to Chief Fuller, he said it would be okay. And it was, until Nelson hired you-the crackerjack lawyer. It's your job to find loopholes. And you seem to be very good at it. Anybody that tries to hurt my family, you find them an out.” She could feel her cheeks flaming, and she knew very well that it was unreasonable to impugn him for doing his job, but she felt helplessly furious with him.

Ben's expression did not change. ”Stop it, Tess,” he said firmly. ”I'll explain to you what really happened, if you will listen. I think you might want to hear this. It's important.”

Tess stuck out her chin defiantly, but remained quiet.

Ben spoke in a low urgent voice. ”While Nelson was being questioned, I asked for, and was given access to, the DNA results that supposedly implicated him. I'm sure Bosworth thought that it would just look like a jumble of numbers to me, but I've had a lot of experience with DNA evidence. And what I saw in those results set off alarm bells in me. I had another lab-a highly reputable lab-check them for me. The lab I sent it to said that the results did not match Nelson's DNA.”

Tess shook her head. ”That's c.r.a.p. Chief Fuller's guy said that they did match. Why would he lie about it?”

Ben sighed. ”Chief Fuller was trying to help you, but he went too far. His friend at the lab gave him a shabby report that said what Aldous Fuller wanted to believe.”

”It's science. He said the sample matched Nelson's!” Tess cried.

”When in fact,” Ben corrected her, ”the sample only had some markers in it that matched Nelson's. The sample did not match perfectly.”

Tess shook her head. ”You're splitting hairs. G.o.ddammit! Everybody knows that the sample from Phoebe's case was deteriorated. After all these years of being stored under less-than-ideal conditions...it never was going to be perfect. But it was enough. It was enough to get Lazarus 'exonerated,' as you say. I notice you had no problem with that.”

Ben shook his head. ”That's different. In that case, there were no markers that matched Lazarus. He was ruled out completely by the DNA.”

”Ruled out. Exonerated. What's the difference? The guy from Chief Fuller's lab was able to match it to Nelson.”

Ben explained in a patient tone. ”Listen to me. Nelson was Lazarus's stepfather. They weren't actually related. There was no match to Lazarus. But the sample did have markers that matched Nelson's. It also had markers that didn't.”

Tess peered at him. ”What does that mean?”

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