Chapter Fourteen #4
“Tell me about it. I’ve been trying to get him to tell me why my mother and my aunt stopped speaking to each other, but he won’t budge. Says he’d promised Maxine he wouldn’t discuss it with me.”
“Like I said, a tough nut. But you have to respect his integrity.”
“I do. Grudgingly, but I do.”
After a few more questions, the detective turned off the recorder. “That’s all I have for now, Ms. Porterfield, but I’ll ask you to stick around for a few days if you don’t mind, just in case.”
“Just in case what? I don’t know anything about this, and my husband’s retirement party is tomorrow night in Philadelphia and I think there will be hell to pay if I’m not there.”
“We’ll wrap this up as quickly as possible, but honestly, since we don’t know how that baby died or when, if I were you, I might let your husband know we’re doing the best we can.”
“You don’t think I had anything to do with those remains, do you?”
Detective Stevens stood. “Frankly, I don’t know what to think. It’s an unusual situation. We don’t know how old those remains are. There’s no discernible DNA from your aunt that we’re positive is hers, so the techs will ask you to swab your cheek when they get here.”
“I already thought about that.”
“Your mother only had the one sibling?”
“Only one that I know of.” She smiled ruefully. “Of course, I didn’t know about that one, either, so my best bet is to talk to Banks and to Greta. Apparently they both knew my family way better than I did.”
“I’ll be speaking with Ms. Crimmins next, and I’ll see if I can meet up with Banks this afternoon.
Thanks for your time.” The detective reached in her back pocket and took out a card, which she handed to Kit.
“If you think of anything or find something else that might pertain to this situation, please give me a call.”
“I will. Thank you.” Kit placed the card in the pocket of her sweater. “Oh, and Detective Stevens. If you find out from Banks why my mother and my aunt . . .”
“Not if it’s privileged. Knowing Banks, before he tells me any privileged information, he’ll swear me to secrecy. Sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I am.”
The detective left the room in search of Greta, who, Kit was certain, considered herself a key witness and star player in the investigation.
Detective Stevens didn’t know what she was in for.
Kit heard Greta’s “Sure, I can tell you anything you want to know” before she closed the door between the kitchen and the front hall. She had a phone call to make.
Abby picked up on the third ring.
“Mom, what’s going on up there? Dad said something about a dead baby in Maxine’s bedroom. Did she . . . ?”
Kit sighed. Leave it to Russ to put a macabre spin on it.
Kit tried to downplay the drama. “Remains of a long-dead baby. At least, I’m assuming it’s been dead for a long time.
And no, she did not kill the baby.” As far as we know.
“It appears the baby was stillborn and premature. At least, that was the medical examiner’s first impression.
They also have a forensic anthropologist who will try to date the bones and see if she can find any cause of death other than natural causes. ”
“Do you know whose baby it was?”
“Probably Maxine’s, but they’re going to do DNA from the remains and compare them to mine.”
Abby went silent for a moment, then gasped. “You don’t think the baby was Nana’s, do you?”
Kit went immediately on the defensive. “No way could it be my mom’s, Abby. Could you imagine my mother leaving an unburied child in her sister’s bedroom for how many years?”
“Okay, don’t jump down my throat, Mom. I just threw that out there because Nana lived in that house, too. But I agree, it would be totally out of character for Nana. So that brings us back to Maxine.”
“Well, with all this going on, I’m going to be hard pressed to make it to your dad’s retirement party tomorrow night. Actually, I should say it would take a miracle for me to make it. The detective has already told me to plan to be here for a while.”
“Dad’s gonna be really mad, Mom,” Abby said bluntly.
“He already is. What am I supposed to do? I’ve been told to stick around, and if I leave the state, they’re going to assume I’m involved somehow, or I know something I’m not telling them.
I am sorry to miss the party. Not just for your father’s sake, but it’s been a while since I saw some of his coworkers, and I’d like to see them, but my hands are tied. ”
“Well, Ned and I will be there, so Dad won’t feel like his family abandoned him. We’ll FaceTime and take videos so you’ll be able to see who’s there and see the action in real time. Oh, and you’ll be able to hear the speeches and listen to all the nice things everyone has to say about Dad.”
“Great idea. I’d love that.”
“We can take lots of stills so we can make an album for him and surprise him on his birthday in September.”
“You guys are the best. Thank you. Your dad will love it.” Kit felt a wave of gratitude for her children. “By the way, how’s my dog-boy?”
“Wally’s good. I think he’s missing you, though. Every once in a while, I see him wandering from one room to the next. But Benny and I have given him lots of pets and treats and walks in the afternoon, and we make sure he gets out in the yard after dinner for a while.”
“Oh, thanks. I miss him, too.”
More commotion from the front hall.
“Abby, I have to hang up. There’s something going on in the hallway.”
“Call me back as soon as you can,” Abby said.
“Will do.”