The Drowning Child

40

Rose Dennehy brought Ren into her kitchen, and immediately put the kettle on, without even asking if she wanted a drink. She was a little slow on her feet, but moving around steadily, eager to make Ren feel at home. She set coffee and cake down on the table.

You sweet woman. ‘Thank you,’ said Ren, taking a drink. ‘So, we’re trying to figure out who may have crossed paths with Caleb, either once-off or regularly, while he was here. Can you help me with that?’

Rose nodded. ‘Caleb comes here every second Saturday to shovel snow, bring logs in from the woodshed, clean the gutters or help me out with whatever small jobs I need. His father drops him off at eleven a.m., and he usually finishes up around two.’

‘And the last time he was here was a month ago,’ said Ren. ‘February eleventh?’

‘Yes.’ She paused. ‘The poor dear. I hope he’s OK.’

‘I know,’ said Ren.

‘About who he would have met,’ said Rose, ‘… my neighbors, if they were around. And every Saturday, my daughter, Eileen – she lives in Salem – she stops by around eleven thirty to take me shopping, and drops me home by one. So Caleb would know Eileen a little.’

‘So when Caleb’s here – you’re out for part of that time,’ said Ren.

‘Yes – I’m always here when he arrives to let him know what needs to be done, but I don’t like having to listen to whatever banging is going on, so that’s why I leave while I can.’

‘You trust Caleb to be here on his own,’ said Ren.

‘Oh, yes. He’s a hard worker, a serious kid. He doesn’t fool around if there’s work to be done.’

‘Is there a reason he hasn’t come back to you since?’ said Ren. ‘Or did you not need him?’

‘No – he was supposed to be here two weeks ago, but he never showed up. I called his house, and his father apologized and said that Caleb would no longer be working, that he was going to have to devote more time at weekends to his homework.’

No one mentioned this.

‘How did Caleb seem to you that last day?’ said Ren. ‘Could something have happened that bothered him, that maybe meant he didn’t want to come back here?’

Rose was taken aback. ‘Lord, I hope not,’ she said. She paused. ‘Now that I think about it, he did seem a little off that day. He was very eager to get paid and leave. In fact, I owed him one hundred dollars – it had added up. I kept forgetting to go to the machine.’

‘And the neighbors you mentioned – did they talk to Caleb, did they know him?’

‘In passing,’ said Rose. ‘I wouldn’t say he’s the chattiest of kids.’

‘Did Caleb have access to your house while you were out?’ said Ren.

‘Yes,’ said Rose, ‘for washing up, using the bathroom, getting a drink – whatever he needed.’

‘Do you think he would have ever let a stranger in?’ said Ren.

‘No,’ said Rose. ‘He’s pretty street smart.’ She looked at Ren with great compassion. ‘It must be very hard for you to deal with things like this every day.’

‘Finding the bad guys makes it all worthwhile,’ said Ren.

‘I’m sure it does.’

Ren glanced over at a photo of Rose and her family.

‘What a beautiful family,’ said Ren. ‘And what a handsome man your husband was. You look so happy.’

Rose beamed. ‘We were. He passed eleven years ago, and I miss him every day.’ She glanced down at Ren’s ring finger.

Uh-oh. Don’t ask.

‘Have you someone special in your life?’ said Rose.

‘I... did,’ said Ren. ‘I did. I miss him too.’ I will die alone. And be eaten by neighborhood cats. Not even my own cats. She stood up. ‘Thank you so much for your hospitality, Rose, and for answering my questions.’

‘I hope I was of some help,’ said Rose.

‘You absolutely were,’ said Ren.

‘I can’t believe any man would let a nice girl like you go.’

Oh, Jesus. ‘You’re very kind,’ said Ren. But I killed him is actually what happened. I’m not a nice girl at all.

‘You’ll find your Mr Right,’ said Rose. ‘And you’ll know it in your heart.’

Then I’ll doubt it, then I’ll fuck it up.

‘Is there anything else you can think of?’ said Ren. ‘About that Saturday?’

Rose looked toward the counter. ‘Sorry, I was looking to see where my cell phone is, but I lost it a while back – Eileen’s trying to organize a replacement for me. You could talk to her as well, actually, if you wanted, because, like I said, she was here that day too, but I’m not sure you’ll be able to get a hold of her – she told me she’s headed off on one of her “switched-off” long weekends. If you can’t, I can let her know when she gets back.’

Ren saw a calendar stuck to the side of the refrigerator with a magnet. It had notes scattered throughout the month. ‘Could you maybe go back to February on that?’ said Ren.

‘Good idea,’ said Rose. She went to the calendar and flipped it back a month. ‘Yes!’ she said, stabbing a finger into one of the boxes. ‘Plumber! He came that day. It was an out-of-hours call. He was in and out, quickly. He didn’t have the part he needed, said he had to order one in.’ She paused. ‘I haven’t been able to get him back here since.’

‘What?’ said Ren. ‘In a month?’

‘I know,’ said Rose. ‘And I’ve called him several times, but no luck.’

‘Could I get his name from you, please?’ said Ren.

‘Yes,’ said Rose. ‘It’s JJ’s Plumbing Services.’

Ren’s heart rate shot up.

The plumber from the hotel... the one who was in my room...

‘J. J. Nash is his name,’ said Rose. ‘His mother is a sister of Pete Ruddock’s late wife. So, I guess that makes him the police chief’s nephew.’

Uh.

Oh.