The Halo Effect

59

Noah called me on my cell phone Tuesday night to tell me what he’d found out.

“Elias Beecher fooled us all. As a young man he’d gone to a Jesuit seminary and was preparing to become a priest when he raped a young woman. His father had it all hushed up. There was no arrest, no trial. He transferred to a secular college, graduated with honors and went on to law school. So you were right about that. We also traced the nun’s habits to Elias’s office in the Netherlands Antilles. You were right about that, too.”

“His office? I thought they had to be shipped to a church.”

“Well, the order was sent to Our Lady of Sorrows Church at 1212 Fairway Drive. But there is no church at that address. It’s an office building leased to Elias Beecher’s law firm.”

“And the diamond cross, did he buy that for her?”

“No. She bought that for herself.”

So Gil had guessed that one right.

“We were five minutes behind you. On our way to his apartment when you called 911.”

“You were? How come?”

“The prostitute who ran away from him in the hotel had just finished with our artist. I recognized Elias from the sketch right away.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

I nodded, forgetting again that he couldn’t see me, and then said yes.

“Are you?”

“No. Yes.” I offered a weak laugh. “I have no idea.”

“I’d like to see you,” he said.

“No. Not yet.”

“Will you call me?” he asked.

“I can’t figure that out now. Dulcie has an audition tomorrow. She wants me to be there.”

“That’s great.”

“No. It’s all wrong. I don’t know if I can go.”

“Morgan, I’d like to come over and talk to you.”

“No. I’m at Nina’s. I’m tired. I’m confused.”

He didn’t pressure me. He was probably as familiar with someone in shock as I would have been.

“Well, when you are ready, I’m here,” he said in his low, melodious voice.

When I got off the phone, Nina cast me a questioning glance but didn’t ask me about the call. Instead, she made me more tea and talked me into taking a nap. I listened to her, did everything she said. I needed her to make all the decisions for me. I was in no shape to make them for myself.

Later, after the nap and dinner, she asked me about my plans and I told her I thought I’d go home the next day. She didn’t think I was ready. We argued about it, finally coming to an agreement that she’d approve of my going home, as long as I promised to come back at the first sign that I might not be ready.

“And I’ll come with you when you go to Dulcie’s audition tomorrow,” she offered.

I was sitting in her living room, cross-legged on the floor, petting her standard poodle, Madeline, over and over, stroking her silky ears.

“I’m not sure I’m going.”

“She’s counting on you,” Nina said in her most motherly tone.

“No, she’s given up on me,” I said.

“She’s a twelve-year-old kid who has her heart set on being an actress. Right now you are the only one standing in her way.”

“Better for her to hate me than to go out there and start dealing with the brutality of the business. At least I can save her from that.”

Nina sighed.

“But your daughter isn’t another woman you have to save. She’s not Cleo. She’s not your mother. Dulcie isn’t lost.”