Angel Food and Devil Dogs by Liz Bradbury Page B

at this, maybe a psychologist could explain better. You know, I don't get a lot of this stuff about depression..." he laughed, "I mean, if somebody came to me and said they're tired all the time and had no energy, I'd tell 'em, lay down and take a nap. Not go spend a year in therapy! I guess that's politically incorrect to say. People can take charge of their own lives if they want to, people have free will... but they have to want to. Carl didn't seem to want to. I think that kind of a college professor can be a bad influence on students. Students can be easily influenced."
    I nodded, "Yes they can. Uh... did you ever get the feeling Carl Rasmus would kill himself?"
    "Between you and me, Carl always seemed unstable. I'd known him forever and he'd done some darn abnormal things... I mean even for a blind kid," said Getty candidly.
    "What?"
    "Huh?"
    "What? What did he do as a kid that was abnormal?"
    "Oh," Getty ran his fingers through his hair, thinking back. It took him awhile to start talking again.
    "Yeah, well, OK, how can I say this... when Carl was a kid he did bad things and other kids would join in with him. He was always doing that. A what-a-ya-call-it... instigator. He got thrown out of school for it," said Getty.
    "Carl was thrown out of school? High school?" I said with surprise.
    "Yeah, that's what I heard."
    "Do you know what high school that was?"
    "Uh... Hadesville High, I guess."
    "So then what happened to him? Did he go to another school?"
    "Well, I kinda lost track and we moved here about that time..."
    I made some notes to check into this.
    Getty went on, "Irregardless of his past though, Carl made it into a good college and then, you know, did well in college. He got advanced degrees. He got the job here..."
    "But then he killed himself..."
    "Yeah, that was a shame," said Getty unable to keep emotion out of the last words.
    "Do you remember where you were when you heard Carl had killed himself?"
    "Huh? Oh, yeah... I spent the day at the football field. They were bringing a bunch of high school kids in for try-outs. I always sit up high in the bleachers and watch that. It's great to see what the new kids can do... wait a minute... are you asking this... to see if I had some kind of alibi or something?" he said with agitation. "I think you're off the track. Carl's note... it was suicide. You know about that, right?"
    I nodded. "Dr. Getty, I'm asking everybody where they were that day. It's nothing personal. About the note, what do you think about it?"
    "I just read it, yesterday... I guess when a person thinks that way, then they must be pretty depressed. I wish he would have talked to me... I could have talked him out of the whole thing, if he'd just listened."
    ∞ ∞ ∞
    Getty didn't have much more to say. The wind and snow had picked up as I trekked the two blocks to The President's Mansion, a freestanding 1890 Victorian with about twenty rooms that were mostly used for entertaining.
    Through the window at the side of the door, I could see Max Bouchet coming past a grand staircase in stocking feet and padding over the polished oak floors to open the door himself. He ushered me into his office, which was to the right of the foyer. Logs were glowing in a fieldstone fireplace. I stood in front of it to counter the outdoor chill.
    Over the fireplace was a very old portrait of one of Irwin's first Presidents. According to a small bronze plaque, it was done by one of the Peale family. I was hoping for Angelica, but it turned out to be by the father, Charles Wilson Peale.
    There was another guy in the room. Bouchet did introductions.
    "This is Captain Harry Dearborne. Harry this is Maggie Gale, I've hired her to help investigate what is happening..." Bouchet gestured with his arm to indicate all that had happened over the last few weeks. Dearborne raised an eyebrow at my involvement. He shook my hand anyway.
    "Harry is leading the State Investigation Team," rumbled Bouchet formally. "Harry was sent by the