small office was windowless and smelled of air freshener masking some dull, thick, odor that Kiernan didn’t want to identify. Beth perched on the other end of the sofa. Despite the warmth of the room she was shivering.
“So, investigator, how did Austin die?”
“This is not going to be an easy thing to hear. Mr. Vanderhooven had no business barging in on you and then not giving you the whole truth.” Watching for Beth Landau’s reaction, she told her the condition in which Bishop Dowd had found the body. “You can see the sexual implications, and why I have to ask you about your relationship with Austin.”
Beth dug her fingers into her denim-covered thighs. She inhaled deeply, eyes closed, as if pulling together all her control. “Like I told his father, if he had any sexual activities at all, they weren’t with me. And what you’re telling me about him …” Her eyes flicked shut again and she seemed to shrink back into the sofa. “I just can’t believe Austin would do anything so … so seedy .”
“Beth, I don’t think he did. That’s why I’m working on this case. That’s why I have to ask you to be totally frank with me.” It was a moment before Beth offered the slightest of nods. “Okay, you dated him in high school, right? And in college. Even after he entered the seminary you still wrote to him. And then you followed him to Phoenix.”
Beth’s eyes snapped open. “Followed him! Who told you that? Philip? Or was it Grace? According to her, I led Austin kicking and screaming to a bed of perversions. According to Grace, I created the poor so her son would have a police record.”
Kiernan laughed. “And the bearer’s-bond caper? I suppose that was your fault, too.”
“Of course,” Beth said, her voice only slightly calmer. “So what if we were both sixteen, and I’d never heard of a bearer’s bond. In Grace’s eyes, it was I who masterminded the escape to Mexico, I who chose a public bus from Tijuana with no shocks and metal seats that left our butts black-and-blue for weeks, I who found the Casa de la Playa, a ‘hotel’ that had more insects than a junior-high science project.”
Kiernan leaned into the corner of the old sofa and pulled an ankle up on her knee. In the alley out back a truck rattled by; the vibrations reverberated through the stiff plastic on the sofa. “Still, that trip must have been great fun for a pair of sixteen-year-olds. I’m sure the hotel room didn’t look as bad then as it does in retrospect. Nothing does when you’re a teenager. When I think of the places I stayed in college …” She shook her head.
Beth’s eyes softened. She shivered again but seemed not to notice. The shock was taking its toll on her. As Beth spoke Kiernan sensed that she was talking mostly to herself. “That room couldn’t have been more than eight by eight. There was sand and dirt all over the floor, and so much on the bed that it crackled every time we made a move. And the glasses—afterwards I saw a kid washing them out in water that was brown. But I suppose either the alcohol or being sixteen protected us.” She leaned back against the arm of the sofa. “It’s hard to beat that for romance and adventure, when you’re sixteen. There we were, on the lam, lying together in a real hotel bed.”
She laughed. “First thing we had a fight. I can’t remember what it was about. When we made up we celebrated by drinking a Mexican liqueur called Culiacán. Culiacán became our peace offering after that—every time we fought and made up. We thought we were such hot stuff then, with our loot, and our hotel and our own bottle. After we drank it we made love, and I had to keep my eyes open the whole time so I didn’t throw up.” She laughed again, but with a hollowness this time. “And then Philip found us. Naked. No house rules about announcing guests at Casa de la Playa. Thank God it was Philip and not Grace. Once he realized the bearer’s bonds were intact he wasn’t
“So, investigator, how did Austin die?”
“This is not going to be an easy thing to hear. Mr. Vanderhooven had no business barging in on you and then not giving you the whole truth.” Watching for Beth Landau’s reaction, she told her the condition in which Bishop Dowd had found the body. “You can see the sexual implications, and why I have to ask you about your relationship with Austin.”
Beth dug her fingers into her denim-covered thighs. She inhaled deeply, eyes closed, as if pulling together all her control. “Like I told his father, if he had any sexual activities at all, they weren’t with me. And what you’re telling me about him …” Her eyes flicked shut again and she seemed to shrink back into the sofa. “I just can’t believe Austin would do anything so … so seedy .”
“Beth, I don’t think he did. That’s why I’m working on this case. That’s why I have to ask you to be totally frank with me.” It was a moment before Beth offered the slightest of nods. “Okay, you dated him in high school, right? And in college. Even after he entered the seminary you still wrote to him. And then you followed him to Phoenix.”
Beth’s eyes snapped open. “Followed him! Who told you that? Philip? Or was it Grace? According to her, I led Austin kicking and screaming to a bed of perversions. According to Grace, I created the poor so her son would have a police record.”
Kiernan laughed. “And the bearer’s-bond caper? I suppose that was your fault, too.”
“Of course,” Beth said, her voice only slightly calmer. “So what if we were both sixteen, and I’d never heard of a bearer’s bond. In Grace’s eyes, it was I who masterminded the escape to Mexico, I who chose a public bus from Tijuana with no shocks and metal seats that left our butts black-and-blue for weeks, I who found the Casa de la Playa, a ‘hotel’ that had more insects than a junior-high science project.”
Kiernan leaned into the corner of the old sofa and pulled an ankle up on her knee. In the alley out back a truck rattled by; the vibrations reverberated through the stiff plastic on the sofa. “Still, that trip must have been great fun for a pair of sixteen-year-olds. I’m sure the hotel room didn’t look as bad then as it does in retrospect. Nothing does when you’re a teenager. When I think of the places I stayed in college …” She shook her head.
Beth’s eyes softened. She shivered again but seemed not to notice. The shock was taking its toll on her. As Beth spoke Kiernan sensed that she was talking mostly to herself. “That room couldn’t have been more than eight by eight. There was sand and dirt all over the floor, and so much on the bed that it crackled every time we made a move. And the glasses—afterwards I saw a kid washing them out in water that was brown. But I suppose either the alcohol or being sixteen protected us.” She leaned back against the arm of the sofa. “It’s hard to beat that for romance and adventure, when you’re sixteen. There we were, on the lam, lying together in a real hotel bed.”
She laughed. “First thing we had a fight. I can’t remember what it was about. When we made up we celebrated by drinking a Mexican liqueur called Culiacán. Culiacán became our peace offering after that—every time we fought and made up. We thought we were such hot stuff then, with our loot, and our hotel and our own bottle. After we drank it we made love, and I had to keep my eyes open the whole time so I didn’t throw up.” She laughed again, but with a hollowness this time. “And then Philip found us. Naked. No house rules about announcing guests at Casa de la Playa. Thank God it was Philip and not Grace. Once he realized the bearer’s bonds were intact he wasn’t
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