Under the Dog Star: A Rachel Goddard Mystery #4 (Rachel Goddard Mysteries) by Sandra Parshall
Authors: Sandra Parshall
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adopt?”
Her already stiff posture seemed to freeze solid. “They were donating their services at a clinic in Seoul and also providing medical care at an orphanage.”
“The one where you were being taken care of?”
The little derisive smile twisted her lips again. “I was living there. Whether I was being taken care of is another question. I don’t remember it, but I’ve been told about it.”
“So they adopted you, and you’re the second oldest child. You were a Hall before any of the others, except Ethan. Why don’t you feel like they’re your family?”
She rose abruptly, clutching her handbag to her side, and for a second Tom thought she was going to walk out. But she moved to the window and stood there with the mellow autumn sun falling across her face. Without looking at Tom, she said, “I’m fond of my mother. We have more in common than you might imagine. Did you know that she grew up in foster homes? That she doesn’t know anyone in her birth family?”
“No,” Tom said. “I’d never heard that.” Maybe it explained why the Halls adopted three kids.
“I admired my adoptive father,” Soo Jin went on. “And he was proud of the way I’ve turned out. He never let me forget where I came from and how different my life would be if I hadn’t been adopted.”
“Jesus. Most kids would have grown up hating him for that.”
She turned to face Tom. “You don’t understand. He wanted me—he wanted all of us—to appreciate how privileged we are, but he didn’t want us to be lazy and take it for granted that we could have anything we wanted.” She paused. “I admired his work ethic. He ran the hospital efficiently and according to his own standards.”
Tom thought that was a strange thing for a kid to find admirable in her dad. “My mother worked there. She was the nursing supervisor.”
Curiosity brought a subtle animation to Soo Jin’s rigid features. “Did she enjoy working for him?”
Tom’s mother had thought Hall was a son of a bitch. He ignored her question and asked, “What happens to the hospital now?”
“It’s held in trust. Mother will administer the trust. And my father’s personal will leaves everything to my mother. There’s no huge profit for any of us in our father’s death, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“Good to know,” Tom said. “To get back to Beth, do you think she would protect Pete Rasey, even if he was responsible for her father’s death? Tell me—” He paused. “Do you think Beth is capable of being personally involved?”
Soo Jin received the question with no show of surprise. With her head tilted and a slight frown between her eyes, she seemed to consider the possibility of Beth’s complicity in the crime. When she snapped her attention back to Tom, she said, “Yes. It’s possible. I believe Pete Rasey could talk her into it. Beth hasn’t always been troublesome—that started when she became involved with Pete. Until then, she was always the good girl, who did what she was told. And she certainly benefited by comparison with David. He’s been such a headache that he made Beth seem angelic.”
David, the mixed race boy, was also adopted, Tom reminded himself. “What’s his problem?”
“His problem is his identity.” Soo Jin returned to her chair but sat on the edge of the seat, clutching her purse with both hands, as if she might leap up again at any second. “Our parents adopted David when he was eight. He’s never been under the illusion that he’s their child, in any sense. Marcy was very small when they were adopted, and I’m not sure she remembers their real parents. She doesn’t exactly share her thoughts and feelings. I’ve sometimes wondered if the girl is mildly autistic. It drives our mother to distraction sometimes. Did you know that Marcy was born addicted to meth?”
“Yeah, I heard that.” Tom’s mother had told him the story of the infant’s harrowing first weeks of life in the hospital as she
Her already stiff posture seemed to freeze solid. “They were donating their services at a clinic in Seoul and also providing medical care at an orphanage.”
“The one where you were being taken care of?”
The little derisive smile twisted her lips again. “I was living there. Whether I was being taken care of is another question. I don’t remember it, but I’ve been told about it.”
“So they adopted you, and you’re the second oldest child. You were a Hall before any of the others, except Ethan. Why don’t you feel like they’re your family?”
She rose abruptly, clutching her handbag to her side, and for a second Tom thought she was going to walk out. But she moved to the window and stood there with the mellow autumn sun falling across her face. Without looking at Tom, she said, “I’m fond of my mother. We have more in common than you might imagine. Did you know that she grew up in foster homes? That she doesn’t know anyone in her birth family?”
“No,” Tom said. “I’d never heard that.” Maybe it explained why the Halls adopted three kids.
“I admired my adoptive father,” Soo Jin went on. “And he was proud of the way I’ve turned out. He never let me forget where I came from and how different my life would be if I hadn’t been adopted.”
“Jesus. Most kids would have grown up hating him for that.”
She turned to face Tom. “You don’t understand. He wanted me—he wanted all of us—to appreciate how privileged we are, but he didn’t want us to be lazy and take it for granted that we could have anything we wanted.” She paused. “I admired his work ethic. He ran the hospital efficiently and according to his own standards.”
Tom thought that was a strange thing for a kid to find admirable in her dad. “My mother worked there. She was the nursing supervisor.”
Curiosity brought a subtle animation to Soo Jin’s rigid features. “Did she enjoy working for him?”
Tom’s mother had thought Hall was a son of a bitch. He ignored her question and asked, “What happens to the hospital now?”
“It’s held in trust. Mother will administer the trust. And my father’s personal will leaves everything to my mother. There’s no huge profit for any of us in our father’s death, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“Good to know,” Tom said. “To get back to Beth, do you think she would protect Pete Rasey, even if he was responsible for her father’s death? Tell me—” He paused. “Do you think Beth is capable of being personally involved?”
Soo Jin received the question with no show of surprise. With her head tilted and a slight frown between her eyes, she seemed to consider the possibility of Beth’s complicity in the crime. When she snapped her attention back to Tom, she said, “Yes. It’s possible. I believe Pete Rasey could talk her into it. Beth hasn’t always been troublesome—that started when she became involved with Pete. Until then, she was always the good girl, who did what she was told. And she certainly benefited by comparison with David. He’s been such a headache that he made Beth seem angelic.”
David, the mixed race boy, was also adopted, Tom reminded himself. “What’s his problem?”
“His problem is his identity.” Soo Jin returned to her chair but sat on the edge of the seat, clutching her purse with both hands, as if she might leap up again at any second. “Our parents adopted David when he was eight. He’s never been under the illusion that he’s their child, in any sense. Marcy was very small when they were adopted, and I’m not sure she remembers their real parents. She doesn’t exactly share her thoughts and feelings. I’ve sometimes wondered if the girl is mildly autistic. It drives our mother to distraction sometimes. Did you know that Marcy was born addicted to meth?”
“Yeah, I heard that.” Tom’s mother had told him the story of the infant’s harrowing first weeks of life in the hospital as she
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