Rachel Alexander 09 - Without a Word

and Fridays from one to four.
    I took the stairs, a wide, long stoop up to the front door, which led to the parlor floor of the town house, just as they did in the smaller version I took care of on West Tenth Street. I had a penlight in my pocket but found I didn’t need it. The light hanging over the doorway, brass and etched glass, lit the name on the bell. There was just one. Apparently Dr. Willet lived in the rest of the town house and Drs. Bechman and Edelstein commuted. I made a note to check under Bechman again in the phone book to see if there was a residential listing as well.
    Standing at the top of the stairs I reminded myself that whatever Dr. Bechman had done, with or without Botox, it was unlikely he deserved his early demise. I had to be sure that in my zeal to get Madison off the hook, inspired not by my belief in her innocence but by the fact that the likelihood of finding her mother was so slim, I did not fall into the trap of blaming the victim. I didn’t plan to do anything with whatever I discovered unless I was sure it impacted on the case. I was just, for the moment, doing what my job had taught me to do, following every thread, no matter where it went, because you never knew what it could reveal.
    I dialed Leon’s number next He answered on the first ring.
    “Are you planning to be with Madison every second of the time until this case is resolved one way or another?”
    “Rachel?”
    “Sorry. I should remember to say hello first.”
    I expected Leon to laugh at that but he didn’t. I doubted he’d had much to laugh about for a very long time.
    “What are you talking about?” he asked. Then he whispered, “Do you think it’s odd that I don’t want her on her own now, Rachel? After all. .His voice trailed off, but I didn’t need Leon to finish his last sentence.
    “No, it’s not odd.”
    “I don’t understand. What is it you want?”
    “I was thinking I’d like to spend some time with Madison, just the two of us. Would that be possible?”
    There was silence on the phone while Leon processed my request.
    “Why? She’s not going to tell you anything,” he whispered. “She’s not going to talk to you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
    I looked at my watch wondering if Madison was still up and if that was why he was whispering.
    “Even if you had a court order saying that you had to keep her with you, you’d probably still be able to occasionally hire a responsible person to take care of her when you weren’t able to.”
    “There is no court order. She hasn’t been arrested.”
    I ignored his comment. “Hire me,” I said. “I’m responsible and my rates can’t be beat.”
    Silence.
    “Don’t tell me you couldn’t use a break, Leon? I’m offering you a break.”
    “What’s this all about?”
    “You’re going to have to trust me on this, Leon,” I told him. Then the silence was coming from my end. “I’m not sure what it’s all about but I think that in order to do the job you hired me to do . . .“ Stopping in mid-sentence, sounding more like Leon than myself. “Here’s what I’m doing, Leon. I’m exploring every possible connection to Sally in the hope that someone or something will eventually lead me to her. That’s all I can do after all these years and that’s what spending time with Madison is all about.”
    “But Madison...“ He stopped. I figured I knew what he was going to tell me but I didn’t say so. “She won’t talk to you, Rachel. And even if she did, she was only seven when Sally left. I don’t know how much she remembers or if any of it would be useful to you. And she’s difficult. You won’t find it easy being with her. You can see that already, can’t you?”
    “I don’t have a lot of options, Leon.”
    I heard him blowing his nose. Then coughing. “Okay,” he said. “You do what you feel is best. I’ll explain it to Madison.”
    “No, don’t do that,” I said much too quickly.
    “Don’t explain it?”
    “What would you say?”
    “I’d say that...” He stopped, unable to answer my question. “What would I say?”
    “Does Madison understand the arrangement and the reason for it?”
    “I believe so.”
    “So she knows you’re not willing to leave her alone right now?”
    “Yes.”
    “Fine, then tell her that you have to do something on Saturday morning and you can’t take her with you. Tell her that I’m going to stay with her.” There was another silence on the other end of the phone. I