Part 7 (1/2)

Tess folded up her wallet and put it back in her bag. Then she placed her hands on the scarred wooden surface of the table. ”I haven't been. I don't think,” she said. ”At least, not so far.”

”So, enough fatherly advice. You wanted to see me. What can I do for you?”

”Well, I'm sure you heard about the announcement yesterday. The DNA results.”

Aldous Fuller's eyes were weary behind his gla.s.ses. ”I know this is tough on you, Tess. h.e.l.l, it's been tough on me. These reporters calling. It gets to you.”

Tess nodded. ”I couldn't sleep last night. All these years I've been so sure...then I ran into someone who told me something that shook me up. I have to admit it. This...person said that experiments had proved eyewitnesses were wrong about fifty percent of the time. Did you know that?”

Aldous Fuller nodded. ”Yeah, I've been hearing a lot of those theories.”

”I keep thinking, what if that's what happened. What if I was wrong?”

”Do you want me to tell you what I remember?” asked Aldous.

”Please,” said Tess.

Fuller inhaled deeply. ”Well, when we arrived at your campsite that night, I asked you to describe for me the man who took your sister. You remember that?”

Tess shook her head. ”To be honest, not really. It's all a jumble.”

”Well, I remember. You never hesitated. You gave me an absolutely dead-on description of the guy. Every detail. Here. I took my personal files home with me when I retired. After Mary Anne told me that you were coming by this morning, I pulled these out for you to see. These are the notes I made based on what you told me. Have a look.”

Tess reached across the table and took the notebook. The entry read, ”Tessa DeGraff, the victim's sister, 9yrs old: white man, filthy dirty. b.u.mps and scars on his skin. Gla.s.ses. Black rims. A greasy black ponytail. A broken front tooth.” Beneath his notes, Chief Fuller had written ”LAZARUS ABBOTT!!!”

Tess looked up from the notebook. ”I didn't know his name at that time,” she said.

”I wrote that,” Aldous said. ”While you were describing him, Lazarus came instantly to my mind. It was as if I had asked you to describe Lazarus Abbott for me. Plus he was a known pervert-a Peeping Tom and a flasher. His mother protected him. Always bailing him out. That's the only reason he wasn't in jail that night.”

”So you were sure right away, too?” she asked hopefully.

”d.a.m.n right,” said the chief.

And then Tess was struck by a sobering thought. ”So you never really...considered anybody else?”

”Did I?” asked the chief. ”No. Not really. We just went out and picked up Lazarus Abbott, and brought him into the station. Do you remember that? You started screaming when you saw him.”

Tessa nodded slowly. ”Yes. That I do remember.” She remembered it vividly now-how terrifying it had been to see him walk in-the man she had seen in the tent.

The chief shrugged. ”His only alibi was his mother, whom I gave no credence to. His stepfather didn't offer any corroboration. Lazarus had a record. A history of public indecency. We had no DNA testing at the time. Antigen testing was what we used. When we found Phoebe, the blood types were a match. The rapist was a secretor, type A, just like Lazarus. That wrapped the whole thing up with a bow. And you may have been only nine years old, but no DA ever had a better witness than you. The jury saw it the same way we all did. There was no one else it could be.”

Tess sighed. ”But the DNA says that I couldn't have been right. My brother thought maybe they made a mistake with these tests at the lab.”

Aldous Fuller shook his head. ”They were pretty thorough in their procedures. Rusty Bosworth told me he had to sign about a hundred doc.u.ments when they came to get the old evidence. They checked and rechecked, just to be sure there was no possibility of error.”

”So where does that leave us?”

”I don't know. But I do know this. They're going to try and make you recant, Tess. Rusty Bosworth and his bunch need someone to blame. They need you to say that I-or somebody else-put this idea in your head about Lazarus Abbott. That you were just a gullible child and I was willing to pin this crime on an innocent man, just to have a suspect.” He wagged a bony finger at her. ”But you know and I know, that's not the way it was.”

Tess suddenly realized that Chief Fuller was worried about his own reputation. His recollections had been consoling to her, but now she felt a sort of defensive chill. ”I'd never say that,” she said stiffly. ”Because it wasn't true.”

Aldous Fuller looked relieved. ”No, it wasn't.”

For a moment there was an awkward silence between them. Tess couldn't help thinking he wanted to distance himself from this horrible mistake and make sure the blame fell on her shoulders.

”Well, okay,” she said coolly, standing up. ”I should go.”

Aldous Fuller reached out and took her hand in his. His palms and fingers were cold and Tess s.h.i.+vered involuntarily. ”Look here, Tess. It does seem as if there was some mistake. Perhaps the killer was someone who strongly resembled Lazarus Abbott.”

”Resembled?” Tess echoed the word.

”But neither one of us has anything to be ashamed of. I mean, I did the best I could with what you told me. And you told the truth as best you could.”

”I did tell the truth,” she insisted.

Chief Fuller dropped her hand. ”In any case, these perverts rarely stop with one,” said the chief. ”I spoke to Rusty this morning. Those DNA results have already been sent to the FBI's CODIS database.”

”What's that?” Tess asked.

”It's a...a national DNA index system of people who have been arrested or convicted of a s.e.x or other violent crime. They may find Phoebe's killer rotting away in some prison.”

”And if they do,” Tess said, ”that means the death of Lazarus Abbott will be on my conscience forever.”

She expected him to agree and understand, to say that it would be on his conscience, too. Instead, he shook his head. ”That would be hard, Tess,” he said.

CHAPTER 8.

Reporters and cameramen shouted her name as Tess scurried, head down, back inside the inn and slammed the door behind her. She leaned against it, her eyes closed, and willed her frantically beating heart to slow down. The visit to Chief Fuller had not made her feel better. If anything, she felt worse.

”Ma, you're back,” said Erny.

Tess opened her eyes and looked at her son smiling broadly at her, his teeth large and white in his thin, brown face. Healthy and happy. Rescued from a terrible life in the foster system. She reminded herself that she was a good person. No matter what anyone thought. ”I'm back,” she said.

”Can you take me down to Blockbuster?” he asked.

Tess's spirit seemed to shrivel at the thought of going out again, of being seen. ”Can't you ride your bike?” she asked.

Erny frowned and looked out the door lights at the clamoring reporters camped outside. ”I guess...” he said.

Tess saw the reluctance in his eyes. It was her fault that they were out there. Her fault that they had to run the gauntlet to get out of the house. ”All right,” she said. ”I'll take you. Just give me a minute.”

The phone in the foyer began to ring. ”Go get your jacket,” she said. ”Don't forget that Blockbuster gift card you got from Aunt Julie and Uncle Jake.”

”I won't,” he said eagerly, rus.h.i.+ng off to find his sweats.h.i.+rt. Tess picked up the receiver. ”Stone Hill Inn,” she said. ”How can I help you?”

”Liar,” an insinuating male voice whispered. ”Killer.”