PERILS

Chapter Twenty-One

"If you mention the Mann Act one more time," growled Henry, "I'm gonna claim police brutality."

"Just try it," said Officer Darrach. "I can make your dream come true."

"I didn't know the kid was in my van. I did not kidnap him. I did not knowingly transport him over a state line, or anywhere else. The first I knew he existed was when he fell out of the back of the van."

"And your friend, who calls himself the Doctor, how well do you know him?"

"I don't know him," Henry protested. "I only met him a day or two ago. I've lost track of time. Anyway, I just met him. I don't know him at all."

"He's not your lover?"

"What? You watch your mouth! I'm a happily married man!"

"We'll be checking that out. Now, tell us more about this Doctor."

*0*0*0*

"I don't know Henry well," said the Doctor, "but he seems like quite a decent person. He has been very kind to me."

"I bet," retorted Officer McLean. "How kind has he been, exactly?"

"Well, I have been trying to get to New Jersey, and he offered me a ride as far as Richmond. I don't even have money to give him for petrol, I mean gas, and he treated me to lunch and even took me to meet his daughter."

"His daughter has a small child."

"Yes, a little boy."

"Do you like little boys?"

The Doctor was slow to answer. "I know what you're asking me. You're not asking me if I like little boys, the way a man who used to be a little boy does. The way, for example, a father or an uncle or neighbor does. You're asking me if I am a pedophile, and no, I am not. And I am sure that Henry isn't either."

"You're that sure about a man you barely know."

"Yes."

"Why are you so sure?"

"Because," said the Doctor, "I saw his face, looking down at that poor little boy. There was no recognition in his eyes, and he was clearly horrified. That was not the face of a guilty man."

*0*0*0*

"They're both faggots," Forest told Officer Smith. "In my own house. With my son in the house. They were going to do it. God knows what they already did to that poor little boy. You ask my wife about her father, why he left her mother, what kind of a pervert he is."

"He says he's married. We're checking it out."

"Yeah, you should see what he's married to!"

"Did you actually see the two of them, your father-in-law and his friend, the Doctor fellow, do anything? Kiss, for example?"

"No, they're not stupid. But I could tell."

"How could you tell?"

"I can tell."

*0*0*0*

"My father," said Margaret, "wouldn't hurt a fly. He isn't that kind of man."

"Our understanding," said Officer Darrach, "is that he isn't any kind of man at all."

"That's not fair! He can't help who he is. But he's not a rapist, not of children, not of anyone." She got up from the hard wooden chair on which she'd been seated, and paced. "Look, I was angry at him for a long time. He broke my mother's heart. I was so angry. But he really did try. He can only be who he is. Don't you see? He's not a bad man."

"This Doctor… who is he exactly?"

"I don't know," said Margaret, carefully. "I know nothing about him but what I have seen and heard, and I saw him bring that little boy back from the dead. I saw him spend himself on behalf of that child."

"I understand. He loved the child."

"You do not understand. He didn't know that child. All he knew was that there was a child, the child needed help, and he could help, so he did. You didn't see him. I wonder that he is conscious now to answer your questions. He wore himself all out for that child."

*0*0*0*

After some two hours of questioning, Margaret and Forest were allowed to go home; the social worker, Miss MacDonald, had been in charge of both Woody and the older boy, but regarding Woody she was functionally just babysitting and handed him to his parents on their way out. The other boy wouldn't say anything beyond "Don't send me back!" Therefore the social worker had nothing much to share with the police and was waiting for them to share something useful with her.

The police station had all of two cells, but Henry and the Doctor were not held, together or separately, in either cell; they sat, sometimes alone for long periods of time, in separate, brightly lit interrogation rooms, in which, when they were not left to stew, they were aggressively grilled, denied counsel, denied food and drink ("like that boy you kidnapped") searched (in the Doctor's case, this took a while) and (still not formally charged with a crime) bombastically accused of everything from performing lewd acts in front of a toddler to violating the Mann Act. The Doctor inquired often after the boy but was told nothing. After a while he stopped asking, and then he was accused of neglecting the welfare of a child in his care.

"He was not in my care," explained the weary Doctor. "Had he been in my care he would have been all right!"

"You still won't tell us his name."

"I don't know his name. I know nothing about him except that when I found him he was suffering from dehydration. I acted accordingly." He closed his eyes. "I have been asking for a lawyer. I have not changed my mind. I still want a lawyer, please."

"I know a lawyer who will advise you to talk," said Officer McLean. He left the room but came back shortly carrying a sand-filled length of rubber hose, sealed at both ends. The Doctor opened his eyes, then rolled them. "This is your lawyer. You still want him?"

The Doctor knew that no matter what he said, he was going to be denied counsel and probably beaten. He slid off his chair to the filthy floor in a convincing simulation of a faint, then slowed his metabolism to the bare minimum he needed to survive; the coma into which he willingly slipped was no simulation. McLean did deliver a tentative kick but, eliciting no response, gave up and left the Doctor lying where he had fallen. He left the room and returned with Darrach. The two officers stared at their unconscious suspect, then at each other.

"I didn't touch him, honest! I was going to, but he passed out first. You think I scared him to death?"

"You're a scary guy," said Darrach, "but you're not that scary."