Bob and Sabre went to different courtrooms to take care of their respective cases. By eleven o’clock they were called into Department Four for the Murdock detention hearing on the newborn. It didn’t take long. Peggy’s attorney, Russ Jensen, appeared on her behalf. It had been three days since the birth of the baby and Peggy had not yet checked into a drug rehabilitation facility like the social worker had encouraged her to do. She assured everyone she would go to a program soon, leaving the judge unimpressed.
Murdock’s attorney, on the other hand, presented the court with paperwork on all the programs in which his client had been participating. He hadn’t missed a single appointment and continued to test clean. The judge ordered a paternity test for Gaylord and ordered Haley into foster care upon her release from the hospital. He made a few other routine orders, then combined Haley’s case with Alexis’ and Jamie’s jurisdictional hearing for the following week.
Sabre liked appearing in Department Four. She liked the entire staff, the clerk, the court reporter, Judge Cheney and, of course, Mike, the bailiff. Before she left the courtroom, she stopped to talk with Mike to hear the scoop on his daughter’s latest accomplishments.
By a quarter past eleven, Sabre had finished her morning calendar. Since she didn’t have a trial scheduled for the afternoon, she had the rest of the day to work in her office, a rare occasion.
“Sobs, we lunching today?” Bob asked.
“Sure. Just come by my office when you finish your calendar. We’ll go to Pho’s.”
9
Detective Carriage discovered the address Sabre provided for Mattie Sturkey belonged to someone named Jerry Fermer. He had been living there for several months. The resident didn’t know any Sturkeys or anyone named Mattie. Prior to Fermer, the house was inhabited by Gaylord Murdock. Joe checked out the neighborhood in a five-block radius and ran any similar addresses, but he didn’t find anything appearing to house Mattie Sturkey. Detective Carriage decided to go to the school and obtain the address from the school records and perhaps talk to Alexis’ and Mattie’s teacher.
It started to rain just as Detective Carriage pulled into the elementary school parking lot. He had left in a hurry that morning without his umbrella, so he dashed to the school office. Soaking wet by the time he reached the door, he cursed himself under his breath for not being prepared. He took his badge out of his wet pocket and showed it to the secretary. “Good morning, ma’am. I need to speak with a teacher about a couple of students. Their names are Alexis Murdock and Mattie Sturkey. Alexis is no longer enrolled. Mattie may or may not be.”
A big smile crossed the secretary’s face. “I remember Alexis, quite a precocious little girl, but Mattie Sturkey is unfamiliar to me. Let me check to see what rooms they were in.”
“They both had the same teacher, I believe, and Sturkey is spelled S-t-u-r-k-e-y,” Detective Carriage added.
The secretary checked her computer and said, “Alexis’ last teacher was Mrs. Wall, but I can’t find any records on Mattie Sturkey. Are you sure you’re spelling it correctly?”
“Yes, ma’am, turkey with an ‘S’ on the front.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t find that student at all. Perhaps she’s registered under a different name, but there’s nothing under Sturkey. You can ask Alexis’ teacher. She may be able to tell you something.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I will.”
“Mrs. Wall is in Room A-13.” The secretary pointed to a door across the room and continued with the directions. “You go through that door and turn right. When you reach the end of this building, turn right again. You’ll be looking at Building A. The room on the corner is number thirteen. You’ll have overhang most of the way, so you shouldn’t get too wet.” She picked up the phone, glanced at his dripping hair and grinned at the puddle he had created. “I’ll call her room. She’ll be expecting you.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
In Room A-13, Detective Carriage saw a slightly overweight, maternal-looking woman with salt-and-pepper hair and a kind face standing near the teacher’s desk. She wore a green cotton dress, hitting her about mid-calf, and thick, rubber-soled shoes serving more for comfort than style. She looked like the kind of teacher every fourth grader would love to have.
“Good morning, ma’am. Are you Mrs. Wall?”
“Yes, I am. You must be Detective Carriage. What can I do for you?”
“I need some information on a student you used to have in your classroom and her best friend. The student is Alexis Murdock, and her friend is Mattie Sturkey. Do you remember them?”
She smiled as she responded, “Alexis was only in my classroom for a couple of months, but I remember her well. She’s not the kind of student you forget. Have you seen her? Is she okay?”
“No, I haven’t seen her, but I have it on good authority she’s fine, ma’am. No need to worry. Can you tell me about her?”
“Alexis was the kind of student that makes me love to teach. So inquisitive, she always had to know why and how things worked. Very kind and loving, as well. She enjoyed helping the other students, and was always so well mannered.”
“What about her friend, Mattie? Is she still in your class?”
“I don’t have a student named Mattie. I never have that I can recall.”
“Well, this little girl was apparently Alexis’ best friend. She sat right next to her in class.”
“Alexis sat right here.” She walked over to a desk in the front row nearest the window and touched it. “There were boys sitting nearest her. As for her best friend, she didn’t seem to have one. Everyone liked Alexis, but no one really got close to her.”
“Mattie was deaf. Did you have any deaf students in your class?”
“No, I haven’t had a child with a hearing problem for a couple of years now. But Alexis did work with the speech teacher every week. You may want to talk to her.”
“Did Alexis have a speech problem?”
“No, she just volunteered to work with her, and since she was such a good student, I let her leave the classroom several times a week to help with the other students.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I appreciate all your help.”
“My pleasure. I hope everything is going to be okay for Alexis. If you see her, please tell her hello.”
“I’ll do that, ma’am. Where’s the speech teacher’s classroom?”
“It’s two buildings over.” She pointed towards a building that would take him even further away from the parking lot in the torrential rain. “Just a second – let me call to see if Ms. Bilby is in her room before you walk all the way over there.”
“One more thing.” Detective Carriage stopped and turned. “Did you ever meet her father?”
“Yes, a couple of times, actually. He came to our first parent-teacher conference — a very pleasant man and extremely interested in her progress. He appeared to be very good about follow-up with homework and assigned projects. Mr. Murdock went on a field trip with us once, and he proved to be a tremendous help, very patient with the children. A little boy in his group had ADD and Mr. Murdock was gentle, yet firm, with him. The little boy adored him and responded well. It made the trip much more pleasant for all of us. Other than that, I couldn’t tell you much. I know the family, of course. You can’t live in Atlanta and not know the Murdocks.”
“What about his girlfriend, Peggy Smith? Did you meet her?”
“No. I don’t recall Mr. Murdock or Alexis ever mentioning a girlfriend.”
“Thanks again, ma’am.” He followed her directions to see the speech teacher, hitting only one section where he had to sprint to avoid the downpour.
Ms. Bilby was waiting for him when he arrived. “Hi Detective, how can I help you?”
“I need some information on Alexis Murdock. Do you remember her?”
“Very well. She helped me a lot. She would come to my class a couple of times a week to work with the students. Alexis was especially interested in helping the ones with hearing problems.”
“Do you know a student named Mattie Sturkey?”
“I have a first grader named Mattie. In fact, Alexis tutored her more than the others. But her last name isn’t Sturkey.”
“Could it be a family name or stepparent’s name do you think? I know sometimes these children use a different name at home than they use at school.”
“If it is, there’s no indication of it in her file. We’re doing some more testing on her next week, so I just went through her file and the name ‘Sturkey’ isn’t in there anywhere. I pay very close attention to the family history because I’m always looking for anyone who may be able to communicate with the student. It’s an odd name, so I’m sure I would’ve noticed it.”
“Do you know if Alexis spent time with Mattie outside your classroom?”
“That’s not likely, since Mattie is bused in from another school to work with me. They don’t have the resources in her school. About seventy percent of my students come from other schools.”
Detective Carriage walked over to a large, pink playhouse with lots of pink accessories. “You have quite a collection here,” he commented.
“Yes, the little girls love the Barbie’s. Mattie and Alexis spent a lot of time there. It provided a comfortable environment for both of them. They worked hard at communicating with the dolls.”
“Is there anything else you can tell me about Alexis?”
“Well, I don’t want to diminish her good intentions, because she really liked helping the students, but I think her primary goal was to learn sign language. She’d spend recesses and lunches with me, sometimes helping me with things in the classroom. In exchange, I would teach her something new each time. She learned a lot from Mattie, too. Although she never said, I think she knew someone else with a hearing problem.”
“Maybe she just wanted to learn to sign so she could talk to Mattie and the other students,” he said.
“I don’t think so because when she came to me to help out, she wanted to make sure I knew how to sign before she volunteered. We have a lot of students with speech problems, the majority of which are not due to lack of hearing, but Alexis only wanted to work with the hearing impaired. I’m quite certain she knew someone who was deaf.”
“Thank you, ma’am, you’ve been a big help.” He handed her his card. “If you come up with anything else you think I should know, please give me a call.”
Detective Carriage hurried to his car through the pouring rain. He had cover for most of the way, but as he approached the parking lot he had about sixty feet without protection. By the time he reached his car, he looked like he’d been for a swim. He drove back to the station to dry out, assess the information he had gathered, and call Attorney Brown to share it with her.
10
A frazzled Elaine handed Sabre a stack of pink slips as she walked into her office. “It’s not even noon yet. What’s going on?” Sabre asked, as she thumbed through the slips. “There must be forty messages here.”
“Forty-two to be exact,” Elaine replied. “Twenty-two are from Crazy Carla; that’s five more than she’s ever done before, and she did it all before noon. There are seven more from the facility where Carla lives, three from Detective Carriage, and the rest are from people who seem to have something else to do with their time besides call you. I’d suggest you call and check on Carla first. She seems to be having a pretty bad day. They want you to come over there and see if you can calm her down.”
“Thanks, Elaine. I’ll call right away. Did Detective Carriage leave any details?”
“No, he just thought you’d be very interested to hear what he found out.”
Sabre called Carla, but no one could get her to take the phone. Phyliss, Carla’s caseworker, pleaded with Sabre to come over and talk to her in person.
Sabre called Bob’s cell. When he saw her name come up on his caller ID he answered, “Hi, honey. What’s up?”
“I was trying to catch you before you left court so you didn’t drive over here. I won’t be able to do lunch. I need to go see Carla. She’s been flipping out all morning and they need my help with her.”
“Too late. I’m just around the corner from your office, but I don’t need to eat. Would you like some company?”
“I’d love it. Thanks.”
“I’m pulling up at your back door right now. I’ll even drive. Come on out.” Bob took a final drag off his cigarette and put it out before Sabre got in the car.
“I really appreciate your going with me.” Sabre sighed as she got into Bob’s car. “You’ve met Carla, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, I went with you about a year ago when you dropped something off for her; I can’t remember what. She acted pretty normal that day, though.”
“Carla has been in this assisted living facility for about two years now. She doesn’t qualify for hospital care, and physically she’s very capable of caring for herself. Most of the time she functions just fine, but something set her off this morning and no one can figure out what. You know, the majority of the time she acts just fine, but sometimes reality is a stretch for her. Her therapist says she’s improving.”
“I don’t put much stock in therapy, as you well know. If I ever end up in the loony bin, make sure they pump me full of good drugs so at least I think I’m happy,” Bob said.
Phyliss met Sabre at the door. Together they walked to Carla’s room. “Carla had breakfast this morning in the dining area and everything seemed okay. In fact, she seemed to be having a better than usual day. She was sitting at a table in the back of the room. All of a sudden she jumped up, knocked over her water glass, and ran across the room. She bumped into a table and almost fell down. People scurried out of her way, but she ran into a woman and her tray went flying. Carla darted out the door and looked up and down the hallway. She flung doors open and looked in rooms as if she were trying to find someone. Then she went back to her room and started searching through her drawers.” Phyliss stopped speaking just before they reached Carla’s room. “Here we are,” she said. Before she opened the door she added, “The doctor gave her a sedative, so she’s calmer now.”