The Replacement Child - By Christine Barber Page 0,72
don’t know. After our fight, Melissa wouldn’t tell me. She was afraid I would warn him.” Hammond stared off into space.
“Do you even know if it was a man? Could it have been a boy?”
“Melissa never said, but by the way she was talking I could tell it was an older man. She kept saying things like, ‘He needs to face the music,’ and that sort of thing. I don’t think she would have been talking that way about a twelve-year-old boy.”
“But she knew who it was.” Hammond nodded. “And she planned to confront him?”
“That was the idea. Bring the poor fool to justice.”
Maybe confront him at Oñate Park, give the man a chance to turn himself in? That sounded like something Melissa would do.
Gil got up from the table, wanting to be as far from Hammond as possible. He leaned up against the far wall and folded his arms, forcing Hammond to look up at him.
“Melissa didn’t give you any indication if she had talked to him yet?”
“No. She wouldn’t tell me anything at all.”
“Who are Sandra’s friends at school?”
“I have no earthly idea. Melissa would have known; but I’ve never had Sandra in any of my classes.”
Gil walked out without saying anything more. Hammond might not have killed Melissa Baca, but Gil would make sure that Principal Strunk fired him.
Gil rang the doorbell at the Paines’ house and glanced around the enclosed courtyard that he was standing in. A now-dry pond fed what was usually a tiny stream that twisted through brown flower beds. It was an excessive use of water in the desert. The door was opened by a man in his late thirties or early forties, with dark hair and eyes. He was wearing pressed jeans, loafers, and a crisp blue cotton shirt. Gil introduced himself, and Dr. Michael Paine led him inside. The story-high windows in the living room gave a broad view of the Santa Fe Valley. The leather couch Gil sat on was soft.
“Dr. Paine,” Gil started. “Your daughter, Sandra, is a seventh-grader at Burroway Academy, is that right?”
Dr. Paine said yes and added, “Her teacher was that dead woman, Miss Baca. Is that why you’re here?”
“In a way. I’m just checking into a few things,” Gil said noncommittally.
Dr. Paine seated himself on the couch across from Gil, pulling up his pant leg so as to not lose the crease in his jeans.
“Dr. Paine, has your daughter been in trouble at school lately?” Gil asked.
“I assume you already know she has been or you wouldn’t be here. What did her teachers tell you?” the doctor asked, looking unconcerned.
“I just have reason to believe that she has been …” Gil hesitated; he didn’t want to use the wrong word, “involved in things that may be inappropriate for a girl her age.”
“You can be more candid than that, Officer.”
“Had Melissa Baca called you or your wife recently to express concern about Sandra’s welfare?” It would have been very much like Melissa to call the parents, Gil thought.
“We’ve never spoken to or met Miss Baca.”
Strange, Gil thought. He knew all of Therese and Joy’s teachers.
Gil pulled a picture out of his pocket. He had had Sandra’s face blown up on one of the Polaroids. He wasn’t about to show Paine the actual pictures. Sandra’s father didn’t need to see how fast his daughter had grown up. Gil showed the blowup to Paine. “Is this Sandra?”
Paine didn’t even take the photo and barely glanced at it. “And if it is?”
Gil finally got it—Dr. Paine knew about the photos. Maybe had even seen them. Maybe even taken them?
“Dr. Paine, what is your relationship like with your daughter?”
“Let me save us both a lot of trouble, Officer,” Paine said smoothly. “My wife and I know about the photos, which is where I assume you got that snapshot you’re holding. We don’t approve of Sandra’s actions and are punishing her appropriately for it. We will not be filing any charges against the man who took them, and if you file any charges on her behalf, we will not cooperate.”
“May I ask what the punishment was?”
“No. That is a matter for my family.” The doctor casually rested his arms along the back of the sofa and smiled slightly. “I hope you understand.”
“Who was the man who took them?”
“I have no idea. We didn’t ask her for a name.”
Gil shook his head. Paine seemed completely at ease discussing his daughter’s sexual relationships. He was almost too unconcerned. Gil simply did not understand