The Replacement Child - By Christine Barber Page 0,96

pink lines and green circles.

Gil pulled out his cell phone and said, “I think the state police are going to want to question you in more detail.”

“Are you sure that’s necessary?” Strunk glanced at his watch. “We have dinner plans soon.”

“Officer,” Mrs. Strunk said, copying her husband’s tone, “I believe we have given you enough time. The other police can stop by later. We have our lives to get back to.” She stood up, as if ready to escort him to the door.

“Actually, let’s wait for them,” Gil said.

Ken Strunk wasn’t a good enough actor to look confused. Gil called Pollack, who answered this time. Gil quietly talked into the phone so that the Strunks couldn’t overhear. He told Pollack, “I need you at the principal’s house,” then rattled off the address. Pollack didn’t ask why, only, “How fast do you want us there?”

“Now,” Gil said, before clicking his phone shut. He turned back to the Strunks and said, “Mr. Strunk, have you been on any long trips in your car lately?”

Ken Strunk looked disinterested and exasperated. “I told you we went to Las Cruces.”

“But not in your car. You went in your wife’s car.”

Mrs. Strunk looked bewildered. Ken Strunk answered quietly, “No. I haven’t been anywhere.”

“Just to work and back, no trips to the store or anything?”

Mrs. Strunk answered quickly, “I do all the shopping. He’s only been to work.” She seemed eager to say it, as if it would help.

“You know,” Gil said, “while we’re waiting, let’s get a better look at your car.”

He motioned both of them outside and had Strunk give him the keys. Gil peered into the open trunk, which had been vacuumed. No flecks of blood or a blanket used to wrap a body in. Gil went to the front of the car and reached in to turn on the ignition, careful not to touch anything else. He wished he had on a pair of latex gloves. The odometer lit up on the electronic dashboard. According to the oil-change sticker, Strunk needed to get his oil changed at 39,535 miles. Gil did the math in his head. This meant that on Monday, when he’d gotten the oil changed, his car would have had 36,535 miles on it. The odometer now read 36,765.

“Mr. Strunk, how many miles would you say it is from home to work?”

“About five, one way.”

“So, you drove about thirty miles total this week. You were in Las Cruces since Wednesday night, so your car has just been sitting here since then, is that right?” A state police car pulled up; they must have done ninety miles per hour to get there so quickly. Gil watched Pollack get out of the car as he asked Strunk, “Can you explain then why there’s an extra two hundred miles on your car?”

The exact number of miles it would take to drive to the Taos Gorge Bridge and back.

Maxine Baca heard the police drive away. She was left alone with the counselor, who kept wanting her to talk about the drugs. Instead, Maxine studied her hands, which were folded on the kitchen table, where she sat.

After Melissa was born, Maxine had thought that everything would be all right. She had served her penace. But her Anger Sickness hadn’t gone away. After a year, it was still with her, making her lose her hearing and feel pins and needles in her hands. The doctor said it was an imbalance left over from Melissa’s birth and all the blood Maxine had lost. But Maxine knew that something else was wrong. She saw the curandera in Española again, who made a circle around her three times with red carnations. Maxine went home with a hankerchief full of leaves from an orange tree and slept with them under her pillow. The next day she took the leaves back to the curandera, who told her what was wrong: Daniel was calling to Maxine. Maxine and the curandera spent weeks trying to reach him. Every day they would sit for hours on the floor until Maxine’s legs hurt. She would have to give Melissa a drink of NyQuil to make her sleep so that they could perform the ritual. Finally, after a month, Daniel spoke to them. He told her that he needed his drugs or he would get sick.

The next morning, Maxine asked Ernesto where people sold their drugs. He asked her why she wanted to know, and she told him. He looked at her, but didn’t ask her more