with each other, but I won’t do anything by force, Mr. Beaumont. She has to be willing to come.”
“I understand,” I said.
“But not to worry,” Rachel added with a smile. “I may have a way to sweeten the deal. I learned just a few minutes ago that one of our residents will be vacating her room later on this afternoon. We have a waiting list, of course, but as the director I have some discretion in that regard. Considering everything Naomi has been through and with her child’s well-being hanging in the balance, she may be amenable to coming along if I can offer her an alternative to sleeping in a tent.”
I could barely believe my ears. “Thank you,” I said. “Thank you so much.”
“I think you and Mr. Dale have good cause for a hopeful outcome,” Rachel continued. “According to what you’ve said, Naomi left her baby at a hospital where she could be properly cared for. She didn’t give birth to Athena on the street and drop her into the nearest dumpster. And she gave the hospital her real name and her grandmother’s phone number in Texas. She might have been desperate, but I think she wanted Athena to be found and given a chance.”
I should have had brains enough to just keep quiet at that moment, but I didn’t. “When do you think you’ll be able to go?” I asked.
An amused Reverend Seymour smiled at me. “I’ve met people like you before, Mr. Beaumont. If somebody gives you an inch, you think you’re a ruler.”
“Exactly,” I agreed with a grin. “You’ve got me dead to rights.”
She shook her head, as if in exasperation, and then consulted her watch. “I have a noontime meeting. If I can make room for this to happen later on today, I will.” She picked up my business card. “What’s the best number to reach you?”
“My cell phone,” I told her. “I’ll be waiting to hear.”
Feeling downright triumphant, I didn’t exactly skip when I walked out the front door of the Pike Street Mission which is no longer located on Pike Street. My two fake knees precluded skipping, but I came very close—as close to it as I’ve come in years—because, for the first time, I felt as though Alan Dale and I really were making progress.
Chapter 15
AS I MADE MY WAY FROM THE MISSION TO THE COURTHOUSE, I was practically walking on air. I was tempted to stop long enough to call Alan and give him the news right then, but I didn’t. What if Reverend Seymour wasn’t the kind of miracle worker I hoped she was? What if Naomi refused to leave the encampment? Worst of all, what if I was dead wrong and she wasn’t even there? Nope, it would be better to hold off on saying a word until I saw how things played out.
I’m afraid my dealings with Linda Collins in the County Recorder’s Office the day before had left me with unrealistic expectations about how the world worked. In the County Clerk’s Office, rather than a tattooed, studded, and pink-haired young lady, here I was dealing with a posted notice that told me to take a number and wait. Not a good sign. I watched the people working behind the counter, trying to estimate how long each set of transactions took and which of the several clerks was likely to be available when it was my turn. Naturally, I ended up with a sour-faced old biddy whose idea of customer service was somewhere south of what you find these days in your local branch of the Department of Licensing.
It was no surprise that I drew the woman I’d deemed to be the surliest of the bunch. Her name tag told me she was Katy Lamb. She might have been a “Lamb,” but she wasn’t exactly meek.
“What can I do for you?” she wanted to know. The question was asked with a snarl and in a tone reminiscent of someone asking, “Would you like a punch in the nose?”
“I’m here to find out if someone’s will has been probated,” I told her. “Can you help me?”
“Whose?”
“The name is Agnes Mayfield.”
“Middle name?”
“I don’t know.”
“Date of birth?”
“I don’t know.”
“Date of death?”
“I don’t know.”
This was going sideways in a hurry, probably not unlike Alan’s unsuccessful attempt at filing a missing-persons report on Petey the day before.
The woman behind the counter placed both hands on her hips and frowned up at me. “Exactly what do you know?” she demanded.