Jeannie had planned to take Lisa to help her interview Dennis Pinker. "Do you feel up to it?"
"Yes, I really want to go on living a normal life. I'm, not sick, I don't need to convalesce."
"Dennis Pinker will probably be Steve Logan's double."
"I know. I can handle it."
"If you're sure."
"I'll call you early."
"Okay. Good night."
Jeannie sat down heavily. Could Steven's engaging nature be no more than a mask? I must be a bad judge of character if that's so, she thought. And maybe a bad scientist too: perhaps all identical twins will turn out to be identically criminal. She sighed.
Her own criminal ancestry sat beside her. "That professor is a nice-looking guy, but he must be older than me!" he said. "You having a thing with him, or what?"
Jeannie wrinkled her nose. "The bathroom's through there, Daddy," she said.
Chapter 13
STEVE WAS BACK IN THE INTERROGATION ROOM WITH THE yellow walls. The same two cigarette butts were still in the ashtray. The room had not changed, but he had. Three hours ago he had been a law-abiding citizen, innocent of any crime worse than driving at sixty in a fifty-five zone. Now he was a rapist, arrested and identified by the victim and accused. He was in the justice machine, on the conveyor. He was a criminal. No matter how often he reminded himself that he had done nothing wrong, he could not shake the feeling of worthlessness and ignominy.
Earlier he had seen the woman detective, Sergeant Delaware. Now the other one, the man, came in, also carrying a blue folder. He was Steve's height but much broader and heavier, with iron gray hair cut short and a bristling mustache. He sat down and took out a pack of cigarettes. Without speaking, he tapped out a cigarette, lit it, and dropped the match in the ashtray. Then he opened the folder. Inside was yet another form. This one was headed
DISTRICT COURT OF MARYLAND
FOR (City/County)
The top half was divided into two columns headed COMPLAINANT and DEFENDANT. A little lower down it said
STATEMENT OF CHARGES
The detective began to fill out the form, still without speaking. When he had written a few words he lifted the white top sheet and checked each of four attached carbon copies: green, yellow, pink, and tan.
Reading upside down, Steve saw that the victim's name was Lisa Margaret Hoxton. "What's she like?" he said.
The detective looked at him. "Shut the fuck up," he said. He drew on his cigarette and continued writing.
Steve felt demeaned. The man was abusing him and he was powerless to do anything about it. It was another stage in the process of humiliating him, making him feel insignificant and helpless. You bastard, he thought, I'd like to meet you outside of this building, without your damn gun.
The detective began filling in the charges. In box number one he wrote Sunday's date, then "at Jones Falls University gymnasium, Balto., MD." Below he wrote, "Rape, 1st degree." In the next box he put the place and date again, then "Assault with intent to rape."
He picked up a continuation sheet and added two more charges: "Battery" and "Sodomy."
"Sodomy?" Steve said in surprise.
"Shut the fuck up."
Steve was ready to punch him out. This is deliberate, he told himself. The guy wants to provoke me. If I throw a punch at him, he has an excuse to call three other guys in here to hold me down while he kicks the shit out of me. Don't do it, don't do it.
When he finished writing, the detective turned the two forms around and pushed them across the table at Steve. "You're in bad trouble, Steve. You've beaten and raped and sodomized a girl - "
"No, I haven't."
"Shut the fuck up."
Steve bit his lip and remained silent.
"You're scum. You're shit. Decent people don't even want to be in the same room as you. You've beaten and raped and sodomized a girl. I know it's not the first time. You've been doing it awhile. You're sly, and you plan, and you've always got away with it in the past. But this time you've been caught. Your victim has identified you. Other witnesses place you near the scene at the time. In an hour or so, just as soon as Sergeant Delaware has gotten a search or seizure warrant from the court commissioner on duty, we're going to take you over to Mercy Hospital and do a blood test and comb through your pubic hair