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She paused again. "And then there was that policeman who took an interest in
Emily, at least for a while. I think Mother actually thought he'd be good for
her, but I doubt that it was a serious relationship. I don't believe either of
the men was named Monty but I'm not really sure. I'm not even certain they
were two different people."
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Confusion seemed to be overwhelming Sally Brandon as she struggled to think
about things she had tried to repress for so many years.
"What policeman?"
"He had something to do with her arrest. I don't know his name, but he
actually phoned to speak with Mother several times. I understood he was
attempting to help Emily straighten herself out. He and that literature
teacher of hers who convinced her to go into rehab the first time. I think
they're the only two men who ever tried to do something good for Emily without
taking advantage of her from the time she was a twelve-year-old child."
Kroon had mentioned a professor who had encouraged Emily to get into rehab.
"Perhaps my husband will remember the names. You can call and ask him about
it. He was the one who spoke to Emily the one time she called us for help. You
know, when I said she wanted to come to stay with us for a while?"
Mike took down the Brandons' home telephone.
"And I'll look in the apartment for her old manuscripts when I go through her
things tomorrow," Sally Brandon said dismissively. "If it wasn't just another
of Emily's alcohol deliriums, I'm sure she would have written the mad
boyfriend into one of her novels."
"What do you mean, 'mad boyfriend'?" I asked, reminded again of Kroon's
words.
"Oh, that was just the excuse she used when she tried to worm her way back
into our lives, Miss Cooper. But by then I'd talked to a psychiatrist, an
expert in substance abuse. I found out how manipulative addicts are, and
neither my husband nor I was going to let Emily under our roof, no matter what
story she made up to weaken our resolve. The doctor assured us she was just
spinning a tale."
"What did she tell your husband?"
"That she had to leave New York because her life was in danger," Brandon
said, waving the idea off with the back of her hand. "That was Emily. Always
exaggerating things, always over-the-top with her storytelling."
"But was there someone in particular she was afraid of?" I wanted to make
clear to Sally Brandon that Emily's murder suggested she might have had some
legitimate reason to be terrified at the time she had sent out her SOS.
"It was this boyfriend of hers, she claimed. He'd moved in with her-we could
only imagine what kind of problems that young man must have had. I guess she
couldn't get him out of her apartment when she was ready to, so she wanted to
come back to the country for a spell."
"But was he abusive to her?" I asked. "Is that what she was worried about?"
"She never mentioned anything hurtful he did to her," Sally Brandon said
softly. "I might have believed that. No, this was-well, frankly, this sounded
like Emily in one of her drunken stupors."
"How so?"
"Emily told my husband her boyfriend had killed a woman. She said that's why
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she was so frightened of him. She was convinced he had buried someone alive."
16
"Early to bed, early to rise. I didn't think you'd beat me in this morning,"
Mike said. "Hope you bought breakfast. I'm dead broke and starving."
I pointed at the bag on Laura's desk. "The two bagels are yours. What's with
you and the money lately? I'm happy to float you a loan."
"Long story. I'll tell you next week. And I'd love to borrow a couple of
hundred to get through till payday, if it's not a problem. I know
myJeopardy!tab is sky-high."
"Take whatever you need from my wallet," I said, turning my attention back to
the computer screen. I had come in at seven-thirty to try to find the old case
records of Emily Upshaw's drug arrest in the office archives. It was nine by
the time Mike arrived.
"Any luck?"
"I don't think the system goes back far enough. Besides that, if it was her
first arrest, it was most likely ACD'd." With an adjournment in contemplation
of dismissal, Emily's first brush with the law would have been put over for a
six-month probationary period. If she had not been rearrested, the charges
against her would automatically have been dismissed.
Mike walked behind my chair and picked up the phone. "Who's this? Yo, Ralph.
That Upshaw woman who was autopsied yesterday, would you check if they did a
fingerprint card? Yeah, I'll hold."
It was standard practice for the medical examiner to take prints of the
deceased. In many cases there was an issue of identification, and in others
they could be helpful in resolving criminal investigations.
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