You fragile thing. This environment is all wrong for you. But is this you as you always are or you as the mother of a missing child?
When the Veirs were settled beside the photo of Caleb and their three faces were lined up in a row, Ren could see that though Caleb had his mothers eyes, the steel in them came from his father. John Veirs stare was moving around the room like a drunk looking for a fight.
Ruddock tapped the microphone, once, twice, and started to speak.
Thank you all for coming, he said. Were here today to appeal for information on the whereabouts of Caleb Veir, who has been missing from his Burton Street home in Tate since seven forty-five yesterday morning. Caleb is five feet tall, weighs one hundred pounds, and is of medium build. This photo beside me was taken two weeks ago. Yesterday, Caleb was wearing the same gray Puffa jacket, blue denim jeans, a navy-blue long-sleeved sweatshirt with a red-and-gray graphic print, and white-and-red Nike sneakers. You will find photographs of all these items of clothing pinned to the noticeboard at the back of the room.
Teddy Veir was rigid, her elbows pressed tightly to her body, her ankles crossed underneath the table.
To my right here are Calebs parents, said Ruddock. John and Teddy Veir. Teddy would now like to say a few words.
Teddy shifted the chair forward. Thank you, Chief Ruddock. She looked up, her lost and panicked eyes blinking quickly before she focused on a point on the floor three feet ahead. Our son, Caleb, has been missing since yesterday morning. Caleb is only twelve years old. Caleb, we want you home with us, we want you to come home. To your mom and dad. We miss you, and we love you very much. Please... come home.
She welled up so quickly, and the pain robbed her of her voice so suddenly, that everyone else on the platform was thrown; they werent ready to break in, to rescue her.
Someone help!
John Veir kicked in, putting his arm around his wife, sliding the microphone that was in front of her toward himself, knocking over a glass of water as he did. The piercing sound of feedback erupted in the room.
Caleb is a good boy, said John. Just a... good kid, who is... good to everybody... and everyone... and helped his mom and me out, and...
No one prepared you. You werent planning on speaking.
Please bring him home, said John. Whoever has him, if someone has our son, please bring him home. We love him so much. His voice started to crack. Hes our son. He broke down. He briefly raised his head to say: No matter what. We want him back. We love you, Caleb. I want you to know that. We love you very much.
No matter what? Hes our son, no matter what? Or no matter what, we want him back?
A sudden smell powerful, stale and liquor-laced struck Ren.
What the... whoa...
She turned to see a man take a few steps, then stop abruptly. He was dressed in a faded black sweatshirt with unraveling cuffs and crusted white stains. His pale jeans had two stripes of filth down the center, his sneakers were gray, the laces half undone. His eyes did a full sweep of the room before he walked any further.
Now, who might you be?
He took two steps closer.
And what bars supplies have you recently depleted?
He walked past Ren. She put her hand to her mouth and swallowed.
Jesus. Christ. Wow.
I probably smell the exact same...
In a flash, Wiley was striding their way. He struck Ren hard with his shoulder as he passed.
Dickhead.
He grabbed the man by the arm, effortlessly dragging him toward the exit. The mans face was pinched in anger, his expression childish, petulant. There was tutting, eyerolling and nose-wrinkling from locals who seemed to know him.
The man opened his mouth wide, looked ready to speak, but he took in all the stares and his face fell and he didnt say a word.
You are a hurting man. You know youre a sideshow to these people.
Just as he was about to go through the door, a burst of courage delivered his voice:
Lake Verny! he shouted. You need to look in Lake Verny! Tell Ruddock. Tell Ruddock! You tell him Clyde Brimmer says that lakes a killer!
Ren looked around at the crowd, gauging their reactions. There was no sense that the mans words held any meaning, that they were anything other than a terrible thing to shout in a room where two parents were hoping to reach out for a son they wanted to believe was alive and well not sucked down into the depths of a lake.
7
Gary, Ren and Ruddock stood in the shelter of the back door of Tate PD after the press conference. Ruddock pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
Do you smoke? he said, extending the pack toward Gary, then Ren. Gary declined.
For one night only, said Ren. Filthy habit.
Ruddock lit it for her, lit his own.
Sounds like Mom thinks Caleb ran away, and Dad thinks hes been abducted, said Gary.
Ren turned to Ruddock. Could he have run away? she said. What do you think?
Honestly, I dont know, said Ruddock. All I know is something is not quite right with the Veirs.
It seems like theyre blaming each other, said Ren. They werent even touching when they walked in. What vibe did you get from them when you first met?
It was tense, said Ruddock, but under the circumstances, thats to be expected. Even if John Veir thinks his son was abducted, I agree he sure is acting like he blames his wife for something.
Maybe for not being there yesterday morning, said Ren. But, surely, that wouldnt have made a difference. It wasnt like we know that Caleb was snatched from their home while she was distracted. And John Veir had his phone on silent. Maybe thats whats bothering his wife. She paused. What was John Veirs no matter what about?
Ruddock shrugged. Nerves? I dont know.
They could hear footsteps coming their way. They looked around. Wiley was striding toward them from where he had dumped the man who interrupted the press conference. He rolled his eyes at Ruddock. Ruddock didnt respond.
Who was that guy? said Ren.
Clyde Brimmer, said Wiley. A drunk.
Wow... what drunk fucked you over?
Why was he talking about Lake Verny? said Ren.
Wiley was shaking his head. His usual bullshit.
Ruddock intervened. Its got to be about Aaron Fuller.
The boy who drowned? said Ren.
Yes, said Ruddock. Clyde was fired for drinking on the job. He was an embalmer. The last body he worked on was Aarons...
Wiley was shaking his head. His usual bullshit.
Ruddock intervened. Its got to be about Aaron Fuller.
The boy who drowned? said Ren.
Yes, said Ruddock. Clyde was fired for drinking on the job. He was an embalmer. The last body he worked on was Aarons...
Ah, said Ren. Its haunting him...
Ruddock nodded.
And that was the job he was caught drunk on? said Ren.
Well, it was the last straw, said Ruddock. There were some earlier complaints. He swears he wasnt drinking when he was working on Aaron
Clyde doesnt do himself any favors, said Wiley. He showed up for work Monday to Friday in reasonably good shape, didnt go too wild on weeknights. But he drank heavily on the weekends. Once youre propping up a bar regularly, slowly drinking your way into oblivion, well, youre telling people how to remember you. Its all about perception, really, isnt it?
Jesus.
Ill leave you to it, said Wiley. He walked back toward the gates.
What is Clyde Brimmers story? said Ren.
A sorry one, said Ruddock. We were in school together. A group of us hung out, usual stuff: playing football, going swimming, duck-diving in the lake. We were pretty innocent kids. But Clyde went off the rails when he was seventeen, when his little sister died. He started drinking, doing drugs. Got off drugs eventually, but kept on drinking. Hed get sober every now and then, then hed fall off the wagon again. The longest he was sober was when he did his embalmer training. He was lucky he managed it at all. It would break your heart. Bad things just seem to happen a lot around Clyde. Its like life is always throwing things at him.
You are so endearing. And I love pockmarked skin.
What happened to his sister? said Ren.
She fell through one of the decks at Lake Verny. The timber was rotten. Clyde was custodian at the time. It was the spring of 84. He had already said there was a problem with the deck and the jetty of that cabin, but no one listened to him. He was concerned that sub-standard timber was used, and that it was unstable. He told the owners, but they were from out of town and said theyd get it fixed later: they wanted to enjoy their next break without having any construction work going on. This one day, Lizzie Clydes sister, she was only ten years old was hanging around with him, because their parents were gone to a wedding and he had to watch her. She brought a couple of her little friends along, theyd been playing around the cabins. Then she disappeared. She was found floating in the water... apparently she stepped right through the deck. It tore up her femoral artery, that was it, she bled out just like that. Clyde took it real bad. He always said if he had just fixed that deck when he wanted to, it never would have happened. He felt he didnt try hard enough to get people to listen. Its why he gets so agitated still if he feels something is unsafe, and people arent listening. It drives him crazy. And you know something? He didnt even quit his job. He still stayed looking after the cabins for a long time after the accident, for whoever hung on to them. It was a control thing, I guess. He didnt want to put anyone else through what his family went through.
That is so sad, said Ren.
Gary turned to Ruddock. Mind if Ren and I take a look at last nights interviews with the Veirs?
Sure, said Ruddock. Follow me.
Ruddock found Gary and Ren an empty room and left them to watch the videos of first John Veir, then Teddy, both carried out by Ruddock and Wiley together.
Ruddock was an impressive interviewer, thoughtful, measured, bright and sharp, with the perfect demeanor to make two traumatized parents as comfortable as they could be with a series of uncomfortable questions while their only child was still missing.
Wiley didnt ask any questions, even though, at times, it looked like he was struggling to stay quiet.
I wonder were you under strict instructions from Ruddock. Or do you just not give a fuck?