Текст книги "Memory Man"

Автор книги: David Baldacci

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Текущая страница: 17 (всего у книги 26 страниц)

Chapter

40

AS IT WAS originally configured, the subcompact had not exactly fit Decker since they were roughly the same size. They had finally taken out the front seat and he had wedged himself into the tiny back with his long legs sticking into the front of the car over the hump where the seat had been.

He sat with his eyes closed and his hands resting over his substantial belly. They had stopped by his room and he had packed a canvas bag with some clean clothes. He had learned that Jamison kept a suitcase packed and in the tiny trunk of her car.

“Standard operating procedure for a reporter,” she informed him.

Jamison looked at him anxiously in the rearview mirror as they sped along. “I wish you could make the seat belt reach you back there.”

“Just don’t have an accident,” said Decker, his eyes still closed. “I will make a very large projectile, bigger than your car. You really don’t want to find out the mass times velocity of my ass in flight.”

She looked back at the road. They had been on the interstate for over three hours. They were now in Indiana. They had about another four hours to go.

“I got us rooms on Expedia,” she said. “At a Comfort Inn outside of Chicago. It won’t break my bank account.” She turned to look at him. “You still haven’t told me where we’re going.”

“I did tell you. Brockton, Illinois. It’s a suburb twenty miles south of Chicago. Not to be confused with Brocton, Illinois, which is a village in Embarrass Township outside of Champaign with a population of about three hundred.”

“Embarrass Township? Seriously?”

“I didn’t name it.”

“Okay, but you haven’t told me where in Brockton we’re going.”

“To the street address Leopold left for me to find.”

“Seven-one-one what?”

“Mallard two thousand is the street name.”

“There’s not a street with that name in Illinois. I checked.”

“There is a street with that name, but it goes by something else.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It was a thinly veiled code, Jamison. Try to figure it out.”

Minutes went by. “Okay, I give. I suck at crosswords.”

“The street is Duckton Avenue.”

“Duckton?”

“Now try to figure it out in reverse. It won’t take you long. I have faith.”

She focused back on the road. “Shit,” she said a few moments later. “A mallard is a duck and two thousand pounds equals a ton. Duckton.”

“Congratulations, you just made junior detective grade.”

“But what is at seven-one-one Duckton Avenue?”

“It’s a place I used to call home.”

She jerked around to look at him, but he was now gazing out the side window.

“Your home?”

“Later, Jamison. For now, just drive. No seat belt, remember?”

She angrily turned back around, popped the accelerator, and smiled appreciatively when she heard his head clunk against the back of the car’s interior from the sudden uptick in speed.

They stopped at a truck diner off the interstate for a bathroom break, a refueling, and a bite to eat.

Jamison ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and a Corona. Decker had a large pizza and a Coke.

He eyed her food. “Despite the Chinese last night, I had measured you up as a health nut.”

She bit into the burger and let fatty juice roll down her chin before wiping it away. “I could probably eat you under the table.”

“Maybe in another life.”

“What do you expect to find out at this Duckton place?”

“If it’s still there. I tried to call the number I used to have, but it’s been changed. And the place’s number is not listed.”

“But what is the place, Decker? You called it home.”

“It was where people like me were poked, prodded, and tested.”

Jamison lowered her burger. “With all the memory geniuses? The…the institute?”

“Savants, autistics, Asperger’s, synesthesia, and hyperthymesia.”

“Hyper what?”

“Thymesia. In Greek, hyper means ‘excessive,’ and thymesia translates to ‘memory.’ Put ’em together and you get me. True hyperthymesia really relates to near-perfect recall of one’s personal or autobiographical past. I have that, but I also can’t forget anything I see, read, or hear. Perfect recall of, well, everything. I had no idea my brain was that big. But I apparently use more of it than most, but only because I got my ass handed to me on a football field.”

“And synesthesia?”

“I see colors where others don’t. In numbers, in places and objects. My cognitive sensory pathways apparently also got melded from the hit I took.”

“I appreciate your telling me all this. But I’m surprised too. You strike me as a private guy.”

“I am a private guy. I’ve never told anyone about this, except for my wife.”

“Then why tell me? We don’t really know each other.”

Before answering Decker ate a bite of pepperoni pizza, followed by a long swig of Coke. “We’re tracking down killers together, Jamison. They’ve murdered a lot of people, including an FBI agent. I figure I owe you the whole story because you’re putting your life on the line.”

She put her burger down and took a small drink of her beer. “You’re making me sound a lot braver than I am,” she said softly.

He ate another few bites of pizza and slurped down his Coke. “Let’s hope you’re wrong about that.”

Chapter

41

THEY HAD CHECKED in to their motel, grabbed some sleep, washed up, and changed their clothes. Now they were standing in front of an eight-story brick building with small windows that looked about sixty years old.

Jamison glanced at Decker and then over at the building’s address represented by metal numbers bolted to the façade. “Seven one-one Duckton. So this was home?”

Decker nodded but kept his eyes on the building. “It’s changed a little. It’s been two decades.”

“Was this a true research facility?”

“For the most part. They were basically trying to understand how the brain works. They were one of the first to approach the field in a multipronged, multidisciplinary methodological manner.”

“Meaning what exactly?”

“Meaning that they didn’t just hook electrodes up to your head and measure brain activity that way. They did all the physiological things you would expect—the brain is an organ, after all, and it basically works on electrical impulses. But they also did counseling sessions and group and one-on-ones. They dug deeply into our lives. They wanted to know the science of folks like us, but they also wanted to know, well, us. What having an exceptional mind was like, how it had impacted, or changed, our lives.”

“Sounds pretty thorough.”

“They were.”

“But what was the result of all that?”

Decker shrugged. “I was never told. I was here for months and then was told I could go. There was never any follow-up. At least not with me.”

“Wait a minute, you were told you could go? Were you here involuntarily?”

“No, I volunteered.”

“Why?”

He turned to look at her. “Because I was scared, Jamison. My brain had changed, which meant pretty much everything about me had changed. My emotions, my personality, my social skills. I wanted to find out why. I wanted to find out…what my future might be like. I guess I wanted to find out what I would become, for the long term.”

“But I guess there were a lot of positives. I mean, a perfect memory makes school and work pretty easy.”

He looked back up at the building. “Do you like yourself?”

“What?”

“Do you like the person you are?”

“Well, yes. I mean, I could exercise more and I have yet to find the right guy, but yeah, I like who I am.”

“Well, I liked who I was too. And now that person is gone. Only I didn’t have a choice in the matter.”

Her face fell. “Right. I didn’t really think about that.”

“And it would be nice to be able to forget some things. People do, you know. Want to forget some things.”

“Decker, even someone with a normal mind would never be able to forget something like what happened to your family.”

“But I remember every single detail of it, in the color blue. I will never forget any of it, even exactly how I felt when I found the bodies. Not until the day I die. For me time does not heal, because my mind no longer allows for the passage of time to dull my memories. They are as vivid today as the day it happened. It’s like a picture that never, ever fades. Some people can’t go back? I really can’t go forward.”

“I’m sorry.”

He turned to look down at her. “I can’t process sympathy anymore,” he said. “I used to. But not anymore.” He walked into the building and Jamison hurried after him.

The building directory did not contain the name of the research facility. Decker went over to a reception desk set up in one corner and flashed his temporary police credentials, but the woman there could not help him. She had never heard of the place Decker named.

Decker and Jamison walked around the large lobby. Decker was peering everywhere, taking it all in.

“Going for a trip down memory lane?” said Jamison impishly.

He looked down at her with raised eyebrows.

She blushed. “Sorry, I was just trying to lighten the mood. I guess humor doesn’t really work with you either.”

But Decker had hurried across the lobby to a small flower shop in the corner of the floor. Jamison caught up to him as he approached the counter inside.

A woman in her late forties was behind the counter. She had light brown hair cut short and her build was blocky. Black slacks and a long-sleeved white blouse constituted her work clothes.

“Can I help you?” she asked Decker.

“This place has been here a long time,” Decker began. “I remember it.”

She smiled. “Dora’s Floras. It’s been here ever since the building opened in 1955. My mother was Dora. She started it.”

“I remember her too. You look like her.”

The woman smiled more broadly. “I took over the shop ten years ago. She and my father had built up a great business. When I was in college I’d come here and help them. My only job now is not to screw it up. I’m Daisy, by the way. What else would I be named, right? I’m the youngest of four girls and we’re all named after flowers.”

“So you’ve been here ten years, Daisy?”

“Yes.” The woman’s brow creased with a frown. “Why do I think you’re not interested in purchasing a flower arrangement?”

“I’m not,” Decker said bluntly. He showed her his credentials.

“Out of state,” she said. “Must be important.”

“It is. There was a research facility in the building. Well, it was here twenty years ago. The Cognitive Research Institute?”

Daisy smiled. “Oh sure, I remember them. They were a good customer.”

“Were? So they’re no longer here?”

“No, they moved out. It was, let me think—oh, probably seven or eight years ago. I remember the big trucks out front. As a general rule most businesses here stay here. It’s a great location, beautiful old building that’s been meticulously maintained, really prime real estate. And it’s just a hop, skip, and a jump to Chicago.”

“I suppose you don’t know where they went?”

“No, I don’t. Did you try looking them up in the phone book? Well, I guess online these days.”

“I did. There was no listing.”

“Oh, well, I’m sorry.”

Decker said, “Thank you anyway.” He started to turn away.

She said, “But there is old Dr. Rabinowitz.”

Decker turned back. “Harold Rabinowitz?”

“Yes, how’d you know his first name?”

“I did some research before I came,” he said quickly.

“Oh, well, yes. He’s still around, and if you can believe it, he still orders flowers from us. You know, the Coggers—that’s what we used to call them—were some of our best customers. My mother used to tell me, fresh flowers every week they ordered. And they sent a lot of flowers to folks, too. It was really nice. Nice for them, nice for our bottom line.”

“So you have his address?”

Her expression changed. “I’m really not supposed to give that sort of information out,” she said doubtfully.

“Can you give me his phone number?”

“I’m really uncomfortable with that too. You seem nice enough, but it’s against our policy.”

Decker said, “How about you call Dr. Rabinowitz and tell him that Amos Decker would like to see him. If he says it’s okay you can give me his address. If not, no harm done.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense. So you know him? I saw on your card that you’re Amos Decker.”

“Yes, I know him.”

“Well, why didn’t you say so? Hold on.”

She went to a phone, looked up the number on her computer, and punched it in. She turned her back to them as she spoke. A minute later she put down the phone and came back to them. She wrote something down on a slip of paper and handed it to Decker.

“Bingo. He said he would be delighted to see you.”

Decker looked down at the paper and then back up at her. “Are your parents still alive?”

Daisy looked mildly surprised by the query. “My mom is at an assisted living center and loving it. Big surprise, she does all their flower arrangements.”

“Well, tell her that Amos Decker remembers her flowers. And…that they helped a lot.”

“I sure will. She’ll be glad to hear that. The way Mother sees it, the more flowers we have the better world we’d have.”

Outside, Jamison looked at Decker. “Nicely done.”

He didn’t respond.

“So the flowers helped, huh?”

He shot her a glance. “Yeah, they did actually. So?”

“So maybe you haven’t changed as much as you think.”

Chapter

42

ON THE DRIVE over to Rabinowitz’s, Jamison glanced at Decker in the rear of her car. “One question,” she said.

“Just one?”

“Maybe not. So to be straight about this, it wasn’t Leopold you dissed. It was his partner. The waitress. Leopold simply delivered the message.”

“Right.”

“Presumably because you would have recognized this person?”

“I’m sure I would have.”

“And that person was with you at the institute?”

“It would be the only reason for the Mallard2000 reference. I don’t believe in coincidences, especially ones that large.”

“Okay. So our shooter was a male. Well, at least the probabilities lie there. Although the barman very crudely called the person an ‘it.’ He seemed to think she was a man dressed up as a woman. Or maybe a transsexual. Given that sort of radical change, you might not recognize the person.”

“Maybe not.”

“And she might have been a man at the institute and is a woman now. Or vice versa.”

“Could be.”

“So you dissed that person while you were at the institute?”

Decker’s phone buzzed. It was Lancaster.

She said, “We found a lot of usable prints and DNA in the restroom at the bar. We did basic eliminations and then ran them through the perp databases. FBI did the same.”

“And nothing?”

“Couple of druggies and a convicted rapist. They’re all doing time now, but at some point they used that restroom.”

“So not our waitress?”

“No. How goes it on your end?”

“I’ll let you know in a couple hours. Following a lead.”

He clicked off and settled back in the rear of the Suzuki.

Jamison gave him a searching glance. “Nothing?”

“Nothing. Let’s hope Rabinowitz proves more helpful.”

*  *  *

Dr. Harold Rabinowitz lived in an apartment in an old building on the other side of town. When Decker knocked on the door he heard footfalls heading his way.

A voice said, “Who is it?”

“Amos Decker.”

The door opened and Decker was looking down at a small, balding man with a gray beard and wearing dark glasses. He was well into his seventies. He had on a worn cardigan, dress slacks, and a collared white shirt.

“Hello, Amos.” The man gazed at Decker’s belly.

It took Decker a moment to process it.

“When did you lose your eyesight, Dr. Rabinowitz?”

“Fully? Seven years ago. Macular degeneration. A very nasty disease. You’re not alone. I can hear someone else.”

“My friend, Alex Jamison.”

“Hello, Dr. Rabinowitz. Please call me Alex.”

“I like your perfume. Vanilla and coconut, very nice. Am I right?”

“You are. Very good.”

He smiled, satisfied. “Other senses are heightened to compensate, you know. Please come in.”

They settled down in chairs in the small living room. Decker looked around and took in the neat surroundings, the carefully constructed walking paths. He also saw the guide stick for the visually impaired hanging from a peg next to the door.

“I was surprised to hear that you wanted to see me,” began Rabinowitz.

“I won’t take up too much of your time.”

“I’ve gotten to the point in my life, Amos, where all I have is time. My professional work is done. My wife is deceased. My health is declining. My old friends are dead. My children have their own health problems. My grandchildren are graduating from college and starting their own careers. So your visit is very welcome to me.”

Decker settled back and kept his gaze on the man while Jamison shot glances between them.

Decker said, “How long have you been gone from the Cognitive Institute?”

“They put me out to pasture ten years ago. I would have stayed longer, but my eyes were starting to go even then.”

“They’ve moved.”

“I know. I keep in touch. The institute has grown, you know.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Hence the move. They needed more space. We’ve come light-years since you were with us. We know so much more.”

“And you obviously remember me.”

“You would be hard to forget. Our only professional football player. It was quite unusual.”

“I went into law enforcement when I left here. First as a cop. Then a detective.”

“You mentioned that was your ambition when you were here.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Good for you. And have you had a productive career?”

“It’s had its ups and downs, like most careers.”

“Hopefully more ups than downs.”

“You may be able to help with that.”

Rabinowitz frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Decker mentioned the Mansfield case.

Rabinowitz said, “I heard about that, along with the rest of the country. So tragic. So awful. So many lives just…ended. For no reason.”

“I’m working that case. And there is a reason. In fact, it might have a personal connection to me.”

“How so?” Rabinowitz said sharply.

“I think someone at the institute while I was there is involved with the massacre at the high school.”

Rabinowitz gripped the edge of his armchair. “What!?”

“I can’t give you specifics, but the killer communicated the old address of the institute to me. He said that I had dissed him. He indicated that was why he killed all those people.”

“Oh my God!” Rabinowitz nearly toppled from his chair, but, moving fast for a big man, Decker managed to snag his arm and hold him in his seat.

Decker looked at Jamison. “Water?”

She jumped up and hurried into the next room. She was back in less than a minute with a glass of water. Decker gave it to Rabinowitz, and he drank down a bit before carefully placing it on the table next to him.

“I’m sorry,” said Decker. “I shouldn’t have just dropped that on you. Sometimes…sometimes I just don’t realize…”

Rabinowitz wiped his lips with a trembling hand and then settled back in his chair. “Your neurological switches were set awry, Amos, for want of a better term. I know that certain societal parameters and cues are difficult for you, as they were for many of the folks who passed through our doors. It just goes with the territory. Parts of the brain become extraordinary in what they can do, while other parts, well, other parts regress a bit, at least from a societal perspective. It’s all a question of priorities for the mind.”

“That’s why I’m here. The folks who passed through your doors. One of them could be our killer.”

Rabinowitz shook his head, his brow scrunched up in distress. “I find that so very…terrible. And unlikely.”

“Damaged minds, Dr. Rabinowitz.”

“I think you can call me Harold now, Amos. We no longer have a doctor-patient relationship.”

“Okay, Harold. Damaged minds, even turned exceptional in some ways, are capable of many things. Some good, some bad.”

“But surely you remember quite vividly the people you met at the institute. Did you see a callous murderer among them?”

“Honestly, no. And I can’t remember ever ‘dissing’ any of them. I can’t recall insulting anyone while I was there.”

“But you say the…the man responsible for these terrible acts gave you the address of the institute?”

“The old address, on Duckton. He did it in code, but it was clearly his intent.”

Rabinowitz rubbed his mouth. “I’m not sure what I can add to what you already know.”

Jamison spoke up. “You’ve focused on patients who were there with you. But what about doctors, psychologists, or other health care professionals you met while you were there?”

Decker nodded slowly. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

Rabinowitz said firmly, “I can’t believe anyone who worked at the institute would ever commit such vile acts.”

“I don’t want to think it either,” said Jamison hurriedly. “But in an investigation like this you really can’t discount any possibility. It would be irresponsible.”

Decker said, “Chris Sizemore.”

Jamison said, “Who?”

Rabinowitz said, “He was a psychologist who worked at the institute. I was told he left there several years ago.”

“Why do you mention him, Decker?” asked Jamison.

“Because he and I did not get along. We had words. Nothing that would have led me to believe he could be our guy. But we didn’t get along.”

“Could he be Leopold twenty years later?” she asked.

Decker closed his eyes and clicked through the appropriate frames in his head. “Right height and build. Facial features similar. But it was hard to tell Leopold’s age. Sizemore would be in his early fifties now. Bottom line, while doubtful, I can’t be certain that Sizemore and Leopold aren’t the same person. The tats on his arm could have come later. He could have lied about being in the Navy. His voice could have changed over the years. A lot of things about him could have changed over two decades. But the police have Leopold’s prints and DNA from when he was arrested. Presumably Sizemore’s prints are available in some professional database. It should be fairly straightforward to see if the two are one and the same.”

He had a photo of Leopold on his phone, but of course he couldn’t show it to Rabinowitz to see if it might be Sizemore.

He looked at Rabinowitz. “Do you know what happened to Sizemore? Why did he leave the institute?”

The older man was nervously tapping his fingers against his thigh. “As I said, I was gone long before he left.”

“But you also said you keep in touch with former colleagues.”

“Yes, well, he had some professional issues.”

“What sort?”

“I really can’t get into that. But I can tell you that they were serious enough for him to be asked to leave.”

Jamison said, “What sort of problems did you have with him, Decker?”

“He had his protégés, and I wasn’t one of them.”

Rabinowitz said, “Chris did have his favorites. I would like to think that I treated all of our patients with the same level of courtesy, respect, and thoroughness. But I’m also human, and I of course would have certain cases that interested me more than others. There are very few blunt-force brain trauma cases where the patient actually died before being resuscitated that result in the sort of cognitive rerouting that took place with you, Amos.” Rabinowitz paused to smile. “And I’ve been a Bears fan for over sixty years, and though you played for Cleveland, you were the only NFL player to ever come through our door. Now that you mention it, I do remember Chris having issues with that. Whether it was from a genuine dislike of you, or rather from the effects of his personal issues that later led him to leave the institute, I don’t know. But he seemed to think that with you our priorities were off.”

“I don’t get that,” said Jamison. “What would he base that on?”

Decker answered, “Sizemore thought that, being a football player, I had accepted the risk of getting my brain destroyed. I guess he thought I was taking up the space of someone who deserved to be there more.”

Rabinowitz said, “Now, that I didn’t know.”

“That’s because I never told anyone. He let that slip during a ‘conversation’ we had one day in the hallway.”

“That was highly unprofessional of him,” said Rabinowitz sharply.

“Perhaps. But I also never considered that it might be the motivation for what happened at Mansfield.”

Jamison said, “So the million-dollar question: Where is Dr. Sizemore now?”

Rabinowitz said, “I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him since I left the institute.”

“Maybe he moved to the Burlington area?” commented Jamison.

Decker said, “If he’s still in the profession he has to be on a database somewhere for licensing purposes. We should start there.”

“I can call the institute and get whatever information I can,” offered Rabinowitz. “Since it doesn’t involve a patient, I think they would be more forthcoming. Some of them might know where Chris is now.”

Decker gave him their contact information.

“We’ll be in town for a day or so.” Decker rose and said, “Thank you, Harold, you’ve been a big help.”

Rabinowitz stood too. “I pray that Chris is not your man, but if he is I pray even harder that you will be able catch him and stop him from harming anyone else.”

“Then let’s hope that God is listening,” said Decker.

“So you think the person might kill again?” said Rabinowitz.

“I know he’ll try.”