Without a Word by Carol Lea Benjamin Read Free Book Online Page B

her nose but said nothing, a woman in her sixties, neat in her white uniform, hair pulled tightly back off her full face. Her cheeks were doughy and she was wearing too much makeup. Behind her bifocals I could see she was fuming. A second later, I thought she was about to cry.
    â€œShe was the last person here. She, she…”
    I just waited, Dashiell sitting close to my leg.
    â€œI heard him before I left for the day. I heard him saying what he’d said before, what he’d told Mr. Spector when he came in with her right after it happened,” pointing to her eyelid, “that the effects of the Botox were temporary, that that’s why she was supposed to come in every three months for shots, because it wasn’t permanent. Anyway, this shot was supposed to be for her other eye. He did one at a time. He was very conservative in his treatment of…”
    â€œYeah, yeah. And then what?”
    Ms. Peach looked puzzled.
    â€œYou heard him explain to Madison that the effects of the Botox were temporary. And then what happened?”
    â€œI left. I had no idea, of course…”
    â€œNothing else before you left?”
    â€œYes. One other thing.”
    This time my eyebrows went up, but whatever it was Ms. Peach was going to say, it wasn’t coming easily.
    â€œA kick.”
    â€œA kick? You heard a kick?”
    â€œIt sounded as if she kicked the desk.” In control again. “Have you ever seen one of her fits, Miss…”
    â€œAlexander. Rachel Alexander. No, I haven’t. I only met her once. The thing is…”
    Ms. Peach was shaking her head again. “Then you have no idea, simply no idea.”
    â€œThat’s why I came to you,” I told her.
    She nodded, then looked around to see who might be watching us. “Nasty,” she whispered. “A real terror.”
    â€œDid you know her before?”
    â€œBefore what ?”
    â€œBefore she stopped talking.”
    Ms. Peach sighed. She shook her head.
    â€œHow long have you been working here, if I might ask?”
    â€œNearly five years, as if that’s any of your—”
    â€œAnd the person who was here before you?”
    â€œYou mean the temp?” She rolled her eyes.
    â€œNo. The person who held the job before you.”
    â€œOh, you mean Celia?”
    â€œYes, Celia. How long had she been here?”
    Ms. Peach’s brow furrowed. No free Botox for employees, I thought.
    â€œWas she here before Madison stopped talking?”
    â€œWell, yes, she was, but…”
    â€œBut what?”
    â€œTwo weeks after Madison was diagnosed, that’s when her mother disappeared and Madison became silent. So Celia would have only seen her five or six times.”
    I nodded. “It’s Tourette’s syndrome, is that right?”
    She began to shake her head. “I can’t discuss that with you, Ms. Alexander. You’re not a blood relative of the child’s, are you?”
    â€œI understand,” I said. “But I’m confused now. Mr. Spector mentioned her, Celia, as one of Madison’s favorite people.”
    â€œCelia?”
    I nodded.
    Ms. Peach snorted. “So that’s what she did with her time.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œWell, she certainly didn’t pay attention to the files. I can attest to that.”
    â€œThey were disorganized, inaccurate?”
    â€œYou wouldn’t believe what I had to deal with.”
    â€œHow long had she been here?”
    Ms. Peach compressed her lips and waited for me to come to my senses and stop asking her questions she knew she shouldn’t be answering. Or perhaps it was something else. Perhaps Ms. Peach was upset because she had already told me things she shouldn’t have. She reached into her purse and took out her keys and turned her back to me.
    â€œSome people just don’t have the knack for it.”
    â€œFor?”
    â€œFor keeping things in order.