“I’M DYING FOR A dish of rocky road,” Catherine said, sitting on the couch in her terry robe.
“And we don’t have any?” Liam anticipated the worst.
“If we did, I’d get up and get it myself.”
He sighed. “Cat, it’s eleven P.M. There are no ice cream stores open at this hour.”
“Mariano’s is open till midnight.”
“Mariano’s is a grocery store.”
“They have ice cream.”
“Cat…”
She smiled broadly. “I have a craving.”
“That’s just some myth that women make up to manipulate men during pregnancy.”
“How would you know? Are you a woman?”
“Women are devious. It’s a proven fact.”
“Do you want to carry this child?”
Liam groaned, stood, walked to the hall and put on his coat. “Mariano’s is twenty minutes away,” he grumbled.
“Thank you, dear.”
* * *
“I REVIEWED LENA’S MEDICAL RECORDS,” Catherine said to Liam when he returned.
“Really, what did you learn?”
“Mmm. This ice cream is fabulous. One more little dish, please. Just a little, and then I’ll tell you.”
“Cat.”
“I’ll tell you when I get my ice cream.”
Liam returned to the living room with another dish of ice cream and sat beside her. “Are you doing all right?” he said.
“What do you mean? With the pregnancy? Just because I want more ice cream?”
He shook his head. “With Lena. With her story. Is this a project we need to take on right now? I remember how depressed you became when you were interviewing Ben Solomon. He would tell you about the tragedies that occurred to him and his family during the Holocaust and you would have screaming nightmares. Don’t you remember Christmas Eve, when you saw ghosts in the church vestibule? And outside the church, when you thought the chestnut salesman was an oracle?”
“The Nazis’ cruelty was beyond comprehension, Liam. It’s unbelievable what these people went through. But this second time around, though no less horrific, is more manageable to me. I’m in a position where I can actually help someone and make a difference. If I can help her close a chapter of her life, whether or not we ever find these children, well … you understand.”
Liam smiled and kissed her on the cheek. “Tell me about the medical records.”
“I received the records in the morning mail and followed up with a telephone conversation with Dr. Watkins late this afternoon. He’s her primary-care physician and he’s treated her for twenty-five years. The records themselves do not disclose any symptoms or treatments for mental deterioration. There are notes of discussions between Dr. Watkins and Lena about her mental acuity. He notes, ‘Seems focused, no reports of confusion, no incidents of disorientation or poor judgment.’”
“Well, that’s good. Where’s Arthur going to get his medical support for a guardian petition?”
“The notes are fine. It was my conversation with the doctor that raised a couple of troublesome issues. He’s noticed increased anxiety, but tends to attribute it to Lena’s obsession with the two children.”
Liam winced. “He said ‘obsession’?”
Catherine nodded. “But not mental deterioration. He said that while one out of every three seniors will die of Alzheimer’s disease, and two-thirds of them are women, he hasn’t detected any of the signs in Lena. I asked him whether he ever recommended that she be evaluated for any other dementia, and he conceded that he saw no reason to do so. At her checkup he gave give her a mental-status exam that he would normally conduct on any eighty-nine-year-old woman, and she seemed fine. He saw no reason to prescribe any more extensive testing, such as brain imaging or neuropsychological testing.”
Liam shrugged. “So what’s your worry?”
“He was definitely concerned with her obsession with Karolina’s children. Last year, she traveled alone to Poland against his advice. He had recommended that if she insisted on going, she take Arthur or a friend with her. He told her it was too dangerous for her to go alone. Lena told him she didn’t want Arthur involved, and there was no one else to go with her and she was going to go alone whether he liked it or not.”
Liam shook his head. “Doctors never like it when you don’t follow their advice. Why didn’t Dr. Watkins want her to go?”
“Physical reasons. She walks with a cane because she has seriously arthritic hips and knees. Her balance is unstable at times. She’s eighty-nine years old. According to the doctor, disregarding the obvious risks and doctor’s orders, and embarking on such a strenuous journey to find these children could very well be regarded as obsessive behavior. And when I told him that Arthur alleged that she’s delusional, he said that could be worrisome.”
“Obsessed with a delusion?”
“Although he’s not making a diagnosis, he said he couldn’t rule it out. And then I got a lesson on delusional behavior. There are two types of delusions: bizarre delusions, which are strongly held beliefs in things that are realistically impossible, like Martians taking over your body, and then there are non-bizarre delusions, which are theoretically possible, but improbable and irrational, such as people who believe they are being followed by the CIA. Unless there is some basis for Lena’s belief in Karolina and the two children, such a delusion that becomes the central focus of her life would amount to a psychological disorder.”
“And Arthur has alleged that she is spending all of her time and her money searching for these children.”
“But here’s the thing, Liam, any proof, no matter how slight, of the existence of Karolina’s children would negate the diagnosis of the disorder.”
“So, the solution is simple: we need to get the proof. How is the ice cream?”
“Mmm.”