Split Second

"Had they known each other before coming to work at Atticus?" asked Michelle.

Kate shook her head. "I don't think so, no. If they did, they certainly never mentioned it. But they were both in college in the sixties. People went all over the country doing insane things. It's funny, though."

"What is?" asked King.

"Well, sometimes it seemed to me that Thornton knew my mother better than he knew my father. Like they'd met before."

"Did your mother ever mention that they had?"

"No. Thornton came to Atticus after my parents did. He was a bachelor, never really dated that I could tell. My parents were very friendly with him. I think my mother felt sorry for him. She would bake him little things and take them over to him. They were good friends. I really liked him. He was almost like an uncle to me."

Michelle said slowly, "Kate, do you think your mother-"

Kate interrupted her. "No, they weren't having an affair. I know I was very young back then, but still I would have known."

King didn't look convinced but said, "The man who met with your father, he mentioned your mother, Regina?"

"Yes. I'm assuming he must have known one or both of my parents. But look, I really can't believe Thornton is mixed up in any of this. He's just not the type to run around with guns plotting to kill people. He didn't have my father's genius or his academic credentials, but he's a good professor."

King nodded. "Right, he didn't have your father's brains or Berkeley Ph.D. background, and yet they ended up at the same college. Any idea why?"

"Why what?" Kate had assumed a defensive tone.

Michelle said, "Why your father wasn't teaching at, say, Harvard or Yale. In addition to his Berkeley career, he authored four books that I was told were easily in the top ten in their field. He was a serious scholar, a real heavyweight."

"Maybe he simply chose to go to a smaller college," said Kate.

"Or maybe there was something in his past that precluded him from being called up to the academic big leagues," remarked King.

"I don't think so," said Kate. "Otherwise, everybody would know."

"Not necessarily. Not if it had been expunged from his official record, but certain people in the very cliquish world of academics were aware. And they might have held it against him. So heended up at Atticus, which probably felt lucky to have him, warts and all."

"Any thoughts on what those warts might be?" asked Michelle.

Kate said nothing.

King said, "Look, the last thing we're aiming to do is drag up any more dirt on your father. I say, let him rest in peace. But if the man who talked to your father was responsible for his shooting Ritter, I don't see any reason why the man shouldn't suffer for it. And understanding your dad's past may help us find him. Because if I'm reading this right, this guy knew your father from the old days, and if he did, then he'd probably know what incident had tainted him enough to cut your dad off from the Harvards of the world, if indeed that was the case."

Michelle said, "Kate, you're the only hope we have with this. Unless you tell us what you know, it's going to be very tough for us to learn the truth. And I think you want to know the truth; otherwise, you wouldn't have called us."

Kate finally sighed and said, "Okay, okay, there were some things my mother said not too long before she killed herself."

"What were they, Kate?" Michelle prompted gently.

"She said my father was arrested during a demonstration. I think it was against the Vietnam War."

"What, for disorderly conduct or something?" asked King.

"No, for killing someone."

King leaned in close. "Who and how, Kate?" he said. "Everything you can remember."

"This is only from what my mother said, and she wasn't really all that clear about it. She was drinking heavily near the end of her life." Kate took out a tissue and dabbed at her eyes.

"I know this is hard, Kate, but it might help to get it out in the open," said King.

"From what I could gather it was a police officer or someone official like that. He was killed during this war protest that got way outof hand. In L.A., I think she said. My father was arrested for it. It actually looked really bad for him, and then something happened. My mother said some lawyers got involved on my dad's behalf, and the charges were dropped. And my mom said the police had trumped up the charges anyway. That they were just looking for a scapegoat, and my father was it. She was sure Dad hadn't done anything."

"But there must have been stories in the paper, or some scuttlebutt," commented Michelle.