The Anatomy of Deception - Lawrence Goldstone [103]
“I have had my daughter removed from that place,” he said in a strangled voice, as if the sound had passed through liquid. “My child will get a proper burial. I suppose I can at least be grateful to you for making that possible. As far as the newspapers are concerned, she will be said to have died in Italy and returned here for interment.”
I risked speaking once more. “I am terribly sorry, Mr. Lachtmann. Please believe that it pained me to find her.” I could see that Eakins wanted to offer his sympathies as well, but was still too frightened of Lachtmann to speak. “I will do anything I can to help you find the person responsible.”
Lachtmann considered my offer. The self-control of the man was staggering. “All right, Dr. Carroll,” he said softly, “I may allow you to do that. Tell me first what you learned from your examination.” He could not suppress a burr of sarcasm as he spoke the last word.
I told Lachtmann what I discovered in the graveyard, that his daughter had died from a perforated bowel. The bowel had yet to decompose and evidence of the puncture was clear. I neglected to tell Lachtmann how agonizing it would have been, and that, ordinarily, it would have taken the victim of such a condition days to die. Given the bruising on her upper left arm that I had observed in the Dead House, however, I deduced that, to stifle her screams, whoever was at the table had held Rebecca Lachtmann down and then suffocated her and disposed of the body from Wharf Lane. Although there was no way to determine suffocation as the immediate cause of death from the state of the corpse, it was the only explanation that fit all that I had observed.
“So who did this?” Lachtmann asked, his anger stoked once more at hearing the cause of his daughter’s death.
“Abortion is not a simple procedure—it takes a decent amount of skill—but neither is it complex. The location at which it was done would have added a level of uncertainty but, if forced to surmise, I would have to say that whoever performed the abortion was not a skilled surgeon.”
“Was this Turk a skilled surgeon?” he asked.
“No. But as I said, I don’t believe that Turk performed the actual procedure. He was far too canny for that. It was one thing to perform abortions on denizens of the waterfront, where any mistake could be easily covered up, and quite another to risk exposure with a member of a prominent family.”
Lachtmann scowled and turned away. He faced the drapes for some moments before turning back. “All right, Dr. Carroll, you may have bought yourself some time. If what you say is true … if … then you are probably more capable of uncovering this accomplice than are the police. You understand, of course, that in order to have my daughter buried properly, I will have to inform the authorities that I have given instructions to move her and that, in turn, will bring at least some of the circumstances to their attention. I will have to trust in the discretion of the police to keep the full story from public consumption.”
“Of course,” I said soberly, masking my elation at the reprieve. “But I also understand that, given the presence of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, you will not have to explain to them how you came by your knowledge. They will simply assume that the Pinkertons found out by means of their own.”
“Exactly,” Lachtmann agreed. His grief remained palpable but, man of action that he was, he had shifted his attention to practicalities. “And, for the time being, I may do just that. If, as you say, you are both innocents … even him …” Lachtmann glowered at the petrified painter. “If events are as you say, Dr. Carroll … and we shall find that out in a moment … if that is so, I have no wish to destroy your career … although I suggest you take better care in your associations. More to the point, if there is someone at large who is responsible, I have no wish to waste my vengeance on you … I am not an animal, Doctor, despite what you may have heard from others … on the condition, of course, that I actually succeed—with your help—in locating this