Chapter 10

As the PR manager composed her thoughts for a moment, Liberty's gaze rested on the Limoges porcelain pieces in the stately hutch cabinet behind Rhett Baumgard.She assumed the figurines of the shepherd and shepherdess, the colonial lady with the coquettish look behind her fan, and the gentleman with the tricorn hat bowing to her, had been collected by the doctor's late wife, Lydia.

As soon as Rhett began to speak, Liberty sat back and tented her fingers beneath her chin, focusing her undivided attention on Maddy Kime's statement.

"Dr. Baumgard, Daniel, phoned me about four-thirty this afternoon, or yesterday, I guess.He suggested that we meet and go over our notes on the dedication.He suggested ten o'clock the next morning at the clinic and I agreed.

"A moment please."Liberty knew she had promised not to interrupt but she wanted to broach the question while she still thought of it."I'm sorry, but I want to ask, how do you communicate with the doctor when he's not physically with you?"

Rhett did the honors of filling her in on the TYY setup, how the red light system had been set up in Maddy's home to blink when a call came in, regardless of the room she occupied.Then a machine, similar to a teletype, aided her in "speaking" with her caller.

"Very interesting," Liberty commented after he explained."Please go on now.I know you want to finish this and go home."

Maddy sighed, visibly drained.She wore no makeup to begin with, and now her face looked unusually pale, her flesh almost translucent and with dark smudges bruising the delicate areas beneath her eyes.She brushed away a thin strand of honey hair as she continued with her narrative.

"I thought nothing more of the call after that. I stayed home, ate dinner, and watched an old movie on TV.Then about ten-thirty, the doctor called again.This time he wanted me to come to his house despite the late hour.He had something very important to discuss with me, and it couldn't wait till morning.He certainly didn't want to convey the information over the phone.I told him I would be there as quickly as possible.So, I changed from my pajamas to what I have on now, got in my car and drove to Daniel's house."

Maddy paused to take a breath, as if she had been talking the whole time, but Liberty figured even fingers got tired of signing and needed a moment's rest.After the quick pause, the PR manager continued. "I arrived at about 10:50 or thereabouts.Daniel answered the door and looked relaxed, not apprehensive or agitated.He smiled and welcomed me inside.Before we talked, he suggested that we have a cup of tea, and I volunteered to make it.We went to the kitchen where I began to make the tea, filling the kettle with water and placing it on the stovetop.

"I knew where he kept the tea bags and the mugs.Before we spoke, he let me get everything ready. But as I waited for the kettle to boil, he came up to me and told me that someone was at the door.He couldn't imagine who would be calling on him so late, but he thought it might be his son and daughter-in-law, stopping by on their way home from dinner."

Maddy glanced at Rhett who continued to maintain a passive expression."If so, Daniel would invite them in for tea.As I continued with the preparations, he went to answer the door.I put the boiling water in the tea pot with the tea leaves in the infuser and waited for it to brew properly.Mrs. Nabucki, Daniel's housekeeper, taught me to make excellent tea this way.In the meantime, I placed the sugar bowl and a small pitcher of half-n-half on the hand-painted bamboo tray that the Nabukis gave to Daniel for Christmas.He kept in the butler's pantry.I would say eight to ten minutes elapsed and the doctor hadn't returned to the kitchen.I know this because I glanced at the clock on the stove.I came into the kitchen a few minutes after eleven and the clock registered 11:23 when I looked at it again."

"So, out of curiosity, I guess, I went to see who had arrived.Perhaps, the doctor had taken his visitor into the study.When I approached the foyer, I noticed the front door wide open.Then I glanced down" Maddy suddenly paused and pulled a crumpled tissue out of her jacket pocket.Tears formed on her lower lashes, her eyes glassy and red-rimmed.With the tissue, she smeared away the tears.

"This part is rough, I know," Liberty ventured, feeling she had to interrupt this time."And you told the deputies all of this before, perhaps two or three times.But please try to go on."

Sniffing, Maddy nodded and placed the crumpled, damp tissue on the table before she began to sign again and Rhett interpreted for her."I found Daniel lying on the foyer floor with a knife sticking in his abdomen.Blood had oozed from the wound and stained the front of his shirt.I guess I panicked.I don't know.I did run over and try to see if he might still be alive.Kneeling, I checked for a pulse at his neck but found none.Then, I guess I pulled out the knife, I don't know why.It seemed a reflex action.When I realized what I had done, I dropped the knife on the floor and crawled away.

"There's a house phone on the foyer table and I used it to call 911.Since I couldn't hear if my call went through or not, I just screamed into the phone that Dr. Daniel Baumgard had been stabbed at his home on Gloucester Road.I repeated the information several times."

Sitting straight, Liberty raised her hand to interrupt again."I'm sorry, Maddy, but I have to ask:did you stop and consider that the assailant might still be around, even in the house?"

Maddy shook her head in quick, vehement jerks."No, I never thought of that.My attention remained on Daniel.I didn't even think who might have done this."