Eye of the Beholder Teaser

At the Library
Because it was such a small town, the Basalt Community Library was only open three days a week. Fortunately, today was one of those days, something Mary knew from experience. She was a voracious reader and used the library quite often.
      On the drive to it from the marina, she told Duke, "It's open tonight until eight."
      Duke nodded. "Good to know." His stomach growled again. "Damn." He turned red. "Sorry."
      Mary laughed. "Don't worry about it. We can stop for something to eat later." She was feeling good, better than she had all day. With Duke remembering about their prisoner's past, she felt they had something tangible to go on. If they could track the escapee down, it'd get Faber off their backs and that would be a relief. The guy was hard to deal with sometimes and for some reason he was making a big deal out of Gabe's getting away. Which she could understand. The prisoner escaping really wasn't a good thing, especially for the chief's image, but, Mary had to admit, the fact that he was brought in for not having any identification was probably not the best use of the police forces' resources. Something she knew Duke was upset about. More than once that afternoon he'd said, "I should have just let him go."
      "No," Mary had told him. "No. You did the right thing. He did break the law."
      "Yeah, I know, Duke had said, shaking his head. "But there are lots worse offenses out there than not having any ID."
      To which Mary had nodded and said, "I agree. But Faber is all over this so let's see what we can do. Okay?"
      "Okay."
      But Mary knew the young recruit still wasn't happy about the events he'd put in place.
      She pointed. "There there's the library." She turned to Duke. "Hope this pans out."
      "Me, too," Duke said. "It'll be good to get Faber off our case."
      "No kidding."
      Duke turned into the lot. The library was in a 50s-style one-story brick building. Non-descript was putting it mildly. The two officers got out of the squad into what felt like an oven and walked up to the entrance. Sweat ran down the side of his face as Duke checked his watch. "It's 6:15. Let's find out what we can and get back searching before nightfall. How's sound?"
      Mary nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
      She opened the door. The blast of air-conditioning hit them like a brick wall. But as opposed to running into a brick wall, it felt wonderful.
      They approached the front desk. Mary knew the librarian. "Hi Tom," she said. "How are the goats doing?"
      Tom Sampson was a mid-forties retired school teacher who, along with his partner, raised goats for cheese which they sold all over the northern part of the state and into Wisconsin.
      Tom grinned through his bushy beard. "They're doing well, thanks for asking. They're not a fan of the heat, though."
      Mary nodded. "No one is." She pointed to Duke. "My partner Duke and I need to do some research. Can you help us?"
      Duke put out his hand. "Hi. Nice to meet you."
      The two men shook.
Tom said, "I'll try. What do you need?"
      Mary told him. Ten minutes later they were sitting across from each other at a large table. Mary was going through some documents Tom had pulled for her. Duke was using one of the two library computers. They had the place to themselves.
      Duke was the first to speak. "Man alive!"
      "What?"
      "I'm going through some newspaper articles about that facility Gabe went to."
      "Up in Yellow Knife River?"
      "Yeah. They called it the Yellow Knife Boys Home."
      "I seem to remember that."
      Duke read for a moment and then said. "Geez. You were right. It was started by Ted and Toby Terros back in the 90s. They moved up here to northern Minnesota after trying to do the same thing out west in Nebraska. Grand Island, this article says." He read some more. "Yeah. They opened the facility here in 1995. It housed up to fifteen boys ranging in age from thirteen to seventeen. Mostly they were sent there like Gabe was for fairly serious crimes but where a judge decided to keep them out of prison and to give them a second chance."
      Mary set aside the document she was looking at. "I remember about that. There was a lot of corruption associated with the place. The judge received kickbacks from the Torroses who were paid by the county."
      Duke shook his head. "Man, that's awful."
      "It was." She pointed. "What else did you find?"
      "Duke read for a minute. "Well, the worst was the abuse the boys were subjected to. A country social services worker started looking into it some of the rumors and talking to some of the boys. One of the kids finally opened up and told the truth about what was going on and that opened the floodgates. Soon lots of the kids were talking, and former residents, which is what they were called, started coming forward." He looked at Mary. "It became a very big deal. Like it should have."
      "Yeah. I heard about it, but, as I said, it was kept under the radar big time."
      "That's disgusting. Both what happened to the boys and the fact that it was covered up."
      "Yeah." She looked at Duke. "When were you in Iraq?"
      "The first half of 2003. Why?"
      "That's when a lot of this was going down." She pointed. "When did the Terroses go to trail?"
      "June of 2003." He looked at Mary. "I missed the whole thing."
      Mary nodded. "Most of us did."
      Duke read on. "They were sentenced to ten years in Stillwater." Duke paused. "Damn. Their out now." He was silent for a moment. "I wonder where they are now."
      Mary pointed to the computer. "Keep checking. I'll fill you in on Gabe."
      "What'd you find out?"
      "Not a lot. He was seventeen when the boys home closed down. It looks like they tried to put him in foster care with a family in Duluth but it didn't work. He kept running away." She checked her records. "It says here that he was close enough to being eighteen and an adult that they just let him go."
      "God. So he just drifted off?"
      Mary nodded. "Yeah." She shuffled some papers. I can tell you his last name though."
      "What is it?"
      "Peterson. His name is Gabe Peterson."
      Duke snapped his fingers. "That's right! I remember now. Gabe Peterson." He was silent, thinking about him. "It's coming back a little. Like I said, he was quiet. Shy. Kept to himself. Remember, this was all in junior high."
      "Right. Lots going on at that age."
      "No kidding. But I do remember that he was in my science class."
      "Yeah?"
      "Yeah. Biology."
      "Remember anything specific?"
      "I do. I remember he was good with biology. He knew his plants, that's for sure."
      "Huh. Imagine that."
      "Yeah. In retrospect, it was kind of cool, but back then, being squirrelly teenagers, most of us thought he was a geek."
      "Unfortunately, I get that."
      "Yeah. It's sad now that I think about it. There's one other thing too that I remember."
      "What's that?"
      "He knew his insects, that's for sure. I remember he knew every single butterfly that the teacher showed us. It was pretty incredible."
      Mary smiled. "I think I would have liked him."
      Duke nodded. "Me, too. If I'd gotten to know him. But, like I said, back then…"
      "Yeah, I hear you," Mary said. "But don't worry about it. We all make mistakes."
      Duke shook his head and took a drink from his water bottle and went back to his computer. After a minute he said, "What else did you find?"
      "Well, I've only got a few things, but at least I found his driver's license. His most recent address is Minneapolis. Downtown. I've got some tax statements. He works at a big box store downtown. He doesn't make a lot of money, but enough to live on. He doesn't own a car and he's never had any trouble with the law." She looked up. "Except us."
      "Shit. He turned out to be just a regular guy." Duke shook his head sadly.
      "Yeah."
      "And I busted him for no ID. After all he went through, I feel like a jerk."
      Duke stood up and walked to the window behind them. The sun was low in the sky. He checked his watch. It was 7:30. He stared out past the parking lot. He could see Lake Superior in the distance, the waves looking grey as clouds moved in. He'd bet ten bucks it was going to rain before the night was over.
      He went back and sat down and Mary asked. "What's on your mind."
      He shrugged. "I'm just thinking about Gabe."
      "What about?"
      "What his life was like. What he went through."
      Mary nodded. "I know. He had it rough."
"He did." Duke sighed and looked at her. "I don't know if I should say this or not."
      Mary had an idea she knew where he was headed. "Go ahead." She motioned for him to continue. "What are you thinking?"
      Duke looked her right in the eyes and said, "If it were me, I'd just drop this whole thing and let him go." He shook his head. "The poor guy has been through enough."
      Mary nodded. Before she became a cop, she'd wanted to go into social work. Her partner Margo was one. She worked for the county. Mary knew as much about the physical and sexual abuse that took place at the Yellow Knife River Boys Home as anyone. And she agreed with Duke.
      "You know what?" She said to him, pointing to his computer. "You've reminded me of what a horrific experience those boys went through."
      Duke nodded along with him. "I can't believe it. I feel so sorry for those boys."
      "Me too," Mary said. "So, I agree with you."
      "What do you mean?"
      Mary closed the record books she'd been going through. "I think we should just forget about making any effort to find Gabe."
      "Really?"
      "Really." She stood up. "The guy's been through enough."
      Duke shut down the computer and stood with her. He smiled. "That's awesome."
      This time he gave her a high-five. And she gave it right back to him.
      They said goodbye to Tom and headed out into the heat once again. As they got into the squad, Mary asked, "How about if you go get something to eat?"
      "Sounds great!" Duke said. Then he frowned. "What about Faber?"
      Mary shrugged. "Let's not worry about him, okay? After dinner we'll go cruise around some more, just to cover our bases." She grinned at him. "We'll wait for him to call us."
      "What happens when he does?"
      Mary chuckled. "We'll tell him we're still looking." She grinned at him. "He doesn't need to know that we aren't looking all that hard."
      The relief Duke felt was overwhelming. "That sounds like a great plan."
      As they left the parking lot, Duke glanced at Mary. "Say, when you were checking the computer, were you able to find out what happened to the Terroses?"
      "I did. They moved to Puerto Rico."
      "Really?"
      "Yeah. Right after they got out of prison in 2013. It looks like they drowned a year later in a boating accident."
      Mary nodded. "Good. What's the saying again? They got their just desserts?"
      "Yeah. I think that's what it is. And they got what they deserved in my opinion."
      "I agree."
      Duke started the car but left it in park and turned the air-conditioning up high. Then he turned to Mary. "Didn't you tell that Donner guy, that reindeer guy who was their assistant, committed suicide?"
      "Yeah. He shot himself in the heat. Right after the trail for the Terroses started."
      "Geez." Duke put the car in drive and left the parking lot. He turned to her. "Innocent people don't do that, do they?"
      Mary looked at him and then out the window. "No. No, they don't."