“Did he go inside Martha’s house?”
“Nope, and when I told him how Martha was living he was stunned. Said she’d been a sharp detective, extremely detail-oriented.”
That wasn’t at odds with compulsive tendencies. Quite the opposite.
I said, “Did Lieder have any idea why she transferred out of Homicide?”
“Nope, that was another surprise for him, it happened after he retired. Then he said come to think about it he’d noticed things about Martha. Holding on to memos and other crap she didn’t need, stuffing her desk drawers full. Also, she liked to line stuff up on her desk—pens, pads, whatever. If someone moved anything, she’d get annoyed and put it right back. So I guess there were signs.”
“How old was the daughter when Lieder saw her?”
“Early teens but she seemed younger mentally.”
“If she was developmentally disabled and had no other issues, violence would theoretically be unlikely.”
“Theoretically. But?”
“She could’ve had serious behavioral problems that Lieder didn’t see. Let me make some calls and see what I can learn about the school. Reputation, philosophy, the types of students they took.”
“Assuming it’s still there,” he said. “Sure. Thanks.”
But his tone said,Not gonna make a difference.
—
I paged through a mental Rolodex, looking for people I knew who specialized in developmental disabilities, and came up with a list of three names. The first two didn’t answer the phone. Irwin Baumgarten, MSW, did.
He said, “Alex, it’s been a while. You still doing that thrilling police stuff?”
“I am, hence my call.”
“Oh no, I swear I’ve been law-abiding.”
When he stopped chuckling, he said, “What can I do for you?”
“I’m looking for information on a school for DD kids. Venice, a house near the canals. But a while back.”
Irwin said, “Has to be the Kadar Institute. Run by a couple of Hungarian immigrants, both physicians. Bela and Edith were old when they started, very nice people. They died and the school closed down. I rotated through for a couple of weeks when I was doing a practicum. Which shows you the kind of ancient history we’re talking about.”
“Good place?”
“I thought so. The atmosphere was nice—structured but humanistic. Terrific student-teacher ratio, meaning expensive.”
“No one took over from the Kadars.”
“Definitely not. My new gig’s working for United Way and I know all the current places. Why all the curiosity?”
“The mother of a possible student has been murdered.”
“An alumnus with antisocial tendencies? I suppose it’s possible, Alex, but the Kadars had a pretty narrow focus so I’m sure they screened for severe behavioral issues.”
“What focus was that?”
“Raising the academic level of medium to mildly slow kids so they could be productive members of society. The kids that I saw were a quiet, compliant bunch. Occasionally there’d be tears—frustration, that kind of thing. But nothing beyond that.”
Consistent with Hans Lieder’s brief observation.
“Still,” said Irwin, “you know.”
