“There were no problems due to Lynne’s visits.”
“Just the opposite, Doctor. Lynne left happy and returned the same way. That’s why the thought of her harming her mother is totally preposterous. She’s the last person to be violent.”
“No behavioral issues.”
“None. We screen for that.”
Milo said, “How long has Lynne been living here?”
“I can’t answer that, Lieutenant. Not because I don’t want to but part of the mess Pam walked into was a whole bunch of missing records.”
“How’d that happen?”
“The former director was well meaning but totally disorganized and kept putting off the conversion from paper to computer. Finally it started three years ago, with techs we brought in working backward from the most recent records. But when they got to something like six, seven years ago, everything was gone. I wouldn’t put it down to anything suspicious, just carelessness.”
“Who’s this genius?”
“A guy named Barbour Spears. He moved to Maryland and got a job with the federal government.”
Milo said, “Is that a punch line?”
Le Gallee laughed. “Wish it was, but nope, he got hired by some sort of oversight committee.”
I said, “You have no idea at all when Lynne arrived?”
“What I can tell you,” said Le Gallee, “is she was well established by the time I got here eight years ago. All the current residents were.”
“No one new has come in?”
Le Gallee shifted his feet. “I know it sounds strange but did Pam tell you how this place started?”
“Three wealthy families funded it.”
“Three wealthy families with developmentally disabled kids, all of whom ended up dying at places that turned out to be less than great. So they got together and established Safe Place.”
I said, “The mandate’s always been the children of the affluent?”
David Le Gallee removed his glasses, peered through the lenses, and restored them to the bridge of an avian nose. “We’re not supposed to talk about that. But yes, with exceptions made for the occasional police and fire family, we’re here for long-term, affluent residents. From what I understand the exception’s because Mr. DuBuque’s grandfather was a fire captain.”
“The exceptions are your charity cases?”
“When pension money is available, it’s tapped.”
Milo said, “You know what Lynne’s mother did, right.”
“Pam said she was some sort of cop.”
“Did Lynne ever talk about that?”
“Oh, never,” said Le Gallee. “Lynne doesn’t talk much, period, due to her speech impediment. She doesn’t lisp or stutter, she’s just extremely indistinct. Once you get used to her, you can get the gist, but she’s shy to begin with so there’s not a lot of conversation.”
I said, “How does she make her needs known?”
“Her needs are pretty simple, Doctor, and they’re taken care of in advance. When she does want something that hasn’t been provided,she points. And smiles. She smiles a lot. I don’t want to make like she’s mute, not at all. But prolonged conversations are out of the question. She’s a very sweet woman.”
“Did she talk about her mother at all?”
“Just that she was going to visit her—she called her Mama,” said Le Gallee. “And she’d give that smile. It was obvious that seeing Mama was something she looked forward to. There’s simply no way Lynne’s capable of harming anyone, letaloneher mother.”
