Absence of the Good Page #3

on those houses?

They go back

since they were built.

- None of the owners' names match.

- So we're back to square one?

I can still do some digging, maybe come

up with an aunt or cousin by marriage.

They don't have to have the same name

to be the same family.

All right. Great.

The second house, Lowman?

The legal owner is something

called the Unity Gospel Fellowship.

- What's that, a church?

- Yeah.

They got it about eight months ago,

tax free.

Mrs. Lowman was a fine woman.

Never lost her belief in the

fundamental goodness of the human heart.

Her son Charles was the one person

she could not reach.

- What do you mean?

- Charles had a substance abuse problem.

Mrs. Lowman was afraid

that after she died...

he'd sell the house

and use the money for drugs.

Any idea who might

want to kill him?

I do know there were drug dealers

in the house from time to time.

How do you know?

Charles told me during group.

What about the rooms in the basement,

the ones with all the beds?

Mrs. Lowman used her basement

as a shelter...

for abused and battered women.

She fed them, clothed them

when she could...

for 25 years,

sometimes 5 or 6 at a time...

for as long as they needed.

And the room

with all the wind chimes?

That's where Charles worked.

That was my idea. A creative outlet

for all his self-destructive energy.

Anything else?

I stopped it as soon as I could.

Stopped what?

Before that...

Mrs. Lowman had some pregnant women

stay in there.

Women who, for whatever reason...

wished to terminate

their pregnancies.

You mean, she locked them in?

I can only tell you

her intentions were good.

She remembered all their names

years after they had left.

Never stopped looking

at their pictures.

What pictures?

I don't know.

I checked with Narcotics.

You think about it, the good reverend's

idea doesn't smell too bad.

This guy Lowman's marginal at best.

He takes up with a drug crowd and--

So?

So nothin'.

Just you're sitting there

looking at pictures, some kid.

You don't know what he looks like,

if he exists at all.

- What's on your mind?

- Nothin'.

I'm just saying it's

not like you, as a rule.

Did you get those tax records?

Lowman's house

you already know about.

The other place Agnes Thurmond

bought 21 years ago at a bank auction.

Bank had foreclosed

on one John and Helen Gaskin.

They defaulted on a loan

after less than a year.

- Why?

- Doesn't say. Gaskin was in prison.

- For what?

- Beat the sh*t out of his wife.

Yeah, this was Gaskin's M.O.

The only difference was this time

he put her in the hospital.

- How many kids did they have?

- Who said they had kids?

Two boys and a girl.

Bard, five. Sara, eight.

John, Jr., ten. We got an address

up in Bountiful for John, Jr.

Good afternoon, ma'am.

I'm Detective Barnes.

This is Detective Dwyer.

We'd like to speak to your husband.

He's in the shop out back.

My house is a mess.

- You gotta go around.

- Thank you.

- Jack?

- Jesus, Sheila! What?

Honey, the police are here.

- Mr. Gaskin?

- Yeah. Sheila, go back inside now.

Put the hammer down, please, sir.

This is Detective Barnes.

I'm Detective Dwyer.

Just tell me who called you

and what they say I did.

Called us?

Christ. That's--

That's-- What do you call that?

Self-incrimination?

Something we should know about?

Just a couple of problems

with customers in the past.

No big deal. But that's

not why you're here, is it?

Excuse me. Can I help you?

Are your parents

John and Helen Gaskin?

You ever hear of Agnes Thurmond?

Yeah, I read about what happened

to her in the paper.

I thought the address

sounded familiar.

I used to live there, right?

- You don't know?

- Let me explain something to you.

When we were kids,

we moved around all the time.

Sometimes a week or two in somebody's

basement I didn't even know.

I sat down once, tried to add up

all the different places.

I counted 26 before I gave up.

I cut out on my own

before I was 17...

so sometimes an address rings a bell,

sometimes it doesn't.

We believe that you lived there.

Yeah, well, like I said.

What about the other place? You read

about that, the guy in that house?

Yeah, I read about it.

Didn't ring any bells though.

Does this person

look familiar to you at all?

- That looks like my brother.

- Bard?

Yeah, he's the youngest.

What do you guys want?

You think he killed those people?

- We just want to talk to him.

- Well, can't help you there.

Haven't heard from him in years.

All right, what about the family?

Maybe they can notify him.

My parents are dead,

my sister Julie--

I don't know. The last I heard she's

living down south somewhere near Draper.

- We're not exactly close.

- Do you have a phone number for her?

Maybe, yeah. I don't know.

Bardy, man.

He's not exactly the brightest bulb.

My dad would tie one on,

start goin' off.

The rest of us would dive for cover,

but Bardy, man, he'd just--

Goddamn it.

Why all the movin' around, Jack?

My old man was a fuckup.

Couldn't keep a job,

always gettin' in trouble.

I can say that now.

Sheila!

Door!

A couple of times, he woke us up

in the middle of the night.

Jump in a car.

I still don't know why.

Mr. Gaskin?

The house where you found the other guy,

there were rooms in the basement...

for people to sleep,

and it was real dark?

Yes.

Yeah.

I was there one time.

He beat her up real bad...

and she went and hid

in this house.

She took Bard with her

'cause he was...

you know, sick or somethin'.

Anyway, we drew him

this little map, you know...

so he could find his way back

to our house at night...

to see Julie and me.

Do you have any pictures of Bard?

No pictures.

Try not to think about it

too much, you know.

You know, it's funny though.

When Bard and I were kids...

we wanted to grow up

to be policemen...

just like you.

Ain't that a b*tch?

Excuse me.

Julie Gaskin?

What do you want?

I'm Detective Barnes

with the Salt Lake Police Department.

I'm looking for Julie Gaskin.

Why?

Are you Julie Gaskin?

I'm Sarah Quinn.

That's Julie.

What happened?

- Take a walk?

- Sure.

There were a bunch of guys

out cruisin', lookin' for fun.

They found her,

and the fun went on all night.

When did this happen?

Couple of months ago.

Doctor said her brain

just shut down.

She couldn't take no more.

She's really okay physically.

She can hear us.

She could talk if she wanted to,

but all she does is just sit there.

- Who takes care of her now?

- I do.

I bring her here

whenever I can.

She fixed this place up all by herself,

so she belongs here.

- What about her family?

- What about them?

She's got a brother named Bard.

You haven't seen him around?

In the four years I've known her,

she's stayed far away from those people.

Why?

Does she look like she's got

a lot of happy memories?

Well, thank you for your time,

Sarah.

Bye.

What?

You forgot my kiss.

You're in a good mood.

- Bye.

- Bye.

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