"I know. So do I." Sam shook his head in anguish and added, "Is there really anyplace on earth that Todd can be where nothing will hurt him?"

************************************************************************************************************

Téa and Bo arrived at O'Hare at two in the afternoon. Bo had scheduled an appointment with Police Commissioner William Jackson for three-thirty. Commissioner Jackson seemed pleasant enough over the phone. He had been with the Chicago Police since 1991, so he was not at all familiar with the case of Michelle Baker, a case that had been closed since 1984.

All Bo had told him over the phone was that he had some information on this case and that he would prefer to discuss it in person. His curiosity piqued, Commissioner Jackson checked out all the old files on this case.

It seemed like an ordinary missing persons case. A teenage girl, considered to be a runaway, reported missing by her parents.

"Parents deny their daughter was unhappy or would run away . . ."

"Girl seen leaving home with a backpack by a reliable witness . . ."

What did seem odd to Commissioner Jackson was that the case was closed in October of 1984, less than a year after the girl was first reported missing. Cases were usually kept alive for longer than that.

"Commissioner Jackson, there's a Bo Buchanan and a Téa Manning here to see you," Sergeant Ferrelli stuck his head in the door and announced.

"Please ask them to come in," Commissioner Jackson instructed with a friendly smile. "Commissioner Buchanan, Ms. Manning," Bill Jackson said, holding his hand out for each of them to shake.

Jackson was a tall man with broad shoulders. His arms still retained some of the musculature of the time he spent working out in his younger days. He had wavy brown hair and large, warm, brown eyes. He appeared to be in his mid to late forties.

"I have to admit you have aroused my curiosity," Commissioner Jackson pointed to the open file on his desk. "I wasn't here when this case went down. I have just read the file. There's really not much in here. The case was closed less than a year after the girl vanished."

"Isn't that a little unusual?" Bo posed.

"Yeah, I thought so," Jackson agreed honestly.

"Commissioner Jackson," Bo began, "we have a young man back in Llanview who has a connection to this case."

"He's very sick right now," Téa jumped in.

"Yes," Bo continued. "He has been hospitalized since July for mental illness and he is physically ill as well. Commissioner Jackson, I have to tell you up front that this young man is far too ill to be questioned. I have a letter from his psychiatrist and his cardiologist." Bo handed the letters to Commissioner Jackson.

Bill Jackson started to read the letters. A look of surprise appeared on his face. He looked up and turned to Tea.

"Manning . . . is he a relation to you?" he asked, Tea.

"Yes, he's my husband," Tea answered surprising Commissioner Jackson even further.

Bill looked down at the letters on his desk and continued to read. He looked up again and stated "He has multiple personalities?"

"Yes, well it's called DID now. Dissociative Identity Disorder. Todd has twelve alters that we know about so far," Téa enlightened the Commissioner. She then turned to Bo. "Sam told me another one came out yesterday."

Bo shook his head at the severity of Todd's illness and said, "You can see that Todd is in no shape to be questioned by the police or anyone."

"Commissioner Jackson," Téa explained, "Todd's physical condition has also deteriorated in the last few days. He is having heart problems and he is very weak. He doesn't eat and will have to be fed through a feeding tube, again. He nearly died from pneumonia and it's complications less than a month ago. Many of his alters are very young children. One is only five months old. Todd is also suffering from psychosomatic blindness. One of his alters is suicidal. They are all terrified of strangers."

Bill looked down at the letters in front of him again and then up at Bo and Téa. "My God, how did such a young man get so sick?"

"That kind of brings us to why we're here today," Bo responded and went on,"Todd Manning suffered severe abuse at the hands of his adopted father Peter Manning. I mean we are not just talking hitting the kid or even beating the kid."

"Here." Téa handed Doctor Evans' files over to Commissioner Jackson.

"Todd Manning was systematically tortured by Peter from the day he adopted him," Bo continued, "He was beaten and burned and emotionally tortured and sexually abused. You can see by the type of injuries he sustained as a young child that this was going on. The doctor was a friend of the family and didn't report the abuse. He has since lost his license."

Bill looked at the medical reports. He shook his head and sighed. He was quiet for a few moments and then spoke. "Commissioner Buchanan . . . Bo, I can see that very tragic circumstances led to Mr. Mannings illness but what does any of this have to do with the Baker case?"

"We're getting to that," Bo said and took a deep breath. "Todd Manning and Michelle Baker were best friends in Junior High School. On the night she disappeared, Michelle came to Todd's house to bring him a birthday cake."

Interrupting Bo, Bill stated, "There is no mention of a Todd Manning or Michelle going to a friends house that night anywhere in this file. Wouldn't her parents have mentioned that?"

"As far as we could figure, Michelle didn't tell them about her friendship with Todd or that she was even going out that night," Tea pointed out.

"So you're telling me that Todd was the last person to see her and no one ever knew that?" Bill questioned.

"Todd and his father, Peter," Bo replied.

"Why didn't they go to the police? It was in the papers. They must have heard about her disappearance. Todd must have noticed that she never came back to school?" Bill declared.

"Todd dissociated shortly after Michelle disappeared. An alter named Pete came out and it was Pete who was out, mostly, for months after Michelle disappeared," Téa informed Bill.

"Man this is getting complicated!" Commissioner Jackson exclaimed and rubbed his temples. He then asked, "Okay, so this kid and his old man saw the girl that night. Was that after she was seen by . . . " Bill looked through the file for a minute to refresh his memory, "by Judge Alfred Connor?"

"Commissioner Jackson . . ."

"Bill," Commissioner Jackson interrupted and reminded Bo.

"Bill, that never happened. Judge Connor never saw Michelle that night. He was probably paid to say that he did," Bo completed his statement.

"Now just a minute! That's a pretty serious accusation you're making here. Do you have any proof of what you just said?" Bill realized the ramifications of Bo's accusations.

"About him being paid, no. About the fact that he could not have seen Michelle that night, yeah," Bo confessed looking Bill in the eye.

Bo turned to Téa and nodded his head. Téa took a tape recorder out of her briefcase and put it on Bill's desk.

"Connor couldn't have seen Michelle that night. At the time he claims he saw her she was already dead," Bo could see he shocked Bill with what he just told him.

The three of them sat and listened to the tape. Bill could see tears cascade down Téa's cheeks as she listened. In all his years in law enforcement, Bill Jackson had seen and heard some things that would curl the toes of an average person. This was the sickest and most horrendous thing he had ever been privy to. Bill looked at the picture of his two sons and daughter that he kept on his desk.

"Man! How could he do that to his own kid!" Bill shook his head in disbelief for a few seconds before he spoke. "Okay, I have to ask you both this. Todd was hypnotized when he told this story. We use hypnotic recall of repressed memories to help witnesses remember things, sometimes. The memories are usually accurate, but occasionally not so accurate. Is Todd's doctor sure that things went down the way he described? Has she spoken to him about what he said at all?"

"Todd doesn't remember anything that happened after he was burned and hit with the belt. The boy you heard on the tape is an alter, also named Todd. The one you heard at the end is an alter named Pete. Todd went away shortly after the disclosure of Peter throwing Michelle out of the house," Téa explained to Bill.

"Bo, have you questioned him at all about this?" Bill inquired.

"Absolutely not. Bill, I know Susannah Hanen. If she says Todd can't be questioned, then he can't be questioned. Susannah was the one who suspected Todd witnessed something that severely traumatized him that night, in the first place. She was the one who went after the truth. It's not that she is trying to protect Todd. She knows that emotionally and physically he cannot handle being questioned about this. Bill, the kid went blind in order not to look at this," Bo answered.

"Do you have any idea where this girl's body is supposedly buried? I know the boy said it was a wooded area about twenty miles from his house. Is the address on this medical report the same house he was living in at the time of the alleged murder?" Bill asked.

"Yes," Bo replied.

"I know this area," Bill said, scratching his head in frustration. "There are wooded areas all around it. I would say that in at least three directions you could go twenty miles and find a wooded area seclude enough, especially in January, for someone to hide a body in. According to Todd, Peter wrapped his fingers around the bat and the bat is buried with Michelle. So if we find the girl we find the murder weapon. Do you have any proof that it was the father who did the actual murder?"

"For God's sake, Bill! You heard the tape. You yourself said that in most cases, memories recovered during hypnosis are accurate. Are you doubting Todd's innocence?" Bo was starting to get worried.

"Bo, I'm not saying that. You have to realize that until an hour ago, I didn't know you or Mrs. Manning. I don't know Todd or Doctor Hanen. At this time I am certainly not in a position to make such a judgment. I don't have to tell you that I have to consult with the DA on this. What I can say is at this point we have the word of a very sick young man, told under hypnosis. We don't even know for sure if the girl is dead and neither of you can say for one hundred percent that Todd didn't imagine the whole thing, that it wasn't some kind of delusion. According to you both, even at age fourteen, Todd was already suffering from DID."

"Bill," Téa spoke up, "do you know why we went to Bo with this. It was because he had had a stormy relationship with Todd for many years. Bo has come pretty close to hating Todd. We knew if there was one person in Llanview who would love to have had something to put Todd in prison with, it would have been Bo. All of this is documented, if you don't want to take our word for it. We also knew that Bo could be objective and if he felt Todd was innocent his word would carry a lot more weight than the words of the people who love Todd."

Bill looked at Bo. "And you feel, with complete certainty, that Todd only witnessed this alleged murder?"

"I do, Bill. I wouldn't be here if I didn't. Téa and Sam Rappaport, Todd's other lawyer and also his best friend, didn't ask me to come to Chicago. I volunteered. I have seen Todd Manning when he was guilty of things and when he wasn't. I'm telling you, the boy on that tape is telling the truth. I knew Todd's father. He was more than capable of murdering that girl. You can see by the medical records that he nearly murdered Todd."

"Peter was getting paid to take care of Todd. That was the only reason he did stop short of killing him," Téa added. She pulled some more papers out of her briefcase and handed them to Bill.

"These are the names and addresses of Todd's old schools and some of his teachers are still there. If you question them, as Doctor Hanen did, you will find out that Todd's actions fit the DID profile even back then. If you speak to Peter's business partner, he can tell you how he always heard Peter verbally abuse Todd and Todd's mother. You have the medical reports right in front of you. They show how severely Todd was abused," Téa pleaded Todd's case.

"Did Doctor Evans admit that he knew the boy was being abused?" Bill asked.

Téa shook her head and said, "He never admitted any wrongdoing and he voluntarily surrendered his license."

"So you really have no proof that these injuries were caused by the father?"

"Jesus Bill, you know those injuries couldn't have been gotten any other way. Any doctor who reads those files would tell you that," Bo snapped. He was getting frustrated.

"And the DA could bring in a dozen doctors who would say that he could have been hurt in a playground or that someone other than the father could have done that to him. Look Bo, I'm playing the devil's advocate here. I know our new DA and I know that he would love to make a name for himself with a potentially high profile case like this. A fifteen year old murder, a rape, two kids from well-to-do families. This is the kind of thing Steve Harris has been looking for. Have you been in contact with the girls parents?"

Both Téa and Bo shook their heads.

"Sam Rappaport and I have hired a PI to try to find them. They too seemed to have disappeared without a trace," Téa informed him and sighed in dismay.

Bill thumbed through the police file and told them, "The girl's parents were suspects themselves for a time. Then Bill asked them, "What about Connor? Have either of you spoken with him?"

"He's dead and so is the man who could possibly have linked Peter to Connor. Michael Connor, the judge's son, said his father came into a lot of money shortly after Michelle died. Connor needed the money badly because his wife was dying of cancer and he wanted her to have treatments that their insurance wouldn't pay for," Téa filled Bill in.

"Bill look," Bo began, "I know you don't know me from a hole in the wall and have no reason to trust my instincts. But I gotta tell ya, my gut is telling me that the girl is dead and that Peter raped and killed her and forced his son to watch and then forced his hands around that bat and forced him to help bury her body. You heard the terror in that boy's voice. You heard his screams. Does that sound like a murderer to you?"

Bill was quiet for a minute and then asked, "Is it possible for Doctor Hanen to come to Chicago?"

"No," Bo answered, "she can't leave Todd now. If you could possibly come to Llanview, she would be more than happy to meet with you."

"I may just do that," Bill answered and then said, "Let me ask you something, on the tape Doctor Hanen told Todd that it was November seventeenth. Why did it take you so long to come to me?"

"Sam and I only told Bo about this a couple of days ago. So much happened immediately after Todd was taken to the lodge," Téa explained.

"The lodge?" Bill asked.

Bo and Téa then explained how Georgie Phillips' murder figured into all of this.

"This is getting more complicated by the second. Are you sure Todd was not connected to the death of the Phillips girl?"

"Bill, my stepdaughter killed Georgie. She confessed and is doing time for it right now." Bo could see the surprised look on Bill's face. He continued. "Bill, I thought Todd did it. Right up until my stepdaughter confessed, I thought Todd did it. I was wrong. It wasn't the first time I thought Todd did something and was wrong. If anything, I usually look to blame Todd for things he didn't do. This time, I am telling you, he didn't do it."

Bill sighed and looked at Téa. "Okay, so you were about to tell me why you took so long to report this."

Téa began again. "After the lodge one thing after another started happening to Todd. Recalling the memory of what happened caused him to go into shock while he was still at the lodge. When Doctor Hanen tried to get him to talk about the memories he disclosed, he went blind. Then he dissociated into a five-month-old. He got pneumonia and came very close to dying. Then the holidays came up . . . frankly, we knew what this could lead to and we wanted him to have as nice a holiday as possible," Téa said, honestly.

"Well I can't say I blame you for that, but you do know that what you and Mr. Rappaport did was unethical to say the least."

"I know," Téa admitted. She did not look sorry in the least and confessed, "I would do it again in a heartbeat. For the first time in their life, those little boys were able to have a happy holiday and I am not sorry for any part I played in helping to give it to them.

"Bill," Bo asked, "can you tell us what you plan on doing right now? Please, tell me that Todd will not be questioned. If you or anyone did that now, you would drive him over the edge."

"I have no immediate plans to question Todd or to bring this to Steve Harris' attention. I have a lot to absorb here," Bill assured them as best he could. Bill picked up the tape. "Can I keep this or make a copy of it?"

"Yes, you can keep it. We have the original," Téa answered.

"Bill," Bo pressed, "don't you think it's odd that the case was just dropped like that? Even the newspaper accounts of the story went cold after a few days. Then the girl's parents and brothers just disappeared. I mean the father was a college professor, her mother was a second grade teacher. I know how hard grief can effect people but they just walked away from their jobs, from their house. Something about this whole thing just makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up."

"And here I thought I was the only police commissioner that, that happened to," Bill said smiling at Bo and Téa. He then added, "Look, I'm not making any promises but for the time being I need to think about this and go over some of these things a few times. I also want to ask around a little and see if I can find some detectives who were here back in '84. I may check out some of those people who knew Todd back then or knew Peter. I want to speak to Doctor Evans and see if a little police pressure might not jar his memory on what caused Todd's injuries. And then I think I want to meet with your Doctor Hanen. I'm gonna be so busy doing all that, bringing this to Steve Harris' attention might just slip my mind for a while."

Bill could see the gratitude on both Bo and Téa's face. "Hey look, eventually he will have to find out, but maybe I can dig up something useful in the interim. How long are you two going to be in Chicago?"

"Well, I have my own jurisdiction to worry about and Téa has a law practice she needs to get back to," Bo pointed out.

"And I want to get back to Todd," Téa chimed in and then added, "I can't speak for Bo, but if you need me to stay in Chicago, I will. Are you going to be looking for the burial site in the near future?"

"No, not until I look into this more. I'm still not completely sure that Todd wasn't delusional. We are talking about a very ill young man here. As I said before, we have many wooded areas around here. I can't send my people into every one of them and have them all dug up. Perhaps in the time it takes me to look into this, Doctor Hanen can get some more details from Todd, like what direction they drove in or some landmark, something that would help pin it down. And since the girl's parents can't be found yet, I don't see any pressing need to go tearing up all the wooded areas around here.

Bo and Téa knew they lucked out with Bill Jackson. He was trying his best to do the right thing. He would be fair. They asked him to please let them know if he was coming to Llanview and to let them know if he found out anything new.

Téa once again impressed upon him how important it was that she be there if they do try to find and exhume Michelle's body. Bill assured them both that he would contact them if any of those things occurred. They believed him. He seemed a decent and honest man. They headed for the airport. Both were relieved that their stay in Chicago was a short one and that for now Todd was safe.

Tom was the one who woke up later that day. He was feeling better than Timmy had felt, but he was also weak. He usually hated being stuck in bed, but he too felt kind of groggy and didn't put up too much of a fuss. They were able to get him to eat some ice cream and drink some ginger ale.

Sam played Boggle Junior with him for a while. Tom started to nod off during the game and went back to sleep.

Bo and Téa didn't want to pull Sam or Viki away from the hospital, so they took a cab. Téa called Viki and Sam to briefly tell them how things went. She said she and Bo would fill them in on the details tomorrow.

They were relieved that Commissioner Jackson was a fair and objective man. They wished he could have given them a more definite answer about questioning Todd and about going to the DA. Nevertheless they were grateful that he was going to check things out before he acted.

Susannah checked in on Todd before she left for the day. She told Sam and Viki that his electrolytes had gone up. They were still low, but out of the danger zone. Susannah saw his heart rhythm was improving as well. Viki told Susannah that Doctor Williams, Todd's cardiologist, had been in to see him earlier. Tom had been sleeping so soundly, he didn't even wake up when Doctor Williams examined him. She told Susannah that he also noticed some improvement.

"Do you think Todd will be left with any permanent heart damage?" Sam asked.

"No permanent damage has been done by this last problem. It is imperative that we get those electrolytes up and keep them up. I think one more day on the drip should do the trick. Once Todd is a little more stable, perhaps the day after tomorrow, I want to put the feeding tube back. I also want Todd to have an abdominal endoscopy, just to be sure there are no problems in his digestive system that are causing his constant stomach upset. Todd will have to be put under a light anesthesia and I don't want to do that until we clear up this problem first." Susannah knew Sam and Viki were hoping things would improve on their own. Sadly, she also knew that wasn't likely.

Tom slept through most of the night. Sam stayed with him. He had one nightmare around two in the morning. It wasn't too bad as far as the way his nightmares usually go. He woke up crying and disoriented. Sam was able to calm him and get him back to sleep in less than ten minutes. He slept quietly the rest of the night.

Viki returned at eight-thirty the next morning. Timmy had been the one to wake up. Frank and Nancy had already cleaned him up, in his bed. Timmy definitely seemed more alert and awake. He said his tummy still felt funny, but "regular funny, not special funny." He did agree to eat some chocolate pudding and Viki went to get it.

"Where's Andy?" Timmy asked Sam.

Susannah told Sam and Viki about Andy's appearance. "I guess Andy went back inside, pal," Sam told him gently.

Timmy shut his eyes for a few minutes and then sadly admitted, "I can't find him. He hided himself like Todd."

"Timmy," Sam asked tenderly, "have you been missing Andy all this time?"

Timmy nodded. "He would play with me. He once showeded me his secret tree. I was the only one he showeded it to. I couldn't climb it cause I was scared and he didn't laugh at me. He played the game with daddy sometimes so I didn't have to. I'm glad daddy didn't killeded him forever."

"Me too pal. Me too," Sam admitted and hugged Timmy tightly.

Viki came back in with Timmy's pudding and was able to get him to eat a little more than half of it. She also got him to drink a cup of milk. Susannah came into the room and was relieved to see Timmy looking so much better.

Timmy reached out for hug, which Susannah happily gave him. She examined Mr. Rabbit, who still wasn't feeling that good according to Timmy, and then she examined Timmy. Susannah played "the stethoscope game" with both Timmy, and at Timmy's request, Mr. Rabbit. Viki and Sam stood by, exchanging glances and smiling at their precious child.

"Can I go play with my toys?" Timmy requested after Susannah finished examining him.

"Maybe a little later sweetie. You have to stay in bed until the medicine in this bag is all gone."

"Why don't you tell me what toys you want and I'll bring them to you?" Sam suggested.

"My Pooh coloring book and my crayons."

Sam brought them to him, and colored with him for a while. Timmy became sleepy and took a nap.

CONTINUED IN PART 45B

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