Page 23 of Her Dying Secret

Rebecca lifted her head and gave Josie a tired smile. “No. Jon won’t hurt me, and I can handle myself. It’s certainly not the first time we’ve resorted to name-calling in our marriage.”

Noah had never resorted to name-calling in their marriage, but Josie’s first husband, Ray, had—when he was drunk. Josie had never imagined he would hit her until he did. Then again, name-calling didn’t always escalate to physical abuse.

As if she could see Josie trying to work something out in her mind, Rebecca said, “Really, Detective. I’ll be fine. Jon just gets very worked up when it comes to Seth. He’s very protective.”

The back door slammed again. A moment later, Gretchen appeared. She pulled out the chair opposite Josie and sat. “Mr. Lee has declined to discuss his brother at this time.”

“I’m sure,” Rebecca said.

“Do you mind telling us what you can about Seth?” asked Josie.

Rebecca gave them a sad smile. “Would you like some tea before we begin?”

SIXTEEN

Josie and Gretchen declined tea but Rebecca prepared some anyway. While the kettle heated, she cleaned up the rest of the mess on the table, transferring what was left of the warrant onto the counter and speaking as she worked. “I suppose you should know about his disorder first since all things flow from there. Again, I can only tell you what I suspect, and I would never testify to it in court.”

“Of course,” said Josie. “We understand.”

“If I had to guess, he’s got delusional disorder. The average age of onset is forty but that’s not written in stone. It can start manifesting as early as eighteen, or much later than forty. I think he’s been struggling with it since his early twenties. He was in the army then. He enlisted at eighteen. He was discharged at twenty-two. A general discharge, so not honorable but not dishonorable. I don’t know the details but I’m quite certain, based on what I knew of him at that time, that his disorder started to manifest while he was in the service and eventually led to his discharge.”

Gretchen scratched her temple with the cap of her pen. “Delusional disorder. What exactly does that mean? I’ve met people in this line of work with a pretty wide range of delusions. Everything from thinking a celebrity is in love with them to believing that aliens abducted them.”

The tea kettle whistled. Rebecca turned down the heat and then began pouring hot water into three teacups. “The alien thing is not delusional disorder. That’s something else. Bizarre delusions. Those are delusions that certain things are happening that have no basis in reality. They could never happen. Delusional disorder is typically characterized by non-bizarre delusions which are scenarios that could happen in real life, like being followed or that your spouse is being unfaithful despite all evidence to the contrary. The delusions may be unlikely but they could technically happen. There are various types of non-bizarre delusions: grandiose, somatic, jealous, persecutory, erotomania. However, I have always believed that Seth presented with mixed delusions.”

Josie accepted the teacup. “What makes you say that?”

Rebecca set a cup in front of Gretchen and then offered them a box with various types of tea. “For most of his life he’s thought that people were out to get him, whether it was a boss or a neighbor or the guy who sold him his car. He often expressed fears that he was being spied on. He believed that his superiors from when he served in the army were after him. He used to say that they thought he saw something that he wasn’t supposed to see and wouldn’t believe him if he said he’d seen nothing. He thought they were going to take him away and kill him and no one would know what happened to him.”

Josie chose Earl Grey. “Do you think there was any truth at all to his suspicions? Maybe something did happen while he was in the army?”

Rebecca left the table to retrieve milk, sugar, and spoons. “And that he blew it out of proportion? No. I don’t think so. Like I told Jon, if he had been doing something else at that time in his life, his delusions would have to do with that. He’s always been suspicious of everything and everyone. Even beyond the army thing. He’s never had a cell phone—because of the spying thing. In the past, Jon never had a way to reach him. He just had to wait for Seth to show up.”

Gretchen stirred milk and sugar into her own tea. “All that paranoia must make it hard for him to lead a normal life.”

Rebecca prepared her own tea slowly and carefully. “It does. He’s never been able to hold a job for any significant length of time—not because he is unable to behave normally but because he would get too wrapped up in his delusions that coworkers were trying to get him fired, or that his employer was somehow monitoring him even after he left work.”

“What kind of work does he do?” Josie asked.

“Odd jobs. Handyman stuff. He’s worked on farms. He generally takes jobs that are under the table. Cash only, so it’s untraceable. He doesn’t like there being records of anything. For a time, he worked in a factory but that didn’t last. The scar on his arm? He thought his employer at the time had planted a microchip inside him, almost like the kinds that people have put into their dogs, except he became convinced that it could track his movements. Evidently, he became aware that the FDA had approved an implantable chip for humans in 2004. They were supposed to be for holding a person’s medical data so that in an emergency, doctors or hospitals could scan the chips and have the patient’s history instantly available. The practice never caught on, but Seth believed that one had been implanted in him and he was trying to cut it out.”

“That’s…” Josie trailed off. What kind of damage could that kind of person do to others if he were violent? Was the fact that his delusions led him to inflict bodily harm on himself any indicator that he might be violent toward others?

“Disturbing,” Gretchen filled in.

“Yes,” Rebecca agreed. “That’s the worst he’s ever been, as far as I know. His other behaviors can be odd but not necessarily harmful. For example, he’s never stayed in one place very long. He’s kind of a nomad. Likes to stay outdoors if he can, and I mean sleep outdoors. State gameland. Campsites. There were a few times he set up camp on private property and got kicked out. I think he was charged with trespassing a few times, but nothing ever came of any of it.”

“Why isn’t he welcome here?” asked Josie.

Rebecca grimaced. “Listen, Seth presents quite normally most of the time. He’s quiet, polite, pleasant. He’s not a monster. It’s the longer-term that becomes an issue. The more time you spend around him, you begin to see how his delusions manifest and honestly, he gets to be disruptive. I can’t have him thinking that the food we’re eating has been tampered with or that our water supply has been poisoned. Or that our clients are out to get him. Over time, his delusions take over every aspect of life. Having him around would not be good for our business. We do need income to survive. It’s as simple as that, and in spite of Jon’s behavior today, he knows that.”

Gretchen sipped her tea. “Your husband said Seth isn’t violent, but could someone with delusional disorder be violent?”

Rebecca shrugged. “Anyone can be violent. The vast majority of people suffering from any particular mental illness never become violent, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility.”

“Have you ever known Seth to be violent?”

“No, but I haven’t seen him in years. Jon deals with him.”

---