Lady in the Lake

Maddie waits outside the Sherwood apartment in Milton’s old neighborhood, hoping to encounter Mrs. Sherwood alone. When Mrs. Merva Sherwood walks to the grocery store, Maddie intercepts her outside, asking if Eunetta (Cleo) ever told her mother about Ezekiel Taylor. Mrs. Sherwood counters that she drew conclusions on her own, owing to the quality and extensive tailoring of Cleo’s new wardrobe. This confirms Maddie’s suspicions that Ezekiel had appropriated garments abandoned by customers of his dry-cleaning business, altering them for Cleo. Maddie recognizes that she is causing Merva distress, but presses on, asking about the last time she saw her daughter. Cleo had brought gifts for her sons and suggested she may be going out of town. Maddie asks if Cleo knew she was in danger. Merva says, “when you are very, very pretty, you start to think you can get away with so much. But I guess you knew that, too” (278). Maddie takes note of the past tense usage.

Maddie asks to report on Ezekiel Taylor’s grand opening of his sixth EZ Kleeners. On her cab ride, she notes the abundance of “FOR SALE” signs, indications of the urgent and ongoing white flight. Maddie introduces herself to Ezekiel, claiming the Star is interested in the ribbon cutting because of his political ambitions, but segues immediately into questions about Cleo. Ezekiel appears unruffled, insisting he doesn’t keep track of everyone who uses his chain’s services. Maddie escalates into veiled accusation, saying that Cleo told her mother she was going to marry him. Ezekiel acknowledges that he is a patron of the Flamingo, but adds that his interest in its nightlife is exclusively related to the live music acts. “The stories girls tell their mothers. I am married” (283), he says, insisting he cannot be blamed for the misinterpretations and presumptions of someone he doesn’t remember. Maddie is impressed that Ezekiel never shows the slightest indication of discomfort or concern.

One night, Ferdie tells Maddie he has a tip that she can turn into an exclusive on Cleo Sherwood’s case, but she must act immediately. A fellow officer blabbed to Ferdie that the Flamingo’s bartender is planning to confess to Cleo’s murder. Ferdie instructs Maddie to wait an hour, then call homicide from her office and ask them to confirm or deny, but threaten to run the story regardless. When Ferdie leaves, Maddie instead calls the station from home, confident Thomas Ludlow is present without a lawyer. She calls the Star’s city desk next, and they file her story. Soon after, she is summoned to an editor’s office to be chastised for intruding on John Diller’s territory. Though Diller doesn’t reveal any identifying details, he speaks of Maddie’s source with disdain. He also attacks Maddie’s integrity, deriding her egregious presumptuousness, lack of experience, and poor judgement. Maddie’s only consolation is a compliment from Edna.

Walking into a buzzing newsroom, Maddie learns of the breaking story of a courthouse shooting; as Thomas Ludlow was escorted from a police transport vehicle, Cleo Sherwood’s father shot him. Maddie proceeds to the Sherwood apartment, where Cleo’s devastated mother lets her in. Several hours later, cautious after her chastisement, Maddie approaches Cal Weeks to ask if anyone had spoken to anyone from the Sherwood family. Learning they had not, Maddie reveals that she interviewed Mrs. Sherwood a few hours before. Cal asks Maddie to give her notes to the newspaper’s rewrite department, the division responsible for most of the actual copy composition that appears in print. Maddie declines, insisting that she promised Merva she would write the story herself, and Weeks obliges. They pare down the version that appears in print, but Maddie ensures that the mention of Cleo’s tailored wardrobe remains where Ezekiel Taylor can read it.

When primary election results begin to emerge, Maddie is tasked with helping to manage the incoming data for the Star’s coverage. When Ezekiel tallies in last place, she scolds herself for thinking his political candidacy had ever been taken seriously by anyone other than Shell Gordon.

When she visits her parents, Maddie’s mother reminds her that Yom Kippur is approaching, a time during which Jewish tradition places emphasis on forgiving others. Mrs. Morgenstern is confident that should Maddie decide to “go back home” (295), Milton would likely forgive her and resume their marital life as if the previous year had never occurred. Maddie asserts, “I have done nothing to atone for, […] and nothing for which I need to be forgiven” (296). Maddie’s mother assures her that she can empathize, saying that as a teenager, she too “went a little crazy” (296); her mother cites examples of other married homemakers with whom they are acquainted who have also had moments of rebelliousness, only to return to domesticity. When her mother adds, “Look, I’m just telling you, Madeline. I know” (297), Maddie wonders just how much her mother might have known or intuited about her teenage daughter’s affair with Allan Durst Sr. Maddie is struck by how alienated she feels from her parents; as a woman pushing the boundaries of convention, she has become acutely aware of the chasm between their generation and her own.

Nine months into their covert relationship, Ferdie asks when Maddie’s birthday is. On November 10, she will turn 38, an age she finds frustrating in its limbo-like state on the way to 40. Ferdie asks what she would like for a birthday present, and as she suddenly realizes she has conditioned herself; she deflects the personal question by initiating a sex act. Milton had lacked the insight to discern whether Maddie was enjoying herself during sex, though she usually was. Allan, Maddie now believes, preferred preying on women with no sexual experience so that he could proceed with the assurance that he would not be found lacking. Maddie finds Ferdie, by comparison, uniquely attuned to her physical responses, and she to his. She asks his age and birthday, but he replies with only the date, December 25. “I would like to give you the world, Maddie,” Ferdie says, and later, “I’m going to get you the best gift” (301).

Milton asks to meet Maddie for lunch, and she is apprehensive; they have not been alone together in over nine months, most of their often-contentious communication happening over the phone or via Seth. She suspects that Milton would have been less insulted and frustrated if she had left him for a wealthier man rather than to live on her own. She dresses with purpose, eschewing the short hemlines, boots, and bright patterns that characterize her new Mod aesthetic in favor of a modest transitional outfit bridging the gap between former and current Maddie. Milton comments that she is no longer wearing her rings, and she delivers the lie that they were stolen. He explains that he waited to address their separation and divorce until enough time had elapsed for him to file for abandonment. Her first question is about the alimony she is expecting, and he asks if she needs it. Seth is planning to attend the University of Pennsylvania, and he will be selling their house. Milton admits that he recently met someone else, a 25-year-old woman whose full name he does not know; he presumes the woman will not want to live in the home he shared with his former wife. Maddie pities him, assuming that, in starting over with his new wife, he’ll be trapped by the structures and conventions that once bound them both, especially if his young wife wants children. Milton walks Maddie home and promises that he will “do right by her,” and Maddie is relieved. Though her long-awaited financial support will likely be less than she hoped for, it’s in progress.

On Halloween night, Maddie feels an inkling of dissatisfaction when her visit with Ferdie begins with the kind of mundane current events discussions she used to have with Milton. After an exciting bout of sexual roleplay, though, Maddie is in a better mood. Ferdie reveals that he has learned of a development in the Tessie Fine case. The purpose of the phone call that Stephen Corwin made to his mother from the pet shop the night Tessie Fine disappeared seems likely to have been to ask for his mother’s help in disposing of Tessie’s body. Maddie’s immediate excitement sends Ferdie into a panic; he insists that she cannot cover this story. The tip about Thomas Ludlow could have come from any number of sources, but this piece of information would be immediately traced back to him if revealed. Maddie lies to Ferdie, insisting that no one knows about their relationship. She tries to persuade him to let her address it covertly, but he demands that she say nothing. Maddie objects: “But—Tessie Fine was my murder. I found her” (311). Ferdie comments that Maddie’s doggedness regarding homicide has become alarming; she doesn’t need to resort to exploitative and potentially harmful tactics to advance her career. He implores her to recognize how important his dream of becoming a detective is to him; if he is found to have leaked this story, it will eviscerate all of the degradation and injustice he has endured. He promises that if he hears anything about a pending arrest, he will tell her immediately. Maddie promises not to write anything that could compromise his career, but the next day, she proceeds to do as she pleases.

Maddie knocks on Angela Corwin’s door. Maddie has convinced herself that if Mrs. Angela Corwin confesses her involvement directly to Maddie, Ferdie will be in no way implicated. Angela presents a façade of normalcy, inviting Maddie in and offering cookies. She insists that her son has a mental health condition, but is being prevented from making use of an “insanity” plea. His mother attributes his mental state to the experiments he claims were performed on him by the Army at Fort Detrick. Maddie asks if she thinks her son murdered Tessie Fine, and his mother describes herself as hesitant to “gossip” about her son, but proceeds to paint him as the bane of her existence. She calls him “never very bright,” and “a disappointment to me” (313), insisting that because she was an A student in high school, his intellectual deficiencies are his father’s fault. She finds it strange that she married Stephen’s father, who had red hair, because she was scratched by a reddish cat when she was young. She then prattles on about having grown up “very well-to-do” (314).

Maddie tries to steer the conversation toward Stephen’s alleged accomplice, adding that she knows Stephen called his mother at the apartment the night of the murder. Angela’s attitude turns suspicious. She feigns pleasantry, claiming to want to send Maddie home with some cookies. When Angela returns to the kitchen, she uses the box of cookies as a distraction before lashing out with a serrated knife. She begins to mutter incoherently:

Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was being kind, helping him put that girl out of her misery. I’m trying to be kind to you. […] Just like the chickens on Auntie’s farm, just like the chickens on Auntie’s farm, what was the big deal? Easier than the chickens because the chickens run from you, before and after (316).

Maddie manages to overpower Angela and runs to the phone, telling the operator that she has been stabbed. When she hears the sound of a car starting and sees Angela driving away, Maddie realizes that it was Angela who had actually ended the life of Tessie Fine.

Maddie is grateful to Milton for taking charge and insisting that she stay in the hospital, even after she realizes that allowing her to convalesce at their former home would interfere with the abandonment timeline he is relying on in his petition for divorce. She derives great satisfaction from watching Wally Weiss report on the story of her attack, referring to her as a reporter on assignment. The Star’s chief editor calls her hospital room to pressure Maddie to give them the exclusive on her attack; sensing the leverage she has, she tells him she’ll call when she feels better.

In the middle of the night, groggy from lack of sleep, Maddie hears someone come into her room and ask, “What have you done now, Madeline Schwartz?” (320). The speaker says that she was once Cleo Sherwood, who Maddie insists is dead. Cleo chastises Maddie for refusing to let Cleo rest, explaining how events unfolded.

Shell Gordon had ordered Thomas Ludlow to kill Cleo, but not over politics. Cleo insists that Ezekiel was going to leave his wife and marry her, and Gordon could not bear the thought of Ezekiel being genuinely happy with someone he truly loved. Together, Cleo and Thomas devised a plan made possible by the heroin overdose of Cleo’s roommate, Latetia. The pair kept Latetia’s body in a secret place until Cleo could be observed wearing her distinctive New Year’s Eve outfit, then dressed the body to stand in for Cleo’s and placed it in the fountain lake. Until Maddie interfered, pushing Gordon to force Thomas to confess in order to take attention away from him, then compelling Cleo’s grieving father to shoot Thomas, everyone Cleo cared for had been safe. Having told her the truth, Cleo departs having delivered her message: “Leave me be, Maddie Schwartz. I’m warning you” (322).

After staying away for several weeks, Ferdie sneaks into Maddie’s apartment, reminding her once again about the dangers of leaving her window open. Instead of initiating intimacy, Ferdie remains standing, saying, “You promised me, Maddie. You promised you wouldn’t write anything” (325). He tells her that he loves her, and when she doesn’t reciprocate, he realizes she doesn’t return his affections. He attributes her reticence to his race, and she acknowledges it as a factor, but more importantly, she never wants to be married again.

Ferdie tells her that the only reason he revealed the details of Thomas Ludlow’s pending admission of guilt was because he hoped Maddie would stop interfering in Cleo’s case; Maddie’s increasing pressure alone had compelled Shell Gordon to order Thomas to confess. Everyone in the department had concluded that Maddie received her tip from Ferdie. Though that could not be sufficiently proven to penalize him, the department was able to use the statement of the patrolman who saw Ferdie driving away from Maddie’s apartment. To avoid being fired on the grounds of use of a squad car, an amenity forbidden to Black law enforcement, Ferdie was pressured into resigning.

Maddie claims that she is sorry for all the hurt she has caused, but “most of all, she was sorry for herself” (327). She confesses to Ferdie that the police report that brought them together had been a lie she concocted for insurance money. He says that he knows. They are intimate one last time, after which Ferdie never returns to Maddie’s apartment.

When Maddie recovers, dissatisfied with her treatment at the Star, Maddie brings her first-person account to the Beacon. She’s rewarded with a job as a full-time reporter. By October of 1985, Maddie has been at the Beacon for nearly 20 years and is now a respected columnist and former finalist for a Pulitzer Prize. Her reputation has made her a popular speaker, and as she addresses the women present at a luncheon, she recalls the one story she could never publish.

Ezekiel Taylor moved out of Baltimore in 1968, claiming that his doctor had recommended a move to the southwest; Mrs. Hazel Taylor had stayed behind. Maddie searched, but never found contact information for Ezekiel. Maddie wonders if the man found Cleo; perhaps the two were living the life they had dreamed of together after all. Efforts to track down the remaining Sherwood family members had also met with dead ends. Ferdie Platt married, had three children, and outperformed both Ezekiel Taylor and Shell Gordon as the owner of a private security company. Maddie has remained single, publicly dating a judge who is good company but covertly uninterested in women, maintaining her most recent casual sexual affair with a gardener who quietly visits her home much the way Ferdie did. Maddie wonders whether Cleo told the truth about how she and Thomas Ludlow, released from prison in 1976, managed to stage Cleo’s death. Cleo’s father died in prison, but Maddie continues to believe that the consequences of her meddling are not her fault.

Cleo wonders, “Where am I, Maddie Schwartz? Where are you? Why am I still talking to you in my head, all these years later” (337)? Cleo does not feel any guilt for having secured her escape; she is happy, and though she misses her sons, is proud of their accomplishments. She insinuates that she has maintained contact with her sister, through whom she funneled the funds to pay for the college educations of both Little Man and Theodore. Cleo claims to have enjoyed a life financially abundant enough to take care of herself and, though covertly, those she loves. On the night she visited Maddie’s hospital room, Cleo didn’t tell her everything, but Maddie didn’t deserve to know all there was for Cleo to tell.