Little Deaths(70)

They went into the living room and Ruth sat by the window, smoking. She watched her mother walk down the path, stiff-legged, back bent. She let Frank’s words wash over her, let the warmth of the winter sun through the glass relax her.

Then he said something that shook her awake. She turned to him.

“Devlin said what?”

“He told me a lie detector test would make all the questions stop. He said if we both took the test, they’d leave us alone.”

Ruth lit another cigarette, blew out smoke, looked at him through narrowed eyes.

“And you believed him?”

Frank spread his arms in a gesture she knew well. It was his I-forgot-the-time pose. His they-didn’t-tell-me-you-called, I-couldn’t-get-the-money-today stance.

“Ruth, he’s a cop. He just wants to find out who did it. That’s his job.”

She took another drag, stared at the floor. Thought about Devlin and that other cop—Mackay. Telling her he understood. Telling her he knew how things could get out of hand. That low voice, insinuating he knew she’d killed her children. They’d been pushing and pushing her for months. She needed to find a way to make them stop.


Two days later, Ruth sat in the chair in the dark room.

She’d told Devlin that she would do the test, but she wanted Frank to do it as well. And she wanted assurances that she would be alone in the room with the technicians, that no one would be watching her. She’d had enough of being watched.

“Fine. That’s fine, Mrs. Malone. Sure. If that’s what you want.”

“And Frank will be doing it at the same time?”

“That’s right. Both of you. He’ll be just in the room next door.”

As the technician checked the wires and tested that the machine was working, she smoked one cigarette after another.

“This isn’t legal, you know. I read that they don’t accept it in court.”

The man kept his head down, turned dials, flicked switches.

“There must be something wrong with it. Otherwise they’d accept it in court.”

He stayed silent, but glanced toward the door.

Then they began:

“Is your name Ruth Marie Malone?”

“Yes.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-six.”

“Are you married?”

“Not anymore.”

“On the night of July thirteenth, nineteen sixty-five, were you alone at your apartment with your children?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever hurt your children?”

“No.”

“When did you last see your children alive?”

“I’ve been through this. Over and over.”

“When did you last see your children alive?”

“Are you asking Frank the same questions?”

The technician looked toward the mirror along the wall.

“Are you?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I don’t . . .”

“Frank Malone. My ex-husband. He’s taking the test next door right now.”

“There’s . . . we only have one machine.”

Ruth pulled the wires from her arm and threw them at the bemused technician as though they were radioactive. Then she walked to the mirror on the wall and spoke into it.

“You bastard. You lied to me!”

And then: “I can hear you laughing at me, you piece of shit! This isn’t fair. It isn’t fair!”

She spat her words at the men in the mirror. “You’re not interested in finding out the truth about my kids—you just want to twist everything against me!”


MALONE MOTHER REFUSES TO TAKE LIE DETECTOR TEST

By Staff Reporter Tom O’Connor

QUEENS, Nov. 9–The mother of two murdered children has refused to take a lie detector test to answer questions about the mystery surrounding their deaths, it was revealed yesterday.

Frank Malone Jr., 5, and his sister Cindy, 4, disappeared on the night of July 13, 1965 from their first-floor apartment in Kew Gardens Hills, and were later found dead nearby. They lived with their mother, 26-year-old Ruth Malone, who was estranged from their father, Frank Malone Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Malone were briefly reunited by the tragedy.

Despite a thorough investigation, the police have not yet been able to obtain enough information to make an arrest.

Mrs. Malone originally said she was willing to help the police investigation by undergoing a polygraph examination. It has now emerged that she refused to take the test because the results are not admissible as evidence in a court of law.

A police spokesman told this newspaper: “Mrs. Malone said she would take the lie detector test to prove her innocence, but in reality, she had no intention of ever doing it. She knew all along that polygraphs cannot be used in court.”

Lie detectors work by measuring physiological responses, such as blood pressure levels, pulse rate and sweat gland activity during questioning. Any significant variation in these rates may indicate that the subject is lying.

Mrs. Malone left her apartment this morning, and refused to comment on her failure to take the test or on rumors that an arrest in the case is imminent.





Another call. This time they wanted Ruth to come into the station house.

“Just a few questions.”