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“She did, but he refused. She persisted. Finally, he gave her a check for five thousand dollars—it was written out to cash by his father.”
My mother fiddled with her locket. Inside it was a photo of her with my sister. “He told her that if she ever contacted him again, he’d make sure that she never worked in this town…that he’d do everything in his power to ruin her acting career if she didn’t leave him alone.”
Mr. Slick clapped his hands together. “So, let’s jump forward, Mrs. Mann. Tell me about your daughter’s pregnancy.”
Mama’s eyes grew misty. She picked at a hangnail. “It was very difficult and she was scared she was going to lose the baby. I begged her to come home, but she wanted to stay in LA. She was up for some acting roles.”
“Did your daughter see a doctor?”
“Y-yes,” Mama stuttered. “She was referred by a friend to a doctor who ran a clinic in Riverside County who could help high-risk, low-income pregnant women like her…who didn’t have medical insurance.”
“Does he have a name?”
“Yes. Dr. Yzak Milov. That man!” Tears forming in her eyes, she pointed at the man in orange, who looked at her blankly. She jumped to her feet.
“Murderer!” she shrieked, her lips quivering.
“Please sit down, Mrs. Mann.” Shaking, Mama did as he asked.
I clung to my Baby Reborn doll as I watched Slick swagger back to the spot where he always sat and collect a Ziploc bag. Exhibit C. He withdrew a photo and told Mama it was a headshot of Edward Sinclair II.
“Do you see this man here today?”
Mama looked up and scanned the courtroom. Suddenly, the double doors to the courtroom burst open. In strode a handsome young man in an elegant suit who looked like a movie star. Everyone turned to look at him. Including me and Mama.
The court rumbled. The judge banged his gavel and roared, “Order in the court!”
The court quieting, Mama looked back down at the photo and gasped. She clasped a hand to her mouth and, with the other, pointed at the man.
“Oh my Lord! That’s him!”
Mr. Slick broke into a smarmy smile.
“Now, wouldn’t you say that’s the real murderer? The man who impregnated your daughter. The monster who paid her off and deserted her…let her be mutilated. Edward Sinclair II?”
Mr. Shlumpy vehemently objected. Spittle sprayed from his mouth.
“Objection sustained,” said the stern judge. “And the jury will strike that question from the record.”
My gaze stayed on the handsome young man as he took a seat in the back of the courtroom. A smirk crossed his lips as his eyes burned into mine.
I swore I would never forget him.
And never forgive him.
FORTY-FIVE
MARLEY
Over the next few days, other women went up to the stand and testified that the place my sister was talking about—The Birthing Center—was indeed rat infested, unsanitary, and frightening. “A house of horrors,” one called it.
Mr. Shlumpy was in his element, pacing the court like a caged tiger, much to the frustration of Mr. Slick, who wore a scowl on his face. Every time Mr. Shlumpy, the prosecutor, asked one of the witnesses if she recognized the man in the orange jumpsuit, she cried out, “It’s him! Dr. Yzak Milov.”
Following several more testimonies, court recessed while the jury deliberated the fate of the man in the orange jumpsuit. At the time, I didn’t really understand what was going on.
Every day that week Mama took me to church with her and told me to pray that the man in the orange jumpsuit got the death penalty. He deserved to die like my sister and her baby…and all the other poor girls he’d butchered to death.
A week later we were summoned back to court. Every seat was taken. The pretty lady, who always sat in front of us, was there too. She was wearing a pink suit with a matching pair of shiny leather heels and a small gold-frame handbag. The man in the orange jumpsuit sat emotionless next to his lawyer, Mr. Slick. I clutched my dolly in one hand. Mama squeezed the other as the priest-cum-judge read the verdict. His face somber. “The jury unanimously finds Dr. Yzak Milov guilty on all counts…four counts of second-degree murder, six counts of involuntary manslaughter, twenty-six counts of illegally prescribed drugs, and thirteen counts of practicing medicine without a license…and is sentenced to life in prison without parole.”
