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"I am continually amazed," Broderick says, "at how many
people will believe something merely because it is said aloud. It
may be a patent lie, but it has been spoken--and therefore it must
be true."
Broderick can spot a lie, but he can also recognize the truth--
and that was what he heard on the afternoon of January 9, 1984.
To help Christie and Danny remember (and eventually to use
them in trial), Fred Hugi had gone to a group that makes
anatomically correct dolls used all across America in counseling
victims of child abuse. Ginger Friedeman, Marcia Morgan, and
Mike Whitney made three dolls the same size as Christie, Cheryl,
and Danny Downs. Dr. Peterson had suggested that Christie and
Danny take the dolls home to the Slavens' house so they could
get used to them. Ray wanted to meet the children; picking the
dolls up was his excuse.
Brenda Slaven and Danny Downs warmed to Broderick
immediately.
308 ANN RULE
"But Christie stayed away. I could see her watching me,
judging me."
Broderick is a talented cartoonist and he drew cartoons for
the three children. They liked that, and he could sense Christie
was edging closer to the group. "I felt an immediate affinity for
Christie, and it seemed to be mutual."
But she was like a little rabbit at the border of a clearing. She
was so bright, and she'd been so hurt. Christie was poised for
flight during the first half hour or so the DA's investigator drew
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his funny pictures for them, making Danny and Brenda laugh out
loud.
Ray reminded the kids he'd come to pick up the big dolls,
and the three youngsters rushed to carry them back, playing with
them for a while on the way. The dolls were deliberately dressed
in the Downs children's old clothes. It was apparent to Broderick
that the "Cheryl-doll" was, for Christie, an extension of her dead
sister.
Casually, he asked where the dolls would have been sitting
when they rode in their red car. Christie looked up at him, and he
could see this new game was something she wanted very much to
participate in.
"There was only one couch in the living room, and Christie
said we needed two couches because the car had two seats. The
Slavens said, 'Well, let's go downstairs; there are two couches
down there.' "
"You put the dolls where they're supposed to be," Ray said
to Christie when they were in the rec room. "I was amazed. She
immediately placed the three dolls exactly where we'd all figured
the kids must have been that night."
It was a tense moment, but he played it very quietly. Christie
was anxious to tell him something.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Broderick asked
softly.
Christie started to explain something to him, but he couldn't
understand her. "Honey, that doesn't make much sense to me.
You be your mommy. You play her part."
Christie hesitated for a moment. Then she moved over to the
car that was made from two couches. No one in the room said
1 anything.
"Kinesthetically, it was all right," Broderick recalls. "Christie
walked to the 'front door' from the rear of the 'car.' She hunched
over and she pointed her finger at 'Cheryl,' 'herself,' and 'Danny.'
SMALL SACRIFICES 309
Of course there was no roof on the couch-car, but Christie's body
bent over as if it were there."
Pow. Pow. Pow. Christie pointed her finger at the dolls.
"Emotion took over. She broke up and started crying. She
said she could tell me more, but she was sobbing. I told her that it
^s OKùthat we didn't have to."
Ray Broderick gathered up the dolls and went to meet Fred
Hugi. "I was overwhelmed by the flow and the honesty of Christie's
actions," he told Hugi. "As a technician, I was struck by
how totally correct every move wasùshe hunched over because
the car 'roof was there."
Broderick sighed. "As a human being, I feel awful. But
Christie's over the hump. Christie will make you a great witness."
CHAPTER 32
The list of people Christie trusted grew longer. She had confided
in Carl Peterson, and she felt safe with the Slavens, with Danny,
with Paula Krogdahl, and now with Ray Broderick.
She needed to trust Fred Hugi, perhaps most of all.
"We were rapidly getting to the end of our rope," Hugi
remembers. "Something had to happen. We were running out of
postponements with juvenile court. We had to appear there and
be sure Diane didn't get the kids back. We always wanted to find
the gun first, and then have Christie remember and tell us what
she remembered."
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