Murder in the Maternity Ward

by Michelle Francik

Chapter Eighteen

  Santiago called the meeting to order. “Thank you all for coming today. I’m U.S. Marshal Santiago and this is my partner, Marshal McShane. You’ve all met Marshalls Donahue and Donahue.” He gestured to Maggie and Reed.

  “We have some questions regarding the events surrounding the death of Dr. Slade and we believe that those of you here today can provide the answers we need to finally solve this case.”

  Maggie looked around the room, watching the expressions on each face. They’d called in Marcus, Anastasia, Gwen, Barkley, Dorothy, Rose, Margaret and Roland. Margaret and Anastasia seemed nervous while Gwen, Rose and Dorothy were composed. Anger radiated from Roland while Marcus was too busy looking at his wife to pay attention to the events at hand. Barkley was harder to read, keeping his face expressionless, but she felt he was alert and paying attention.

  “Shouldn’t we have our lawyers here, or something? You can’t question us without charging us.” Roland’s anger erupted into the room, startling McShane, who stood up, hand on his gun. Santiago placed his hand on his partner’s arm, and he sat back down, keeping his eyes trained on Roland.

  “We just have some questions. You’re free to answer or not, as you please. If you prefer to have your lawyer present, we’ll be happy to hold everyone here until he or she arrives.”

  A collective groan rippled through the crown and several people gave Roland dirty looks. He glared at Santiago for a minute, then sat back in his seat, arms crossed.

  “Anyone else? Or can we get started?” When no one spoke up, he looked over at Reed, who walked up to the front of the room.

  “We’ve pieced together most of what happened, but we still have a few loose ends to tie up. We’re hopin’ y’all can help us with that.”

  “What is it you need to know?” Dorothy’s voice was deep and throaty, and Maggie noticed the other women either grimaced or looked away.

  Interesting, she thought. Not surprising, given her promiscuity, but interesting.

  “I’m glad you asked, Dorothy.” Reed put on his ‘aw shucks’ persona and Maggie watched all of the women perk up. “I want to know what ‘extra-thorough divorce prevention’ cleaning is.”

  Dorothy’s face flushed and she looked flustered. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what that is.”

  Maggie saw Margaret turn in her seat to glare at Dorothy.

  “Alrighty then. Let me ask you, Rose. Have you ever heard of this?”

  Rose swallowed hard and looked from Reed to Santiago and back again. She took a breath and stood up, wringing her hands. “Yes. I’ve heard of it. It means cleaning the room so there are no fingerprints or other identifying substances left behind.”

  “Other identifying substances? Can you explain that to us?”

  “Well, you know. Like blood or saliva, or other bodily fluids.” She gulped again and for a moment, she seemed like she was going to faint, but she rallied and stood up straight, meeting his eyes.

  “Isn’t that what you normally do when you clean the rooms?”

  “We clean to kill germs and sanitize the rooms, but we don’t normally clean to remove all evidence someone was there.”

  “Could you tell me who made the requests for this type of cleaning?” Reed’s voice was low and calm, but everyone else held their breath as she answered.

  “Dr. Slade and Dorothy Huerta.”

  Dorothy started to argue, but realizing it was futile, she slouched back in her seat and stayed quiet.

  “Do you know why they called it ‘divorce prevention’?”

  “Yes sir, I do. It started because Mrs. Slade hired a private investigator to follow her husband around. Dr. Slade spoke to me and said that if she ever got evidence he was cheating on her, she’d divorce him and take all his money. He said we needed to be sure that everything was wiped down, linens changed, and trash emptied. He told me it was my duty as head of housekeeping to make sure my employees understood the gravity of the situation.”

  “How did that sit with you, Rose, if you don’t mind my askin’?”

  “Not well, sir. Not well at all. It made me sick to think of him cheating and lying. But I needed my job. I have a sick mother to take care of as well as three kids. I couldn’t say no for fear he’d fire me. I asked my housekeepers to do as he said and not make any trouble.”

  “Okay, Rose, thank you for your honesty. I have a few more questions for you, if you don’t mind.” Reed looked over at Maggie who gave him a thumbs up. “Was Dr. Slade the only person who asked for this service?”

  “No sir. At first it was just Dr. Slade who asked. But once he started seeing Dorothy, she started asking, too. Even when she wasn’t seein’ Dr. Slade.”

  “So, Dr. Slade was asking for this before he started seeing Dorothy?”

  “Yes sir. He was seeing someone else at the time.”

  Maggie had been watching Marcus and she noticed he was getting agitated. She looked over at Santiago who nodded to let her know he was aware and ready to act, if necessary.

  “Can you tell me who he was seeing?”

  “Yes sir. He called her Lady A. We figured it was April, his maid.”

  Marcus nearly jumped out of his seat. “That’s not right. He was seeing Anastasia. Tell them Ana, tell them!”

  Anastasia’s mouth dropped open and she stood up, fists clenched. “Is that what you think? You think I was having an affair with Dr. Slade?” Her voice was shrill and furious, and Marcus’ face dropped, confusion taking the place of anger.

  “Well, yes. You were pulling away from me and I heard Dr. Slade say he was meeting Lady A at the usual place. One night you texted saying you were going to be late. When you came home all freshly showered, I reckoned that proved you were lady A.”

  “You idiot! I work at a hospital. I was getting ready to leave when a patient opened the door to my office and threw up all over me and my desk. She thought she was opening the door to the bathroom and when she realized her mistake, it was too late. I took a shower in the nurses locker room because I didn’t want to drive home covered in vomit.”

  Marcus stared at her and she stared back. She was the first to move. She reached up and pulled his face down to hers, so she could look him in the eye. “How could you ever think I’d cheat on you? I love you, you big idiot.” She placed a kiss on his lips, then shoved him away from her. She returned to her chair, but he just stood there, looking at her.

  “Marcus, I need you to sit down, please. We’re not finished yet.” The stupefied man did as he was told, and once he was seated, Reed continued.

  “On the day that Dr. Slade was murdered, who did the cleaning?” While Reed asked the question, Maggie kept her eyes focused on Barkley’s face, looking for any change in his expression. She noticed the bruising around his eye was nearly gone, only faint green and yellow smudges remained.

  “I did, sir.” Barkley stood up and faced Reed.

  “Thank you, Barkley. Can you tell me who asked you to clean the room? Was it Rose or Dr. Slade?”

  “No sir, it was Miss Dorothy. She caught me as she left the elevator and asked me to do it.”

  “Wasn’t that a little unusual?”

  “Not really, sir. Dr. Slade usually requested Margaret, but Miss Dorothy liked to ask me.”

  “I see. And did you clean the room like she asked?”

  Maggie saw Barkley’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed, but his facial expression didn’t change. “Yes sir.”

  “If you cleaned the room, giving it the ‘extra-thorough divorce prevention’ treatment, how come the cops found the receipt for Dorothy’s bracelet in the trash?”

  Maggie felt her heart race and she held her breath, waiting for the man to answer.

  “I’m not sure, sir. It wasn’t there when I cleaned, sir.” His voice cracked on the last word and sweat dripped from his brow.

  Maggie’s attention was drawn back to Marcus, who looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. She noticed that Reed was watching both men, closely.

&nb
sp; “Marcus, do you have something to add?” Reed’s voice was soft, but it held a note of authority, and Marcus stood up, wringing his hands.

  “It’s my fault. I thought Dr. Slade was having an affair with my Ana. I wanted to get back at him, so when I heard Barkley was cleaning the room, I asked him to leave something incriminating. I was going to call Mrs. Slade and tell her to have her PI come investigate. That’s all I was trying to do, get him in trouble.”

  Reed turned back to Barkley who now had sweat stains blooming under his arms. He met Reed’s eyes as the marshal walked towards him.

  “So, Barkley, did you do what Marcus asked? Did you leave something incriminating in the room?”

  “Yes sir, I did. I found the receipt on the floor, next to the bed. I picked it up and stuck it in the trash, in the bathroom.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “When I turned around, I found Dr. Slade in the room. He asked me what I was doin’ and I told him I was finishing up. He asked me why I was cleaning the room instead of Margaret and I told him Miss Dorothy asked me to do it. He became enraged and accused me of trying to steal Miss Dorothy away from him. I told him no, I’d never do that. He said he was going to tell Rose that I do sloppy work and that would teach me to mess with him. When he turned to leave, I grabbed his arm to ask him to reconsider and he punched me in the face.” He lifted his hand and touched the bruised area around his eye.

  “What did you do then?”

  “I ran out of the room. I needed to get to Rose before he did. I take care of my sister and brother. I couldn’t afford to lose my job.”

  Maggie was stunned. She and Reed had been sure that Marcus and Barkley had conspired to kill Dr. Slade, but she believed them both. Now what?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Santiago had called a 10-minute break so the marshals could talk, and the witnesses could calm down. “What the heck is going on?” he asked, looking from Reed to Maggie and back again.

  “I don’t know. We’re missing something,” Maggie muttered.

  “Marcus said he’d planned to call Mrs. Slade. We need to find out if he made that call, and if he didn’t, why not,” Reed said.

  “And I want to know if Barkley reported the punch to Rose and if she did anything about it.”

  “You haven’t asked Margaret, Roland or Gwen any questions. Why are they here?” McShane asked.

  “Good question. Why are they here?” Santiago fixed his gaze on Maggie who squirmed a little.

  “There were still too many loose ends. We weren’t sure if we’d need their accounts or not. I reckon it was a good call ‘cause it looks like we’ve got more to learn.” She shrugged and turned to Reed.

  “Boy howdy, we definitely have more to learn.” He ran his hands through his hair and Maggie could’ve sworn she felt a ripple in her abdomen. She rubbed her belly as she turned back to the others.

  “All right, y’all. We’re nearly done here.” Her belly heaved and she felt like the breath had been knocked out of her. She shook it off and continued. “Reed here is going to ask a few more questions and I’m going to take a seat.”

  Reed looked at her strangely, but she just waved him off and found a seat in the front row. As she sat, she felt a twinge of pain, but she was too excited to pay it any mind.

  “Marcus, you said you were going to call Mrs. Slade. Did you call her or not?”

  “No, I didn’t. One of my patients went into labor and I was stuck in the room for hours. Before I could get to a phone, I heard about the murder, so there was no longer any reason to call.”

  Reed held his gaze for a moment, then turned to Rose. “Rose, what did you do when Barkley told you Dr. Slade had punched him?”

  Rose stood up on shaky legs. “I told him to keep his mouth shut. I know I should’ve reported it, but I didn’t want any of us to lose our jobs. I told him to tell people he fell and leave it at that. He was angry with me, but he agreed to go along with it. I’m sorry, Barkley,” she turned her tear-filled eyes towards the young man.

  “So, when Barkley left, Dr. Slade was alive. Rose, you and Barkley were in the housekeeping office?” They both nodded yes. “Marcus was attending a birth.” Another nod. “Margaret and Roland?”

  Margaret stood up. “I was cleaning Dorothy’s office. I knew she was downstairs, so I figured I’d clean it while she was occupied elsewhere.” She sat down and looked to her son, who was seated next to her.

  “I was at the nurse’s station when I saw Dr. Slade walk down the hall and enter the same room I’d seen Barkley take his cleaning cart into. I was pretty sure he was still there, so I headed down to make sure everything was okay. Before I could reach the room, Barkley went running out. I did an about face and went back to the nurse’s station. I figured Dr. Slade must be in one of his moods and I didn’t want to get in his way.” Roland sounded credible to Maggie and from the frown on Reed’s face, he thought so, too.

  “Well, we’ve heard from everyone but Gwen. Do you have anything to add?”

  “Actually, yes, I do.” Gwen stood up gracefully and smoothed her hair. She looked around at the group of people, then started to laugh.

  Maggie felt a sharp pain in her belly and let out a little groan, but nobody heard her, they were so caught up in what was happening with Gwen.

  “Y’all think you’re so smart, but nobody figured it out. Edgar wasn’t having an affair with his maid, April. I mean, have you seen her? She just a child. He liked his women worldly and mature. I was Lady A.”

  Bombshell dropped, she continued, smiling and laughing as she explained. “I met Edgar a couple of years ago at a party. He was so charming, and his wife only had eyes for the help.” For a moment her face twisted with disgust, but then she smiled and continued her story. “He handed me a pretty lace handkerchief, thinking I’d dropped it. Or maybe he carried it with him, using it to seduce unsuspecting women. Either way, the handkerchief was monogrammed with an intricate letter A. Even though I assured him it wasn’t mine, he insisted on calling me his Lady A. The name stuck and we began an affair of the heart.”

  Maggie felt something wet on her leg. Thinking it was sweat, she wiped at it absentmindedly, still focused on Gwen’s story.

  “For me it was an affair of the heart, anyway. Turns out for him, it was nothing more than a fling. When I found out he was seeing Dorothy, it broke my heart. I was determined to win him back. On his last day on this earth, I followed him. I saw him go into the room and I watched as the housekeeper ran out. I saw Roland turn away and I quickly slipped into the room, closing the door behind me. When Edgar saw me, he frowned. He frowned! Can you imagine how that made me feel? He turned away and went into the bathroom. When he spotted the receipt in the trash can, he bent down to get it and I grabbed the scissors from my pocket and stabbed him. I stabbed and stabbed until he went down. He turned and looked at me over his shoulder and finally, he realized he’d made a mistake. He tried to tell me he loved me, but I’d stabbed him too hard and he was losing too much blood. His last words were, ‘I love you, Lady A.’”

  Santiago and McShane were ready with the handcuffs, and as they led her out of the room, Maggie screamed.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Push, Maggie, push!” Garrett’s frantic voice reached through the pain and she pushed as hard as she could until the contraction ended. Still panting from the exertion, she punched him in the arm.

  “Ouch, what was that for?”

  “Have you ever tried to push a bowling ball out your hoo-haw?”

  He laughed out loud. “No, I can’t say as I have.”

  “Then shut . . .your . . .mouth.” Groaning as another contraction ripped through her, she pushed with all her might, and it still wasn’t enough. The pain faded, leaving her drenched with sweat, and exhausted.

  “I can’t do it. I’m too tuckered out. I need a time out to recuperate.”

  Nurse Jackson wiped her forehead with a cool cloth. “I’m sorry Maggie, dear, but this isn’t a ride you can stop
mid-way. A couple more good pushes and you’ll have a baby to hold. You can do this, I promise.”

  “But I don’t want to, I just want the pain to stop and I want to sleep for a week.” She could hear herself whining, but she didn’t care. This was much harder than it looked. Why did women have to bear all the pain of childbirth? It would be a whole different thing if men had to go through it. She giggled at the thought of Garrett in stirrups, but her glee was short lived because this baby was coming.

  “Aaarrgghh!” As suddenly as the pain had started, it stopped, and she heard Doctor Gonzales say something to Nurse Jackson. Fear gripped her heart and she looked at Garrett, who was watching the doctor.

  The sound of a baby’s cry provided relief so sharp, she started bawling. Her husband grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her cheek. “It’s okay, Mags, you done good.”

  “Here you go Maggie. You’ve got a perfect, beautiful baby boy.” Nurse Jackson placed a tiny bundle wrapped in a soft blue blanket into her arms.

  Maggie’s heart nearly burst as she looked into the eyes of her newborn son. She heard Garrett’s breath catch, and she looked up to see tears in his eyes.

  “We have a son, Mags. We have a son.”

  It was amazing how many people showed up when you had a baby. It felt like everyone she’d ever met, plus their uncle, stopped by to see the baby. All she wanted was a nice hot shower and a full night’s sleep in the arms of her husband. The next person who walked through that door was going to get it.

  She looked up to see Ashanti, Jayla and Adam entering the room and her eyes filled with tears. Ashanti handed Jayla to Adam and she hugged Maggie with all her might.

  “Miss Maggie, you done did it. It’s harder than you thought, right? It was sure harder than I thought. But we did it, lady, we did it. And now we both got our own bundles of joy. Speakin’ of which, where’s this baby you just popped out?” She leaned over the bassinet placed next to Maggie’s bed. “Ain’t you the cutest little, bitty thing.”