by Jaden Skye
“Who?” Cindy was aghast.
“Tara’s daughter, Loretta,” Gloria repeated, her eyes narrowing.
“What are you talking about? I didn’t know Tara had a daughter,” Cindy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “No one said a thing about that.”
“Yeah, Tara had an estranged daughter, Loretta, from a marriage before Owen,” Gloria was thrilled to be sharing the information. “No one talks about Loretta, it’s like she doesn’t even exist. But I talked to her. Loretta went to live with her real father a long time ago and left the whole, sick family behind. Then she read about the accident and came back to see her mother one more time.”
“Why didn’t anyone say anything about Loretta?” Cindy still couldn’t get over it.
“It doesn’t matter why,” Gloria grew more heated. “I sat with Loretta the night before Tara died and told her what I’d heard her say.”
Cindy felt chilled to the bone. “How did Loretta react?”
“She really listened to me, too,” Gloria went on. “She was the only one who did. In fact, she asked me to tell her over and over.”
Cindy froze from head to foot. Could Loretta hold the key to Tara’s death? “Where is Loretta now?” Cindy’s heart was pounding.
“I have no idea,” said Gloria, “but I’m sure she’ll be staying around for the cremation. She told me she wanted to be here for that. The cremation will be in a day or so, as soon as the final medical report is in. “
“Gloria, I can’t thank you enough for this,” Cindy grabbed her hands.
“Finally, someone’s grateful,” Gloria flushed. “Finally, someone listened.”
“I need Alana’s address right away” said Cindy, hopeful Gloria would have it. “I want to talk to her immediately. Can you give it to me?”
“I don’t have it,” Gloria replied, “but I’ll tell you how to get it pronto. I’ll walk you to the office that handles hospital records. Just go in and tell them you’re Alana’s friend and she sent you to pick up a copy of her profile. Tell them she wants to change something on it. They’ll give it to you, no questions asked. Alana’s address and phone are on it.”
Cindy was horrified. “How is that possible? Just walk in and get the information? How do you know the office will believe me?”
“They will,” Gloria insisted. “People who work here need all kinds of papers and nobody makes it hard for them. The help at this hospital take care of each other. If you go in and ask for something, they’ll give it to you just like that.”
“Is that legal?” asked Cindy. “Doesn’t it cause trouble?”
“So far it hasn’t,” remarked Gloria. “Not that I’ve heard, anyway.”
Chapter 9
Cindy returned from the hospital in the mid afternoon with Alana’s contact information grasped in her hand. As Gloria said, it had been easy to get it, and that alarmed Cindy as much as anything else in this case. What was actually going on in this hospital? There was definitely not sufficient oversight of protected personal information here. How else was the hospital remiss?
Cindy stepped out onto the balcony of her hotel room with a thousand other questions tumbling through her mind. She stopped and ran her hands through her hair, trying to calm down. So many new possibilities were suddenly emerging. How could it be possible that Tara had a daughter Loretta that no one mentioned? Why hadn’t Loretta been present when Cindy and Mattheus met the family? Where was she now and what else could the family be hiding? Had Loretta believed what Gloria told her and with all good intentions helped her mother die? Cindy couldn’t wait for Mattheus to return from the police station and go over everything with him. She had no intention of contacting Alana before she did.
*
By the time Mattheus returned from the police station and was with Cindy out on the balcony, she’d had time to take a shower and absorb her visit to the hospital and all the new information she’d received.
“How did it go?” Mattheus asked as soon as he joined her.
Cindy hardly knew where to begin. “I have Alana’s contact information here,” she started, “but I got it in a crazy way. The head nurse wouldn’t give it to me, but anyone can go into the hospital office and get any record they want. No questions asked.”
“That’s not possible!” Mattheus was startled.
“But that’s what happened,” said Cindy. “An aide at the hospital, Gloria, told me how. I walked in to an office, said I was a friend of Alana’s, picking up her hospital profile for her. I said she wanted to make a few changes. They gave it to me without a question asked.”
“That’s illegal,” Mattheus was horrified. “It wasn’t smart to go along with it, Cindy.”
“That hospital is a world of its own,” Cindy continued, “there’s all kinds of strange things going on there.”
“I realize,” said Mattheus quietly, “I’ve been researching it all day long.”
By now the light of the day was beginning to fade and Cindy started to feel dizzy.
Mattheus came a little closer and looked at her carefully. “My God,” he said, “you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Actually I have,” Cindy responded, anxious to tell Mattheus about Loretta, Tara’s long, lost daughter who neither of them had known anything of.
“Before we go any further, let’s call down for dinner,” Mattheus said. “We need it.”
“Order me whatever you like,” said Cindy as she stretched out on a lounge chair and began to relax now that Mattheus was here.
Mattheus called downstairs, ordered dinner and then went inside to bring out two cool glasses of sparkling water for them.
“Okay, what kind of ghost did you see?” Mattheus asked, slightly smiling as he sat down on a lounge chair beside Cindy, waiting for dinner to come.
“Mattheus, Tara has a long lost daughter, Loretta, who came to the hospital to see her mother,” Cindy began, relieved to be sharing the news.
“What?” Mattheus sounded as startled as Cindy had felt.
“She’s probably still around,” Cindy continued, “waiting for her mother’s cremation.”
“Who told you this?” Mattheus asked, unnerved. “Why hasn’t anyone else mentioned it?”
“An aide Gloria told me,” said Cindy. “She worked with Tara and met Loretta herself. I have no idea why no one mentioned her, including Owen. That’s a big question, isn’t it?”
“You can say that again,” said Mattheus, slowly absorbing the information. “We’ll have to talk to Owen about this. And we have to talk to Loretta immediately. Where was she when we met the family?”
“They were obviously hiding her,” Cindy exclaimed.
“Or, maybe she just refused to meet us?” Mattheus suggested.
“I doubt that,” said Cindy, “because Gloria also told me that Loretta was the only one in the family who was willing to listen to what Gloria had to say. Gloria told the whole family she had important information and they just brushed her off.”
“What did Gloria have to say?” Mattheus was puzzled.
“I don’t know if she’s crazy,” Cindy continued, “or if she has her finger on something.”
“Could be both,” said Mattheus. “Crazy people can still see things that are right on. What did Gloria talk to Loretta about?”
Cindy didn’t know exactly how to tell Mattheus. She wanted to prepare him for what came next.
“The hospital’s a strange place and naturally, some of the people who work there seem a little far out,” Cindy started easing in gently. “I’m glad you’re not going to just discount Gloria as crazy.”
“Continue,” Mattheus said.
“Everyone has a different opinion about Tara’s death,” Cindy continued. “The head nurse gave me the party line, though she let me know that she herself doesn’t have a problem with euthanasia.”
“It’s her right to believe what she likes,” said Mattheus.
“Yes, of course,” said Cindy. “And a young guy, Skip, who cov
ered the desk told me there’s a group of workers at the hospital who get together and pray for patients who’ve been in a coma for awhile.”
“Really? said Mattheus. “That’s interesting. But what did Gloria tell Loretta? Why are you holding back?”
Cindy felt odd repeating it to Mattheus, but knew he had to hear it.
“Gloria told me that she saw Tara open her eyes several times at night. She also heard Tara speaking.”
Mattheus sat up straighter, “Speaking to who, to Gloria?”
“I know it’s far out,” said Cindy. “I know people imagine all kinds of things watching someone close to death.”
“You’re hesitating, Cindy,” Mattheus was adamant. “What did Gloria hear Tara say?”
“Tara said she wanted to die, to please help her die,” Cindy repeated, suddenly feeling waves of despair wash over her.
“Oh boy,” Mattheus exclaimed. “Is Gloria delusional? She thought she heard Tara ask to die? Did Gloria also think she should honor Tara’s request, or get someone else to do so?”
“It wasn’t like that,” Cindy broke in, defending Gloria.
“What was it like?” Mattheus stood up swiftly. “Could be Gloria is a psycho who got others to follow her lead?”
“No,” Cindy cried out, distressed. “Don’t people ever wake up from comas and speak?”
“Gloria got to you, too,” Mattheus breathed.
“Not at all,” Cindy stood up as well. “I’m just telling you what she said.”
Mattheus started tapping his hands against his thighs, as he usually did when trying to make sense of something difficult that suddenly came his way.
“Whether or not Gloria really heard Tara speak, is not necessarily the main thing,” he finally said. “Did she report this to the police?”
“No,” Cindy commented. “The police didn’t question her.”
“Well, they should have,” Mattheus grunted. “We’ve got motive for the euthanasia right there. For all we know Gloria was involved in it, felt she was honoring Tara’s wishes.”
“Maybe,” said Cindy, “but I don’t get that feeling. Gloria said that Loretta was very interested in what her mother said. She made Gloria repeat it again and again.”
“If that’s true, it speaks to possible motive for Loretta, too,” Mattheus spoke intently. “But we have no idea if any of it is true.”
“It’s all completely circumstantial,” Cindy replied. “It’s all hearsay, nothing more. Could it possibly create enough reasonable doubt to free Owen?”
Mattheus was obviously mulling over that question himself. “You read my mind,” he responded. “How often did Loretta visit her mother in the room?”
“I don’t know that yet,” said Cindy. “When I speak to Tara’s nurse Alana she’ll tell me more.”
“Why haven’t you spoken to her already?” Mattheus seemed surprised.
“She called in sick today,” said Cindy. “The head nurse, Beatrice, said that was unusual for her. Beatrice thought that someone told Alana we were here and she didn’t want to speak to us.”
Mattheus grimaced. “That’s not good,” he muttered. “There has to be a reason why Alana’s avoiding us.”
“I’ll find out when I see her,” said Cindy.
The doorbell rang loudly then and Mattheus got up and went to get their dinner. While he was inside Cindy closed her eyes, wondering where all of this was leading. Had Tara woken up from the coma by herself and spoken, did she really want to die? Then, once again Skip’s words rang in Cindy ears - some patients are healing while they’re in a coma, only taking a long rest. Was that true for Tara? These were troubling questions with no easy answers. They also forced Cindy to wonder about her sister. Was Ann better off now, was she happy? Of course Cindy wanted to believe that Ann would always stay close to her. But how could she know for certain? Skip and Gloria had a faith and certainty that was daunting. Not only did it keep them going, it had to affect all aspects of their lives.
Mattheus returned with dinner on two trays, placing one down in front of Cindy, and one on a table near his lounge chair.
Cindy took hers and began to eat. She was tired and hungry and the delicious fried chicken helped her feel more grounded.
“Tell me about what you discovered today, Mattheus,” Cindy asked. She craved the clarity she felt when Mattheus shared practical information.
Mattheus seemed relieved to be changing the topic as well. “I learned a lot,” he started. “The Ranges hospital is supported and run by private donors.”
That made sense to Cindy. It was why the place felt like an exclusive country club.
“The Board of Directors have all kinds of connections in the community,” Mattheus continued, “they get a pass on certain government regulations that affect state run hospitals.”
“Is that safe medically?” Cindy suddenly felt concerned.
“There’s a definite effort to hire fine doctors and nurses,” Mattheus continued. “In fact, a job here is a plum. The hospital can hire the best staff available as they pay far more than elsewhere. It’s not so easy to work here either. You have to have connections to get in.”
“I don’t like that,” said Cindy.
“It’s the way of the world,” Mattheus replied. “That in and of itself isn’t bothersome to me.”
“What is?” asked Cindy, as she turned and watched Mattheus eat.
“I found a bunch of articles complaining about lack of sufficient oversight of the medical procedures here,” Mattheus continued. “That bothered me.”
“You’re telling me it would be easy for someone on the staff to get rid of a patient?” Cindy shot back.
“That’s putting it harshly,” Mattheus wasn’t quite there. “I think patients do well here, by and large. There’s patient error and malpractice everywhere. The rate here is probably less than any other hospital around.”
“But you don’t know for certain?” Cindy insisted.
“Not for certain, but I have to assume this place is better than most hospitals here which are generally crowded, dirty and sub-standard. Rich donors keep this place going for when they come to vacation and need it. They don’t want to go to the other hospitals.”
“What about the rate of patients dying unexpectedly?” Cindy pressed on. “Euthanasia can be secretly supported here, for all we know.”
“Good question, but there’s no way of knowing that. Euthanasia is illegal in Jamaica, so it’s not documented, obviously,” said Mattheus.
“There was another patient who died unexpectedly here a few weeks before Tara did,” Cindy reminded him.
“That case was cleared,” said Mattheus. “There was nothing similar between her and Tara. That patient had an embolism after surgery.”
It didn’t add up and Cindy felt frustrated.
“I believe that Konrad can give us more to chew on,” Mattheus continued. “I am going to talk to him and also Dr Padden, the one who was in charge of Tara’s care.”
“What do you want to know, exactly?” asked Cindy. “Your focus will have to be razor sharp.”
“I want something that will focus our suspicion in another direction, take the glare off Owen,” Mattheus replied. “Owen is sending me texts ten times a day asking what we’ve got so far. The guy is desperate to get free.”
“Of course he is,” whispered Cindy.
“Who else had something to gain by expediting Tara’s death,” Mattheus spoke briskly.
“Loretta possibly?” said Cindy then, thinking of the large life insurance policy Tara had left behind. Had Loretta been mentioned in it? Had her daughter come to claim her share?
“There are two roads to go down now,” said Mattheus, “the family and the hospital. Best case scenario is that suddenly someone spills the beans. We need a confession or an eye witness who saw something strange.”
“Best case scenario,” Cindy agreed softly, “but how likely is it?”
“Very likely, I think,” said Mattheus, surpr
ising Cindy. “The whole situation down here is fluid, with loopholes everywhere you turn. For all we know, the killer could be one of the workers at the hospital who felt it was cruel to leave Tara laying between two worlds. It shouldn’t be hard to smoke them out, either. There are lots of religious people down here who believe euthanasia’s a sin. One of those might be willing to speak up and say something about what they’ve seen.”
Cindy suddenly felt sad. “I don’t know why I feel discouraged,” she said.
“This is a strange environment to be working in. It it can play with your mind,” Mattheus pulled his chair closer to Cindy. “But there’s an answer waiting for us, and it’s got to be nearby.”
Cindy was pleased to hear that. She was so grateful to have Mattheus working beside her. When one of them felt low, the other always picked them up again.
The phone rang sharply then, interrupting the quiet that had descended upon them.
“It’s that guy we met at the hospital party, Todd,” said Mattheus, looking at his phone.
“Do you want to take this, or should I? He seemed to want to talk to you.”
“I’ll take it,” said Cindy, propping herself up and reaching for the phone.
“Cindy, this is Todd,” a high, nervous voice greeted her on the other end.
“Hello,” said Cindy, as brightly as she could, “nice to hear from you.”
“You remember me?” Todd sounded pleased.
“Of course,” said Cindy, “you wanted to talk.”
“Precisely,” said Todd. “Can you meet me for lunch tomorrow at Cave River, Rat Bat Hole? It’s a beautiful spot and private! No one will see us there talking.”
“Sure,” said Cindy, “you name the time, and I’ll be there.” When she hung up the phone, Cindy noticed Mattheus watching her. “I’m meeting Todd at Rat Bat Hole for lunch tomorrow,” she said.
“Good,” Mattheus nodded. “I’m going to make an appointment to speak to Dr. Padden next, the one in charge of Tara’s care. We need more facts to ground us now. There are too many possibilities floating around that can just lead us to dead ends.”
