The Deep End

by Debra Purdy Kong

  Hurrying down the corridor, her senses alert, Casey spotted Phyllis’s familiar black sweater draped over the janitor’s cart through the open conference room door. For a brief moment, she considered asking Phyllis the truth about Jamal’s alleged role in Kendal’s accident, then decided against it. If Phyllis had lied, she’d probably continue to do so. Mercedes was the priority, and she needed to talk to her before staff realized she wasn’t in the visitors’ area. Afraid that she would be turned down, she hadn’t asked to speak to Mercedes directly, and she definitely wasn’t supposed to be wandering through the building.

  Judging from the yells and squeaking runners, a basketball game was underway. Casey reached the girls’ unit and stepped inside, recognizing Mercedes’s short black hair instantly. The girl sat with her back to the door and was watching a music video. Casey entered Ruby’s office, where Ruby was reading a file.

  “Well hello der, gal.” She pushed her chair back. “Didn’t know you’d be here tonight.”

  “I’m not officially; just thought I’d pop by to say hi,” Casey replied. “Have you seen Mia lately?”

  Ruby grinned. “Don’t think I will for a long time. Seems our acting director’s steppin’ down. Personal problems of a legal nature, dey say.”

  Casey smiled, but she didn’t want to discuss those problems with Ruby, not when there was a more important task at hand. The music video ended. Casey turned and saw Mercedes staring at her with an unreadable expression.

  “How is Kendal?” Ruby asked.

  “She’s out of her coma, but there’s some amnesia. She doesn’t remember being in the pool room, among other things.”

  Ruby clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Dat girl has a strong spirit. She’ll be better.”

  “I hope so.” Casey turned around again. A couple of residents were playing a board game. Mercedes was still watching her. “It looks quiet tonight. Can I speak with Mercedes a minute?”

  Ruby’s gaze drifted toward the girl. “She might not be up for talkin’. Been real quiet lately.” She gave Casey a knowing look. “Her uncle’s got legal trouble too, but you can try.”

  “Thanks.” Casey entered the common room. “Hi, Mercedes.”

  “Señorita,” Mercedes replied, keeping her gaze on the TV.

  Casey stood behind the sofa. Even sitting down, the girl was nearly her height. “Can we chat a minute?”

  “I’m not supposed to talk to you,” Mercedes answered.

  Cruz’s order, no doubt. “I understand, but all I want to know is if you saw my friend Kendal, or anyone else, go in or leave the pool room the night Kendal was injured.”

  Mercedes turned and sneered. “Why should I help you?”

  “Because you’re a good person who wants to do the right thing.”

  “Like you?”

  Right. How to play this? Hash out events or gloss over what happened? “I guess you’re pretty mad at me.”

  Mercedes’s gaze drifted to the table. “You made things worse. My next stop is probably foster homes.”

  “That wasn’t my intention, and I’m truly sorry.”

  Mercedes shook her head and muttered something in Spanish. Casey wasn’t sure she’d get anything out of her, but she had to try. “You were in the corridor that night. Any idea who went near the pool room between 7:30 and 8:10 PM?” Mercedes gave her a cold stare. “Please, I really need your help, for Kendal’s sake, not mine.”

  “She was nice,” Mercedes answered and then sighed. “Mia went in, then came out after a minute, looking pissed. She told that crazy cleaning lady to go in and mop the floor.”

  Casey recalled Mia mentioning that. “Did you see Phyllis go in?”

  Mercedes nodded. “She started to push her cart through the door, but her stupid sweater fell and got caught under a wheel. She pulled it out, then went inside. Ruby called me back into the unit after that.”

  “So, you didn’t see Kendal enter the pool room or Phyllis leave?”

  “No.”

  “Was anyone else in the corridor at the same time you were?”

  “Just that hag of a cook.”

  Oksana? “What was she doing?”

  “Carrying one of those stupid pails. Who cares?”

  Casey did. That bloody cook probably did know more than she’d said. “Thanks.”

  After a quick goodbye to Ruby, Casey left the unit and looked up and down the corridor. Phyllis’s cart was now outside Mac’s office, and no one else was in sight. Good. Casey marched toward the kitchen, not caring how nasty Oksana would be. She was going to get some bloody answers. Peeking through the small window in the door, she spotted the woman mixing something in a large bowl. Casey pushed the door open.

  Oksana looked over her shoulder and scowled. “You can’t come in here.”

  “This won’t take a minute.”

  “Get out!”

  “You either talk to me, or I call the police to tell them about the supplies you’ve been stealing.”

  The woman spun around so fast she nearly swept the bowl off the table. “How dare you say that to me!”

  “Hey, I’m only repeating what I’ve been told by staff.”

  “Who?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “They’re all liars!”

  “Really, Oksana? Come on.” Casey stayed near the door, should the woman come after her. “I just need to know who you saw entering and leaving the pool room the night the volunteer was injured.”

  “I don’t have to tell you nothin’.”

  “Mac was planning to let you go, wasn’t he?” Casey said. “He probably caught you stealing, which would be grounds for dismissal.” Oksana’s worried expression told Casey she was on the right track. “All I want is the truth about what you really saw that night, and I won’t go to the authorities. Before you deny anything, one person has confirmed that you were in the corridor when Phyllis went in the pool room, so don’t waste my time.”

  Oksana grunted as she returned to the mixing bowl. “No one minds their own business.”

  “Did you see Kendal go in the pool room?”

  “Yes. Happy now?”

  “Did she go in before or after Phyllis?”

  “After.”

  “How long after?”

  Oksana gave an impatient sigh. “How should I know? I wasn’t timing her.”

  “Can you think of any reason why Kendal would go in there?”

  “Probably returning something to Phyllis.”

  Casey frowned. “So, Kendal and Phyllis were in the pool room together?”

  “Yeah.”

  Why hadn’t Phyllis mentioned this? “What would Kendal be returning to Phyllis?”

  Oksana shrugged. “The girl picked something off the floor, then went inside. End of story.”

  “And you didn’t see what she picked up?”

  “I already said no.”

  Mercedes said that Phyllis’s sweater had caught under the wheel of the cart. By pulling it out, she could have lost a button. Maybe Kendal picked it up, noticed Phyllis in the pool room, and went inside to see if it belonged to her.

  “Stupid girl had no business going in that room. It’s out of bounds for a reason, you know. Tiles are slippery.”

  “So I heard.” Casey’s thoughts swirled as she left the kitchen and headed back down the corridor, her gaze on the janitorial cart.

  Phyllis was emptying the trash basket when Casey stopped in the doorway. “Hi, Phyllis. Got a question for you.” She stepped inside Mac’s office, feeling uneasy about being back in this room. “I’ve just had confirmation that Kendal went into the pool room while you were there. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Phyllis stared at Casey, and then her shoulders sagged. “Didn’t want you jumping to the wrong conclusion, did I? Word would get out. Give Mia another reason to twist everything into a chain of knots to strangle me. They say these kids are bad seeds, but that piece of work leads the bloody pack.”

  “Fair enough. What did Kendal w
ant to see you about?”

  “I lost a button. She returned it, started to walk away, but then skidded on the wet tiles. I tried to grab her, but she was moving too fast.”

  “You should have told me.”

  “I know, and I’m very sorry.” Phyllis’s knuckles turned white as she gripped her mop.

  “Why did you point the finger at Jamal?”

  “He’s a mean one. Doesn’t belong here.”

  Quite the assessment. “You know you’ll have to tell the police the truth.”

  Phyllis shrugged. “I will. Now that Mia’s probably gone for good, I won’t have to worry.”

  “Can you give the police a statement tomorrow? Her mother’s frantic with worry that a killer’s after her daughter. Things need to be set straight as soon as possible.”

  “All right.” She swished the mop in a bucket of water. “How is Kendal doing?”

  “She woke up but doesn’t remember much, not even being in the pool room.”

  “I feel terrible about what happened. Have hardly slept a wink. If I hadn’t lost that button, she wouldn’t be in hospital. Would it be all right if I paid my respects?”

  If Phyllis was the last person Kendal saw before she fell, then a visit could trigger Kendal’s memory. But a good memory or a bad one?

  “She’s being watched twenty-four-seven, so you’ll need her mother’s permission,” Casey said.

  Phyllis nodded and went back to work.

  THIRTY-THREE

  “HAS SECURITY BEEN AROUND?” CASEY asked Deanne while they watched Kendal sleep.

  “A guard was here five minutes ago, but there was some sort of incident in emergency,” Deanne whispered. “They’ve been good about trying to keep a guard posted outside the door. Between the hospital security staff and my family, she hasn’t been left alone.”

  “Have any visitors from Fraserview come by?”

  “Not that I’m aware of.”

  “What about the cleaning woman I mentioned?”

  “Haven’t heard from her,” Deanne replied. “Despite those two arrests, I still don’t feel comfortable leaving Kendal alone. And I don’t completely trust the cleaning lady either. She was there when Kendal fell. She should have done the right thing and said something.”

  “Agreed.”

  Clearly, Phyllis was odd, and she was also a liar. Had she told the truth about Kendal’s fall? But why would Phyllis push her into the pool? What threat had Kendal been to her?

  Something niggled at the back of Casey’s thoughts. Memories of every incident in recent weeks bounced around. She tried to slow her thoughts and concentrate, but the answer wouldn’t come.

  “Phyllis was supposed to give the police a statement today,” Casey said. “I wonder if she did.”

  Deanne yawned and closed her eyes for a moment. “You could check, couldn’t you?”

  “Yes, and I will,” Casey replied. “Deanne, you look exhausted. Why don’t you take a break while I stay with Kendal.”

  “I could use a coffee. Are you sure you don’t mind?”

  “Not at all. If Kendal wakes up, I brought a book to read to her.” Casey removed a copy of Rebecca from her purse. “A few years back, we were camping on a long weekend and it started to rain. Kendal didn’t want to go home, so we stayed in the tent and I read this out loud because she hadn’t brought anything to do.”

  “She never was big on reading,” Deanne said.

  “True, but after one chapter she was hooked.” Casey hoped that reading it again would jog Kendal’s memory. “We read the whole book that weekend. She loved the story.”

  “Thank you,” Deanne said. “I really appreciate this.”

  “It’s the least I can do.”

  Deanne stepped closer to Kendal, lightly brushed her hair, then left. Casey sat down, clutching the old copy of Rebecca. She didn’t own many books, but this one she treasured.

  Watching her friend, she murmured, “What happened that night, Kendal?”

  A security guard stepped into the room. “I just saw Mrs. Winters. She says you’re staying for a bit?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay. I’ll come back in a few minutes.”

  “Thanks.”

  Kendal stirred. Her eyelids flickered and closed again. Casey pulled the chair closer to the bed and tried to ignore her discomfort at being alone with a best friend who no longer remembered her. This dim little room only added to the discomfort. Hospitals had a different feel after dark: quieter and more subdued. Desolate.

  “I brought our favorite book,” Casey said. “You probably don’t remember that god-awful weekend in Manning Park. I wanted to pack it in and go home, but you insisted that the weather would break. So, I read to you.” She opened the cover. “Time for an encore.”

  Casey was about to start reading when her cell phone rang.

  “This is Phyllis. I’m in my car, here at the hospital.”

  “Oh.” Strange that she hadn’t arranged a visit with Deanne.

  “I just spotted that Latino man, Mercedes’s uncle,” Phyllis said. “I think he’s seen me.”

  Cristano Cruz was out of jail? Casey jumped out of her chair. “Which parking lot are you in?”

  “Outside of emergency. I’m nervous that Cruz is here. I know you work in security. Can you come down, or have one of the guards escort me in? I don’t have their number.”

  “Stay there and don’t do anything until you hear from me.”

  Casey hung up. Phyllis and Cruz were both here? What was going on? And how did Phyllis know Casey was here? Had she seen her Tercel? Whatever Phyllis’s and Cruz’s motives were, security help was a good idea.

  Casey left the book in the chair and stepped into the hallway. She spotted a nurse down the hall, then glanced back at Kendal’s room. As long as she kept an eye on the entrance, it would be fine.

  Casey hurried toward the nurses’ station, arriving just as the nurse answered the phone. Damn. The plan was to request her help. As Casey waited, she looked around the station for security’s number but didn’t see it. She scanned the corridor for a public phone, which usually posted security’s contact info nearby, but couldn’t see one of those either.

  As she watched Kendal’s door, Casey grew impatient. Taking a deep, calming breath, she gazed at a tray of pills by the phone and tried to stay calm. If Cruz got too close to Phyllis and if she really was afraid of him, she could always blast the car horn to draw attention. Gazing at the pills again, Casey tried to sort things out. An idea sprang to mind, then another until the thing that had been niggling at the back of her brain emerged in the form of a tiny white pill.

  Even though Phyllis’s sweater had gotten caught under the cart’s wheel, she would have needed to put it on in the chilly pool room. No woman would put on a sweater that had been trapped under a dirty wheel on a dirty floor without giving it a good shake. Oksana hadn’t seen the object Kendal picked off the floor because it was too small. Kendal could have seen Phyllis shake out her sweater. Maybe she’d headed down there to talk to Phyllis and spotted a bright pill on the dull floor. Kendal would have assumed the pill belonged to Phyllis and tried to return it. Except the medication had been Mac’s.

  The nurse hung up.

  “Get security to Kendal Winters’s room!” Casey shouted.

  Holding her breath, Casey dashed down the hallway, regretting that she hadn’t kept a closer watch on Kendal’s room. She bolted inside, horrified to see Phyllis about to inject something into Kendal, who was still sleeping.

  “Get away from her!” Casey ran around the bed.

  Phyllis turned as Casey grabbed her arm and pulled. Clutching the syringe, Phyllis tried to yank her arm free, then pushed her weight into Casey. Casey stumbled backward.

  “Help!” Casey shouted, still gripping Phyllis’s arm. “Somebody help!”

  Phyllis tried to wriggle free but Casey kept a firm grip.

  Kendal had awakened and was trying to sit up. “What?” She stared at Phyllis. “Do I
know you?”

  “No. Nobody pays attention to me.” Phyllis tried to drag Casey toward Kendal.

  “Stop it!” Casey yelled. “She doesn’t remember!” She could feel Phyllis weakening.

  A nurse charged into the room, saw what was happening, and froze. She hurried back to the doorway and shouted for help.

  “Protect Kendal!” Casey shouted at the nurse. “And where’s the guard?”

  “Don’t know. He must have left the floor.”

  “Enemies everywhere,” Phyllis mumbled. “Nothing you can do.”

  Casey reached for Phyllis’s hand and pulled her thumb back until Phyllis yelped and dropped the syringe on the bed. The nurse grabbed the syringe as a second nurse appeared. The first nurse ordered her to fetch the security guards.

  Casey twisted Phyllis’s arm behind her back. “Why did you kill Mac?”

  Phyllis’s body went rigid. “I didn’t. It was an accident! He wasn’t supposed to die. Gave me a job, he did.”

  “Then why overdose him?”

  “He was going to take it away. I wanted Mac to lose his job, that’s all. To know what it felt like to be robbed of control.”

  Casey’s heart pounded so hard, she could scarcely breathe. “Winson saw you in Mac’s office that night, didn’t he? He started putting two and two together.”

  “Another accident. Thought the ambulance would get there in time.”

  “Was Kendal supposed to be an accident as well? And how will you make that claim stick when I—”

  Two security guards ran into the room.

  “This woman tried to kill my friend with something in a syringe!” Casey yelled, adrenaline rushing through her body.

  Phyllis’s mouth quivered as the guards restrained her, yet there were no tears.

  “You okay?” one of the guards asked Casey.

  “Yeah.” She turned to Kendal. “Are you all right? Did she inject you with anything?”

  “No. I’m fine.”

  Casey turned to the nurse. “Any idea what’s in the syringe?”

  The nurse held it close to the light. “Nothing. I think she was going to inject her with air.” The nurse looked at them. “If she’d hit an artery, it could have been fatal.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Phyllis said.