Faye Kellerman - Decker 06 - Grievous Sin

by Grievous Sin(lit)

  Didn't look like she'd cut out of town with her money.

  Decker thought a moment. Nothing he'd discovered about Marie revealed a woman planning a kidnapping. And if she took the baby, she had left the hospital with nothing more than the clothes on her back. Her apartment was neat. If she had come home and frantically packed, something would have appeared out of order.

  It was time to start pulling up cushions and crawling under the bed. Decker had thoroughly combed the living room for the second time when Bellson's phone rang. He stopped and waited for the machine to kick in. It was Paula.

  Decker interrupted the message. The woman immediately asked who this was, suspicion in her voice.

  'Detective Sergeant Peter Decker of the Los Angeles Police. I was going to call you anyway. I understand you have a three o'clock appointment with Ms Bellson.'

  There was a pause on the other end.

  'Paula?'

  'How do you know who I am?'

  'I could say it was fancy police work, but the truth is, you said your name at the begining of the message.'

  'How do I know you are who you say you are?'

  'Call Foothill Substation and verify my badge number.

  For now, do me a favor and talk to me. Was your appointment for today?'

  Again the pause, 'Yes.'

  'Why were you calling Marie, Paula? To confirm the time and place?'

  •I don't feel comfortable—'

  'You called Marie yesterday as well.'

  'How did you... what's this all about?'

  'Do you remember around what time you called?'

  Silence on the other end. Decker said, 'Please help me out.'

  Slowly, Paula answered, 'I guess it was around four. She wasn't in and I realized she was probably at work. So I called today just to make sure... What was your name again?'

  Decker massaged his temples. Four o'clock. Marie was working by then. Someone had come into the apartment, listened to the messages and rewound them. 'Paula, Marie is missing—'

  'What do you mean, missingl'

  'Just that. She disappeared last night at work. Do you have any idea where she might have gone?'

  'No, I— Who are you?'

  Decker repeated his name and his badge number. 'No idea where she is?'

  'No.' Another pause. 'If she left suddenly, I'm sure she had a good reason. Why are you bothering to look for a grown wo— O migod! It's that baby on TV, right? I mean, why else would you be looking for a grown woman. Right? Right? Right!'

  'The kidnapping happened during Marie's shift.'

  'Kidnapping!' Paula shrieked. 'My God, I didn't even

  think of Marie's hospital. If Marie's missing, that has

  to mean the same person who kidnapped the baby

  kidnapped poor Marie. Why else would Marie be

  missing! She would have died fighting to save any of her babies! She's the most dedicated nurse I know. Omigod, omigod—'

  'Paula, I need to talk to you. I have to finish up some work here. I could meet you in an hour, hour and a half. Let's say around eleven.'

  'I'm working now.' Another pause. 'Do you think Marie's okay? I mean, you don't think she's... omigod!'

  'I can meet you at work. Is that all right?'

  'Of course. I'll take a break. Whatever you say.'

  'Where do you work?'

  'St Jerome's in San Fernando. Do you know where that is?'

  'You're a nurse too?'

  'Yes. I met Marie at Sun Valley Presbyterian. She trained me. Only I switched to pediatrics. I just love the kids.'

  'I'll see you at eleven, Paula. I'll have you paged when I get there, so you don't have to interrupt your work to wait for me. Don't worry if I'm a little late. I'll be there. What's your last name?'

  'Delfern. Paula Delfern. I'm on Pediatrics, Four West.'

  'Thank you, Miss Delfern, I'll see you in an hour.'

  'Sure. Anything to help.' A final pause. ' What did you say your name was again?'

  Marge walked into Bellson's apartment, Cindy a few paces behind her. Decker glared at his daughter, then at Marge.

  'What's she doing here?'

  'She followed me.'

  'Daddy, just let me explain—'

  'It better be good.'

  'First off, don't get mad at Marge. I got down on my

  hands and knees and begged her. I was pathetic so she took pity on me.'

  Marge said, 'I figured it was better keeping her in view than casting her free to do something stupid.'

  Decker said, 'Cindy, go home and sleep.'

  'Dad, how can I possibly sleep with that baby missing? I sat with Lourdes Rodriguez for a half-hour just holding her hand and watching her cry.' Her voice cracked. 'It was so sad.'

  Decker turned to Marge. 'What was she doing with

  Lourdes?' 'I walked into the room and found her there.'

  'Cindy—'

  'Daddy, she needed someone. Someone who wasn't a cop or a reporter or a lawyer or a hospital administrator who was trying to get her to sign away her rights.'

  'I don't believe this.' Decker rubbed his eyes with his forearms.

  Cindy said, 'How about if I just... observe?'

  'Observe what?' Decker checked his watch. 'Oh, hell. Just sit down and don't touch a thing. And stop smiling. I'm going to deal with you later.'

  Cindy tried to sport a grave look as she sat on the white ottoman. She noticed the kitten and ran a finger across its head. 'Who's this little guy?'

  'Probably Marie's cat. We found it locked in the bedroom waiting for food.'

  'Poor thing,' Cindy cooed. 'Can we keep it?'

  'I suppose we can give it some foster care,' Decker said. 'It can live in the stables with the other strays.' To Marge, he said, 'Unless Bellson's answering machine has a malfunction, I think someone was here last night, retrieved the messages, then rewound them.'

  'Could have been Marie.'

  'Could have been.'

  'What does that mean?'

  'I'm not sure, because other than that, nothing appears out of order. I was about to leave the apartment, then lo and behold I find a couple of keys taped under the desk. This one...' Decker held up a key with his gloved hands, 'belongs to a storage bin over her parking space. Only took Detective Snail a half-hour to find it.'

  Marge smiled. 'What's in the bin?'

  'Lots of old college texts - history, anthro, poli sci -as well as a bunch of sixties radical books.'

  'Radical?'

  'Eldridge Cleaver, Malcolm X, Abbie Hoffman—'

  'Who's Abbie Hoffman?'

  'A guy who couldn't spell American.'

  'So Marie has done some transforming,' Marge said. 'Somewhere along the line she became a born-again.'

  'You can trace the transition. There were also a lot of texts on comparative religion as well as on Eastern philosophies.'

  Marge said, 'From gurus to Jesus.'

  Decker said, 'All religions are similar, once you get past the idiosyncrasies.'

  'What about the other key?' Marge asked.

  Decker shrugged. 'I don't know. It looks like it belongs to a lock-box. I've been searching for about twenty minutes and can't find a damn thing. I'm supposed to interview a Paula Delfern. She's a nurse at St Jerome's who was supposed to meet Marie at three this afternoon. I don't know what the relationship is. I said I'd be there at eleven.'

  'You're late,' Marge said.

  'I'm well aware of that, Margie. This Paula may be a good information source for us about Marie.'

  'Do you want me to continue the search or interview Paula Delfern?'

  'You do the interview,' Decker said. 'I know what I've already gone through. This key has to belong to something!'

  'I'll help you, Daddy,' Cindy said.

  'You young lady, will sit there and not say another word,' Decker said.

  'He's cute when he's tough, isn't he?' Marge said.

  Decker was about to reply, but laughed instead. He reached inside his pocket, took o
ut another pair of gloves and tossed them to Cindy. 'Put these on. As long as you're here, I don't want you accidentally touching the wrong thing, messin' up my evidence.'

  Cindy grinned and put on the gloves. 'Evidence for

  what?'

  Damned if Decker knew. And damned if he was going to admit that to Cindy. 'Find any blood work on Marie, Marge?'

  'Yes, but it isn't specific. Marie's A-positive and has a normal clotting time. Same as the blood found in the parking lot. But A-positive is a common blood type.'

  'Yeah, isn't it about forty per cent of the population?'

  'Something like that.'

  'Couldn't they come up with any of the specific blood factors?'

  'Nothing else is written in Marie's chart.'

  'What was Marie hospitalized for?'

  'A D and C three years ago.'

  'A D and C? Did she have a miscarriage?'

  'Chart didn't say anything about that,' Marge said. 'Just that she was admitted for a D and C. I wrote down her doctor's name - a Stanley Meecham. Why is that name familiar?'

  'Darcy case couple of years back,' said Decker.

  'Remember the bees?' 'Oh yes, the bees.'

  And a triple murder, Decker thought. He said, 'Meecham was Linda Darcy's doc. He was treating her for infertility. I wonder if Marie was having the same problem.'

  'If so, we've got a potential motive for the kidnapping.'

  'Woman cracks because she can't have kids?' Decker said.

  'Why not?' Marge said.

  Why not? Decker repeated in his mind. Look at poor Rina. A hysterectomy had plunged her into deep depression. And she was a woman who already had three healthy children.

  'Why not indeed?' Decker said out loud. 'If she was having fertility problems, does that mean there was a guy in her life?'

  Marge shrugged. 'I'll ask Paula.'

  Decker said, 'Why else does a doc do a D and C?'

  Cindy said, 'Grandma had one when she was getting irregular periods due to menopause.'

  'Really?' Decker said.

  'Marie's a little young for menopause,' Marge said.

  'It's been known to happen,' Decker said. 'Could also be a reason for a sudden snap. Marie sees her last chance for a kid slipping away, so she takes one.' He stared at the key in his hands. 'I'm going to keep looking for the box. You do your number on this Paula Delfern. See what the story is between those two.'

  'Got it.'

  'I also put a call in to Marie Bellson's bank, telling them to call us if Marie or anybody shows up at any of their branches wanting to withdraw money from Marie's account. So if someone's patched through to you from American International, you'll know what that's about.'

  'Will do.' Marge put her sunglasses back on her nose,

  then took a tissue and spread it over her right palm. 'Let me see that key.'

  Decker dropped it into the Kleenex.

  Marge said, 'Wrong shape for a safe deposit box.'

  'Yep.'

  'Post office or mailbox?'

  'Could be. Looks more like a strong-box key to me.'

  'Me too,' Marge said. 'I'm just thinking that whoever rewound the messages might have taken the box.'

  'Thought crossed my mind.' Decker bagged the key. 'I'll give the place another going over.'

  'Call when you're done. We'll compare notes.' Marge winked at Cindy. 'Look after him, kid.'

  Decker waited for Marge to leave, then said, 'Did Rina leave the hospital all right?'

  Cindy nodded. 'Her parents picked her up right on time. She's very proud of what you're doing, Dad. She's worried about Caitlin, too.'

  'Caitlin?'

  'The baby's name. Lourdes told me.'

  Caitlin, Decker thought. So the little thing has an official name. 'Cindy, the only reason I'm not chopping your head off is because I'm indebted to you—'

  'No you're not.'

  'Yes I am and so is Rina. We both have you to thank for Hannah's safety! But!... as your father... I'm furious at you.'

  'It's only because I care! Dad, I've got eyes. Let me help you look for this box.I won't get in your way after this. I promise.'

  Decker hesitated. It was unprofessional, but at the moment another pair of peepers just might do the trick. Hell with regulations. Look how regulations helped Caitlin Rodriguez last night.

  'All right,' Decker said. 'Start with the kitchen. Be slow

  and methodical. I've already gone over everything twice... but maybe I missed something.'

  'Thanks, Dad.'

  'S'right.' Decker felt a sudden burst of warmth in his heart. 'I love you, princess.'

  Cindy smiled. 'I love you, too.'

  Sitting in the hospital cafeteria, Marge pondered why all institutional coffee tasted like swill. Lips puckering as she sipped, she noticed that Paula Delfern wasn't making much headway with her java, either. The nurse was gazing into the white ceramic cup as if reading tea leaves, fingers gripped around the mug. She appeared to be in her mid twenties with a creamy complexion and tawny-colored hair cut to the shoulders. Her dark eyes were set into a moon-shaped face. Her features were small but broad - a wide nose, a wide smile. With makeup, she could be pretty. Scrubbed-face as she was now, she looked the part of a healthy farm girl. Marge took out her notebook.

  Paula said, 'I really don't know how I can help. I mean, Marie and I are friends. But thinking about that, I really don't know much about her. When we used to talk a lot, I was the one having the problems. We talked about me.'

  'What kind of problems?' Marge asked.

  'Is it relevant?'

  Marge leaned in. 'You never know what's going to help us find her or the baby.'

  Paula shuddered at the word "baby". 'Gosh, that's just terrible.'

  'How'd you meet Marie?'

  'She trained me at Sun Valley Pres. I was an obstetrics neonatal nurse for a year before I switched to Pediatrics. Like I told your partner, I love the kids. And so did

  Marie. I couldn't imagine Marie ever hurting a kid. She just couldn't!'

  'Who said she's hurting a kid?' 'Well, she wouldn't do that to a mother. I know Marie and she likes the new moms, too.'

  'How did you and Marie become good friends?' Marge said. 'From what I hear, Marie isn't sociable.'

  'No, she's not sociable, but that doesn't mean she isn't nice. Parties just aren't her thing. What we used to do is just sit and talk after shift, you know? She'd make a cup of coffee...' Paula appeared lost in thought. 'We'd just talk. I was going through a lot of problems with my ex-boyfriend... commitment problems. So what else is new, right?'

  Marge nodded understandingly, although commitment was the last thing she wanted out of life. Pete seemed happy remarried. But Pete seemed happy before. 'So you and Marie talked about your boyfriend?'

  'Yes. Marie was very helpful. Not that we didn't disagree about things. We had some pretty intense discussions about God.'

  'God?'

  'Yeah, Marie was into Jesus. She especially liked the parable about the prodigal son.'

  'The sinner repenting.'

  'Yep. She used to say everyone has skeletons in their

  closet.'

  'Marie mention hers?'

  'Not really. Marie really didn't talk much about her personal life. Too busy talking about my problems.' Paula's focus fell back to the mug. 'Marie could be understanding even if...' She wiped her eyes with her napkin. 'Excuse me, this is hard.'

  'Take your time.'

  'I got pregnant by my ex-boyfriend...' She sniffed

  and her voice became small. 'He wasn't my ex back then. That's when the commitment issue really came out, you know?'

  Marge nodded.