Faye Kellerman - Decker 06 - Grievous Sin

by Grievous Sin(lit)

  'Yes, that would be a good idea.'

  The two returned to the living room. After Decker had reorganized his thoughts, he asked, 'When did Marie tell you that Lily had left the hospital due to a crisis in the family?'

  'I've got to think about it.' After a long period of silence, Darlene said, 'When I met her in the hall... the last time. She said she was going back to Nursery J 'cause Lily had to leave. Must have been 'bout an hour or so before we... we discovered the missing baby.'

  'So that would make it what time?'

  'Around midnight, twelve-thirty that morning,' Darlene mumbled. 'I think. I remember Lily hadn't been on shift all that long, maybe an hour. But I talked to her several times before she left. That's why I didn't... I saw no reason to penalize her for a family crisis. I was wrong, Sergeant! Not that it does Lily any good, but I was...'

  The tears started coming. Decker broke in, 'Did Marie seem upset when she told you about Lily's crisis?'

  Darlene nodded and wiped her eyes with a crumpled tissue. 'But I just figured it was because without Lily, we were real short-staffed - working with a skeleton crew.'

  An apt choice of words, Decker thought. His face must have registered cynicism.

  'I know, Sergeant. Your wife and baby were there. You must be very upset to hear insider stuff like this. I wish I

  could say it was a freak thing, but it isn't. We often have to do double or triple our load because some cheapskate administrator would rather have new office furniture than hire needed staff.' The nurse put her hand to her mouth. 'I suppose you're not interested in hospital politics.'

  'I am, but not right now,' Decker said. 'So tell me about Marie. She was upset?'

  'Yes. She told me to float in nurseries A through F, and she'd take care of nurseries G through L. She told me to check in with her in about an hour.'

  'And you didn't see her after that?'

  'No.'

  'Did she have blood on her uniform?'

  Darlene's eyes widened. 'No, I don't think so.'

  'Did she seem messy or disheveled?'

  'I don't remember real clearly. Just that she was in a hurry. She was walking fast, mumbling about Lily as she walked. I figured she was jogging 'cause of the workload.'

  'If Marie was headed back to Nursery J, who'd been watching the babies in Nursery J?'

  'Probably no one, with Lily gone.' Darlene looked down. 'Dear Lord, what'm I telling you? Opening myself up to a dandy lawsuit... not to mention the hospital. I'll probably never work in the city again.'

  'I'm not going to sue anyone. Lourdes Rodriguez is another story. So the babies were left alone?'

  'They may have been. Chris and a few temps were helping me. Marie had a few temps as well. Maybe she had one of the temps watching the nursery.'

  'Either way, you're still left with only three or four nurses for six nurseries.'

  'That's true. If it's any consolation, Sergeant, I assure you that's not our standard procedure.'

  Decker didn't answer.

  'I know I must seem like a negligent person. I also

  should have told you about Lily. It just never dawned on me that Lily could be involved. You must think I'm the stupidest person on earth.' Her cheeks became wet. 'Another road to hell paved with good intentions.'

  'I've had a few of them myself, Darlene.'

  Darlene wiped her face. 'That was a nice thing to say.'

  'We're all too human.' Decker tapped his pencil on his notebook. 'Do you know a nurse named Tandy Roberts?'

  'Tandy? Is Tandy involved?'

  'You know Tandy?'

  'Not well, but I knew her. She used to be very close to Marie. They had some kind of falling out. Poor Marie. She felt very hurt, though she didn't say much. But I could tell.'

  'Did you happen to see Tandy at the hospital the night of the kidnapping?'

  'No. Why?'

  'I don't know. I'm grasping at straws now. It's hard for me to imagine Marie murdering Lily - if the body is Lily - and kidnapping a baby all by herself. I'm assuming she had help. And this Tandy Roberts was at one time a close friend of Marie's...'

  'I haven't seen Tandy in over a year.'

  'You're sure she wasn't at the hospital that night?'

  'I'm not positive. But Tandy'd be a hard woman to miss.'

  'Did she ever work at the hospital?'

  'Marie got her a part-time job at Sun Valley but Tandy only lasted a couple of months. I thought she was a dull girl but Marie was wild about her. Like I said, Marie always took pity on the underdog. But she really took a shine to Tandy. Like she was her own kid or something.'

  Her own kid - a weird choice of words. Decker did some quick calculations. Roberts was around twenty-five, and Marie was forty. He frowned. Marie's friend Paula

  had said that Marie had been around twenty when she had 'lost' her baby. But maybe Paula was wrong. Maybe Marie'd had a baby at fifteen and had given her up for adoption. Maybe Tandy was that baby - the 'lost' baby.

  A big leap with a few holes. Surely Lita Bellson would have noticed Marie's pregnancy. When Marie was fifteen, she was still living with Lita. And the old woman had distinctly told Marge that Marie never had babies, only abortions.

  But perhaps the old woman was senile.

  Worry about that one later on.

  Decker said, 'When I asked Administration about Tandy, they told me she wasn't on the hospital's work roster. Wouldn't she have been on it if she worked for the hospital in the past?'

  'She was pulled from the roster because she had some trouble with her license. Marie told me she got that fixed up, though.'

  'What kind of trouble?'

  'Marie told me it was some clerical error, but I think she was covering for her. I don't think she was licensed as an RN.'

  'Tandy wasn't a nurse?'

  'No, she was an LVN - a Licensed Vocational Nurse - but not an RN - a Registered Nurse.'

  'What's the practical difference?'

  'RNs have more training, higher status and make more money. I never got the feeling that money was Tandy's thing. But she was real interested in status. Being that much overweight, I bet she wanted to be important at something. But it doesn't make it right - morally or legally.'

  Decker nodded in agreement.

  'Marie said the rumors were garbage. That Tandy was an RN. But like I said, she was wild about Tandy. She was

  always attracted to the downtrodden.'

  'Downtrodden?'

  'Well, Tandy wasn't exactly a basket case, but she was overly shy.' Darlene paused, then said, 'Once I remember her crying in one of the supply closets. When I asked her what was wrong, she became flustered. Finally I got her to tell me what was bothering her. She kept saying they were putting her down again.'

  'Who was putting her down?'

  Darlene seemed surprised by the question. 'I don't know if she ever said. I just assumed that she meant her parents. 'Cause of the way she was talking. "They always tell me I'm no good, I'm too fat, I'm a disappointment..." Things like that.'

  Decker was writing furiously. 'What happened after you talked to her?'

  'She stopped crying and went back to work.'

  'So you knew her pretty well.'

  'Not very well, but well enough to notice if she had been in the hospital that night. Someone that heavy... the eye just can't help but notice. I would have spotted her on a dime.'

  'Darlene, suppose I were to tell you that Tandy is now around a hundred and twenty pounds - Vogue-model slim and beautiful to boot. What would you say?'

  'I'd say you were pulling my leg. That girl was pathetic-looking.' She paused. 'You are kidding me, aren't you?'

  'No, I'm not kidding you. My partner interviewed her. I'm telling you what she told me.'

  'But the girl musta weighed over three hundred pounds! Her face looked like she was on steroids, she was so swollen up.'

  Decker said, 'Let's suppose someone passed you in the hallway the night of the kidnapping. And all you caught was a glimpse o
f that person - someone weighing around

  a hundred-twenty pounds. Think you would have recognized Tandy at a hundred and twenty pounds, Darlene?'

  The nurse closed her eyes, then reopened them slowly. 'I was very busy that night. Maybe I would have, but maybe I wouldn't have.'

  Hearing the RTO call out his unit number, Decker picked up the mike of the unmarked. Marge was put through a moment later.

  'I got news.'

  'So do I,' Decker said. 'Should we meet at the station house or do you want to grab a cup of coffee somewhere?'

  'I can't leave where I am. I'm watching Tandy's Audi.'

  'Okay, so I'll come to you.'

  'No, don't do that!'

  Decker was taken aback by Marge's forceful tone of voice. 'What's cooking, Detective Dunn? Why don't you want me crowding your space?'

  Marge didn't answer right away. Then she said, 'I just don't want the unmarked anywhere in sight. I think this gal is really clever.'

  'Okay. So should we exchange info over the airwaves?'

  'You go first.'

  'First tell me if Tandy Roberts was working at Tujinga Memorial the night of the kidnapping.'

  'She was, Pete, but she was off shift at eleven. So she could have taken a little drive over to Sun Valley Pres.'

  'Great.' Decker recapped his conversation with Darlene Jamison. 'It's very possible that Tandy was there at Sun Valley Pres and even people who knew her wouldn't have recognized her. She could have been skulking through the halls, still dressed in her uniform, and even if Darlene had caught a glimpse of her, Tandy would have just looked like a thin, anonymous floater.'

  'So the timing is on our side.'

  'Now all we need is evidence linking her to the kidnapping, or at least to Sun Valley.'

  'We should go back to Sun Valley and pass around current pictures of Tandy,' Marge said. 'See if anyone remembers seeing the slim version.'

  'She hasn't officially worked at Sun Valley in over a year. She was pulled from the work roster because of licensing problems. Consistent with what Leek told you about her at Golden Valley. Seems the girl is passing herself off as an RN.'

  Marge said, 'You mean, was passing herself off. Past tense. I asked about her license at Tujunga Memorial. They told me she was a licensed RN. Gave me her license number and everything.'

  Decker thought a moment, then asked. 'Is there a Board of Nurses' Examiners in Sacramento?'

  'I'm sure there must be,' Marge said. 'They regulate just about everything except palm readers.'

  'What about the tarot card interpreters?'

  'They have their own board,' Marge said.

  Decker smiled. 'Call up Sacramento. Find out about Tandy's license from them. I'll find out if Mike dug up any interesting gas purchases billed to Tandy.' He paused. 'So, we have Marie and Lily at the scene, Tandy possibly at the scene. Where's the thread?'

  'Tandy and Marie both lost babies. Maybe one took the kid and the other is abetting. Maybe they were in it together.'

  'Why would Tandy help Marie if Marie took the kid?'

  Marge paused. 'I don't know.'

  'So reverse it,' Decker said. 'Why would Marie help Tandy if Tandy took the kid?'

  Marge said, 'Didn't Darlene say that Marie treated Tandy like her kid? Maybe she was her kid.'

  'You've seen both women,' Decker said. 'Do they look alike?'

  'No.'

  Decker said, 'Did Lita Bellson mention her daughter giving birth at fifteen? She certainly told you everything else about her daughter.'

  'No, Lita never said anything like that. But Lita's kind of out of it. Tell you what, Pete. Why don't you pop over to Golden Valley and ask her?'

  'I'll do just that.'

  'In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on Tandy.'

  'Right.'

  Marge said, 'What's your take on Darlene? Do you think she might be involved?'

  'I'm not ruling out anybody, but my instinct tells me she just honestly fucked up.'

  'Sounds like you feel bad for her.'

  'Part of me is angry as hell. And the other part says we're all human.' Decker didn't speak for a moment. Then he said, 'I'm outta here.'

  'Kiss Hannah for me.'

  'A big kiss from Auntie Marge, huh?'

  'Auntie Marge?'

  'The kid doesn't have a lot of extended family,' Decker said. 'We improvise.'

  He cut the line. Marge laughed and hung up the phone. Her eyes had never left sight of the entrance to the juice bar. They had been in there for almost an hour. She was getting antsy.

  Ten minutes later, the women emerged. Marge breathed a sigh of relief. Tandy headed back to the gym, Cindy appeared to be walking to her car. Marge waited until the doors had closed behind Tandy to sprint over to Decker's daughter, catching her totally off-guard. Cindy turned red and looked at her feet.

  'I'm in trouble, aren't I?' 'Be thankful it's me and not Daddy.' 'Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.' Cindy followed Marge over to the Beemer. 'Nice car. Is it yours?' 'Just get inside and don't ask questions.' Quietly, Cindy slipped into the passenger seat.

  The house was cemetery-quiet as Decker came through the door. Figuring someone had to be asleep, he tiptoed through the kitchen and went outside the back door. Once again, Nora, the nurse, and Magda had set up camp around the patio table, chatting happily as they sipped iced tea and munched grapes. Hannah was snoozing in her new cradle - a gift from his brother, Randy - and Ginger had curled up under the tabletop. The setter didn't bother to greet Decker with her usual yipping and yapping, just raised her head and lowered it. For some reason, that bothered him. He took it as a neurotic sign that he was being displaced.

  'How's everyone?'

  Nora said, 'I'm glad you had that little talk with your wife. She's been resting all morning. It's what she needs to make her heal.'

  'Good to hear.'

  'Do you want some iced tea, Akiva?' Magda asked.

  'Maybe a little later. How's my baby?'

  'Sleeping like one,' Nora said.

  'Isn't she a good girl?' Magda said. 'Just the best?'

  'No argument from me,' Decker said. 'Is Cindy around?'

  'She went out early in the morning,' Magda said. 'I think she go swimming. She has with her a swimming bag.'

  'Really?' Decker said. 'That's great. She must have hooked up with some friends.'

  The woman stopped talking and smiled at him. His

  presence must be wearing thin. Or maybe it was the other way around. He smiled and said, 'I'll just go inside the house. Get myself a snack and check in on Rina.'

  The women nodded enthusiastically, as if they couldn't wait to get rid of him. He re-entered his kitchen, took an apple out of the refrigerator and ate it before he remembered to wash it. So what's a little weedkiller between friends?

  He picked up the phone and dialed Florida. His father's gruff voice came over the answering machine:

  Leave a message. Beep.

  Decker left his message. He hadn't spoken to his parents since the baby was born; they kept missing each other. But the congratulations card in yesterday's mail, along with the lengthy hand-written note, had told Decker his parents had received the news and were excited. Ordinarily, his mother never wrote more than a couple of perfunctory sentences.

  How are you? We're fine. Bye.

  Initially, they had been disappointed in his selection of a spouse. Nothing personal against Rina, but like Decker's first wife, she was Jewish. His parents, being good Baptists, didn't cotton to her rejection of the Savior. And when he announced he was joining his wife's faith, he knew his mother would be heartbroken.

  He had made the move after much deliberation. Accepting Judaism had taken him full circle, back to the faith of his biological parents. Even though Decker considered his adoptive parents his only parents, he knew his renunciation of Christianity was tantamount to renunciation of his parents in his mother's eyes. For a while, the relationship with his parents was sticky. But things were improving. Mom genuinel
y liked Rina as a person.

  And now the baby... their granddaughter.

  Time and babies heal all wounds.

  Not really hungry, Decker decided to peek in on Rina. He opened the door to the bedroom. She was curled into a ball and wrapped in her blanket, only a tiny area of skin showing from her face. He bent down to kiss her cheek and she opened her eyes. He kissed her.