Every Fifteen Minutes

by Lisa Scottoline

“No.”

  “Who knew her first?”

  “I didn’t know her.”

  “Except for the night you went to the yogurt shop, for a reason you won’t explain.”

  Paul sighed theatrically. “Captain, Dr. Parrish has been consistent on that confidentiality issue, and I respect that, as should you. Without waiving my attorney-client privilege, I’ll volunteer that he hasn’t told me that either.”

  Captain Newmire faced Eric. “Were you involved with the murder of Renée Bevilacqua?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Did you conspire with Max Jakubowski to murder Renée Bevilacqua?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Did you ever suggest to Max that he murder Renée Bevilacqua?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Were you engaged in a romantic relationship with Renée?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Was Max?”

  “I can’t answer that.”

  “Do you know why Max would be in possession of Renée Bevilacqua’s cell phone?”

  “I can’t answer that.” Eric tried not to let his shock show. They must have found Renée’s phone in Max’s bedroom. He doubted that they’d told Marie, or she would have told him.

  “Did there come a time during your counseling with Max that you became afraid he would murder Renée?”

  “I can’t answer that question.” Eric tried to keep his expression impassive, betraying none of the pain the question evoked in him.

  “Dr. Parrish, if you think that a patient is homicidal or suicidal, you have a duty to warn the intended victim and the police, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do.” Eric remained stoic.

  “Yet tonight, you told Lieutenant Jana that you were concerned that Max was trying to commit suicide by police, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, I did.” Eric swallowed hard.

  “If you thought Max was suicidal, why didn’t you admit him to Havemeyer General?”

  “I can’t answer that question.” Eric would be asking himself that same question for the rest of his life.

  “Did you think Max was suicidal tonight?”

  “Yes, and you didn’t have to be a trained psychiatrist to know that. It was common sense.” Eric was trying to rely less on the privilege. “When the lieutnant told me what Max had threatened on the phone, it was clear the threat didn’t make sense. Max intended only to bring harm to himself, not anybody else. The fact that he had a fake bomb and no bullets proves as much.”

  “Your attorney said that you risked your life tonight. Did you believe you were risking your life when you ran into the mall?”

  “Yes, but I wasn’t thinking of that. I was thinking I had to get Max out before he got hurt. I knew if I could talk to him, I could convince him.”

  “And you knew that how?”

  “I’m not going to elaborate because it would compromise my confidentiality.” Eric glanced at the clock on the wall, which read 10:55. He wondered where Max was in the station house, knowing he’d be counting off to his tapping and colors ritual.

  “Dr. Parrish, earlier in this interview, you spoke very strongly on Max’s behalf, asking questions about his welfare and whereabouts, and you breached a police barricade to save his life. It sounds as if you have a personal relationship to him.”

  “No, I have a professional relationship to him.”

  “But Max called you on your personal cell phone after his grandmother died, isn’t that correct? That’s not confidential, because you told it to the Radnor Police.”

  “Yes, Max did do that.”

  “Does he call you frequently on your cell phone?”

  “I can’t answer that.” Eric remembered the police had his cell phone, so they had undoubtedly checked his phone logs. They were trying to catch him in a lie.

  “Do other patients call you on your cell?”

  “Yes, my private ones do, in emergencies.”

  “Is your relationship with Max intimate?”

  Paul sighed. “God. Really?”

  “Of course not,” Eric snapped.

  Captain Newmire blinked. “You went to Max’s house and spoke with his mother about him, is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is that a practice of yours, with your private patients?”

  “No.”

  “Have you ever done that with any patient, previously?”

  “No.” Eric had to admit it.

  “It’s also true that you spent some time in his bedroom, isn’t that correct?”

  Eric hesitated. The fact wasn’t properly within the privilege. His boundary violations were coming back to haunt him. “Yes, that’s true.”

  “Why did you do that?”

  “That I can’t answer.”

  “Was it the first time you had been in Max’s bedroom?”

  “Yes, absolutely,” Eric answered, disliking the implication.

  “Did you see Max in your private home, for his counseling session?”

  “Yes, in my home office.”

  “Was he in any other room of your house, in addition to your home office?”

  “No.”

  “Has he been in your bedroom?”

  “No.” Eric remembered the fingerprint dust he had seen on the first floor of his house. He hadn’t even had a chance to go upstairs and see if it was on the second floor.

  “Did you ever go anywhere with Max? Whether in his car or yours?”

  “No.” Eric imagined that the police had already dusted inside his car. He wondered when he’d get it back.

  “Do you believe you have an unusual amount of influence over Max?”

  “No.”

  “Even given the events of this evening?” Captain Newmire paused. “You were able to go into that mall and bring him out in suprisingly short order.”

  Eric sensed he was moving into dangerous ground. “Do you have a question?”

  “As a psychiatrist, aren’t you trained in ways to influence your patients?”

  “No, that misunderstands the therapeutic process. We help them to influence themselves.”

  “Doesn’t that involve, for want of a better word, manipulating them?”

  “No, not at all.”

  “Funny, because you seem to manipulate Max.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  Paul interjected, again, “Is that a question?”

  Captain Newmire cocked his head. “We have to understand what’s going on here, and what is the extent and nature of the relationship between Dr. Parrish and Max. Dr. Parrish won’t explain to us what the relationship is, so we’re left to draw some logical conclusions. One is that Dr. Parrish has a great deal of influence over Max, so much so that he could single-handedly end a standoff and hostage situation. That corroborates my theory about what kind of control, influence, or manipulation that Dr. Parrish exerts over this young boy, whose father is out of the picture. There is more than ample evidence to infer that Dr. Parrish exerts, shall we say, a Svengali-like influence over this boy.”

  “That’s ridiculous!” Paul snorted.

  “That’s not true,” Eric added.

  “Because we aren’t getting any information from Dr. Parrish, we can’t agree that it’s ridiculous. We have to investigate because a girl is dead, and it is not inconsistent with these facts that Max committed that murder at Dr. Parrish’s bidding.”

  “Also absurd,” Paul snapped.

  Captain Newmire continued coolly, “Nor is it inconsistent with those facts that Max entered the mall tonight with his fake bomb and gun, staged a hoax that he was going to kill people and blow up the mall, also at Dr. Parrish’s bidding.”

  “What?” Eric blurted out, flabbergasted. “Why would I want him to do that? Why would I want kids taken hostage? Or the mall blown up?”

  “To make yourself look good.”

  “What, how?” Eric felt a tingle of fear. He hadn’t seen this coming and he guessed Paul hadn’t either. The cops were assigning him prima
ry responsibility and painting Max as his puppet. Eric didn’t know how to defend himself without putting Max on the hook or breaching his privilege.

  Paul waved Eric into silence. “Captain, what are you saying? Why would Dr. Parrish do something so heinous? Order kids taken hostage?”

  Captain Newmire faced Paul. “Dr. Parrish was taken in for questioning today, in connection with the murder of Renée Bevilacqua. Perhaps he used Max Jakubowski to make himself look like a hero, less like a murder suspect.” Captain Newmire swiveled his head around to Eric. “Did you send Max into the mall with a fake bomb and old weapon? Was it your plan he was following?”

  “No, wait, are you saying I knew it was a hoax?”

  “Yes, it certainly is possible, and we’re not left with any other logical inferences, because you won’t provide us any information that would enlighten us and convince—”

  “This is blackmail!” Paul interrupted, his disgust undisguised.

  Captain Newmire ignored him, glaring at Eric. “In addition, we’ve investigated and we have learned that you were placed on indefinite suspension at the hospital.”

  Paul threw up his hands. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  Eric felt instantly mortified, saying nothing.

  Captain Newmire ignored Paul again. “Hospital officials tell us that the reason for their action was confidential, but perhaps that was part of your motivation. It’s not unreasonable that you would stage a hoax to rehabilitate your reputation with the hospital and get reinstated. Did you send Max into the mall to do your bidding? Then run in to save the day?”

  “Of course not!” Eric shot back.

  “Okay, we’re done!” Paul interjected, pushing his chair away from the table. “Captain Newmire, you’re arguing with my client, despite the fact that he is cooperating with you to the fullest extent possible. He’s not answering any more questions about your inane and wild theories.” Paul turned to Eric. “Please, not another word, Doctor. We’re done here.”

  Captain Newmire pursed his lips. “Then he’s going back to his holding cell. We have enough to hold him and will do so.”

  “What are you charging him with?”

  “We’ll have to discuss that with the district attorney.” Captain Newmire glanced at the assistant district attorney, who kept making rapid notes. “We’ll let you know what the charges are as soon as possible, then he will be arraigned, unless he reconsiders his decision not to cooperate fully. Dr. Parrish has a choice to make and he can think about it in his cell.”

  “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

  Eric tried to suppress the fear he felt. He was going to jail. It didn’t seem possible, or real. He was going to be charged with a crime; he’d have a criminal record. He looked at Captain Newmire. “Captain, I’m entitled to a phone call, aren’t I?”

  Captain Newmire blinked. “For what? You already have counsel, Dr. Parrish.”

  “I want my phone call,” Eric answered, without elaboration.

  Chapter Forty-four

  The interview room emptied, leaving Eric to make his phone call, so he pulled the landline phone over and pressed in the number, suppressing his worries. He didn’t want to let another night pass without talking to Hannah. He didn’t have her new cell-phone number, so he called Caitlin at the house, wondering if she would pick up. The caller ID would show up as Upper Merion police station, and she would know exactly who it was. He prayed she would pick up anyway, and in the next moment, the ringing stopped.

  “Caitlin, thanks for taking the call,” Eric said, with relief.

  “Who is this?” asked a male voice, which took Eric aback. He thought he’d dialed the wrong number, then he realized that he was talking to Caitlin’s boyfriend, Brian. It was one thing to know that she was sleeping with another man, but quite another to hear his voice, which was deep, strong, and undeniably hostile. Eric felt a stab of sexual jealousy, as well as anger. He couldn’t ignore the irony that Brian would spend the night sleeping next to Caitlin, while he would be sitting in a jail cell.

  “This is Eric Parrish, Hannah’s father and—”

  “You’re not allowed to be calling here. You’re not allowed to communicate with Caitlin directly. Have your lawyer call her lawyer.”

  Eric wanted to punch him through the phone. He was tired of defusing situations, or maybe he was just at the end of his rope. “I want to speak to Hannah.”

  “Then you should have called her phone number.”

  “You know full well that Caitlin disconnected Hannah’s cell.”

  “She’s asleep.”

  “I don’t want to wake her up, but Caitlin could check and see if she’s really asleep. Is Caitlin there?”

  “Hannah’s asleep.”

  “You don’t know that. The phone is downstairs, and she’s upstairs. I know the house, I was there before you.” Eric heard the words come out of his mouth, realizing they weren’t talking about the house anymore.

  “Take my word for it.”

  “I’m not taking your word for anything. I don’t have to talk to you to speak to my own daughter.” Eric raised his voice, feeling himself lose control. “And by the way, if you ever call my daughter another name, much less a whiner, I’m going to beat the living crap out of you.”

  Brian snorted. “You’re a trip, you know that, buddy? Where do you get off filing for custody? You act like it’s about Hannah, but it’s about you. You want Caitlin back but she’s done. You’re jealous she’s with me. You’re trying to hurt her and you know the way to hurt her is through Hannah, so that’s what you’re doing.”

  “That’s not true, and I don’t have to discuss it with you.”

  “Caller ID says you’re at Upper Merion police station. You’re under arrest. That’s going to look great to the court, don’t you think? Good luck trying to get custody. You’ll be lucky if you get unsupervised visits.”

  “Put my daughter on the phone.” Eric would have to call Susan as soon as he got out.

  “You really want to talk to your daughter now? You want to tell her where you are? You know what it does to a kid to be ashamed of her own father?”

  Eric knew exactly what it was like to be ashamed of his father, but he didn’t need this jerk to psychoanalyze him. “I’m not going to fight with you. Go see if my daughter is asleep—”

  “Dude, you make me laugh. Do you have any idea what your daughter’s going to go through at school? How the kids are gonna bully her?”

  Eric had thought the same thing, which was the reason he wanted to speak with Hannah. “If anything, I got those hostages freed.”

  “Bully for you. Thing is, kids don’t know the difference. All they know is her dad’s in jail. That’s what they’re going to say. We don’t want her to have to face those bullies.”

  “We?” Eric shot back, angry. “Listen, dude, don’t parent my child. Ask Caitlin to check if Hannah’s sleeping, and if she’s not, put her on the damn phone.”

  “I don’t take orders from you.”

  “Put my daughter on the phone! She needs to hear the truth from me so she can hold her head up high at school tomorrow.”

  “We’re not sending her to school tomorrow.”

  We, again. “Why not? She has to go to school. You can’t keep her out of school forever. That’s not the way to deal with this situation.”

  “Sorry, we’re not as smart as you. That’s why you’re calling from jail. Because you’re so smart.”

  “Let me talk to her!” Suddenly Eric heard Hannah’s voice in the background, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying. The phone went silent, but it didn’t sound as if Brian had hung up but was covering the receiver with his hand. Eric could hear some muffled noise and Hannah talking, and in the next moment there was a shuffling on the line.

  “Eric?” Caitlin came on, her voice clipped. “I hope you’re happy. You woke her up and she’s here. You can speak to her for a few minutes, then that’s it.”

  “You don�
�t have any right to limit how long I talk to her.”

  “Discuss that with your friend Susan. I’ll put Hannah on the phone now. Hold on.”

  “Daddy?” Hannah asked. “Is that you?”

  “Hannah!” Eric felt his heart leap at the sound of her voice, in its charming little-girl register. “Honey, it’s so good to hear you!”

  “Are you okay, Daddy? I’m worried. What’s going on? Where are you?”

  “I’m fine, everything’s fine.” Eric hated the thought that he had caused her any anxiety.

  “I miss you.”

  “I miss you, too. I’m so sorry I woke you up.”

  “I wasn’t asleep, I was waiting for you to call. I heard Brian and Mommy, and I knew it was you on the phone. I wanted to talk to you.”

  “I wanted to talk to you too—”

  “Daddy, they showed you on TV. They said that bad guys had guns at the mall and there was a bomb! It’s our mall, where I got my cleats. You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

  “Not at all, I’m fine, sweetheart. It wasn’t really a bomb, it was a fake bomb. Nobody tried to hurt me or anybody else. It’s all over now and it’s fine.”

  “Who’s the bad guy? Was the bad guy your patient? Was that him on the TV? He had on a hoodie, he looked kinda scary. What’s wrong with him?”

  “Honey, yes, that’s my patient, but he’s not a bad guy.”

  “Then who’s the bad guy? The police were there, so many, I saw, all over the mall.”

  “There were no bad guys tonight.” Eric wanted to say, except for Brian, but held his tongue. “Everything is fine. I went to the mall to help my patient and now he’s fine too.”

  “I miss you. When can I see you? I heard Brian say you were in jail. You’re not really in jail, are you?”

  Eric never lied to her, but he was tempted to tonight. He decided against it, because he couldn’t control what Caitlin and Brian would tell her. “I am at the jail because I’m helping them figure out some things.”

  “Why are you at jail? You didn’t do anything wrong. Did they make a mistake? Only people who break the law go to jail.”

  “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I know, but on TV you came out of the mall and there were police all around and you were holding your hands up, like you were the bad guy, like on Cops.” Hannah sounded mixed-up, her voice thin and shaky. “Did you tell them you didn’t do anything wrong? Do they think you did? Why did they think you did?”