Faye Kellerman - Decker 06 - Grievous Sin

by Grievous Sin(lit)

'Why?'

  'If only Marie...'

  'Why do Security want to talk to my daughter?' Decker said forcefully.

  'Because she isn't here.' Darlene began to shake all over. 'And Cindy was probably the last person to see her.'

  'But you said you saw Marie in the hallway, Darlene,' Cindy said. 'That would make you the last person to see Marie.'

  'No, not Marie!' Darlene burst into tears. 'It's one of the infants! I can't find Baby Girl Rodriguez!'

  Nose pressed to the glass, Decker stared at the newborns - things no bigger than a rib roast, completely helpless... sinless. His heart went out to them, knowing that life would dish out a fair amount of dirt even if they were lucky. Baby Girl Rodriguez's safety net had unraveled just a few days into her existence. His eyes traveled over the infants of differing races and sexes until they landed on an empty layette. His heart began to pound.

  'Hey, Sergeant.'

  Decker spun around, startled by the interruption.

  Officer Brian Harlow. He'd been in uniform nearly three decades. He was still muscular and fit, but the years were there. Hair that was more silver than blond, a gut straining the buttons of his shirt. Vanity probably prevented him from' admitting he needed a larger size. Harlow ran his fingers through his slicked-back hair.

  'We've done three passes through the lots, through the immediate neighborhood, too.' He shook his head. 'No sign of the red Honda. It's still dark, not easy to tell colors, but we'll keep trying. Should be better when the sun starts coming up. In the meantime, do you want to put out an APB on the car?'

  'Yeah, call it in.'

  Harlow clapped his hands together. 'You got it.'

  'Any action by Bellson's apartment?'

  'Just talked to the cruisers. Everything's quiet.'

  'No movement inside?'

  'Nothing.'

  'Any lights?'

  'Black as a well,' Harlow said. 'When do you think the warrant'll come through?'

  'Probably take another hour or so,' Decker said. 'Hollander couldn't get through to the first two judges. Finally, he managed to locate a third and wake him up. He's on his way to His Honor's house as we speak.'

  'How's the baby's mother?'

  'Lourdes Rodriguez,' Decker stated. 'Detective Dunn's with her now.'

  'I'll call in that APB.' Harlow slapped Decker's back. 'Congratulations on your kid, by the way.'

  'Thanks.'

  Decker checked his watch. Darlene had last seen Marie around midnight. If Marie had taken off with the baby, she'd have a big jump on them. He had sent some uniforms to watch her apartment. So far nothing.

  Why would a woman who had worked with babies for years suddenly snatch a kid? A latent maternal longing? A fit of madness? Maybe she'd done it against her will. Some psycho sticking a gun at her temple and forcing her to take the baby. It was that very thought that scared Decker the most - Marie and the infant in the hands of a psycho.

  Slipping his hands into his pockets, he glared at the security guard. Guy was pissed, probably felt usurped -too damn bad. He and his guard buddies had had their chance, and they'd blown it with a capital B. Not that Techwatch Securities International wasn't working overtime, covering its butt, hoping to keep the liability down.

  Good luck, pal.

  Mom was hysterical now, not even thinking about

  litigation. But after a day or two, even if the baby was recovered safely, odds were that the security firm and the hospital would get phone calls from a heavy-breathing lawyer.

  Marge walked over to him, notebook in hand. 'How's it going, Rabbi?'

  Decker stuck out splayed fingers and rotated his wrist back and forth. 'How's Lourdes Rodriquez?'

  'Sleeping.'

  'Get a chance to talk to her?'

  'A little. She isn't married to the father, but they're together - boyfriend-girlfriend. She couldn't imagine Papa stealing their baby. Or forcing Marie to steal the baby. As a matter of fact, she grew hysterical at the prospect of telling him what happened. She's afraid of what he might do.'

  'To her?'

  'To her, more like to the hospital.' Marge raised her eyebrows. 'Seems Matty likes to play with matches and owns a firearm or two—'

  'Jesus!'

  'If I were you, I'd get Rina out of here.'

  'She's leaving at ten this morning. We'd better put a watch on this guy once he's informed. What's his full name?'

  'Matthew Luke Lopez.'

  'Did he anglicize his name?'

  'No, it's his legal name. He's American-born but was raised in the barrio. Lourdes said he has a good heart, but a bad temper.'

  'Tell me something new,' Decker said under his breath. 'How old is he?'

  'Seventeen, eighteen. Lourdes wasn't sure.'

  'Prime age for impulse.'

  'Yeah, I thought about that.' Marge paused. 'In all

  fairness to Matty, Lourdes wasn't making a lot of sense. Doc upped her dose of sedatives. She's completely zonked out now, poor kid.' She pushed wisps of hair out of her brown eyes. 'Man, this is just horrible! So close to home. You must be freaked.'

  'Yeah, I'm a little...' Decker was quiet. 'Did you get anything out of the Rodriguez family?'

  'Mamacita is with Lourdes now. She speaks broken English, refers to her sons a lot.'

  'Lourdes's brothers are here?'

  'Waiting for me in the lobby. I kicked them out of the hospital room early on. Which didn't endear me to the clan. But I couldn't get anything done with three mucho macho guys hanging over my shoulder. I did tell them to stick around, that I'd want to talk to all of them. That didn't set right with them, either. Guess their prior experiences with the police haven't been positive. At least I feel I'm earning my money. You want me to interview the nurse who was on duty?'

  'Darlene Jamison,' Decker said. 'No, I'll handle her. I did a quick interview with her right when it happened. She wasn't making much sense either. But she did give me an approximate timetable of her whereabouts. She was where she said she was. But I'm far from done with her.'

  'Where is she?'

  'In the nurses' station, making arrangements with her baby-sitter to stay a little longer. I'm angry as hell at the woman, but I do feel for her. She looks genuinely shaken. And she's probably worried about her own derriere. She's got some liability in this.' Decker looked at his watch again. 'It's been about fifteen minutes. I'll give her another five minutes, then we'll go over it again.'

  Marge paused. 'What do you want to do with Cindy?'

  'She's with Rina. You can interview her just as soon as my ex-father-in-law gets in.'

  'Don't you think you're overdoing it by getting her a lawyer?'

  'It's not her lawyer, Marge, it's her grandfather. Jack was adamant that she not say anything until he comes down. What the heck.' He shrugged. 'Do you want me to assign someone else to do the interviewing?'

  'No, Pete, I'm comfortable with it,' Marge said. 'Cindy's a witness, not a suspect. As a matter of fact, I'll take over the entire case if you want. You still have time off. Maybe it would be better if you spent it with Rina. There'll be plenty of other cases to bust.'

  'I keep trying to tell myself that. That I shouldn't be working. But then...'He slammed his fist into his open palm. 'Marge, it could have been Hannah! If Cindy hadn't been with her, who knows? I owe it to that little baby girl to find her. I owe it to her and to her mother.'

  'Pete, everyone's busting their chops with this one. The case is top priority. Hospital's sealed. We're going to interview anyone who passed through these hallways, anyone on duty and anyone just hanging around. Cameras will be down for the morning news, we're gonna get the word out about this little girl in a big way. You owe something to Rina, too.'

  'You know what Rina will say, Marge.'

  'Find the kid.'

  'Find the kid,' Decker repeated.

  Marge gave up. 'So how do you want to divide this?'

  'I'll investigate Marie Beilson. Someone just brought up her work file from Personnel. After I'
m done with Darlene, I'll go through that. I'll also call back Hollander and find out if the warrant came through. When it does, I'm planning to visit Bellson's place personally.'

  'Fine. After I'm done dueling with the Rodriguez boys, I'll go over the interviews the uniforms are doing on the staff. Find out who saw what. See if the blues missed

  anything. How many do we have assigned to do the job?'

  'Twelve - two per floor. Mike said he'd help you just as soon as he's done obtaining the warrant.'

  'That's good.'

  'Go over the accounts with a magnifying glass, Marge.'

  'I'm glad you told me that, Pete. Otherwise I would have been slipshod.'

  Decker frowned. 'How 'bout cutting me a little slack, partner?'

  'Sorry.'

  'I was talking as much to myself as I was to you.'

  'I know.' Marge patted his shoulder - the one without the bullet wound. 'Just relax and concentrate on this Bellson lady.'

  There was a moment of silence. Decker said, 'Do I make a lot of condescending remarks like that?'

  'Occasionally.'

  'You know I don't mean anything by it. I think you're top-notch.'

  'I know, Pete. It's okay.' Marge rubbed her eyes and looked up. 'Cindy's counsel's here.'

  Decker waved his ex-father-in-law over. Jack Cohen was in his mid sixties but still walked and talked and dressed like a young man. He had a sprightly voice, bright blue eyes, and a quick comeback for every remark. He could be fun to be around because his aggression was tempered by wit. Not so his daughter. 'Counselor Cohen,' Decker said. 'My partner, and Cindy's interviewer, Detective Dunn.'

  'We've met before, but it's a pleasure,' Cohen shook hands with Marge. 'Where's my girl?'

  'She's with Rina,' Decker said. 'I'll call her now that you're here. Thanks for coming down, Jack. It's probably not necessary—'

  'It can't hurt.' Cohen tugged on his jacket lapel. 'She

  sounded upset, Peter. Scared. It's good you called me. I want to be with her, not because she's in trouble, but because she's my granddaughter and I love her.' He turned to Marge. 'Let me talk to her for a few minutes, then we'll talk to you.'

  'Sounds good,' Marge said.

  Cohen shook Decker's hand. 'Congratulations on your new little girl, Pete.'

  'Thanks, Jack.' Decker looked down, then up and smiled.

  Cohen said, 'You want me to tell Jan when she and Alan come back from Europe?'

  'No, Jack. If she doesn't hear it from me, she'll make my life miserable.' Decker thought a moment. 'Of course, if she does hear it from me, she'll still be miserable. But at least she won't bear a grudge.'

  'She'll probably even send you a baby gift.' Cohen smiled. 'You want to know the truth, I don't give a damn about you two anymore. I got a terrific granddaughter out of the marriage, I'm happy. Ciao.'

  Marge waited until he left, then said, 'Ciao?'

  'Jack can be kind of Hollywood.'

  'How long did you work for him?'

  "Bout six months - trust-and-estate planning. Can you imagine me doing trust and estate planning?'

  'Why didn't you work for the DA?'

  'Do you know what starting deputy DAs make?'

  'They make more than starting cops.'

  'But I wasn't a starting cop. I was a seasoned detective. A deputy DA's job would have meant a pay cut. Estate planning paid very well.' Decker rubbed his neck. 'No regrets. It all worked out in the end. I'd rather be solving crimes than plea-bargaining felonies to misdemeanors.'

  Darlene declined Decker's offer of another cup of coffee.

  'I'm okay, Sergeant. I'm just... stunned.'

  'Aren't we all,' Decker answered. 'Everything work out okay with the baby-sitter?'

  'Yes, she said she'd...'

  The nurse lowered her head, chin resting against her chest, eyes focused on her lap. They were red-rimmed and puffy, her pinched nose pink and raw. Slight of frame to begin with, Darlene had balled herself up into something inconsequential.

  Decker said, 'I want to go over everything one more time. When you left Nursery J, you claim the babies were supervised.'

  'Chris was there and Marie was there.' Darlene looked up. 'And of course, your daughter was there—'

  'Cindy was not there in any kind of supervisory role, Darlene.'

  'Yes, that's true, of course. But she was in the back with Hannah. I just thought she might have heard something.'

  'Someone else is talking to Cindy. For now, I'm talking to you. So you left Nursery J and Chris and Marie were there.'

  'Yes.'

  'Then what happened?'

  'I went to help out at the other nurseries. Lots of babies without a lot of staff. A couple of scheduled regulars didn't show, so we had to make do with floaters and temps. Maybe one of them—'

  'Everyone's being questioned. Who is this Chris, specifically?'

  'Christine Simms. One of our night nurses.'

  'She was in the nursery when you left?'

  'Yes, she was there. And Marie was there. Then I saw

  Chris in the hallway on her way to Nursery C. She'd been

  asked to help out with the weighings since we were so

  short-staffed. I asked her who was at Nursery J, and she

  said Marie was still there, that Marie told her she could handle it by herself.'

  'But you told me you passed Marie in the hallway.' 'I did. She said she was on her way back to Nursery J. So I assumed she left someone in charge of J while she was away. Someone has to be supervising the babies at all times.'

  'Someone like my daughter?' 'That was only for moments at a time,5 Darlene said defensively.

  'When you walked me back to the elevators, you left the nursery without leaving someone in charge.'

  Darlene bit her lip. 'I do run out for a moment from time to time. It's wrong. I was.... You're right, Sergeant, it was irresponsible. What can I say? But I wasn't in charge of Nursery J when the baby disappeared. When I left, two people were in that nursery - Marie, the head nurse, and Chris.'

  'So you assumed that Marie had left someone in charge of J when you passed her in the hallway?' 'Yes.'

  'Who was officially in charge of J that night?'

  'Marie. She's the charge nurse of the entire unit. Each

  nursery is supposed to have two nurses. That's officially.

  In reality, we're lucky if we have a nurse per nursery. You

  have any idea how much work that is for a single nurse?'

  Decker didn't answer, thinking about her words.

  Hospitals compromising care for money. When

  questioned about the staff-to-patient ratio, hospitals

  always gave the same stock answer. It was either cut back

  or close down.

  'Have you ever seen Marie run out for a moment and leave the babies alone?' Decker asked. 'No.' 'Never? Not even once?'

  'Honestly, no.'

  Decker said, 'Who do you think Marie might have left in charge at Nursery J?'

  'It could have been anyone working tonight, including temporaries or floaters.'

  'We're compiling a list right now. These floaters... who exactly are they?'

  'They're nurses that go where they're needed. We're getting less and less nurses to work OB. In the past year, we've only had three nurses who have had specific training in OB or neonate. Makes it hard to get things done when you don't have specialists for the job.'

  'Going back to the floaters... are they hospital employees?'

  'I think so. But I don't know for sure.' 'How about the temporaries? Are they employed specifically by the hospital, or does the hospital get them from agencies?' 'I don't know.'

  'Do you usually see the same floaters and temporaries working?'

  'Some of the faces look familiar. I've even learned a name or two. Detective, I'm so shaken... maybe I'll do better the next time we talk. I'm so sorry.'

  Decker held back a yawn and finished up some notes. He'd pursue the status of the work
staff with the administrators. They'd know about hiring procedure. Then he remembered Cindy's description of the weirdos who worked at night. He was willing to bet that the hospital hired as cheap as possible and wasn't always meticulous about checking out credentials. Chances were the administrators wouldn't be forthcoming about opening up their files. They'd probably state that divulgence of names was an unwarranted invasion of privacy, or some other bull. For them, it was going to be cover-your-ass-royally time.