Part 30 (1/2)
”A church?”
”The priest was locking up at midnight and found her lying on a pew. He brought her to MCH. They wouldn't tell me anything else on the phone, only confirmed her description.”
”Evelyn gave me power of attorney so I can find out more at the hospital about Kirsten's condition,” Sean said.
It took less than ten minutes in light Sunday-morning traffic to reach MCH once Sean was on the Brooklyn Bridge. The emergency room was near full, so Sean went to the main entrance. ”Whom did you speak to?” he asked Trey.
”A nurse. Jeanne McMahon.”
Sean asked for the nurse, and several minutes later an older nurse dressed in colorful red scrubs with a neon-green stethoscope around her neck stepped off the elevator. She looked suspiciously like Mrs. Santa Claus.
”Did you call about the poor blond girl?”
”Yes. I'm Trey Danielson.”
”Sean Rogan,” Sean said and handed her his card along with Evelyn's power of attorney and Kirsten's photo. ”Is this her?”
Jeanne nodded. ”Looks like her. She hasn't regained consciousness since she was admitted.” Jeanne led them to one set of elevators. ”We have her in ICU. She's one sick little girl.”
”I need to confirm that it's Kirsten, then contact her mother and the police.”
”The police? She didn't do anything, did she?”
”She may be a witness to a crime. We think she's been in hiding.”
”If she was hiding, someone had to be helping her.”
”Why do you think so?”
”She wouldn't have been able to walk. Her feet are severely cut up and infected. We've done everything we can to bring down her fever. She seems to have stabilized, but hasn't responded to antibiotics. The doctor is going to a.s.sess her shortly and probably change her medication. She needs surgery, but her system is too weak to tolerate it.”
”Do you know how she ended up at the church?”
”I have no idea, and Father Frisco is so upset about it. He's been here several times a day since he brought her in. He's in and out of the church in the evenings. He thinks she may have been left while he had a late supper about eight, but he didn't find her until midnight when he checked the pews.”
Jeanne led them out of the elevator and down several corridors. ”In fact, Father Frisco came to visit shortly after Trey called, and I told him someone inquired about the girl, and he found someone to cover his ma.s.ses so he could talk to you.”
They turned into the waiting area for ICU. ”I need to ask that you both put on masks before entering ICU, and after you confirm that she's your missing girl, only one of you can stay with her.”
Trey glanced at Sean, eyes wide. Sean nodded. Trey could stay. He needed to call Evelyn and then look at Kirsten's records and personal effects to see if there was any clue as to where she'd been since last Sat.u.r.day night.
The blonde in the bed was sickly thin, her skin almost translucent. Her hair was limp, but clean. She had an IV in her arm and monitors registering her heart rate and her body temperature.
”Kirsten,” Trey said, his voice hitching.
”It's her,” Sean confirmed to the nurse.
The priest, Father Frisco, sat in the corner praying with a rosary. He was younger than Sean expected-closer to Duke's age, around forty. He supposed he had a stereotypical view of Catholic priests being old, gray, and from Ireland or Mexico. Father Frisco was a tall, dark-haired Italian.
”What happened to her?” Trey demanded. ”Why is she so skinny?”
”Shh,” the nurse admonished.
Sean said, ”Stay with her. I'll find answers.”
Father Frisco rose and shook Trey's hand, holding it while he spoke. ”Talk to her. She's not responding, but maybe a familiar voice will draw her back.”
Tears in his eyes, Trey sat down and tentatively reached for Kirsten's hand.
Sean walked back out to Jeanne at the nurses' station, with Father Frisco right behind him.
”Father, Jeanne explained how you found Kirsten. Why do you think she didn't walk in on her own?”
”Her feet were bandaged, and they were clean. If she walked even a short distance, they would have been dirty.”
”And,” Jeanne added, ”when we inspected her injuries, we determined that she wouldn't have been able to walk. The tendon in her right foot is severed, but began to heal improperly. Walking on it would have been impossible. We can do surgery to correct the worst damage, but first we need to stabilize her and beat the infection.”
”We sent a notice around to all hospitals on Wednesday,” Sean said. ”Did you see it?”
”We post current notices, and keep older missing persons in a book. But there are so many from all over the country. When we get a Jane Doe we go through the book again, but it's been a busy weekend. We would have identified her eventually. And the administration filed a police report on Friday when we admitted her. But these things take time to work through the system.”
”Do you know what caused the damage to her feet?”
Jeanne nodded. ”Someone had cleaned her feet, but not well enough. There were small pieces of gravel deep in cuts that had started to heal, but because of the infection they weren't healing properly. We also found a piece of colored gla.s.s, probably from a beer bottle, under her skin.”
”Someone cleaned and bandaged her feet?”
”Probably daily. The bandages on her feet were clean with little discharge, except pus from the infection and a small amount of blood. We ran blood tests and had some odd results, so sent them and hair samples to an outside lab for testing.”
”Hair samples?”
”Primarily for illegal drugs and certain poisons that may be out of her blood system, but show up in hair for months afterward.”
”When do you think she sustained the injuries?”
Jeanne pulled her file. ”The doctor said they were five to seven days old when she was admitted on Friday.”
That put her injuries most likely the night that Jessica was killed.
Sean turned to Father Frisco. ”Are there any security cameras at your church?”
He shook his head.
”Why do you think she was brought to your church and not any other?” Sean asked.
”Are you suggesting this might be one of my paris.h.i.+oners?” From the weary tone it was obvious that the priest, too, had considered the possibility. ”Why not take her to a hospital?”