Part 27 (1/2)

”You can get an ice bag at the hospital,” Vida said blithely as she got into the car. ”Come, come, let's go. We don't want to lose sight of the ambulance.”

”We already have,” I announced in my perverse manner. The street was now empty of emergency vehicles, though curious neighbors milled about on the sidewalk. To further pique Vida, I didn't let on that I knew exactly where the ambulance was heading. ”So you figured everything out during a five-minute chat with Darryl. I'd applaud, but I might dislocate my shoulder.”

”Don't be snide,” Vida retorted. ”You're just angry because you couldn't see the forest for the trees. Will you please get going?”

”What did Darryl tell you?” I demanded, taking my time to start the car.

”Another blow for the poor man,” Vida sighed. ”Darryl never knew that Carol's baby-his baby-died until Henrietta called him last night. Carol didn't know it at the time, either. It wasn't a stillbirth. There were severe breathing complications. The baby-a boy, actually- died the day after Carol got out of the hospital. She was never informed. In fact, she had asked that she not be told anything about the baby, including its s.e.x, so that she couldn't form any sort of attachment. Then Henrietta became obsessed, wanting Kendra all to herself. And to think I thought she was a nice woman!”

”You were wrong.” My voice was tinged with spite. Still it was rare for Vida to be mistaken in her judgment of others; usually, she tended to be overly critical.

”I can guess why the fake nail was in Carol's apartment,” Vida said.

”So can I. Maybeth lost it when she confronted Carol with what she'd heard through the wall when Henrietta and Carol had it out. That's why Maybeth wrote to the Addisons. She wanted to get back at Carol for stealing her boyfriend.”

We were cruising along Fifteenth, past the driving range that had been built over an old garbage dump. Maybe some changes were for the better. ”You've figured out the fabric sc.r.a.p, I'm sure.”

”What?” Vida seemed rattled.

”The so-called women's suiting that Kendra found,” I said, at my most patronizing. ”After all, you are the House and Home editor.”

”Well, naturally... I suppose...”

”An upholstery sample,” I crowed, ”that Kathy dropped after she got the tell-all letter from Maybeth and came to see Carol to find out if any of it was true.”

”Yes, well, certainly,” Vida said, still fl.u.s.tered. ”Are you sure we're going the right way?”

”Positive,” I replied. We'd reached the turnoff to lower Queen Anne. I cut up through the west side of the hill, heading for Mercer, the crosstown street that would eventually take us to Harborview.

”You knew that Kathy was following us in the Taurus,” Vida remarked, her aplomb restored.

”I do now,” I said. ”I mean, when I saw the Taurus parked in front of Sam's, I thought it belonged to him. I never saw the car that was parked in the Addison garage when I was in the alley waiting for you. The door was pulled down.”

”Such a silly stunt,” Vida remarked as we drove past the opera house and the home of Pacific Northwest Ballet. ”Kathy might have known we wouldn't be scared off so easily.”

”She wasn't trying to scare us,” I said, turning onto Fifth Avenue and driving past the s.p.a.ce Needle and under the Monorail. ”Kathy was desperate to know what we were up to. She may have thought we'd found out something she didn't know.”

”Nonsense,” Vida shot back. ”If anything other than frightening us, she wanted us out of the way at the apartment house. Just about every time she followed us, we were headed in that direction. Thus she couldn't go there to have a showdown with Henrietta. We were thwarting her.”

”Make up your mind,” I said, turning on Denny Way to head for Capitol Hill. Thousands of darkened apartment and condo windows stared blindly out over the city. I felt a pang. I belonged there, not in a burg like Alpine, where I could count the multiple-dwelling complexes on two hands.

”Does it matter which is right?” Vida replied, bristling. ”Like Henrietta, Kathy had become unhinged.”

”Let's hope she's not also dead,” I put in, ”because only she can tell us what happened with Henrietta.”

”She'll be fine,” Vida responded, still testy. ”A slight concussion, that's all. You'll see.”

”Vida, do you always have to be right?”

”It's better than always being wrong,” she snapped.

”Are you saying I'm always wrong?”

”No, of course not. But you can be very pigheaded.”

”I can be pigheaded? And you're not?”

”I try to keep an open mind.”

”Vida...”

We had reached our destination. Harborview Hospital sits on the edge of what is known as Pill Hill, overlooking downtown and Elliott Bay. It looked like a fortress in the dark, a citadel to ward off death, with a special wing to keep the mental cases away from the rest of us who refused to admit that we were crazy, too.

I pulled up at the main entrance and waited for Vida to get out of the car.

”Aren't you going to park?” she asked. ”I saw a sign that said the lot was on the other side of the hospital.”

”I'm not staying,” I said, glancing at my watch, which indicated it was almost ten-thirty. ”I'll pick you up in an hour or so. In fact, let's say midnight.” Vida should have given Sam Addison all the comfort he could stand by then.

”Where are you going?” Vida demanded, half out of the Lexus.

”Never mind,” I said. ”By the way, I a.s.sume you know who killed Carol.”

Vida leaned down to stare through the pa.s.senger window. ”What?”

”Never mind,” I said, and drove away. In the rearview mirror, I could see Vida shaking a fist. No doubt she was dying of curiosity, for several reasons.

She should have known where I was headed, however. There was only one place I could go, that I should go: I drove to the freeway and Kendra's apartment in the north end of the city.

Despite the late hour, there was a light on in Kendra's unit. Maybe she was with Gavin Odell and didn't want to be disturbed. But I had to disturb her, upset her, too. And all I could wonder as I climbed the wooden stairs was, Why me, Lord?

However, it appeared that Kendra was alone. She was wearing a short chenille bathrobe and the TV was on. A half-empty gla.s.s of milk sat on an end table and a bag of pretzels was on the floor next to the sofa.

I asked Kendra if she had any liquor on hand. We were both going to need it before we finished the evening's business.

Naturally, Kendra looked alarmed. ”There's some wine,” she said. ”Gavin bought it. What is it? You look awful, Ms. Lord.”

”Call me Emma. Call me Awful.” I followed her into the kitchen. Kendra might have wine, but she didn't have winegla.s.ses. I watched while she poured Merlot into two juice tumblers.

”Can you be candid with me?” I asked as we sat down in the living room.

Kendra clicked the remote to turn off the set, then stared at me. ”About what?”

”About your feelings for your parents-all of them.”

Kendra started to answer, then shut her mouth and shook her head. ”No deal. I want to know what's happened first. Is it Mom?”

”Kathy, your adoptive mother?”

”Right.” Kendra's voice was tight and there was fear in her eyes.