Part 18 (1/2)
”I can't breach . . .”
”Yes, Doctor, I know, but your confidentiality may have already been breached if those files were stolen. And why would anyone steal them unless there was something interesting in them?”
”I don't know, Detective, I don't know.”
”Did you ever discuss her case with anyone?”
”No.”
”Your husband?”
”Of course not.”
”Without breaching your doctor/patient responsibility, can you tell me if there's anything in those files that might have motivated someone to attack you? Or your patient? Or anyone else?”
”Could you get the nurse for me? I've got a terrible headache.”
”Of course.”
”Constable Maitland, thanks for coming in, I won't keep you. I bet you and your family have plans.”
”Nothing too special, Chief, we were going to take the kids to a movie.”
”That's special, trust me.” He saw Maitland make a quick check of his watch. ”Be out of here in a minute.”
”It's Mrs. Emery, right? She making noises? I didn't . . .”
”Never mind her. I'll deal with Georgia Emery. You drove Anya Daniel home, right?”
”Yes, Chief. Straight home. Walked her to her door. She gave me a doughnut.”
”Well sometime after that she flew the coop. We don't know where she went. n.o.body saw her leave. You get any sense she was planning anything?”
”Oh cripes!”
”Oh cripes?”
”I didn't think much of it at the time. But I should have. I was thinking about getting home.”
”What happened?”
”We stopped to get her a coffee and she talked to a man. Just for a second. I asked her if he was someone I should check on; she said he'd be gone soon.”
”What'd he look like?”
”Heavy set, maybe six feet, wasn't smiling.”
”You hear what she said?”
”I think she said she was going to Grova's p.a.w.nshop. She needed cash for her vacation.”
”She told him she was going to the p.a.w.nshop?”
”Wait. She said, 'Tell your boss I'm going to Grova's p.a.w.nshop.'”
”Aha! Okay. Thank you, Constable. Thank you very much.”
”You know what it means, Chief?”
”Haven't a clue, Charles. Haven't a clue. That's why we have detectives. Go. See a movie with your kids. Say hi to your wife. Emily, right?”
”That's right Chief.” Maitland smiled. ”About Mrs. Emery . . .”
Orwell waved his hand. ”Don't give it another thought, Constable. I'm looking forward to speaking to the woman.”
Whatever Dr. Ruth's a.s.sailant had been looking for couldn't have been found without an inventory and code key. Other than furniture and equipment, the office was a jumble of sealed boxes labelled with cryptic notations, dates and letter/number combinations. The doctor's desk drawers had been pried open, the wood was splintered. A few of the boxes had been roughly torn open and nothing but crumpled newspaper remained. The report from the detectives who investigated the attack said that a couple in the office next door heard loud noises and pounded on the wall. They then saw a large man leave in a hurry and pile into a car parked on the street. No second man, no license plate number. The car was described as ”black, or dark blue, a Chevy or Ford, or maybe a big Toyota.” Not much help.
Even if Stacy could locate the files relating to Anya's sessions, she was legally prohibited from opening them. It was a dead end. At least for now.
What next?
”Hey, it's Stacy. How's it going?”
”Oh, well, you know: s.h.i.+tty, c.r.a.ppy, like that. Sitting on the floor in my kitchen. Trying to decide between getting s.h.i.+t-faced or finding out what that crud is under my stove.”
”Jeeze, I hate to drag you away.”
”Oh yeah?” She ached all over. ”What's up?”
”Our ballet dancer is in the wind. I'm trying to figure out where she went.”
”She on the wanted list?”
”I don't know what the h.e.l.l she is. You heard anything about stolen jewels mixed up in this?”
”Jewels.” Paulie's c.r.a.p was still scattered on her kitchen table.
”Diamonds mostly.”
”Diamonds.” She waved her hand across the clutter as if to make it all disappear. ”Mostly.”
”Supposed to be a big ruby, too.”
”You're kidding me, right?”
”Your partner ever say anything?”
”You know what? I don't think that s.h.i.+thead ever told me . . .” She picked up one of Paulie's Adidas sneakers and fired it at the wall. Bam! ”. . . anything!”
”You okay?”