“To the right,” he answered, pointing.
Christine hurried past him, made her way through the lobby, then followed the signs to the restrooms. The men’s room was first, and the ladies’ room predictably down a long hall. She scurried along, reached the ladies’ room, and pushed open the door, startled to find three women in suits, looking over some notes for the vigil program.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Christine said, almost banging into them.
“Excuse us,” said one of the women, stepping back. “We shouldn’t have been so close to the door.”
“No, my fault.” Christine headed to the last stall, to give herself some privacy if they were going to use the ladies’ room for their meeting. She closed the stall door, practically threw her purse at the hook on the back, and slid off her underwear just in time to sit down.
Outside the stall, the women were saying, “Tell Rita that Gail’s mom and dad are in the crowd. They’re sitting in the first row on the right, the far right.”
“Got it,” the other woman said. “What are their names again?”
“John and Hilda Robinbrecht.”
“Hilda, really?”
“Yes, okay, let’s go,” the other woman answered, then Christine heard the sound of the ladies’ room door opening and heels clattering out, leaving her finally in peace.
Christine let herself relax on the toilet seat, in no hurry to get up because it felt so good to finally sit down. She looked at her feet, which were still swelling. She straightened her legs to elevate them, and in the next moment, she heard the ladies’ room door bang open again, then came more clattering shoes and the sound of a woman bursting into tears.
“What a jerk!” the woman cried out, between hoarse sobs. “… he has some nerve, really that man has the gall of ten men…”
“It’s okay, honey, it’s okay,” another woman said, her voice soothing.
“No it’s not … I should go out there and bust him … standing up there in front of all those people … so proud of himself … I should tell everyone what a fake he is, he’s friggin’ married!”
Christine kept her feet up, so they wouldn’t know the stall was occupied. It was hard to do, but it was too awkward to reveal that she was there. From the sound of the conversation, someone had been having an affair with a married man. She didn’t want to embarrass them or herself.
“Honey, you have to get a grip. We have to go back out there. People are going to notice you’re not there.”
“They know I’m her best friend … they’ll expect me to cry … he doesn’t deserve to speak at her service … he didn’t deserve her … I know she really loved him … but I told her, ‘he’s using you, he’s never gonna leave his wife, ever’ …”
Inside the stall, Christine couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Her service?” The two women must have been talking about Gail. Gail must have been the one having the affair, and the married man must be one of the speakers at her vigil. Christine flashed on the orthopedic surgery nurses at the memorial. They had told her the funny nickname of Gail’s best friend. Dink.
Outside the stall, the sobbing resumed. “It’s so unfair that she died right now … when she was going to end it for good … she was trying to date … she knew I was right…”
“Wash your face, come on. We have to go back out. Keep your cool. Do it for Gail. She would want you to, Dink.”
Dink. Christine had been right. She couldn’t wait to hear more. If Gail had been having an affair with a married man and had wanted to break up with him, then the married man could be a suspect in her murder. It was certainly possible. Christine made herself keep her feet high, so they wouldn’t know she was there.
Dink’s sobbing began to subside. “He would never let her go … but he wouldn’t commit to her either … he wanted it both ways … the ego on that man … he’s a total narcissist … I should tell everybody that he’s a fraud…”
“No, don’t do that. That won’t help now, and it will just upset her parents. Here, blow your nose. Let’s go.”
Inside the stall, Christine’s thoughts raced. So one of the speakers could be Gail’s killer, but which one? They were all in hospital administration, all about the same age, and all of them were decent-looking. She couldn’t remember any of their names. She wished she could get her vigil program from her purse but didn’t dare. She strained to keep her feet up, then she heard the sound of water running and the mechanical whirring of the paper-towel dispenser.
“Honey, hurry, really, we should go. They’re all out there.”
“That bastard!” Dink heaved a final sob. “He wasn’t worth her tears—or mine. You’re right, Amy. Screw him!”
“That’s the spirit! Ignore him! Take the high road. You won’t be sorry.”
Christine realized that the existence of a married boyfriend also explained why Gail wasn’t seeing anybody. Maybe Gail had been getting over the loss of someone in Iraq, but she had fallen in love with a married man who was stringing her along. Christine heard some nose-blowing outside the stall, then the door opening and shoes clattering as the women left the restroom.
Christine jumped up, dug inside her purse, and pulled out the program for the vigil, which was folded in half. On the right was a list of speakers, and there were three male names: Dr. Adam Verbena, Dr. Grant Hallstead, and Dr. Milton Cohen. One of them could have been Gail’s killer.
A serial killer.
Christine reached for her phone, hurried out of the stall, and flew out of the restroom.
Chapter Forty-seven
Christine called Griff, praying that he answered the phone, as she hurried down the hallway. She wanted to keep track of Dink and Amy, but the hallway was already empty. They couldn’t be far ahead of her. She had to catch them.
“What now?” Griff asked, picking up the phone. “I saw it was you on caller ID. I answered anyway.”
“Griff, this is important.” Christine hustled down the hallway. “Gail had a married boyfriend, one of the higher-ups at the hospital. She was about to break up with him or she may have, because he kept saying he would leave his wife but he wouldn’t—”
“What is it with the romance—”
“—Griff, it’s relevant—”
“—this one’s girlfriend, that one’s boyfriend—”
“If she were going to break up with him, maybe he killed her to stop her, or out of anger. What can we do with that information? Can’t we call the police and tell them that he could be a suspect?” Christine reached the end of the hallway and entered the lobby, which was bustling with more hospital employees and patients arriving for physical therapy. She assumed the vigil had ended.
“Who could be a suspect?”
“The married boyfriend.” Christine lowered her voice, so she couldn’t be overheard. She didn’t see Dink and Amy, but she didn’t know what they looked like. She hadn’t even gotten a chance to see their shoes. She looked for a woman who looked as if she’d been crying, but didn’t see one as she headed for the exit.
“What’s the boyfriend’s name?”
“I don’t know. He’s one of three speakers at the vigil. If we tell the police all three names, they can investigate, can’t they?”
“Who told you about this boyfriend?”
“I heard it in the ladies’ room.”
“Gossip.” Griff scoffed.
“Trust me, it’s true.” Christine figured that only a woman would know that a ladies’ room could be a goldmine of information.
“What’s the best friend’s name?”
“Dink.” Christine left the building and looked ahead for Dink and Amy as she hurried across the parking lot, careful of the cars pulling out of spaces, having used the lot to park during the vigil. Still no luck.
“Dink is a name?”
“It’s a nickname.”
Griff sighed heavily. “What’s the real name?”
“I don’t know, but I bet I can find her.” Christine reached the grass and
made her way toward the South Lawn, where the crowd was dispersing. People scattered toward the various parking garages, and others flowed into the hospital entrances, returning to work. Some remained behind, standing, talking, and wiping their eyes in somber groups, clinging to each other for comfort. She spotted the group of Gail’s neighbors leaving together, and Kimberly was crying, being comforted by her sister Lainey and Dom, trailed by Jerri and Rachel. Phil, the handsome WCU student, spotted Christine and gave her a friendly wave, and she waved back, preoccupied. She scanned nurses who looked like they’d just come off a crying jag, but none of them seemed as upset as Dink had been.
“What’s her last name?” Griff was asking.
“I don’t know that either, but I can find out. She works at the hospital in the same unit as Gail.”
“How do you know it’s true?”
“Because I overheard it, and it makes sense. That’s who Gail must’ve been seeing. She was trying to break up with him. She was trying to get her life back on track to meet somebody new. That’s probably why she hooked up with Zachary.” Christine passed the back of the dais behind the green curtain, where the hospital officials gathered, and she eyed the group hard. She didn’t see Dink or Amy but she did spot the three male speakers: Dr. Verbena, with the shaved head and the glasses, who was talking to a township official; Dr. Hallstead, the tall ginger with the preppy accent, who was talking with the priest; and Dr. Cohen, the tall one with the graying temples, who was talking with a group of women in pastel suits.
“Is that all you got?” Griff was saying.
“That’s a lot! Can’t we call the police and tell them? He could be the person who killed Linda Kent, too. He would’ve worried that Linda Kent had seen him. If he was Gail’s married boyfriend, he was probably at her house plenty of times.” Christine hurried past the stage, where folding chairs were being put away by workmen. She scanned the crowd for the orthopedic surgery nurses because that was the likeliest place Dink and Amy would be.
“No. It’s not enough to call the D.A. with.”
“Why not? Why don’t you try?” Christine remembered what Detective Wallace had told her earlier. “I heard you’re a big contributor. They told me they’d do anything for you.”
“Who told you that?”
“Does it matter? Call them.” Christine threaded her way through the crowd, looking for the orthopedic surgery nurses.
“They don’t investigate leads as a favor. But if you get the best friend’s name and get her to come forward…” Griff’s tone changed, taking on an earnestness it hadn’t had before. “I could take that to the D.A. I would, too. Right away.”
“On it.” Christine kept moving toward the back of the crowd. Ahead she caught a glimpse of the older nurse and the young Asian nurse from the orthopedic surgery unit, standing in the middle of a group that clustered around a crying woman.
“Then call me when—”
“Bye.” Christine hung up and beelined for the nurses, joined the back of the cluster, wedged her way next to the older nurse, and got her attention. “Hello,” she said, with a smile. “Remember we met at Gail’s, at the memorial in front of her house?”
“Oh, yes, I do.” The older nurse smiled back at her, her hooded eyes glistening. “From the other day.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss.” Christine glanced over the older nurse’s shoulder toward the center of the cluster, where a short nurse with a head of short blond curls stood out because of the brightness of her hair. She was comforting Gail’s parents, their lined faces downcast and their narrow shoulders slumped together, a heartbreaking sight. Christine assumed the nurse was Dink and she had to get to her. It had started to drizzle, and Christine couldn’t lose her chance.
The older nurse was saying, “Thank you, it was a wonderful service, wasn’t it? I really felt as if Gail got her due.”
“Yes, it was.” Christine spotted the Asian nurse, looking over with teary eyes, and extended a hand. “Again, my condolences.”
“Thanks,” the young nurse nodded, then glanced up at the sky, which had clouded over, a dark pewter. “Looks like it’s going to rain. The vigil ended just in time. It’s so great to see such a large turnout, all for Gail.”
“Yes.” Christine pointed at the curly blond nurse. “That poor woman who’s so upset, is that Dink, her best friend? Remember you told me about her?”
“Yes, that’s her, with Gail’s parents.” The older nurse looked at Dink and Gail’s parents, shaking her head sadly, and as they watched, it appeared that two township officials were trying to make their way toward Gail’s parents, touching her father on the shoulder and waiting for him to turn around, which Christine saw as her opening.
“I feel so bad for Dink, and like I said, girlfriends are so important. I think I’ll take a moment to pay my respects.”
“Oh, okay,” the older nurse said, blinking in puzzlement, but Christine wasn’t waiting for permission. She waded into the cluster of orthopedic surgery nurses, and just when the township officials managed to get the attention of Gail’s parents, she reached Dink and touched her forearm.
“Dink, hi, my name’s Christine Nilsson, and I’m so sorry for the loss of your friend. Gail seemed like an amazing person.”
“She was, thanks.” Dink wiped her eyes with the soggy Kleenex, but her tears had been spent. She had hazel-brown eyes, but they were puffy and bloodshot, and freckles everywhere on a wholesome, pretty face. She was trim in a black linen dress instead of scrubs.
“You don’t know me, but could I speak with you for just a minute, about Gail?” Christine gripped her forearm lightly. “Privately?”
“Sure, what is it? Why?” Dink frowned slightly, but was upset enough to let Christine lead her out of the cluster, though some of the other nurses looked over curiously.
“Dink, this is going to sound random, but I was in the ladies’ room just now and I overheard you crying and saying that Gail had a married boyfriend—”
“Oh my God!” Dink’s hand flew to her mouth. “I didn’t check under the doors. I was just so upset.”
“I know, and it’s okay, but here’s the thing.” Christine didn’t want to start with the fact that she was working for Zachary’s defense. “Did it ever occur to you that Gail was killed by her boyfriend?”
Dink recoiled, shaking her head. “No, they caught the guy who killed her. His name is Jeffcoat. He’s a serial killer, the Nurse Murderer.”
“But what if they got the wrong guy? What if the real killer is Gail’s boyfriend? Gail wanted to break up with him, right? What if he wanted to stop her or was angry at her, for wanting to end it?” Christine talked fast. “I say this because I found out that Linda Kent, the woman who lived directly across from Gail on Daley Street, was killed in an accident Sunday night.”
“Oh no, I know Linda. I met her. She was always out back. I didn’t hear she was dead.” Dink frowned, confused, but she was listening.
“Right, I met her, too. She was always out back, spying on the neighbors. She told me that she saw other men on Gail’s back steps, and I think she saw one of them on the day of the murder.”
“Not Jeffcoat?” Dink’s lips parted in surprise.
“No.” Gail’s phone started ringing in her purse, and she checked it quickly. It was Marcus calling, so she didn’t answer.
“Who then?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t tell me. She called the police to tell them, but they didn’t call her back, and she was killed.”
“Oh, man,” Dink said, hushed, her bloodshot eyes widening.
“She fell down her stairs, supposedly by accident, but I looked into it and found some things that made me think she was murdered.”
“What things?”
“It’s a long story, but I think she was murdered because she knows who the real killer is. I don’t think the real killer is Zachary Jeffcoat. The real killer could be Gail’s boyfriend.”
“But that would mean he’s a serial killer.” Di
nk shook her head, frowning. “He’s a jerk, but I don’t think he’s a serial killer.”
“How do you know? You can’t tell somebody’s a serial killer just by looking. They can be very successful. They’re selfish. Narcissists. Isn’t that how you described him in the ladies’ room? Doesn’t that sound like her boyfriend?”
“Well, yes, it does.” Dink nodded, newly tense.
“Or, think about this possibility.” Christine was thinking aloud. “Maybe he’s not the serial killer, but what if he killed Gail the same way the Nurse Murderer killed the other nurses, so the police would think the Nurse Murderer had killed Gail?”
“Like a copycat, like on CSI or something?”
“Yes, he knew about the Nurse Murderer, didn’t he? It was on the national news.”
“He knew, we all did.” Dink’s eyes flew open with a sudden realization. “Oh my God, he sent an email to us nurses three weeks ago, warning us about the Nurse Murderer and saying that we should be on the lookout.”
“Three weeks ago?” Christine’s thoughts raced. “What if he was setting himself up to kill her? What if he planned the whole thing? Did he know she wanted to break up with him?”
“Yes, totally.” Dink met Christine’s eye, a horrified expression coming over her face. “She told him she wanted to break up with him, over and over. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. He’s used to getting what he wants. He could have killed her, and nobody would believe it was him because of who he is.”
“Who is he? Which of the speakers was he?”
“Grant Hallstead,” Dink answered, glowering.
“The preppy one with the blue eyes?”
“Yes, that bastard.” Dink’s bloodshot eyes glittered. “The head of our unit, orthopedic surgery.”
Christine thought fast. “As an orthopedic surgeon, would he have access to a Langenbeck bone saw? Do you know what that is?”
“Of course.” Dink’s mouth twisted with bitter anger. “He could have killed her. I wouldn’t put it past him.”