Missing in Death

  “It’s not an answer to that,” Jake began, “but this is a tourist boat. It doesn’t carry any vehicles, has extra concession areas. People tend to hug the rails and look out, or hang in a concession and snack as they watch out the windows. Still, it’d take a lot of luck and enormous cojones to cart a bleeding body along the deck.”

  “Balls maybe, but nobody’s got that kind of luck. I’ll need this room sealed, Inspector. And I want to talk to the missing woman’s family, and the witness. Peabody, let’s get the sweepers out here. I want every inch of this room covered.”

  Eve considered Jake’s foresight in having the Grogan family sequestered in one of the canteen’s solid. It kept them away from other passengers, gave them seats, and access to food and drink. That, she assumed, had kept the kids calm.

  Calm enough, she noted, for the smaller of the two boys to curl on the narrow seat of the booth with his head in his father’s lap.

  The man continued to stroke the boy’s hair, and his face was both pale and frightened when Eve crossed to him.

  “Mr. Grogan, I’m Lieutenant Dallas, with the New York City Police and Security Department. This is Detective Peabody.”

  “You found her. You found Carolee. She’s—”

  “We haven’t yet located your wife.”

  “She told me to wait.” The boy with his head on Steve’s lap opened his eyes. “I did. But she didn’t come back.”

  “Did you see her go into the other bathroom?”

  “Nuh-uh, but she said she was gonna, and then we were going to get dogs and drinks. And she gave me the routine.”

  “Routine?”

  He sat up, but leaned against his father’s side. “How I had to wait right there, and how if I needed anything, I was supposed to get one of the guys who work on the boat. The uniform guys.”

  “Okay. Then you went into the men’s bathroom.”

  “It was only for a minute. I just had to . . . you know. Then I came out and waited like she said. It always takes girls longer. But it was really long, and I was thirsty. I used my ’link.” He slid his eyes toward his father. “We’re only allowed to use them if it’s really important, but I was thirsty.”

  “It’s okay, Pete. She didn’t answer, so Pete tagged me, and Will and I headed back to where he was waiting. They’d been gone at least ten minutes by then. There was the Out of Order sign on the door, so I thought she might’ve used another restroom. Except she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t have left Pete. So I asked this woman if she’d just take a look inside. And then . . .”

  He shook his head.

  “She said there was blood.” The older boy swallowed hard. “The lady came running out, yelling there was blood.”

  “I went in.” Steve rubbed his eyes. “I thought maybe she fell, hit her head, or . . . But she wasn’t in there.”

  “There was blood,” Will said again.

  “Your mom wasn’t in there,” Steve said firmly. “She’s somewhere else.”

  “Where?” Pete demanded in a voice perilously close to weeping. “Where did she go?”

  “That’s what we’re going to find out.” Peabody spoke with easy confidence. “Pete, Will, why don’t you help me get drinks for everybody? Inspector Warren, is it okay if we forage in here?”

  “You bet. I’ll give you a hand.” He added a warm smile. “And make it Jake.”

  Eve slid into the booth. “I need to ask you some questions.”

  “It was too much blood,” he said in a soft voice, a voice that wouldn’t carry to his children. “A fatal loss of blood. I’m a doctor. I’m an ER doctor, and that much blood loss without immediate medical attention . . . For God’s sake, what happened to Carolee?”

  “Do you know her blood type, Dr. Grogan?”

  “Yes, of course. She’s O Positive.”

  “You’re certain?”

  “Yes, I’m certain. She and Pete are O Positive. I’m A Positive, so’s Will.”

  “It wasn’t her blood. The blood in the restroom wasn’t hers.”

  “Not hers.” He trembled, and she watched him struggle for composure, but his eyes teared. “Not her blood. Not Carolee’s blood.”

  “Why were you going to Staten Island?”

  “What? We weren’t. I mean . . .” He pressed his hands to his face again, breathed, then lowered them. Steady nerves, Eve thought. She imagined an ER doc needed them. “We were taking the ride over, then we were going to ride back. Just for the experience. We’re on vacation. It’s our second day on vacation.”

  “Does she know anyone in New York?”

  “No.” He shook his head slowly. “She wasn’t in there. But she wouldn’t have left Pete. It doesn’t make sense. She doesn’t answer her ’link. I’ve tried it over and over.” He pushed his across the table. “She doesn’t answer.”

  He glanced toward the concession where Peabody and Jake kept the kids busy, then leaned closer to Eve. “She would never have left our boy, not willingly. Something happened in that room. Somebody died in that room. If she saw what happened—”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’re still searching. I’m going to check on the status.”

  Rising, she signaled to Peabody. “It’s not her blood. It’s the wrong type.”

  “That’s something. They’re really nice kids. They’re scared.”

  “They’re on vacation. Don’t know anyone in New York according to the husband, and he comes off straight to me. What doesn’t come off is how a body could disappear, a woman who we’ll presume for the moment is alive could disappear, and potentially a killer/abductor could disappear. They’re here somewhere. Get the wit statement, though I don’t think that’s going to add anything. I’m calling in more officers, ours and DOT’s. We’re going to need to get data, statements and do a search on every person on this damn ferry before we let anyone off.”

  “I’ll take care of our end before I talk to the woman. Ah, he’s kind of flirting with me.”

  “What? Who?”

  “The adorable inspector.”

  “Please.”

  “No, seriously. I am spoken for,” Peabody added with a flutter of lashes, “but it’s still flattering to have cute guys flirt.”

  “Do the job, Peabody.”

  Shaking her head as her partner went out to do just that, Eve gestured to Jake. “We’re going to need more men. I can’t let anyone off until we’ve confirmed IDs, interviewed and searched.”

  “Over three thousand people?” He let out a low whistle. “You’re going to have a revolt.”

  “What I’ve got is a missing woman, and very likely a dead body somewhere on this vessel. I’ve also got a killer. I want somebody in here with them,” she added. “I want a look at all security discs, cams, monitors.”

  “That’s no problem.”

  “We need an e-m an to try to triangulate the signal with Grogan’s ’link. If she’s still got it, we may be able to locate her. What time did she go missing?”

  “As close as we can determine, right about one thirty.”

  Eve glanced at her wrist unit. “More than an hour now. I want to—”

  She heard the boom, the gunfire crackle, the shouts. Before the next blast, she was rushing through the door and out on deck.

  Passengers whistled, stomped, cheered, as an impressive shower of color exploded into the sky.

  “Fireworks? For Christ’s sake. It’s still daylight.”

  “There’s nothing scheduled,” Jake told her.

  “Diversion,” she muttered, and began to push and shove her way in the opposite direction of the show. “Get somebody to find the source, stop it.”

  “I’m already on it,” Jake said and shouted into his communicator. “Where are we going?”

  “The scene of the crime.”

  “What? I can’t hear a freaking thing. Say again,” he yelled into his communicator. “Say again.”

  Eve broke through the celebrating crowd, ducked under the barricade.

  She stopped a
s she saw the woman arguing frantically with the DOT officer guarding the door of the restroom.

  “Carolee!” she called out, and the woman whirled. Her face was deathly pale with high spots of color on the cheeks, and a purpling knot on her forehead.

  “What? What is this? I can’t find my boy. I can’t find my son.”

  The eyes were wrong, Eve thought. A little glassy, a little shocky. “It’s okay. I know where he is. I’ll take you to him.”

  “He’s okay? You . . . Who are you?”

  “Lieutenant Dallas.” Eve watched Carolee’s eyes as she took out her badge. “I’m the police.”

  “Okay. Okay. He’s a good boy, but he knows better than this. He was supposed to wait right here. I’m sorry to be so much trouble.”

  “Where did you go, Carolee?”

  “I just . . .” She trailed off. “I went into the restroom. Didn’t I? I’m sorry. I have a headache. I was so worried about Pete. Wait, just wait until I—” She stepped into the snack bar when Eve opened the door. Then slapped her hands on her hips.

  “Peter James Grogan! You are in so much trouble.”

  The boy, his brother, his father, moved like one unit, bolting across the room. “Didn’t I specifically tell you not to—”

  This time the words were knocked back as her three boys grabbed her in frantic embraces. “Well, for heaven’s sake. If you think that’s going to soften me up after you disobeyed me, it’s not. Or only a little.” She stroked the boy’s hair as he clung to her legs. “Steve? Steve? You’re shaking. What is it? What’s wrong?”

  He pulled back to kiss her, her mouth, her cheeks. “You—you’re hurt. You’ve hit your head.”

  “I . . .” She lifted her fingers to touch the bump. “Ouch. How did I do that? I don’t feel quite right.”

  “Sit down. Pete, Will, let your mother have some room. Sit down here, Carolee, let me take a look at you.”

  When she had, he took her hands, pressed them to his lips. “Everything’s okay now. It’s okay now.”

  But it wasn’t, Eve thought, not for everyone.

  Someone was dead. Someone had caused that death.

  They were both missing.

  Three

  “Inspector, I need you to locate the source of those explosives, then I want that area secured. I want a complete list of DOT and ferry employees, including any independent contractors, aboard at this time. I want those security discs. When NYPSD officers arrive, they will support those assignments. Peabody, make that happen. Now.”

  She glanced toward the Grogan family. She could give their reunion one more minute. “There are lifeboats, emergency evacuation devices on this boat?”

  “Sure.”

  “They need to be checked, and they need to be guarded. If any have been used, I need to know. Immediately. I want to talk to the guard Mrs. Grogan talked to when she . . . came back. For now, get his statement.”

  “No problem. Lieutenant, we’re going to have to deal with getting these people, at least some of these people, off.”

  “I’m working on it. Explosives, employees, discs, emergency evac, secured areas. Let’s get on it.”

  She turned away, moved to where Carolee still sat surrounded by her family.

  “Mrs. Grogan, I need to speak with you.”

  “I’d like to treat her head wound.” Steve kept his arm protectively around his wife. “And check her out more thoroughly. If there’s a medical kit, I could use it.”

  “I’ll find one,” Peabody told him, then glanced at Eve. “Our guys will be on board in a couple of minutes.”

  “Okay. Find the kit. Organize the team. I want another search, every square inch of this ferry. I want the sweepers in that bathroom. I want it scoured. See if you can find out if anyone else has been reported missing.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  As Peabody left, Carolee shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m a little confused. Who are you again?”

  “Lieutenant Dallas, NYPSD.”

  “The police,” Carolee said slowly. “You need to talk to me? I know I got a little upset with the security man, but I was worried about Pete. I couldn’t find my boy.”

  “Understood. Mrs.—”

  “If you’re police, do you have a zapper?” Obviously content now that his mother was where she belonged, Pete gave Eve a curious squint.

  “Don’t interrupt,” Carolee admonished.

  “Mrs. Grogan,” Eve began again, but lifted her jacket aside to reveal her sidearm—and the boy flashed her a grin. “Can you tell me what happened, after you and your son went to use the restrooms?”

  “Actually, we were going to get drinks, then Pete needed to go, so we swung over that way. I told him to wait, to stay right there if he got out before I did.”

  “But, Mom—”

  “We’ll talk about that later,” she said in a tone that warned of lecture, and the kid slumped down in his seat.

  “And then,” Eve prompted.

  “Then, I waited a minute, watched Pete go in, and I . . .” Her face went blank for a moment. “That’s funny.” She offered a puzzled smile. “I’m not quite sure. I must’ve hit my head. Maybe I slipped?”

  “Inside the bathroom?”

  “I—It’s silly, but I just don’t remember.”

  “Don’t remember hitting your head, or going into the bathroom?”

  “Either,” she admitted. “I must’ve really knocked it.” She tapped her fingers to the bump, winced. “I could use a blocker.”

  “I don’t want to give you anything until I check you out a little more,” Steve told her.

  “You’re the doctor.”

  Eve thought of a case, not so long before, where memories had been lost. Or stolen. “How bad’s the headache?”

  “Between crappy and lousy.”

  “If you try to remember, does the pain increase?”

  “Remember hitting it?” Carolee closed her eyes, squeezed them in concentration. “No. It stays between crappy and lousy.”

  “Any nausea, baby, or blurred vision?” Steve shined a penlight in her eyes to check pupil reaction.

  “No. I feel like I walked into a wall or something and smacked my head. That’s it.”

  “There was an Out of Order sign on the door,” Eve reminded her.

  “There . . . That’s right!” Carolee’s eyes brightened. “I do remember that. So I . . . but I wouldn’t—I know I didn’t go off to one of the other restrooms. I wouldn’t leave Pete. I must’ve gone in. I must’ve, because I had to come out again, right? He wasn’t there waiting. I must’ve slipped and hit my head, and I’m just a little shaky on the details. I’m not sure I understand why it matters to the police.”

  “Mrs. Grogan, you were missing for over an hour.”

  “Me? Missing? That’s crazy. I just—” But she glanced at her wrist unit, and went sheet white. “But that can’t be. That can’t be the right time. We were only gone for a few minutes. The ferry ride takes less than a half hour, and we’d barely started. This can’t be right.”

  “Nobody could find you. We couldn’t find you,” Steve said. “We were so scared.”

  “Well, God.” She stared at her husband, shoved a hand through her hair as it started to sink in. “Did I wander off? Hit my head and wander off? Maybe I have a concussion. I wandered off.” She looked down at Pete. “And then I yelled at you when I was the one. I’m sorry, kiddo. Really.”

  “We thought you were dead ’cause there was the blood.” The boy pressed his face to Carolee’s breast and started to cry.

  “Blood?”

  “Mrs. Grogan, the DOT officials notified the NYPSD not only because you were, apparently, missing, but because the facilities they believed you entered had a considerable amount of blood on the floor, as well as spatter on the walls and doors of the stalls.”

  “But . . .” Her breathing went shallow as Carolee stared at Eve. “It’s not mine. I’m okay.”

  “It’s not yours. You went into the bathroom,”
Eve prompted, “despite the Out of Order sign.”

  “I can’t remember. It’s just blank. Like it’s been erased. I remember watching Pete go into the boys’ room, and I . . . I remember seeing the sign, but then, I can’t. I would’ve gone in,” she murmured. “Yes, that’s what I would’ve done, just to check, because it was right there and why not look? I couldn’t leave Pete. But I don’t remember going in, or . . . coming out. But I couldn’t have gone in, or I would’ve come out. Probably screaming if I saw blood all over the place. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “No,” Eve agreed, “it doesn’t.”

  “I didn’t hurt anyone. I wouldn’t.”

  “I don’t think you hurt anyone.”

  “An hour. I lost an hour. How can that be?”

  “Have you ever lost time before?”

  “No. Never. I mean, I’ve lost track of time, you know? But this is different.”

  “Will, how about getting your mom a drink?” Steve sent his older son an easy smile. “I bet she’s a little dehydrated.”

  “Actually—” Carolee laughed a little weakly. “I could really use the restroom.”

  “Okay.” Eve watched Peabody come back in with a med kit. “Just a second.” She walked over to waylay her partner. “Go ahead and give the kit to Grogan, and take the woman to the john. Stick with her.”

  “Sure. We’re on board, and we’ve got a deck-by-deck search going. I have to say, the natives are getting a little restless.”

  “Right. They’ll have to hang on a little longer.”

  “I wonder if maybe this whole thing isn’t some stupid prank. Somebody dumps a bunch of blood in that bathroom, hangs the sign, sits back and waits for somebody to go in.”

  “Then why hang the sign?”

  “Okay, a flaw in the scenario, but—”

  “And how did they transport a couple quarts of human blood? And where did Mrs. Grogan go for an hour?”

  “Several flaws.”

  “Stick with her,” Eve repeated. “Get their New York address. Let’s arrange for them to be taken back so she can get a full check at a health center, and I want a watch on them.” She glanced back. “If she saw something, someone, maybe whoever’s responsible for the blood will start to worry about her.”