The two women walked back to the nursery, each holding a baby, quietly going over the babies’ domestic requirements. By the time Chrissy and Stephen returned from their stroll, Susan and Shannon were settled in the rocking chairs, feeding the twins. The lights in the nursery were dimmed and there was a CD playing tunes guaranteed to send a baby to sleep. It was a peaceful picture if the viewer disregarded the three black plastic bags stuffed full of dirty diapers on the floor by the door.
“We’re almost done here if you want to take a shower or something,” Susan suggested to her daughter.
Chrissy rubbed her back and glanced over at her husband. “I think I…”
“Why don’t you go ahead and get to bed early for once?” Stephen picked up his mother-in-law’s cue immediately. “You know Ethan or Rosie will be waking up in just a few hours.”
“I’m not sure I’ll hear them crying from our room.” Chrissy sounded worried.
“I’ll keep the door open to my room and I’ll let you know if you’re needed,” Shannon said quickly.
“And I put a baby monitor in your room,” Susan said. “You can just turn it on and listen in to them if…” She stopped. She had been about to say if you don’t trust Shannon to get up, but Shannon had proved her worth in an emergency. How could she doubt her now? “If you want to,” she concluded. Then she got up and put Rosie into her crib. “I’ll be in the basement doing some laundry if anyone needs me.” Taking one last fond look at the room, she grabbed the plastic bags of garbage and headed downstairs.
She was sitting on a tall stool, staring at the piles of dirty clothing when she realized someone was walking down the basement stairs. “I’m here, Jed. In the laundry room,” she called out.
“It’s not Jed. It’s me.” Kathleen Gordon appeared in the doorway. “I was jogging and thought I’d stop in to see the babies.”
“They’re sleeping.”
“I know. Jed told me. So I thought I’d see how the new grannie is doing.” She looked at the piles on the floor. “Laundry. So I guess being a grandmother is a lot like being a mother. My kids seem to create at least as much laundry as this every week.”
“This is twenty-four hours’ worth, I’m told.”
“Susan, what’s wrong? You look… well, you don’t look happy.”
“It’s Shannon -”
“Well, I suppose you can’t expect Rhythm and Blues to hire a normal baby nurse.”
“It’s not that she’s not normal. Not exactly,” Susan said. “It’s that she was the primary suspect in the murder of three people.”
“ ‘Primary suspect.’ That means…”
“It means the cases were never solved. There wasn’t enough evidence to indict anyone. No one knows who did it. It means my grandchildren’s baby nurse could be a murderer.”
FIVE
KATHLEEN STARED BRIEFLY AT HER FRIEND BEFORE REACHING down to pick up one of the bags of laundry. “I’ll sort. You’ll tell me what you know.”
Susan grabbed another bag and dumped the contents into a nearby rolling hamper. “We’ll do the laundry together. If I don’t keep moving I may start screaming. I’ve been going nuts inside ever since Nadine called.”
“Nadine?”
“Nadine Baines. You know, my new next-door neighbor. You met her at the Valentine’s Day party we gave.”
“That’s right, I remember. So she called you today.”
“Yes, but, you see, she was here this afternoon and saw Shannon.” Susan stopped speaking and held up a tiny little tie-dyed T-shirt. “Well, at least the pattern hides the traces of spit up.”
“Susan…”
“Okay.” She tossed the shirt on top of one of the piles Kathleen was making on the fold-out table. “Nadine was here when the kids arrived today-they were a few hours early. Anyway, she didn’t say anything then-well, she couldn’t have. It was mayhem with the twins and all their stuff and the dogs. Anyway, she went home and pondered the problem-her words-and then she called me.” Susan frowned and picked up a white cotton blanket stained with baby vitamins.
“So she called. What did she say besides that she had been thinking about something?”
“Well, what she said is that she was chilled to the bone when Shannon walked in the door. Nadine tends to be a little dramatic,” Susan explained, tossing the blanket onto a growing pile of white laundry.
“So she knows her.”
“Yes. Well, I don’t think they’ve ever met. You see, Nadine and Donald have a summer house on Perry Island.”
“That’s in Maine?”
“No, it’s right off the Connecticut coast. It’s large enough to have a public ferry running to it a few times a day, but so small that most people haven’t heard of it. I think it’s mostly a summer resort with a small year-round community made up mostly of retired people. I think Nadine may have once told me that Donald grew up there. She talks so much that I don’t always listen. Anyway, they have a house. I don’t know how much they go there. There’s not a lot to do on the island unless you sail and they’ve never mentioned sailing. There aren’t even a lot of businesses on the island-a small grocery, a post office, a few gift shops, and a hair salon-as well as a nursing home.”
“A strange place for a nursing home, isn’t it?”
Susan paused. “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know very much about where nursing homes are located-or why they’re located there. But the nursing home on the island is the point here. You see, a year or so ago, three people died in that home. And Nadine claims that Shannon was a nurse there at the time… And a suspect in the murders.”
“Which are still unsolved?” Kathleen guessed.
“Apparently so. I mean, that’s what Nadine said.”
“And you’re worried that a homicidal maniac is taking care of your grandchildren.”
“Yes.”
“So why don’t you just fire Shannon and find someone else?”
“She saved Ethan’s life this evening.”
“What?”
“She saved Ethan’s life.” Susan explained what had happened earlier.
Kathleen took a moment to drench five stained receiving blankets with Spray ’n Wash before tossing them into the washer and asking another question. “And you don’t think you could just ask her about what happened at the nursing home on Perry Island? I mean, it’s not an accusation.”
“I’m afraid she’ll leave. She’s a wonderful baby nurse and she’s concerned about Chrissy and… and what if she hadn’t been here when Ethan started choking? He could have died! Kathleen, I just can’t risk it!”
“But you don’t want a killer taking care of your grandchildren.”
“No, of course not. I just don’t know what to do. If only I could find out more. I don’t know Nadine all that well, but I know she tends to be a bit emotional. Maybe she’s wrong about all this. What if Shannon just looks like the nurse who was a suspect or has a similar name or something?”
“You know, I might be able to help you out. One of the men I worked with in the city retired to an island somewhere around here. I suppose it might be Perry Island.”
“It could be! There aren’t many islands nearby. I mean, there’s Fisher’s Island, but I doubt if a retired cop could afford anything there.”
“Well, we still exchange Christmas cards and I could check to see what the return address on the last one was.”
“And you could call him and ask about the nursing home deaths.”
“Susan, he probably doesn’t know anything, but I’ll try.”
“Right away?”
“I suppose anything is better than dealing with this mess,” Kathleen said, holding up a one-piece knitted suit covered with something that looked vaguely toxic.
“This may be the only time in my life when I’ve turned down an offer to help with the laundry,” Susan said, removing the garment from Kathleen’s hand and tossing it into a pan of sudsy water to soak. “But I’m so worried about all this. If you find out anything, call tonight-”