“Absolutely,” Shirley said. “She spoke frequently about Madison Bryant, one of her fellow social workers, particularly through the fall. My understanding was that they were very close.”
Aria wondered what Shirley Jacobsen would say if she told her that at that very moment Madison Bryant was down the street in an intensive-care unit at Bellevue after being run over by a subway train. New York hadn’t been so good to either woman. “What about romantic relationships?” she questioned, struggling with exactly how she was going to bring up the issue of the pregnancy without actually violating HIPAA rules. At first, she thought about ignoring HIPAA, but with David Goldberg sitting right there, she knew she’d be taking a serious risk.
“She didn’t say anything about meeting any men,” Shirley said.
“Did you find that a little strange?” Aria asked. “Supposedly, there are a lot of available and desirable men here.” Aria had to bite her tongue, knowing that she didn’t believe what she had just said. She hadn’t found any, but then again, she hadn’t been looking.
“I guess it did cross my mind,” Shirley said. “But I assumed it was just a matter of time. In the meantime, it seemed to me that Kera was too wrapped up doing all the cultural things New York has to offer.”
“Although the final toxicology report hasn’t come back yet, the rapid test of the drug your daughter was using was an opioid-fentanyl mix,” Aria said. “We believe that she was not a habitual user but rather had just started. We’d like to find out, if we can, where she obtained the drugs she was using.”
Shirley nodded to indicate she was following Aria’s line of reasoning. She also dabbed the corners of her eyes with a tissue she was holding.
“We also believe that she was involved in an intimate relationship with someone who has yet to step forward. We’d like to find him and question him about the drugs. Do you have any idea whatsoever who this individual might be?”
“I don’t,” Shirley said. “Like I said, Kera didn’t say anything about being in a relationship. She would have told me.”
“It seems that there was some secrecy involved, so I’m not surprised she didn’t say anything to you. But to be clear, we’re sure she was involved with someone.”
For another few beats Aria stared at Shirley, racking her brain about whether there was anything else this woman might be able to provide. When she couldn’t think of anything, she looked over at David’s doughy face to see if he had anything at all to add, but it was clear that he didn’t. She then pushed away from the desk and left.
Aria’s intent was to go out to the public lobby and order a rideshare to get home. She was exhausted from getting so little sleep the night before and practically running across Manhattan. But when she got out there, she had another thought. Dr. Montgomery had told her on several occasions to keep her up to speed on her progress. Believing the coup of procuring the services of at least a dozen computer geeks schooled in ancestral DNA to work on finding Lover Boy was an accomplishment in and of itself, Aria felt an irresistible urge to see if Dr. Montgomery was still on the premises. She had had the impression the chief didn’t think she was going to be successful finding the identity of the fetus’s father; getting an entire team of experts involved suggested otherwise. Although Aria rarely sought affirmation of her efforts, she thought this instance deserved it, even though she had no intention of explaining how she had managed to pull it off.
Although it was only about a quarter to six, Aria found the front office completely deserted. All the secretaries had departed for the day, leaving just their hypnotic screen savers running in constant loops. The only other artificial light was spilling out of the chief’s office, suggesting she alone was still at work.
Aria advanced to the open door and looked in. Laurie was at her desk, hands supporting her head with elbows on the surface, poring over massive blueprint pages. Without knocking or announcing herself, Aria walked in and went to the same chair facing the desk she’d sat in that morning. Although she knew she’d been quiet, thanks to the carpeted floor and her sneakers, Aria was amazed Laurie hadn’t seen her out of the corner of her eye or even sensed her presence. It was obviously a tribute to Laurie’s ability to concentrate.
Once she was seated, she watched Laurie for a few beats before pretending to clear her throat. Reacting to the sudden noise and with an obvious sense of surprise, Laurie’s head popped up. Seeing Aria, she let her hands drop to the desk’s surface. The two women stared at each other for another couple of beats before Laurie spoke: “Such a surprise! I didn’t expect to see you tonight.”
“You told me to keep you informed of my progress locating Lover Boy,” Aria said with a self-satisfied smile. “I’ve had a stroke of luck that I thought you might find interesting. Although I’m not prepared to reveal how I managed it, I’ve arranged to have ancestral DNA analysis for Kera Jacobsen and her fetus in record-breaking time, meaning overnight, whereas under normal circumstances it takes weeks if not more than a month to produce what they call ‘kits.’ On top of that feat, there’s going to be an entire team of ancestral DNA computer geeks from a company called GenealogyDNA here in New York City who will be analyzing the results so that burden is not going to fall on a novice like me. If ancestral DNA can find Lover Boy, it’s going to happen sooner rather than later.”
Laurie stared at Aria, trying to understand the person she was looking at. It wasn’t easy, and Laurie knew she was no psychiatrist. Nor did she really have the mental energy to deal with yet another conundrum considering what she was up against, facing imminent major surgery and the other problems of running a busy organization with more than a thousand employees. The problem of Dr. Aria Nichols had to be relegated to a lower status from her perspective and handled by the director of education, even if Chet was struggling with his own issues. There was always the chance that Jack could actually help as he offered, provided he didn’t make things worse.
“That’s terrific,” Laurie said at length, and not knowing what else to say. In actuality, she was impressed. As both she and Jack had said, the promise of ancestral DNA contributing to forensics was intriguing.
“I just thought I should let you know since you asked,” Aria said. She stood up. She still had the same complacent smirk on her face, as if enjoying Laurie’s bewilderment. “I’ll let you know as soon as I learn more.”
“Yes, please do,” Laurie said. She then watched as Aria headed for the door without a goodbye, just as she’d done that morning. Laurie called out to her, bringing her to a stop: “Excuse me, Dr. Nichols. Thanks for keeping me up to date on your progress. It sounds encouraging, but I want to mention something else. It was brought to my attention that you haven’t been arriving here at seven thirty as you were told to at the start of your rotation. I’d like you to be on time for the rest of the month. And in the future, I would prefer that you announce yourself when you come to my office.”
Aria didn’t respond, though the smile disappeared. A moment later she was gone.
Chapter 26
May 10th
3:05 A.M.
It was time and timing was critical. Through the day he’d given the problem a lot of thought and ultimately decided the best time to do what had to be done was between three and four A.M. That was the hour when the night shift had their respective lunches, so that at any given time within that interval there would be half the usual complement of hospitalists, nurses, nurses’ aides, and orderlies lurking in the area.
Getting up from the reading chair where he’d been sitting for several hours while trying to read and failing and instead watching mindless YouTube videos on his tablet, he went to the mirror he had hanging on the inside of his office door. The moment he’d gotten to his feet, he’d felt a surge of adrenaline course through his system such that as he tried to don the dark wig while looking into the mirror, his hands were shaking.