The Burying Place

'No. That's ridiculous.'

'Your credibility has taken some hits, doctor,' Stride told him. 'You lied to us about Migdalia Vega. You told us you were alone in the house the night Callie disappeared. We know that's not true. Exactly why didn't you tell us about her?'

'I think you know why. I didn't want Micki to get in trouble. She's an illegal, and she was afraid she'd be deported. Or worse yet, she'd be branded a suspect. She didn't know what happened, so she couldn't add anything to your investigation.'

'Was she with you in your bedroom that night?' Stride asked.

'No, she was in the guest room over the garage on the other side of the hall.'

'You told us you were asleep by ten thirty,' Serena said.

'That's right.'

'So you don't know where Migdalia was or what she was doing during that time until you discovered Callie was missing.'

Marcus hesitated. 'I suppose not, but it's insane to think—'

'Do you think there could be any connection between Callie's disappearance and Migdalia losing her baby last year?' Stride asked, cutting him off.

'What? No, certainly not.'

'Were you the father of her child?'

Marcus leaned back and folded his arms over his chest.

Absolutely not.'

'Have you ever slept with her?'

'No.'

'What about Regan Conrad?' Serena asked.

Marcus turned his head sharply at the mention of Regan's name. 'Excuse me?'

'You heard me,' Serena said.

'Yes. All right. I had — past tense — a relationship with Regan Conrad.' He turned to Valerie. 'I broke it off. I told you that months ago.'

Valerie didn't reply.

'When did you sever your relationship with Ms Conrad?' Stride asked.

'This winter.'

'After Callie was born?'

'Yes.'

'Why did you choose to end it?'

'My wife knew about my affair,' he said, with another glance at Valerie. 'With Callie born, she wanted it over. I agreed.'

'I was told that you were concerned about Regan Conrad's behavior,' Serena said. 'You told people she was crazy. Crazy in what way?'

'Regan is extreme. She's manipulative. She tries to get you to do what she wants, and she's very good at it. I kept it going longer than I should have because of that.'

'How did she take it when you broke it off?' Stride asked.

'Not well,' Glenn said.

'How so?'

'She hit me in the face and tried to break my fingers. She wanted me to divorce Valerie and marry her. Obviously, those were delusions. Nothing like that was going to happen.'

'Has she ever been in your house?' Serena asked.

He exhaled and looked unhappy. 'Several times.'

'So she knows the layout of your house?'

'I suppose she does.'

'Did you ever give her a key?'

'I may have loaned her a spare key once.'

'Did you get it back?'

'I honestly don't remember,' he replied, hesitating. 'I don't think I did. But this is all academic, detectives. Regan was working the night Callie disappeared. Believe me, I checked.'

'You did?' Stride asked. 'Why?'

'I told you. She's erratic. Violent.'

'Why didn't you tell us about her if you thought she could be involved in kidnapping your daughter?'

'Do I have to explain it? Look at what's happened to my life in the past four days. I've been excoriated in the press and subjected to humiliating questions by you in front of my wife. I was trying to avoid all of this.'

'Did Regan Conrad ever make any threats regarding you, your wife, or your baby?' Serena asked.

'Not explicitly, no.'

'But there were implied threats?'

'She's vengeful and clever. Anything is possible with her. She's even been arrested a few times.'

'Arrested? For what?' Serena asked.

'I don't know. The charges were dropped. She referred to it once in passing.'

'How well did Regan know Micki Vega?' Stride asked.

'They were close,' Glenn said. 'Regan may be unstable, but she's a brilliant nurse. I've seen her with new mothers. She becomes their lifeline. The bond between mother and midwife is exceptionally strong during and after the birth of a child, particularly when there are problems.'

'Problems?'

'Difficult labor. Post-partum depression. Things like that. And obviously, in Micki's case, losing a baby.'

'Could Regan have manipulated Micki into helping her kidnap Callie?'

Glenn thought about it and shook his head. 'I really don't think so. Not Micki. She's too loyal to me. Besides, kidnapping a baby? That's a heinous thing to do. Micki would never be involved in anything like that.'

Stride looked at Serena, who nodded.

'Dr Glenn, let's be very clear about this. Did you in any way harm your baby?' 'No. Absolutely not.'

'Were you in any way involved in her disappearance? Either taking her from the house or helping someone else to do so?'

'No.'

'Do you know what happened to her?'

Marcus stood up. 'No. I can't be any clearer than that. I was not involved in Callie's disappearance in any way whatsoever. You're wasting your time listening to the nonsense spread by Blair Rowe and the rest of the media. I know it makes good television to paint me as some kind of devil, but the fact is, I'm innocent. The best thing you can do is stop harassing me and do your jobs. Find out what happened to her.'

He turned to walk from the sunroom, but Serena interrupted him. 'We can clear this up once and for all, Dr Glenn. We'd like you to take a polygraph test.'

Marcus looked at her with suspicion. 'A polygraph?'

'Yes.'

'Polygraph tests are notoriously inaccurate and inadmissible in court, isn't that right?'

'The test helps us cross people off the list,' Serena explained. 'When you pass, we'll know that we should be focusing our investigation elsewhere. Otherwise, a cloud of suspicion will linger over you, particularly given the omissions in your statements to us.'

Valerie leaned forward. 'I think you should do it, Marcus. We both should. Let them clear us, so they can figure out who really did this.'

'Oh, so you think I'm involved too?' he retorted. He shook his head firmly. 'Sorry. No. I won't do that. Certainly not without consulting an attorney.'

'Marcus,' Valerie gasped.

'I said no. It doesn’t mean I had anything to do with this, but innocent people wind up in legal jeopardy all too often. I'm sorry.'

Marcus Glenn shoved his hands in his pockets and stalked from the room.

Chapter Twenty-one

Valerie had known Marcus Glenn long before they ever met.

She remembered the big celebration in the high school gymnasium when she was ten years old. Her sister Denise and Denise's boyfriend, Tom, had taken Valerie with them to the city-wide party in honor of Grand Rapids bringing home the high school hockey championship for the second year in a row. Marcus Glenn was the star. The most valuable player. The tall teenager with the black hair and the reluctant smile. Valerie had watched him in his hockey jersey with the kind of crush she had previously reserved for singers on MTV. It didn't matter that Denise made snarky comments to Tom under her breath about Marcus thinking he was king of the world. Right then and there, Valerie remembered staring at him and thinking: I'm going to marry him.

It was only a juvenile fantasy. She never took it seriously, not until a dozen years later, when she was the hostess at the Sugar Lake Lodge restaurant. Marcus Glenn walked in with three other men, and Valerie may as well have been ten years old again when she saw him. He wore a perfectly tailored black suit and a hint of cologne; he was taller than anyone else around him; and he was talking in casual tones about the PGA star who had just won the Phoenix Open, a year after Marcus had done knee surgery on the man.