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“No,” Mandy said. “We went to the Howard Professional School. Originally Adrianna was just going for an LVN, but I told her that she was smart enough to go all the way for an RN. It was a lot harder, I’m not going to lie, but I convinced her that it would be worth it.”
“Wow, that was awfully nice of you,” Marge told her.
“It was partially for selfish reasons,” Mandy said. “We met the first day of orientation and hit it off right away. I figured it would be easier if I had company. I helped her over a couple of rough patches, but she took her own tests and did well.”
“You sound like a good friend,” Oliver told her.
“At that time, we were very good friends.”
“But not so much anymore?” Marge asked.
“You know how it is…” Mandy’s eyes darted back and forth. “Things change.”
“Like what?” Oliver said.
“We drifted apart,” Mandy said. “Aside from work, we stopped hanging out.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing really…just lifestyle issues. Adrianna has…” Mandy licked her lips. “She has a lot more energy than I do. She likes to have a good time.”
“She’s a party girl?” Marge suggested.
“That’s making her sound cheap,” Mandy said. “She liked her fun. I mean, I do too, but I guess I need more sleep than she does.”
“Did her fun include drugs?” Marge said.
Mandy hesitated. “I guess she’d be like a recreational user.”
“Did it ever interfere with her work?”
“Never!” Mandy was adamant. “She was a miracle worker with those babies.”
“What do you know about her boyfriend?” Marge checked her notes. “Garth Hammerling. What do you know about him?”
“He works here at St. Tim’s. He’s a radiology tech.”
“How well do you know him?” Oliver asked.
“Casual acquaintances,” Mandy told him.
But her eyes were elsewhere. Marge said, “Would you know where he lives?”
Mandy looked away. “Why would I know where he lives?”
“Maybe you went to a party there?”
“Can’t recall that.” Mandy looked at her hands. “I could probably get you his address, but you could probably do it just as easy.”
“Not a problem,” Oliver said. “Just wondering if you knew it offhand because we need to talk to him.” When Mandy didn’t answer, he said, “You know we need to ask all sorts of personal questions.”
Marge said, “So if I asked you personal information, you shouldn’t be offended.”
“Because we ask everyone personal information,” Oliver said. “Like I could ask you if you had a thing going on with Garth.”
“No!” Mandy dried her eyes. “Why would you think that?”
“Just a question,” Marge said.
Oliver said, “Because if you had something going on with him, we’d eventually find out about it.”
“So now’s the time to fess up,” Marge said. “Hiding stuff makes you look bad.”
“I don’t have anything…” Again her eyes moistened. “He came on to me, okay?”
“See, that was simple,” Marge said. “What could you tell us about it?”
“Nothing happened. I wasn’t interested.” She shook her head. “It was at one of Adrianna’s parties. She had them almost every other weekend. He cornered me in the kitchen and tried to mash me. God, it was embarrassing. He was drunk. So was she.” She dabbed her eyes. “It’s hard for me to talk smack about her, especially now that she’s…and we used to be such good friends. It’s not that Garth is a bad guy. He’s just a player. Everyone knows he’s a player.”
“Did Adrianna know?”
“Maybe in the back of her mind, she did.” She stood up. “I’ve got to get back to my shift. If you want to talk to me again, please don’t do it here. I live in Canoga Park. I’m in the book.”
“Thanks, Mandy,” Marge said, “you’ve been very helpful.”
“No problem. Just find the bastard who hurt her. Adrianna may have had her issues, but who doesn’t have problems?”
“True that,” Marge said as she watched the nurse walk away. Then she said, “What do you think?”
“An emotional girl for someone who had drifted away from the victim.” Oliver shrugged. “What’s going on with Garth?”
“His landline answering machine says…” Marge checked her notes. “That Garth, Aaron, and Greg went river rafting and wouldn’t be answering calls for a week. If he left a couple of days ago, he’s given himself an alibi.”
“Some people have perfect timing.”
“You know what I think, Oliver?” Marge said. “Perfect timing is always suspicious.”
CHAPTER NINE (#ulink_a5b00cef-03fe-5327-af71-1c0679ca8281)
DECKER GOT THE feeling that Mack Blanc’s language was an embarrassment to Kathy, but she was just too numb to stop him.
What the fuck happened!
That’s what we’re investigating, Mr. Blanc. I’m so sorry. I don’t want your fucking apologies, I want some fucking answers! Over and over and over and over and over.
The three of them were in Decker’s office. Kathy remained silent and seated as her husband paced and swore. Finally, Mack attempted a new line of attack.
“Well, if you don’t know what fucking happened, what do you fucking know?”
Decker pointed to the chair. Reluctantly, Mack sat down. As soon as he was quiet, his eyes overflowed. Wordlessly, Decker handed him a tissue.
“Her car is still in St. Tim’s parking lot. We’re going over it right now.”
“Was she…” Kathy choked back sobs. “Did it happen in the car?”
“I don’t know, Mrs. Blanc. I sure don’t want to tell you wrong information.”
Mack took her hand and she leaned against his chest, weeping. The hapless man couldn’t offer her any words of comfort.
Decker said, “We’re also interviewing people at the hospital to get a time frame. Your wife was kind enough to give us Adrianna’s cell number and we discovered she made a couple of calls around the time she got off shift.”
“She called Sela Graydon,” Kathy explained to her husband.
“She and Adrianna have known each other since junior high,” Mack answered. “What about the other number?”
“When we called it, no one answered. The voice-mail box is full, so we don’t know who it belongs to. We can find out who owns the number and how long the conversation lasted, but that will take a little maneuvering. Also, there’s no guarantee that the person who owns the number is the one who answered the call.”
“It’s not a familiar number to me,” Kathy told her husband.
“What about Garth?” Mack said.
“It isn’t Garth’s number.”
“I don’t trust that guy,” Mack said. “He’s cocky. Lord only knows why.”
Kathy said, “He’s good-looking.”
“How could you say that?” Mack said. “Guy had about twenty pierces in his ears and that crazy soul patch. His hair looked like he stuck his hand in a light socket.”
“That’s the fashion, Mack. All the rock stars have hair like that.”
“He wasn’t particularly smart. He was always going to Vegas and never invited Adrianna. Lord only knows where he got the money for his excursions.”
Decker noticed Kathy’s cheeks reddening. He said, “What do you know about the money, Mrs. Blanc?”
Kathy looked up. “Pardon?”
“Had Adrianna ever loaned Garth any money?”
“What?” Mack stared at his wife. “Did she give that loser money?”
“She didn’t give it to him, she loaned it to him.”
“I don’t believe…” He jumped up and started pacing again. “Why?”
Kathy erupted into tears. “I don’t know why, Mack, all I know is that she did!”
“Was she generally a soft touch?” Decker asked.
Mack muttered under his breath and kept pacing. Kathy said, “Softhearted. That’s why she became a nurse.”
Decker said, “I’m just trying to get a feel for her, so please don’t take offense at my questions. As far as you know, did Adrianna take drugs or drink excessively?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Kathy told him.
“Of course we know,” Mack said. “We found weed in her dresser when she was in high school. Twice!”
“She said she stopped.”
“She also said the weed wasn’t hers.” To Decker: “Yes, she probably smoked dope and she probably drank too much.”
Kathy wiped her eyes. “She didn’t have a problem, Mack.”
“I didn’t say she had a problem.”
“It doesn’t sound like she had a problem,” Decker said. “She had an important job, and from what I heard, she did it very well.”
“She worked in the NICU with all the sick little preemies.” Kathy started crying. “They all loved her.”
“Good Lord.” Mack’s eyes moistened. “What the fuck happened?”
Back to square one. Decker said, “What else can you tell me about Garth Hammerling?”
“Met him about a half-dozen times. Didn’t trust him.” Mack stopped pacing. “Tell you the truth, I didn’t always trust Adrianna. Her judgment wasn’t the best.”
“A good kid,” Kathy said. “But she could be a little—”
“She was wild. She was also spoiled. We were spoiled by her older sister. That one never gave us anything to worry about.”
“Bea was a different child. There’s no sense comparing.”
“But we do anyway,” Mack told her. “More than once we were up at four in the morning, calling Adrianna’s friends because her cell was off and we didn’t know where she was. When she wanted to be a nurse, I was skeptical. But…”
Mack Blanc’s voice cracked.
“The girl proved me wrong.” He sniffed back tears. “She not only graduated, but got a job with responsibility. Her coworkers love her.”
“You met her coworkers?” Decker asked him.
Kathy said, “She had a Christmas party in her apartment two years ago. She invited us and we went.”
“I think that’s when we first met Garth,” Mack told her.
“Do you remember any other coworkers?”
“There was her friend Mandy Kowalski,” Kathy told Decker. “They went to nursing school together. I think it was Mandy who set Adrianna up with Garth.”
“Mandy set her up with Garth?” Decker repeated.
