“So we meet again under lousy circumstances,” Meecham said.

Decker took the proffered hand. “Thanks for making time for me, Dr. Meecham.”

“Stan, please.” The obstetrician sat at his desk and pointed to a chair on the opposite side. “We’re old buddies by now.”

“You ever hear from the Darcy family?” Decker asked.

“From the aunt.”

“How’s the little girl doing—Katie?”

“What a memory. She’s doing remarkably well. More than you can say for Marie Bellson. You being here. You haven’t located Marie yet.”

“No, not officially.”

“Not officially…that sounds ominous.” Meecham took out a pack of cigarettes. “You smoke, don’t you?”

“Used to.”

“Oh, God, we lost another good man to health.”

Decker laughed. “How do you justify it, Doc?”

“Years of specialized training.” Meecham lit his smoke and blew out nicotined air. “Do you want to know the truth, Sergeant? I’ve seen every sort of inequity that disease can bring. Young, strapping women reduced to skin and bones, their bodies ravaged and disfigured by neoplasm. It hurts, let me tell you. Some people see that kind of thing, they take it as a warning to take better care of themselves. Me? I take it as a sign to have some fun. Maybe it’s stupid. But my kids are grown, I’ve got trust funds for the grandchildren, and a good life-insurance policy for my wife. I say, the hell with it.”

Meecham took a deep drag of his cigarette.

“Look at poor Marie. I saw her just a month ago, and she was doing so much better. Nothing to suggest she’d make the morning news in such an odious way. Now you tell me you haven’t officially found her. Which means what? You’ve unofficially found her?”

“We found her car and a burned body inside—”

“Oh, shit!” Meecham rested his face in his hands. “Life’s a goddamn ill wind that blows nobody good.” He looked up. “So that’s why you called the office and asked for her dentist. You’re going to make the I.D. through dental radiographs.”

“Exactly. We’ve sent for them. I’m due to meet the forensic odontologist in about forty minutes.”

“If you want a backup, I’ll take a look at her hips. Lord knows I took enough radiographs of the region.”

“You did a D and C on her about two, three years back?”

“Sure did.”

Decker looked Meecham in the eye. “It was an abortion, wasn’t it, Doc?”

Meecham threw his body back in his chair. “Where’d you get that idea? No, it wasn’t a termination of a pregnancy. It was a dilation and curettage, plain and simple. Well, not so plain and simple, actually. Nothing with Marie was plain and simple. She had a lot of medical problems.”

“What kind of problems?”

“Well, I suppose if she’s deceased, I don’t have to worry about confidentiality, do I?”