Oliver and Marge were talking to Hilly McKennick, the head nurse on the eighth floor, which housed the thoracic/cardiac care unit. Hilly was in her forties, a gaminelike woman with wide-set brown eyes, a thin nose, Cupid’s-bow lips, and boy-cut short platinum hair. Mandy Kowalski had been doing Intensive Care for the last six months and Hilly had only laudatory things to say about her.

“When was the last time she was on shift?” Marge asked.

“I think she did a double shift on Sunday/Monday so she could have yesterday and today off.”

“Why did she change her schedule?”

“I don’t know. She just asked for the time and I was able to accommodate her. Mandy never asks for any favors. In general, she works like a dog, picking up the slack when I need it. Since she asked for this one favor, I figured I’d help her out.”

“You like her,” Oliver stated.

“We’re not friends per se, but she’s dedicated.” Hilly paused. “Too much, I think. Most of us who work intensively need a break. Gardening is my refuge. I’m a fixture at the local camellia nursery. Camellias are my passion. Janice loves to ski. Darla sings at a local bar where she lives. Mandy was all work. No hobbies, not even a boyfriend that I’ve ever met. Since she asked for a few days off, I was hoping that maybe she had something brewing. But I didn’t ask.”

“What about girlfriends?” Marge asked.

“Well, I know she and Adrianna went to nursing school together. I’ve seen them eating lunch together, so maybe they were close. I know that when she heard about Adrianna, she broke down. I asked her if she wanted time off, but she declined.”

Hilly looked pensive and Oliver asked her about it.

“I was worried,” the head nurse said. “I felt a little strange having her work such an intensive unit when she was upset. But she did her usual fine job and left.”

Marge showed Hilly a black-and-white snapshot. “Would you say that this woman is Mandy Kowalski?”

Hilly stared at the black and white. “It’s fuzzy.”

“It was taken off of a tape from a security camera.”

“Maybe.” Hilly studied it carefully. She picked her head up. “Why?”

“This was pulled from a camera in the emergency vehicle area,” Oliver told her. “If this is Mandy, we’re just wondering what she was doing there.”

“I have no idea,” Hilly said.

“So she wasn’t assigned to that area.”

“No, not at all. So maybe it isn’t her. But even if it is her, why would it matter?”

“Just trying to place everyone on the Monday of Adrianna’s death,” Marge said. “This picture was taken on Monday. We’re trying to narrow down the time frame from the end of Adrianna’s shift until the body was discovered.”