“I’m waiting to talk to Adrianna’s father. I’ll come down after that. Have you talked to anyone at St. Tim’s about Adrianna?”

“Oliver’s trying to get a time frame. It appears she completed her shift. That would mean she left the building around eight in the morning. Things go blank after that. We did find a nurse named Mandy Kowalski who knew Adrianna Blanc for six years. She’s on break in about a half hour and has agreed to speak with us. We’re trying to locate a good spot to talk. It looks like the cafeteria is winning the election.”

“Who else have you talked to at the hospital?”

“A little of this, a little of that. People are on shift and seem reluctant to talk.”

“The hospital isn’t cooperating with you?”

“The administration’s been all right. We’ll see what happens once they find out it’s murder. Oliver is getting a list of names of the security officers on duty. There are always a couple of guards roaming the parking lots.”

“What about video cameras?”

“We’re working on getting the tapes for all the entrances and exits. I don’t know if there’re video cameras in the parking lots, but I’ll find out.”

“Has the hospital had trouble with crime in the past?”

“I don’t know. We’ve still got a lot of searching to do. As soon as we get information, we’ll keep you in the loop.”

“As long as the loop ain’t a noose around the neck.”

“WE WENT TO nursing school together.”

Eyes on the tabletop, Mandy Kowalski was staring at bad coffee. Oliver knew it was bad because he was drinking the same swill.

A cute little thing, he thought, dressed in blue scrubs, with a pixie face, bright red hair, and hazel eyes. A dozen moons ago, he would have asked her out despite the forty-year age difference. But a lifetime of bad choices had finally made him realize that sometimes it was best to keep things on the professional level. He was currently dating a middle-school teacher named Carmen who was much too good for him. By the grace of God, she was able to deflect his neuroses and shenanigans with a knowing look and a laugh.

“You’re sure she’s gone?” Mandy’s eyes were still downcast. “Sometimes people just leave without telling anyone.”

Marge and Oliver exchanged glances. Marge said, “Mandy, we got a recent update, and unfortunately, the news isn’t good. It appears that Adrianna has been murdered.”

“Oh God!” Mandy gasped and knocked over her coffee cup with shaking hands. She covered her mouth. “Oh no! Oh my God! How horrible! Oh no!” She looked up and tears had sprouted from her eyes. “That can’t be!”

“We got a positive ID from her mother,” Marge told her.