“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.

“I think so.” Kathy squinted, trying to bring back memories. “I think she knew a boy who knew him…something like that.”

“Do you remember the boy’s name?”

“No.” Mack waved his hand in the air. “We kept out of Adrianna’s business.”