Kathy said, “His name was Aaron Otis.”

“How did you remember that?”

“I just do.”

Mack shook his head. “She’s a whiz with names.”

“That’s very good,” Decker said. “Aaron Otis. Did you ever meet him?”

“I had to have met him once because I recall he was tall with sandy hair…unless I’m getting things confused.” She looked down. “That’s certainly possible.”

“That’s helpful,” Decker said. “How about the names of Adrianna’s other friends?”

“You can start with Sela Graydon and Crystal Larabee. The three of them were a tight little group.”

“Did either of them become nurses?”

“Heavens no,” Mack said. “I think Crystal wanted to be an actress. At twenty-nine, it ain’t gonna happen. What is she? Like a bartender?”

“She’s a main hostess at Garage.”

“Yeah, waiting to be discovered.”

“Be kind, Mack.” Kathy regarded Decker. “Garage is the newest Helmet Grass restaurant. It’s downtown…right near the New Otani.”

“Got it. What about Sela Graydon? What does she do?”

“She’s a lawyer,” Mack told him. “She was always the smart one of the three.”

“Do both women live in town?”

“Yes,” Kathy said. “I’ll get you their phone numbers.”

“Do you know anything about Mandy Kowalski?”

“Just that Adrianna met her in nursing school,” Mack said. “She seemed nice enough.”

“She used to help Adrianna study, especially when finals rolled around. The first time they happened, Adrianna freaked out. I couldn’t help her. I don’t know the first thing about the nervous system or the circulatory system, but after studying with Mandy, she not only pulled through, she did well. She even got a couple of A’s in some of the classes.”

The tears came flowing down Kathy’s cheek.

“She was so…proud!”

Decker gave her another Kleenex and watched the woman sob. There wasn’t a state-of-the-art dam in the entire world that could hold back that torrent.

“THERE’S NOT MUCH to come down for.” Marge was just outside in the parking lot of St. Tim’s because the reception for her cell was better. “The car’s being processed and we’re just about done with our preliminary interviewing. We spoke to a few of her coworkers. Also, we talked to a woman named Mandy Kowalski. She and Adrianna went to nursing school together, but they don’t work on the same floor.”

“Yeah, Mandy’s name came up when I interviewed the mom,” Decker told her. “She thought that Mandy might have set Adrianna up with Garth.”

“Hmm. Mandy neglected to mention that. She did say that Garth came on to her.”

“Okay,” Decker said. “Triangle anyone?”

“Could be,” Marge said. “I’ll see if I can sort the relationships out. We’ve also got an appointment to interview Adrianna’s supervising nurse tomorrow. She was well liked, did her job, but several people remarked that she liked to party.”