Jose looked shifty, and wouldn’t meet Lorraine’s eyes. Then he said, ‘She was having an affair with Raymond Vallance, Mr Nathan’s closest friend.’
Juana looked at Jose as if she expected him to say more: when he remained silent she spoke up herself. ‘And he has offered us money — to keep our mouths shut and give him the tapes.’ Juana met Lorraine’s eyes squarely. ‘I would have taken his money with pleasure, but we did not know where the tapes were.’
‘Did you tell him that yesterday at the funeral?’ Lorraine asked.
‘I have told him many times.’ She noted that Juana did not confirm what her conversation with Vallance had been about.
‘Did you know what was on the tapes?’
‘I can guess. Mr Nathan used to take drugs and party in the basement on the weekends. He would tell us to take time off. When we went in to clean, you could smell the... sex in the air.’
‘Do you think Raymond Vallance could have been here this afternoon?’ Lorraine asked.
‘He has a key,’ Jose put in. ‘She gave it to him.’
‘I see. Well, thank you both very much. If you think of anything else that might be important, I’d appreciate it if you’d call me — here’s my card.’ She placed it on the kitchen table. ‘I’ll go see Cindy tonight.’
‘What about the jeep?’ Juana said hesitantly to her husband.
He shrugged.
‘What was that?’ Lorraine asked.
Jose chewed his lip. ‘Well, it’s probably nothing, but I saw it very early, parked down the road. It was odd — most residents around here never park on the street, there’s no need.’
Juana added, ‘But it wasn’t there when you looked later. Tell Mrs Page, tell her whose car you thought it was.’
‘It was the same colour, maybe even the same type, as the jeep Mrs Kendall Nathan drives,’ Jose said.
Lorraine could hardly contain herself. She asked when Jose had seen it and when he thought it had been driven away. He was unsure of the exact time, only that it had been there early that morning and had gone after the murder.
‘You won’t tell her what we’ve said, will you?’ Jose said nervously.
‘No, of course not. Whatever we have discussed remains private,’ Lorraine lied, setting off down the steps. ‘Goodnight.’
The couple stood in the doorway for a moment until the security lights came on, then closed the front door. Lorraine waited until she thought they must be back in the kitchen, then hurried across the lawn, stepped into the shrubbery and, under cover of the thick bushes, began to examine the ground. She got down on her hands and knees and inched her way on all fours, scratched by the bushes, feeling in front of her. She searched for ten minutes until the security lights went out and she could no longer see anything. She decided to come back the following day and continue. She was still kneeling, as she turned to make her way out of the shrubbery, when she felt something digging into her knee. When she looked down, the object glinted faintly. She picked it up: a large, snub-nosed bullet. She’d found it. At least Cindy Nathan had been telling the truth about one thing: that two gunshots had been fired the morning of the murder.
Chapter 4
Later, Lorraine realized that the discovery of the bullet might mean nothing, because Nathan had been known to shoot at birds. It was quite possible that there would be a number of bullets in the grounds. But if this one fitted the murder weapon, Cindy had told the truth. The question still remained as to whether or not Cindy had fired the gun.
Lorraine showered, changed, and put some disinfectant on the scratches that covered her arms and legs, and the two on her face. Tiger had been disgruntled — he’d been left alone most of the day — but Lorraine had fed and walked him now. He had perked up when she decided he could ride with her to the hospital. It was after ten by the time she turned off San Vincente Boulevard and drove between the imposing towers of Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, lit up like a liner at night. She went to the emergency rooms to enquire about Cindy Nathan, and was told that Cindy had been admitted to a medical ward on the eighth floor.
When Lorraine asked at the nurses’ station if she could see Mrs Nathan, they refused. Cindy had been sedated and was not allowed visitors. ‘If you would like to leave your number, Mrs Page, I will tell her you came to see her when she wakes,’ the night nurse said authoritatively, a challenging look in her eyes. The unit was frequently used by celebrities and their families, and it was clear that the staff were well versed in keeping unwanted attention away from them. Lorraine checked her watch, thought about waiting around, but decided to go home. She had a lot of new developments to get on top of, and she was tired.
‘What time can I see her in the morning?’
‘That will depend on the doctor and the patient. She’s in a private room with a phone, so I’m sure she’ll call you if she wants to. Now, if you will excuse me...’ and the nurse set off down the corridor.
Two clerical staff were behind their desks at the administration station, and Lorraine moved closer. ‘Excuse me, do you know if Mrs Cindy Nathan has had any visitors since she was admitted?’
One woman, with permed hair, looked over her half-moon glasses, apparently irritated to be distracted from her copy of the National Enquirer. ‘Are you a relative?’
‘No, I spoke to you earlier.’
‘I’m sorry, we’re not allowed to give any personal details to anyone not related to the patient.’
‘What if I said I was her sister?’
‘But you just said you weren’t related,’ the woman snapped.
Lorraine threw up her hands. ‘I’m a close friend, and she’s just miscarried her baby. At a time like this she’ll need a lot of comfort and, above all, the support of her friends, right? And I would like to contact—’
‘No visitors,’ the perm said.
‘Thank you for your co-operation,’ Lorraine replied sarcastically, and walked out. She was, she thought, probably the only person who did care about poor little Cindy, for she felt genuinely sorry for her, but at the same time, she was relieved to be going home again.
Back at the car, Tiger had eaten his leather lead, and Lorraine was so absorbed in scolding him that she didn’t see the two-toned Mitsubishi jeep pull into a space just a short distance away. She was still berating Tiger as a woman got out, carrying grapes and a bunch of flowers. But Kendall Nathan had seen Lorraine and stood in the shadows, keeping well out of view, watching her drive out.
Kendall did not get such short shrift from the receptionist: as she had the same surname as Cindy, the perm presumed she was a relative and allowed her to talk to the night nurse monitoring Cindy. She was told that Cindy was still sleeping, and, although not critically ill, in a deeply depressed state. Kendall was about to leave her gifts and go, when the nurse offered to check if Cindy was awake.
She showed Kendall into the plush private room, with its dimmed lights, controlled atmosphere and television mounted on a bracket on the wall. Kendall leaned over and smiled: Cindy was awake, but very drowsy.
‘I came as soon as I heard. I talked to Jose and he told me — I’m so sorry.’
Slowly Cindy turned away her face. ‘I bet you are,’ she whispered, so softly as to be barely audible.
Kendall turned and smiled sweetly at the nurse. ‘I’ll just sit with her for a few moments.’
The nurse hesitated, but Kendall looked hard at her, and she nodded. ‘I’ll check on the other patients and come back, but you mustn’t stay long.’
‘Thank you so much,’ Kendall said softly. As soon as the door closed the sickening smile froze on her mouth. She moved to stand at the end of the bed, unhooked the notes attached to the foot and flicked through them before she spoke.