“Yes, I do get depressed occasionally,” Eve said quietly. “How can I help it? But what I’m doing can bring resolution to parents who have lost their children to monsters. You know that, Sandra. I’d have been grateful if someone had been able to do the same for me when Bonnie was taken.” She looked her in the eye. “We both went through hell not knowing, remember?”
Her eyes slid away. “I try not to remember. I’m not like you, Eve. You’re stronger than I am. You always work and try to change the world. Well, I don’t care about the rest of the world. I care about me.” She lifted her chin defiantly. “And why not? I grew up in the slums and kept getting beaten down. I never hurt anyone. All I ever wanted was a good time. I deserve the right to forget about all that ugliness.”
“I grew up in those same slums, Sandra.”
“It was different for you.” She walked away from the reconstruction. “You made it different. I was weaker; I couldn’t fight them. But that doesn’t mean I was wrong. I had to do what they told me.”
Eve frowned. What was Sandra talking about? The drugs she’d been on all those years ago? “I’m not condemning you for anything, Sandra.”
“You’d better not. I did the best I could. My mother wanted me to have an abortion when I got pregnant with you. I kept you.”
“This is all past history. Why are you bringing it up now?”
“I don’t know.” She gestured toward the skull. “Maybe it’s that ugly thing. It made me think about— Where’s Joe? Shouldn’t he be home by now?”
“Soon.” Sandra was definitely upset. Her hands were shaking, there was color in her cheeks that wasn’t rouge, and she was moving around the room like a bird afraid to land. Joe didn’t need to have to deal with her in this state. “Maybe. It could be longer. Why don’t you talk to me? Joe will tell me anyway. We don’t keep secrets from each other, Sandra. Why do you need a police detective?”
“I don’t need a detective. I just want to have someone check into something for me.” She amended quickly, “Well, not for me. It’s for a friend in my casino club. Jackie Mestrad.” She frowned. “But I don’t want to talk to you, Eve. That’s not what I planned. I don’t want you involved.”
“What you ask Joe involves me. So we’ll wait for Joe, and you can tell us both.”
“Oh, very well,” she said, annoyed. “But it’s practically obscene that you’re so close. You’d think that two people would want to live their own lives.”
“Jackie Mestrad,” Eve prompted.
“It’s just a favor. Jackie’s concerned about a cousin, a young woman in a mental hospital in California who seems to have disappeared, and I told her I’d have Joe check it out.”
“California?”
“Santa Barbara. Well, it’s not as if he’d have to fly out there. I wouldn’t ask him to do that.”
“I wouldn’t think that you would,” Eve said dryly. “Since California is a little out of his jurisdiction. Has your friend contacted the police out there? What does the hospital say?”
“Nothing. They say there’s nothing to worry about. The woman wandered away from the hospital, but she’s no threat to herself or anyone else. They’ve asked the police to conduct a discreet investigation so that it won’t embarrass the patient’s family.”
“And they agreed? I’d say a mental patient wandering around the city offers a multitude of problems, and embarrassment to the family is the least of them.”
“They agreed,” Sandra said flatly. “The family is a huge donor to the hospital and also has a lot of influence in the city. The police were happy to cooperate.”
“And when did this woman wander away?”
“Two nights ago.”
“At night? A strange time to wander. Does she sleepwalk?”
“How do I know?” She moistened her lips. “Jackie didn’t tell me. It’s not something I’d ask.”
No, Sandra was seldom interested in other people’s problems. “And why didn’t one of the nurses or doctors stop her? And there had to be security if it’s a mental hosp—”
“I don’t know. Stop asking me questions. Have Joe find out what happened. That’s why I came here. He has to find her.”
“I’m sure he’ll be glad to communicate with the Santa Barbara Police Department. But that’s really all he can do.”
“No, he mustn’t do that.” Sandra’s tone was suddenly panicked. “That will stir things up, and I don’t want to cause trouble. All I want is for him to find her. I mean, that’s all that Jackie would want.”
“Then do what I do with my reconstructions. Go to the media and publish a picture. Let the public search for her.”
“Don’t be stupid. I can’t do that. I told you that any search has to be discreet.”
“To protect her precious family? Screw that, Sandra. It’s the patient who is important. Why would it matter if she was in the newspapers or not?”
“Because she was in a mental hospital. She’s crazy, dammit.”
“And there’s a stigma surrounding mental illness? Well, it’s time that stigma was put away. You can’t cure something if you don’t accept and understand it.”
“Well, I don’t understand it. It scares me, and it probably scares other people, too. I don’t blame the Averys for not wanting anyone to know about her.”
“Avery?”
She was silent, then said, reluctantly, “Beth Avery. She’s some distant relation to the South Carolina Averys. Maybe you’ve heard of them.”
“Who hasn’t heard of them? There hasn’t been a more powerful political family since the Kennedys.” George and Nelda Avery were the head of an immensely wealthy dynasty who owned factories, mines, and a good portion of the lumber in the state of South Carolina. It was also rumored that they owned a good many of the Democratic senators in Congress and were aiming to catapult their son into the Oval Office. “They’re reputed to be kingmakers. No wonder the police are proving so cooperative if the Averys own a big part of California, too.” She frowned, trying to remember anything else she’d heard about the family. “But I don’t recall hearing anything about this Beth Avery. The spotlight is on everything the Averys say or do. Why don’t I know anything about her?”
“A distant relative. No one important,” Sandra said quickly. “And she’s been in that hospital for a long time. If the media were interested, they’ve probably forgotten about her by now.”
“And the Averys don’t want her to be remembered,” Eve said. “Maybe they regard mental illness as a stigma, too.” She grimaced. “Though I don’t think even a crazy woman would scare George and Nelda Avery. It’s more likely that they regard her as an inconvenience.”
“Why do you say that?” Sandra asked indignantly. “They took care of her, didn’t they? It’s a nice hospital. Seahaven Behavioral Health Center, they call it. And it looks like a luxury hotel. They did everything they could for her.”
“Then why did she wander away?”
“You can’t blame—” She stopped. “I told you that I didn’t know anything about that.”
The entire business was very strange and completely unlike Sandra. “Perhaps I’d better ask Jackie. What’s her phone number?”
“No, don’t call—” Sandra’s eyes were suddenly glittering with anger. “Stop interfering. All I wanted was for Joe to check and make sure that she was safe. That’s not much to ask.” She whirled and headed for the door. “I’ll wait for him outside. I’m going to take a walk.”
“In those high heels? You’ll break your ankles.”
But the door had slammed behind her.
Eve followed her and stood on the porch, looking at her as she stomped down the porch steps, then wobbled in her high heels down the uneven dirt path toward the trees. Should she follow her? Sandra had been angry but also upset. Perhaps Eve should have been more diplomatic instead of acting like Joe giving a third degree.