Inspired by Yoder’s skin storm, I took a quick shower.
Ryan called as I was dropping into bed. I stacked pillows behind me and put him on speaker. In the background, I could hear frenetic male voices.
“How goes it?”
“Good. You?”
“Watching the Habs pummel the Rangers.”
“At eleven P.M.?”
“DVR, baby.”
I told Ryan about the phone calls made outside Mercy. About Ajax.
“Sonofabitch. How’d he act?”
“Cool as a snake. Ajax was on duty in the ER when Donovan and Leal presented. Slidell and I are talking to everyone else who worked both shifts.”
“What do his co-workers say about him?”
“One CNA hinted he had something going with another CNA. Otherwise the interviews were a bust. No one knows diddly about Ajax. No one remembers much about Donovan or Leal. How about you? Any luck with McGee?”
“The mother was on the level. Tawny did take some CEGEP courses.” Ryan used the acronym for Collège d’enseignement général et professionnel, a type of post-secondary school unique to Quebec.
“Where?”
“Vanier. I talked to some profs. No one remembers her. Not surprising. She attended for a little while, dropped out in 2006. Then it’s as if she fell off the planet.”
“Did you ever hear back from the psychiatrist?”
“Yeah. Pamela Lindahl. You met her in ’04, right?”
“Only briefly.”
“Your impression?”
“She seemed genuinely interested in Tawny’s welfare. Why?”
“I don’t know. She’s odd.”
“Psychiatrists are all odd.”
“I can’t put my finger on it. She seemed to be hinting at something she wouldn’t come out and say.”
“Did you ask why she took Tawny to de Sébastopol?” Not relevant. But the outing still troubled me. I couldn’t see the upside.
“She claims she was opposed to the idea, but Tawny insisted, like it was some rite of passage. When the kid wouldn’t let up, Lindahl consulted colleagues, they said go for it, so she finally agreed.”
“The house was sealed after the fire. How’d they get in?”
“Lindahl called the city, and someone did a safety inspection. Though damaged, the building was structurally sound. Given the special circumstances, they were allowed to visit. I’m not sure of the whole story.”
“What did they do there?”
“Mostly sat in the parlor.”
“Did Tawny venture into the basement?”
“Yeah. Lindahl passed on that. Figured the kid needed to be alone.”
“Jesus.”
“Lindahl stayed in contact even after funds for treatment ran out.”
“How long?”
“Until the kid cut herself off in 2006.”
“Does she have thoughts on where Tawny might be?”
“If so, she’s not sharing them.”
“Did you ask about Jake Kezerian?”
“Lindahl’s comments weren’t flattering.”
“Does she think he’s the reason Tawny took off?”
“She refused to speculate.”
“Did Anique Pomerleau come up in their sessions?”
“She’s not at liberty to say.”
“Seriously?”
“Tawny is a patient. And an adult. Anything they discussed is privileged.”
“Did you ask about the potential impact of our contacting Tawny?”
“Lindahl felt revisiting the past would be painful.”
“No kidding.”
A pause.
“You really think Ajax could be our guy?” Ryan asked.
“Slidell does.”
“How’d he hook up with Pomerleau?”
“Unless Ajax cracks, we may never know. But after Oklahoma, he worked in New Hampshire.”
“Somehow they meet. Paired with Pomerleau, things escalate to murder.”
Nothing but hockey as we thought about that.
“Here’s what bothers me,” I said. “Ajax is a pedophile. But these homicides show no sexual component.”
“Who knows what’s sexual to these freaks. Our doer takes souvenirs. Maybe the rush comes after the kill.”
“Maybe it comes from controlling the victim.” Continuing Ryan’s train of thought. “From dictating minute personal choices—hair, clothing, body position.”
“Moment of death.”