Three Times a Lady

Chapter 19

Dana’s eyes homed in like a powerful laser on the watch strapped around Nancy Lawson’s left wrist. It was a Tag Heuer.

She blew out a slow breath and tried to control the jack-hammering of her heartbeat against her ribcage. No use. Nancy Lawson’s timepiece looked like a fairly expensive piece of jewellery to her – especially for someone who’d been complaining about money ten minutes earlier – but it wasn’t the cheap Mickey Mouse watch that the woman in the video had been wearing.

Dana shook herself and tried to calm down. Wasn’t easy. She closed her eyes and wondered if she’d ever recover from the trauma of her life-and-death struggle in her brother’s underground bunker. She’d faced down other killers in the past, but never before had she felt this jumpy, this unsure of herself. She was acting like a scared little rabbit right now when what she really needed to be acting like was a goddamn lion. People’s lives depended on it.

‘Is everything OK, Agent Whitestone?’

Dana opened her eyes and pursed her lips. Balling up the wet paper towels in her hand, she tossed them into a metal garbage receptacle two feet away. ‘Actually, no, Miss Lawson,’ she said. ‘Everything’s not OK. Not even close.’

Dana paused then when the idea occurred to her. F*ck it. Worth a shot. As long as she had Nancy Lawson here in the restroom with her, she might as well put their time to good use and take advantage of the impromptu meeting. ‘I hate to bother you any further, ma’am,’ Dana said, ‘but I was wondering if you could help me out with something else. It’ll only take a minute or two, I promise.’

The corner’s office employee looked hesitant. A frown creased her flawlessly painted lips. ‘Help you out with what, Agent Whitestone? I think I’ve already done everything I can for you.’ The woman paused. ‘Probably more than I should have, now that I think about it. I want to help you out, I really do, but I also want keep my job. Need to keep my job, as a matter of fact. And there’s no point in pissing off Dr Johnson any more than he’s usually pissed off for no good reason. He’s not exactly the kind of man who suffers slights lightly, if you know what I mean.’

Dana nodded and dug her cellphone from her pocket. She flipped it open and covered the short distance between them. ‘I know, Miss Lawson, but this is extremely important. And I assure you Dr Johnson will never know about it. It’ll be our little secret.’

She held up the screen so both women could see. ‘I know you don’t like watching these things, Miss Lawson, but I was wondering if you could take a look at this autopsy video and see if you can identify the woman in it for me. There’s nothing graphic in the video, I swear. No cutting or anything like that. Just take a look, OK? Like I said before, it’ll only take a minute or two of your time.’

Lawson still didn’t look so sure. ‘I don’t think that’s a very good idea, Agent Whitestone.’

Dana resisted the urge to scream. But she really needed the woman’s help right now. And she knew that there was nothing quite as effective as cold hard cash to persuade a hesitant person to reconsider his or her hard-line stance. ‘There’s a monetary reward in it for you,’ Dana said quickly, remembering Lawson’s earlier consternation over being denied a raise in conjunction with her additional duties as the backup A/V person. ‘I can offer you five hundred dollars right now for your help, no strings attached. If you can help me out, great. If not, you get the money anyway. It’s a win-win situation for you any way you look at it.’

Just as Dana had suspected, Lawson’s ears perked up at the mention of money. Pulling down the sleeves of her smart-looking blue blazer, the human-resources worker straightened her posture. ‘Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt to just look.’

Dana nodded. ‘Nope. Couldn’t hurt at all. And you just might help me catch a killer. Anyway, I want you to watch this video and tell me if you recognise the woman in it.’

Dana tapped the ‘play’ button on the touch-screen telephone and both she and Lawson looked on as the images flashed across the screen. Lawson’s bright blue eyes went saucer-wide when the woman wearing the fancy dress mouthed the words ‘f*ck you, Dana’ to the camera while holding up the picture of Nathan Stiedowe.

When the video reached its end, Lawson shook her head emphatically. ‘I’ve never seen that woman before in my life,’ she said, completely sure of herself. ‘I’m very sorry, Agent Whitestone, but I’m extremely good with faces, and I know for a fact that I’ve never seen her before.’

Dana sighed and flipped shut her phone. She hadn’t really expected Lawson to recognise the woman in the video, but at least the possibility had been there. In any event, there went five hundred dollars of the taxpayers’ hard-earned money right down the toilet. Wasteful government spending at its worst.

Dana put her cellphone back into her pocket and dug out a pen and notebook from her purse. ‘It’s OK, Miss Lawson. Thank you very much for taking the time to watch. If you’ll just write down your address for me, I’ll make sure you get your check within the next week.’

Lawson took the pen and notebook Dana was holding out and scribbled down her address. When she’d finished, she handed them back to Dana and asked, ‘How in the heck did that woman get into the building in the first place, Agent Whitestone? That’s what’s bugging the crap out of me. I mean, security’s not all that tight around here, but still…’

Dana shook her head, not especially interested in continuing the conversation any further. She didn’t want to seem rude, but Lawson didn’t have any useful information to offer her, which made what basically amounted to small talk a complete and utter waste of her time. A very expensive waste of her time.

‘I don’t know,’ Dana said, slipping out a business card from her purse and handing it over. ‘That’s what I’m hoping to find out. Anyway, if anything occurs to you later on I’d really appreciate it if you’d give me a call at the number on this card. Any time. Day or night.’

Lawson took the card and tucked it away inside her own purse. ‘Absolutely, Agent Whitestone. I’ll make I sure I do just that.’

Lawson paused again and looked sheepish. ‘I feel kind of bad taking the money like this, considering the fact I didn’t help you out all that much. Still, I’m not going to lie – this definitely helps me out. Christmas is right around the corner and I’ve got five grandchildren I need to buy presents for. Money is always tight this time of year.’

Dana winced internally at the twinge in her heart brought about by Lawson’s casual mention of grandchildren, wondering if she’d ever have grandchildren to spoil with Christmas presents. To spend the holidays with. To shower with her love and affection.

Maybe if things worked out with Bradley’s adoption…

Dana chased away the thought with a quick shake of her head, not wanting to get too far ahead of herself here. Before she could take care of someone else, she needed to learn how to take care of herself first. And lately she hadn’t been doing a very bang-up job of that particular assignment. ‘Nothing to feel bad about,’ Dana said. ‘I really appreciate you taking the time to look for me. It’s more than most people would do.’

Lawson lifted her delicate left wrist and checked her fancy watch. ‘Well, I guess I should be getting back to work now. My shift’s getting ready to wrap up for the night.’

Dana nodded. ‘Of course. Be careful driving home, ma’am.’

Dana paused, then she added, ‘From what I hear, it’s supposed to get cold out there tonight. Viciously cold.’

Lawson smiled thinly. ‘Hell, when you reach my age, Agent Whitestone, they’re all viciously cold nights. Just remember you heard it here first, OK?’

And with that, the coroner’s office employee simply left the bathroom, five hundred dollars richer but without ever having used the facilities at all.