CHAPTER 15
'Come in here Bill', the inspector called through the speakerphone rather than just shouting. There was no one in the office apart from the two of them.
'What's happened?' William appeared at the door in a flash.
'That was quick! Okay, listen, we have to get to the Pfizer clinic. We need someone experienced to talk carefully to the staff and patients. Their chief physician called and said a female patient was admitted yesterday. I don't recall the names of all of her symptoms, but along the lines of screaming, paranoia, that kind of thing, and they don't understand what the cause is. This woman is saying that her daughter was killed because of some kind of diamond. The daughter is actually dead, the killer was found later and he was also dead and it was allegedly someone her daughter had met previously. Both of them were from Hoover Foster and lived on their own. The girl's mother and stepfather lived in Frisco. After the murder of her daughter, the woman was allegedly threatened and went off the rails and the clinic took her for a month. There's a rumor that there was a robbery at a jeweler in the northern suburbs, which the girl and her guy had something to do with. The jeweler hadn't reported it, so it's an odd situation. Go and talk to the doctors and, if possible, the woman too. Maybe we'll get some answers.'
'Maybe we can send Felicia.'
'Are you mad? She's fending off the press constantly and and sweating behind her mask all day. All interviews are carried out by her alone. No, go on your own, we'll be in-touch. Jessica Cooper called in the morning and Barbara Parker followed – both were worried. Right now, I'm waiting for Schaaf's call. She's made an appointment with Newsome and Harris, but it's unclear as to whether we'll go to them or it'll just be a conference call due to the virus situation. The virus issue is gaining momentum and doctors are blaming the authorities for being unprepared and having poor supplies. A full quarantine will be discussed.'
'What have Harris and Brown got to do with it?' snorted a displeased William. 'Felicia would be a better replacement. Harris made her name on David Hill…'
'But you didn't,' Tom grunted.
'What do you mean? Do you agree with her that Hill shouldn't have been punished? It's been proven that he killed Isaac Espinosa and, after all, she considered it immoral. Then I gave my opinion, so what?'
'Not much really, except that you stayed here and she became a star.'
'This place isn't so bad. Didn't you try to defend the bikers in Orange County? All sentences there were pronounced on the basis of phoney reports. Some of their agents gave reports, informants just hinted, so do you remember how you argued that this wasn't evidence? She didn't initiate an investigation, though.'
'That's why we're both sitting here now,' Tom replied in a conciliatory tone. 'Calm down, I know about your "love" for each other,' he added, sarcastically, making the quotation mark sign with his fingers. 'If Governor Jerry Brown couldn't figure it out, then you shouldn't fret. Ultimately, your integrity will destroy you, unless of course, we suffocate in masks from a lack of oxygen before that,' he laughed at William's displeased expression. 'Come on, don't waste time, just go, but at the same time make sure you discuss what's needed if the governor introduces tough measures.'
It was unusually quiet in the familiar corridors of the psychiatric clinic. William was met by the department head, who, after a little hesitation, took him to the head physician. She clearly didn't expect to see him here either. William had been to the office more than once, but his memories weren't exactly good. He briefly explained everything that Thomas had told him before, and the head physician - a lean, tall woman with emerging age swelling under her eyes - led him to the ward, where she and the head of the department remained behind the front door. A ward sister arrived, who was able to communicate with the patient and asked the woman if a policeman could talk to her. William heard the sister persuade the patient after telling her about his own personal plight of losing his daughter in this very clinic. The sister explained that the man would be sympathetic to her. Laura Median, as the patient was called stopped, screaming and moaning. William was once again moved by the care given by the staff, which is exactly why he chose this place for Sofia many years ago. At that point, he'd still hoped for the best.
'Laura, good afternoon! I'm William, call me Bill,' he tried to look into the eyes of a woman who stood in a corner, her palms pressed to the walls. She was gradually falling to the floor. She was no more than forty, and wrinkles had not yet touched the skin of her face, but the haggard expression and pallor left their mark. From the outside, without looking closely, one would think that she looks much older. William looked around and squatted down. 'Nobody's here. Don't be afraid.'
'I'm afraid,' Laura whispered, softly. William spent the next ten minutes repeating the same phrases to calm her down. A technique the unfortunate Woodruff had taught him, called 'mirroring', didn't work, so he decided to take a different tack. William sat on the floor next to her and began to tell her about Sofia, about the fact that he had lost her due to drugs. The woman began to listen, and then said that her daughter had never taken drugs or anything at all. Her daughter had been killed and the killers were now after her instead. They'd threatened to cut her stomach open and pull out her intestines, cutting them slowly until she told them where the gemstone was hidden. They originally thought that the daughter had given the stone to her mother to hide, but she knew nothing of it. Laura suddenly began to blame William, saying he couldn't protect her and the more he denied it, the less she believed it. The woman started screaming and William felt his blood pressure rise; the noise in his ears was deafening, his heart was beating in his temples and his throat was dry. He rushed to the door, where both women were waiting for him. He asked for some water and took some calming pills, previously prescribed by the same unfortunate Woodruff, before going back to the door of the chamber. Five minutes later he felt better, but there was no point in going inside. The nurse was inside, trying to reassure Laura, whilst the head physician and department head waited for William's verdict in silence.
'Sorry,' said William, hoarsely. 'I felt unwell, but this woman really has a manic fear.'
'Yes, we hoped that she would calm down and tell us something else. But she doesn't seem…'
'You're right, it appears my visit hasn't been beneficial,' he jerked his head, as if a tie was bothering him and nodded towards the door, behind which the nurse was talking to the patient: 'But your nurse seems to be more helpful than me. Is it he or she?'
'Our clinic employed several people from different communities as part of a program to help patients with deviant behavior. A transitional period of mental adaptation during sex changes requires such specialists,' said the head physician, evasively, but firmly and then with a flared nostril, which showed her tension. 'Daniel Hill is one of our most experienced nurses and, as you can see, such people can be of great help in unusual situations and better than people with a standard orientation,' she added. This was a dig at William, but he didn't react.
'It is a pity that such specialists did not help my daughter,' he said quietly, and, saying goodbye, headed for the exit. Walking past the slightly open staff-room door, he saw several nurses discussing something at a table, the case of a large filter coffee machine and several green plants on the window, which looked unusual for this type of room. He didn't learn anything new for Tom and they didn't even discuss the matter of quarantine. Going outside, William tore off his mask and threw it into a bin.