Chapter 8

"Some bodyguard you are," Lilly said mockingly, nursing her wounded shoulder with one hand as they made their hasty way toward Stillman's office. "I'm gonna need ice for this."

"How was I supposed to know he was gonna do that?" Vera returned defensively, throwing his arms up in the air. "Vicious punk. Demented asshole. Should be put in a looney institution."

"Bet a real bodyguard would've known," Lilly retorted. Her shoulder was pretty much okay, actually. Her fair skin bruised much less easily than most people thought. Thankfully.

Spirits were high because they'd managed to come up with Jason Bailey's signature—and since he still signed like a ten-year-old, it was a fairly acceptable handwriting sample. So the morning had been worth it, even if the bread knife story didn't pan out. Lilly honestly could not see it happening—Aaron Bailey harbored way too much resentment, conspicuous resentment, to have killed his wife. If he'd murdered her over her infidelity, he'd technically be avenged—so what would be the point of holding a grudge? Unless it was all part of an act… a really good, convincing one.

Then again… actors were everywhere. You couldn't take anyone at face-value.

Scotty and Jeffries came sailing down the hall toward them.

"Hey, guys," saluted Lilly and Vera optimistically, prompting a courteous nod and smile from Jeffries. But Scotty just pushed past them as if he'd never laid eyes on them in his life.

"What bee flew up his ass?" grumbled Vera in a huff. "Wouldn't have killed him to say hello. Think he's sore at me for getting his assignment?"

Lilly gazed after him, the faint remorse she'd been battling all day getting sickeningly stronger. "Nah. I'm sure he's got other things on his mind besides his boyfriend… lover boy."

Long live deadpan humor. Deadpanning would always fend off a thorny situation when nothing else could.

Vera stared at her in appalled disbelief. "Lover boy? I think that punch just gave you brain damage, Rush. Come on, hurry up. Let's go give this piece of junk to someone who'll knowwhat to do with it."

Jeffries was constantly keeping a furtive eye on his people. He wasn't sure what was up with Scotty now, but the kid was definitely in a precarious frame of mind. Something had taken place between him and Lilly. Something new, different from the skirmish he'd caught them in the middle of that time. That was as close to seeing Lilly lose it as he ever had been. And now Scotty seemed treacherously near that same point.

Sure their relationship had been strained for a while now. But even so, Scotty had always been polite. Not always dependable, perhaps—there were those days he'd nearly hit rock-bottom, reeking of alcohol, forgetting leads. But he'd improved a great deal since then, and open hostility had never been part of his MO. This morning he hadn't even said hello. And Jeffries wasn't blind. He'd spotted Scotty coming out of Stillman's office, bright and early that same day, before he and Vera went in to report what they'd found. His jaw had been clenched, and Stillman's face was not that of a man pleased afterwards. He'd offered no justification as to why they'd been re-partnered, he with Scotty, Vera with Lilly. But was any really necessary?

The man at his side was a man fuming. Trying hard to maintain his professional demeanor—one he had to maintain, on account of past mistakes. But his emotions showed.

"We've located Aura Kane. In Berlin," the object of his observation shortly notified him.

"Berlin? Germany?"

"No, New Jersey," Scotty responded humorlessly, slipping into the driver's seat of their designated car. "Come on, Will. It'll take us half an hour. Let's go solve this damn mystery once and for all."

The woman who greeted them was lanky, with a mass of cascading brown curls and a guarded countenance. Her mouth dropped open on seeing them and stayed open after they'd introduced themselves and explained the motive for their visit. She wasn't a dead ringer for Jane Doe's composite, but there were some distinct similarities.

"What does all this have to do with me?"

"We heard from a Mrs. Myrtle Gallagher you were pregnant around 2002, but there was never any visible baby. Would you mind telling us what happened?"

Aura Kane's mouth shut at last. Her eyes fluttered, her lips tightened, and for one anxious moment Jeffries was afraid she would burst into tears. He knew full well he should be hardened to this by now—but he never could like being responsible for making someone cry. Even when it was the only way to pry a confession out of them.

"I do mind," she whispered, keeping her face downcast. "But I'll talk if it helps. I was pregnant near the end of 2002. Eight months, to be exact. It was a girl. Our first girl—the other four are boys. Then, one day, I woke up and she just wasn't moving. I figured she was asleep at first, and began eating and moving around to wake her up. But after a few hours I knew something was wrong. So I went to the hospital, and there she was, in the ultrasound. Her heart had stopped. She was dead."

Jeffries felt awful for making her re-live the memory. Children weren't supposed to die before you—it went against the laws of nature. Even unborn children, whom you'd never met. Being estranged from your offspring was bad enough…

"Did you ever find out what happened?"

"Umbilical cord accident, the doctors said. A freak injury—could happen to anyone. But I can't help thinking… maybe if I'd rested more, if I'd gone to the hospital sooner, if I'd not been taking that pain medication for my back… maybe she'd still be alive."

Even Scotty's gruff tone had suddenly become softer. "Mrs. Kane, I hate to ask this of you, but do you have a copy of the birth certificate of this child?"

Through her tears, Aura Kane nodded. "I've got the death certificate and the autopsy report, too, if you want them."

"Thanks, ma'am. That would really help."

"So what do you think?" Scotty hissed, as soon as she was out of earshot.

Jeffries shook her head. "She's not the one we're looking for. We should still check her hospital records, see if they back up her story. But I'm pretty sure she's telling the truth."

"We still gotta ask her to give blood, though. If her hospital records don't match, she won't be sticking around waiting for us to come back."

Jeffries cringed. There were few things he wanted less than to have to tell this woman she had to get stuck with a needle to prove she wasn't the mother of the dicephalus twins. But Scotty was right. If his gut feeling turned out to be wrong and she was lying—there'd be hell to pay for not getting any incriminating evidence.

Aura Kane wandered back into the living room, her eyes puffy and red-rimmed. "We stopped trying after her," she murmured unsteadily, handing them two typewritten reports. "I never want to go through that again. I was clinically depressed for nearly a year afterwards. My family had a hard time of it."

Jeffries studied the reports. They looked genuine enough. Time of death: 4:22 pm, December 12th, 2002. Cause of death: severe hypoxia due to probable umbilical cord accident. True umbilical cord knot.

"Mrs. Kane, this is just standard procedure," he began. "Because you were pregnant around the time we assume the babies found in the Bryants' backyard died, we need to rule you out as a suspect."

Aura Kane's words trembled dangerously. "You mean the reports aren't enough?"

"They help. But, yes, we do need more. We need a blood sample… for DNA testing."

For a second it looked as though she was going to fall apart. Her hands started shaking uncontrollably and her chin quivered. But just as suddenly she caught hold of herself and her reply rang out remarkably calm and detached. "All right. Whatever you need. Anything to find the person who did this. Whoever it is doesn't deserve to live."

It was more cooperation than they'd expected, and something about it gave Jeffries goosebumps.

"Mrs. Kane, did you notice anyone else pregnant in the neighborhood, or anything strange going on in the Bryants' house, near the end of 2002 or the beginning of 2003?"

"No… We kept to ourselves. Didn't really know our neighbors too well. But the Bryants were a nice family. Quiet. They had a teenage boy but he never gave any trouble."

"What about the time they went on that trip, in March 2003? Did they ask you or anyone else in the neighborhood to keep an eye on their house for them?"

"What trip? I don't remember that house ever being empty. There was always someone there."

"They claim they went on a trip to Aruba in March 2003, leaving the house empty for three weeks."

Aura Kane waved her head in confusion. "I could be wrong, I guess. I wasn't doing too well back then. But there were always lights on as far as I recall. And I really don't think there was anyone else pregnant. Most of the people in the block were past their childbearing years… except Dr. Swanson's girlfriend…"

Scotty all but choked. "Who?"

"Dr. Swanson. Greg, he wanted us to call him. I never could get used to that. He lived across the street from us… right next to the Bryants. He was so nice to me after I lost the baby… Too bad they didn't stay in the neighborhood long. They moved out even before we did. Some time spring 2003."