Chapter 3 – The Suspect List
Audrey was already in the office when Nathan came in the next morning, and she smiled up at him from behind the paperwork she was riffling through. "You going to start coming in late all the time?" she asked with a laugh. He didn't respond as he placed a Styrofoam cup of coffee and a muffin wrapped in a napkin onto her desk. "Mm, never mind. If you're going to keep bringing me breakfast then be late whenever you want."
"I thought you might say that," he said and settled himself down at his desk with his own breakfast. "Sorry I was late. I ran a bit behind making sure everything was set up at the house before I left."
"Oh yes, how is the new lady house guest?" Audrey asked teasingly.
"Absolutely charming. She snores louder than a freight train and somehow manages to take up more than half of the bed by herself," Nathan replied dryly, but she still caught the smile that had flashed across his face. "So what've you been working on?"
"Put together a list of all the people from those claims on Halter's table," she explained. "I figured we could go and talk to them and see what they know. See if any of them have enough of a problem with the guy to merit committing murder."
She could tell that Nathan was thinking about the fact that they still hadn't even proven that it was murder yet, but for once he kept his scepticism to himself. "Sounds good," he agreed. "How many are we looking at?"
"There are six total," she said, consulting her list. "Two whose policies were granted, so I doubt it's either of them. Then there's one who only got partial assistance, and three more who got denied."
"So we've got four to start with, and then two more if none of the others pan out," Nathan concluded with a nod. "This is going to be a long day. Alright, what's our first stop?"
. . . . .
Faerie Tale Books was a tiny little place, crammed into the building strip between a pizzeria and a hardware store. The Yardley family had owned the bookshop for generations, according to Nathan, and it was kept stocked with the broadest range of little known gems that the narrow shelves could carry. The store's name was painted on the enormous front window in curly script and edged with little yellow stars.
Nathan held the door for Audrey as they entered, and a little bell jingled somewhere in the depths of the shop. It only took a few seconds for a woman to appear from between two shelves and she smiled at them brightly. "Nathan, good to see you again," she said cheerfully. "And you, you must be Agent Parker. I've heard so much about you."
A couple months ago, that sort of statement would have made Audrey uncomfortable and maybe even suspicious. As it were, she had long since learned that nothing moved faster in Haven than gossip and it didn't surprise her that strangers could guess who she was within seconds. It also didn't help that it turned out half of the town apparently knew Lucy and made the connection, not that many of them bothered to share more than a few scattered titbits or vague allusions with her.
"Parker, this is Marion Yardley," Nathan introduced and then jammed his hands into his pockets.
"I can't believe I've never been in here before," Audrey said, looking with awe at the rows of books just waiting to be read.
"Aw, you're an avid reader, aren't you?" Marion said knowingly. "I can see it in your eyes. Let me guess; mysteries, fantasies, suspense, and a little touch of romance. That's your genre, right?"
"That's amazing," Audrey said.
"Marion can guess the perfect book for anyone she meets," Nathan supplied. "As far as I know, she's never been wrong."
Marion smiled in pleasure. "It's a gift," she said simply. "When you spend as much time in the books as I do, you learn them just like you do people. Now, how can I help you?"
"We're actually here about this," Audrey said, switching instantly to business as she pulled the form from the file she was carrying. "This is a health insurance claim you filed recently, is that right?"
"Yes, just last week," Marion said, looking confused as she glanced from it to the detectives. "Why are you asking about this? Did someone finally turn that despicable man in for denying perfectly legitimate claims?"
"Jeffery Halter?" Nathan asked carefully, gauging her reaction.
"That's him," Marion said. Her arms had crossed and she looked decidedly less pleasant than she had when they had entered. "That man is like an airport paperback; everything about him is cheap and fake. Thomas has cancer, and our policy clearly says that the insurance company will pay eighty percent of the costs for his treatment. But now Halter is trying to tell us that they'll only pay half. Do you know how much that extra thirty percent is going to cost us? We could lose everything trying to pay those medical bills off. We might have to sell this place, and it's been in Tom's family since his great-grandfather built it. It broke his heart just to talk about it."
Audrey and Nathan exchanged quick glances, and when he nodded shortly she turned back to Marion and said, "Jeffery Halter is dead."
Marion's eyes widened for a moment and she lifted one hand to cover her mouth. Her surprise and horror lasted approximately twelve seconds, and then an expression of indifference crossed her face. "Was it the car accident yesterday? I'd heard there was one but nobody could tell me for sure who got hit," she said. Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "I wish I could spare some sympathy for him, but," she paused to quickly cross herself, "if it had to be anyone, at least it was a crook like him. Now maybe the agency will send a better agent out here so people like us can actually get the help we need." Then her eyes narrowed and she asked, "Wait, why are you asking me about this? You – you don't think I had anything to do with it. He was hit by a car, it was an accident."
"We're just trying to get an understanding of this guy," Audrey said quickly, trying to calm her. Agitated people in Haven usually led to bad things happening. "We don't have records of any family for him, so we figure his most recent clients would have been the last ones to have seen him before he died. The last time you saw him, did anything seem different to you? Did he seem – strange?"
"He was always strange," Marion said bluntly. "He had no people skills at all. Heart like stone, that man. He just looked right at my poor Tom and wrinkled up his nose like he thought Tom was disgusting, and then just told him that he couldn't do a thing more to help. It was sickening. No one will be missing him, that's for sure."
"Alright, thank you, Mrs. Yardley," Audrey said and she and Nathan left the woman looking rather bitter. "Well," Audrey said once the door had closed behind them, "she clearly wasn't a fan of our guy."
"Not that I really blame her," Nathan said with a shrug. "Her husband's got some pretty serious prostate cancer from what I've heard. Those treatments are the only things that'll give him a hope of lasting more than a year more."
"Still doesn't give her the right to kill over it though," Audrey said. She glanced over her shoulder at Marion, who was watching them with narrowed eyes through the front window, and felt an uneasy sweeping sensation in her stomach that made her pulse quicken. "I'm definitely still keeping her on our suspect list."
Nathan didn't look pleased about it, but his lack of argument told her that he agreed even if it was grudgingly. He jerked open the door of the truck and hauled himself inside, and then looked over at her. "Where next?"
. . . . .
Audrey stared across at the old brick building as she slid down out of Nathan's truck, her mouth gaping open. "Wow," she said. "When I'm old and dying, I want to come live here."
The Sunnyside Haven Hospice Centre was a low building with white windows and a sweeping lawn. Wide trees dotted the yard, casting shade over little metal park benches and stone bird baths. A few elderly patients were strolling over the lawn or sitting in benches, accompanied either by scrub-wearing nurses or younger looking visitors. Overall, the entire place looked utterly serene.
"I have a hard time imaging you ever living somewhere where people cater to your every whim," Nathan said as he joined her in their steady march up to the doors. "You're too stubborn and independent."
"And you have room to talk," Audrey responded with a smirk. He didn't deny it, just shrugged. They reached the large double doors at the front of the building and stepped into a warm lobby. A plump woman in flowered scrubs was sitting behind the desk and she beamed at them when they approached her.
"Detective Wournos, Agent Parker, how can I help you?" she asked. Her name tag read 'Ginger,' an ironic contrast to her jet black hair.
"We're looking for a," Audrey checked the name off the paper in her file, "Lillian Demarcio. Do you know where we could find her?"
"Oh yes," Ginger said, looking suddenly more sombre. "The poor dear'll be in her room. But you won't get a word from her if you're here asking questions. She can't speak. Nearly comatose, she is, the poor thing. But her son should be in there with her, he is most days. Sweet Calvin, he comes up here every day to sit with her. He's a good lad." She bustled around the desk and gestured for them to follow her as she started down a wide hallway.
The nurse stopped at a partially opened door on the left side of the hall and stuck her head in. "Calvin? There are some people here to talk to you." He must have given his assent because she pushed the door open and gestured for them to enter.
There was an old man sitting in an armchair beside a bed, which supported an even older looking woman. "Calvin, this is Detective Wournos and Agent Parker. They have some questions about Lily."
"Thank you, Ginger. How can I help you?" the old man asked, slipping off a pair of reading glasses and setting them aside.
"We have some questions about your mother's health insurance policy," Nathan said, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.
Calvin looked confused, but Audrey continued before he could start asking questions. "Is this your mother's most recent insurance claim?" she asked, handing him the slip of paper from her folder.
"Yes, I talked to Mr. Halter about this just last week," Calvin said, squinting at the form. "He told me that the insurance company isn't going to keep paying for my mother's life support. That she's been on it for too long and that I should consider letting her go." He handed the paper back with a sad look. "How can I do that? Just let her die? She comes out of it sometimes, you know. She'll come back to me for a while. I can't just give up on her if there's a chance that I can save her."
"Mr. Halter, as in Jeffrey Halter," Audrey clarified and Calvin nodded.
"Strange man, but he's been good to Mother and me for the last few years," he said. "Got us an extension on our aid last year so I could afford to keep Mother here." Calvin suddenly looked concerned. "Why? He didn't get himself into trouble, did he?"
"Trouble?" Nathan asked curiously.
"Like I said, he was a bit strange," the old man supplied. "And he was acting odd the last time I saw him. Distracted. It was like he didn't hear half of what I said to him." Nathan gave Audrey a significant look and she nodded in understanding. This wasn't the first time someone had told them that it seemed like Halter hadn't noticed them.
"Did you notice anything else unusual?" Audrey asked.
"Nothing besides his normal strangeness," Calvin said with a short shrug.
"Alright, thank you," Audrey said. "If we have any more questions, we'll contact you."
"I'll be here," he said, relaxing back into his armchair. "I'm always here."
Audrey hesitated, staring at the woman in the bed. She hadn't moved since they'd been there, hadn't even opened her eyes. For all Audrey could tell, Lillian Demarcio could very well be dead. "Mr. Demarcio, if you don't mind my asking, have you given any thought to letting your mother go?"
"Don't have to," Calvin said firmly. "I'm not doing it. She's still in there, I know it. I'm not giving up on her." Audrey frowned sceptically. "Would you be so willing to give up on Lucy?"
Audrey froze and stared at the old man like she was seeing him for the first time. As often as these obscure references to the woman who might be hear mother happened, she never quite got used to the shock. "You knew Lucy?" she asked.
"She would've understood," Calvin said. "Let me show you something, Agent Parker." He held out his hand, indicating for her to do the same. She felt Nathan take a protective step closer as she offered her hand. Calvin took her by the wrist and drew her closer to the bed until he finally lifted his mother's frail hand and set it in Audrey's palm.
"Mother," he said gently, stroking her thin gray hair. "Mother, it's me, Cal. Can you hear me? Let me know you can hear me." He kept whispering to her for a few seconds, to the point that Audrey was considering just leaving because obviously nothing was happening. And then suddenly the fingers on her palm twitched and she leapt backwards in surprise, stumbling back against Nathan's chest as the hurried movement sent her mind spinning through a wave of vertigo.
"Parker, you alright?" Nathan asked anxiously, his hands gripping her upper arms to keep her upright.
"She moved," Audrey said, staring at the old woman in awe.
"I told you she's still in there," Calvin said and fixed her with a pointed stare. "She's there and she hears me and responds. Her body just needs time to heal and then she'll be back with me. I can't give up on her if she's still got a chance."
Audrey nodded. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Demarcio," she said and he gave a sombre nod. Nathan kept a hand on her arm as they started back down the wide hall. They were back inside Nathan's truck before he finally broke the silence.
"You sure you're okay, Parker?" he asked, giving her a concerned look. "You're being quiet."
Audrey smiled a little at the tease. "I was just thinking, if that guy's story was true, that woman's life would be so miserable. Being aware of her surroundings but being incapable of really reacting to them. That'd be a nightmare. I think I'd rather just die."
"You don't believe him then?" Nathan asked with raised eyebrows. "I thought it was your goal in life to believe in all impossible things."
"Yeah well someone once told me that it's better to eliminate all the other options first," she replied. "I've seen dead people twitch before, it can't be too impractical to think a brain dead person could too." Nathan nodded thoughtfully and then flipped the ignition.
"Alright, on to lucky suspect number three," he said and glanced over while waiting for her directions. "Who've we got?"
"Someone named James Daley," Audrey said. She saw Nathan's jaw tighten. "You know him?"
Nathan grimaced and shifted the truck into gear. "This is not going to be a fun visit."