Sister Eve, Private Eye Page 5

  The police officer stared for a second, and Evangeline quickly looked away. She felt her face redden and knew she had been listening to the private conversation too long. She figured she should leave the area and go into the chapel to pray, but the truth was she was too enthralled at what was being said. It was clear that this was the family of the dead man—the wife and son Megan had seen when they first got to the hospital. Now Eve was getting the chance to see them up close.

  “And are we free to go home?” the woman wanted to know.

  The officer didn’t respond.

  Evangeline stayed where she was, pretending to read the sign posted by the chapel door. She looked down at her clothes, thinking that it might have been better if she were still in her habit. Perhaps, dressed as a nun, she would not be as noticeable standing where she was. She began to question her decision to leave her habit at the monastery.

  “Look, all of us have been questioned, me, our son, his producer, our friends …” The woman hesitated and Evangeline peeked around, trying to get a better look at who was speaking.

  “It’s humiliating,” she continued. “None of us had anything to do with any homicide. Maybe you should talk to the people in that godforsaken, hippie town where he was staying. Or to one of the young girls he keeps finding at rehab or in a bar and always puts in his films. Did you talk to that trashy blonde he’s been with?”

  Someone tried to hush the woman. Their voices seemed to lower. Evangeline could no longer make out what they were saying and knew that if she wanted to be able to hear more, she would have to move closer to the gathering. She started to head in their direction and stopped. What am I doing? she asked herself. She needed to pray. She reached for her rosary.

  She was moving back toward the chapel and away from the conversation that had captured her attention when she spotted a door opening beside her. With a quick step to the right, she moved aside to keep it from slamming into her.

  Without a word of greeting or apology, a security guard hurried through, the door closing slowly. She was about to say something to the man about how he should watch where he was going, but then she saw another security guard and a young woman walking behind him. She could see into the corridor as the door was closing that the woman was petite, had long, blond hair falling below a large black hat, and was wearing a full-length red coat, black boots, and sunglasses. It was Megan.

  The first guard hurriedly walked past the nun and over to where the dead man’s family was gathered with the police officer. He disappeared from Evangeline’s line of sight, but before she knew it, he was heading back in her direction. He opened the door beside her and once again headed down the corridor.

  Evangeline hesitated only a second. She had to find out what Megan was doing. She pocketed her rosary and opened the door to the hallway that the guard had just reentered. Quietly, she slipped into the passageway after him.

  TEN

  Eve followed as Megan Flint and the security guards made their way down the stairs and along several corridors. She wanted to call out to Megan, let her know that she was there, but they were walking too fast. Raising her voice might cause a scene. Eve caught up with them just as they moved through two swinging doors, which had windows that allowed her to see Megan Flint and the men move toward a table in the center of the room covered in a white sheet. Eve stopped short. She didn’t want to intrude on a private moment, and she wasn’t all that thrilled about going into that part of the hospital.

  One of the guards pulled down the sheet, exposing a head and torso. Megan draped herself over the body, placing her face next to the dead man’s. The guard looked away awkwardly while the woman wept and appeared to be speaking softly to the dead man. Evangeline felt in her pocket for the rosary and was about to say prayers on the man’s behalf. She bowed her head.

  “Hey you!”

  Eve was so startled she fell forward and bumped her head on the swinging doors. One of the two guards hurried over and pulled the doors open. Eve strained to keep from falling forward and watched as the rosary dropped from her hands.

  “What are you doing down here?”

  Eve was unsteady; she reached up to rub her head and took a step inside the room.

  “I … I …” She was having some difficulty putting together a sentence. She reached down and picked up her rosary. When she stood up, the man was standing right beside her, leaning over her. She balled up a fist and was ready to take a swing. The Captain had taught her basic self-defense moves when she was a teenager. Not since she was sixteen and punched a boy for taunting Dorisanne had she actually gotten in a fight, but her instincts were still intact. A voice called out from inside the room: “Eve?” It was Megan.

  Eve didn’t respond. The security guards, both the one standing near the body and the one standing over her, waited. The one standing over her wore a hospital uniform. His nameplate read Stanley and Eve had to smile. Even though he had seemed threatening at first, she had never met a Stanley she couldn’t take down.

  “Sister Eve, what are you doing down here?” Megan asked, walking over to where Eve stood.

  “I saw you upstairs and followed you down here,” she replied, smiling at Stanley and relaxing her hands. “Are you okay?” Eve asked.

  The young woman nodded. “I just wanted to see him,” she replied, looking back at the body. “They wouldn’t let me see him before now.”

  Eve nodded.

  “This your sister?” Stanley asked.

  Both women shook their heads.

  “She’s a nun; she’s that kind of sister,” Megan explained.

  Stanley and the other security guard seemed skeptical, and once again Eve questioned her decision not to wear her habit.

  “Her father is a patient upstairs.” Megan turned to Eve. “How is Captain Divine doing?” she asked.

  Eve smiled. “Better,” she answered. “He’s out of intensive care now, and he’s back to his grouchy self.”

  The security guard closest to the table cleared his throat, and Megan turned her attention back to the dead man, nodding. “I know, I know,” she said. She wiped her eyes and nose, glancing over to Eve. “We can’t stay long.” She reached under the white sheet and took the dead man’s hand. She started to cry again, and the others in the room looked away.

  Eve reached into her pocket for her rosary but couldn’t find it. She looked around on the floor and then remembered she had placed it in her other pocket. She took it out, closed her eyes, fingered the beads, and then looked up, getting a clear view of the dead man. Megan had pulled out his hand and seemed to be trying to feel for something on his wrist. Eve then closed her eyes to pray.

  “Are you saying a prayer?” Megan asked.

  Eve opened her eyes. “The rosary,” she answered. “I’m saying the rosary.”

  Megan nodded. “That’s nice,” she said, and then paused a second. “Can you say it out loud?”

  Eve looked at the two guards. The one standing near them made the sign of the cross and dropped his eyes while Stanley blew out a long breath.

  She moved closer to the young woman. “I believe in God, the Father Almighty—” She began reciting the Apostles’ Creed but was interrupted.

  “Look, we can’t stay for all that. We have to go,” Stanley announced. “We can’t be here any longer. If they find out we let you down here, we could lose our jobs.” He glared at the other guard.

  Eve looked over at Megan, who was nodding, the tears flowing down her cheeks. She took her by the hand.

  “I’ll need to take you out the back door,” the one standing near them said. “It’s not that far and I’ll call ahead and make sure your driver is nearby. That way we can get you out of here before anybody in the family or any of those reporters spot you.”

  Megan wiped her eyes and pushed her hair behind her ears. “There are reporters here?” she asked, suddenly sounding interested.

  Stanley nodded. “Most left, but there are a couple here since the latest news came out,” he repl
ied. “Somebody leaked the information that your boyfriend was murdered. They circled their wagons hours ago.”

  Megan seemed to be considering the situation. The security guard near her took her by the elbow, but she yanked it away.

  “I’ve changed my mind,” she said. “I’d like to visit Mr. Divine before I go,” she added, surprising Evangeline as much as the guards.

  ELEVEN

  “Bad idea, lady,” Stanley responded, standing his ground and shaking his shaved head from side to side.

  He was short, fit, and square, with the appearance of a young soldier. He stood upright, lifting his chin, dropping his arms to his sides, readying himself for a fight. He was dressed all in black—a dark, long-sleeved T-shirt, the hospital logo embroidered on the small pocket under the nameplate, and black cargo pants. “The family is right upstairs in the lobby,” he said. “The reporters are just outside the front doors. I’ve got an officer watching Mrs. Cheston and her son, and he’ll let us know if they leave the premises. But right now, I’m pretty sure they’d see you if you walked up or took an elevator to the lobby. And if they see you again, I’m also pretty sure that the wife will have another fit.”

  Evangeline recalled Daniel mentioning the attempt to get Megan in when the body was first brought to the hospital. She hadn’t heard but now assumed that there had been a confrontation between Megan and the dead man’s wife.

  “Thomas,” Megan said, speaking to the guard standing beside her, “they may have the right to try and keep me from being with Chaz in the emergency department or here in the morgue, but they cannot stop me from visiting a friend who happens to be a patient in this hospital.”

  She pulled her sunglasses from the large purse sitting by her feet. “They don’t have control over the entire facility, do they?” She looked at Stanley.

  Evangeline wanted to get out of the morgue and back to the Captain. Alone. She wished she had never eavesdropped on a conversation she had no business listening to and then followed Megan down to the morgue.

  “They don’t, do they, Tommy?” Megan asked again.

  He looked up at his colleague for assistance, but the other guy just shook his head. It was clearly not his idea to be down here in the first place.

  “They can’t keep me from visiting someone else in this hospital, can they?”

  Tommy softened and Stanley pushed open the doors and walked out. He was having no part of this.

  “No,” Tommy answered. “They can’t stop you from being in the hospital, only from seeing their family member. But I still don’t think—”

  “Fine,” she interrupted him. “I would like to visit Captain Divine.” She turned to Evangeline, who was trying not to meet her eyes. “I’d like to say hello to your father, Sister Eve. Would that be all right?”

  Evangeline didn’t know how to answer. She looked at Thomas, the security guard, who seemed to be trying to direct her to say no.

  “I won’t stay long,” Megan pleaded. “I like your dad. I think it would be nice just to pop in and say hello.”

  Evangeline glanced away from the man and turned to Megan. “He’s sleeping,” she said.

  “Oh,” the young woman responded, her voice suddenly small and childlike. “I understand,” she added.

  “Okay, then.” The security guard took over. “To get you out of here, we’ll go out these doors and around to the back of the kitchen. I’ll walk you through there and out the rear entrance. I’m pretty sure if we hurry, nobody will see us.”

  Megan dropped her head. Even wearing the sunglasses, it was easy to see she was crying again.

  Evangeline thought about the guard’s instructions. After finally being allowed a few minutes to see the man she loved, Megan was being pushed to go through the kitchen and out the rear door, like a servant or trash or … “I believe in God …” She began the prayer again, and then she stopped. She couldn’t stand for a person to be treated like that.

  “We can wake him up,” she said, dropping the rosary into her pocket, abandoning the prayer and surprising the guard and the young woman and especially herself.

  The two were just starting to head past her. Thomas was getting ready to push open the door.

  They paused as Eve said, “I’m sure he’d like to see you. A visit would brighten his spirits.”

  The young woman lifted her chin and raised her shoulders.

  Evangeline forced a smile.

  Thomas shook his head before he moved away from them through the exit and reached for his radio to make a call.

  Megan grabbed Evangeline by the arm, waiting for the guard to give his permission and to escort the two women. “We can wake him up,” she repeated with a smile, pleased that she would be walking through the hospital, through the main doors, through the occupied corridors, and not out of it through the rear entrance.

  After making his call, Thomas walked back into the room where the two women were waiting and opened the door. It was easy to see that he was not happy at all.

  TWELVE

  Evangeline could hear him barking orders to someone before they were even out of the elevator and onto the floor. Clearly, the Captain was no longer asleep. She was about to apologize to the young woman for his behavior but then changed her mind. If Megan Flint really wanted to see the private detective she’d employed while he was in the hospital, then she would see the man in all his fullness, she decided.

  “How did you come to hire the Captain?” Evangeline asked as they rounded the nurses’ station.

  It was just the two of them walking together since the security guard did not escort them beyond the bank of elevators on the bottom floor. He asked Evangeline for her father’s room number and then simply reached in, pressed the button to the floor where Captain Divine was a patient, stepped out, and nodded his good-bye. Just like that, the door closed and the two women were alone in the elevator. Evangeline wasn’t sure about Megan, but she was very relieved when it sailed right past the lobby and straight up to the floor.

  “It’s funny that you call him ‘the Captain,’ ” Megan noted. “When did that start?”

  Eve shrugged. “My sister and I started calling him that when we were really young. He was quite the authoritarian in our home. Our mother tried to make us stop, but it just sort of stuck.”

  The door opened and the two stepped out.

  “I didn’t really have a father, so I don’t know what I’d call one,” she said. “I call my mother by her first name, Lou Anne,” she added softly. “I take care of Lou Anne. She’s in a facility in California. She’s …” Megan hesitated. “She’s not well.”

  Eve just nodded. She wasn’t sure why Megan was telling her this, but hearing about the absent father and the plight of the young woman’s mother softened her view of the movie star.

  “Anyway”—Megan cleared her throat—“to answer your question, I came to Santa Fe the day Chaz was supposed to be back in L.A. I was waiting for him at the airport to give him a change of clothes for his meetings.” She had stuck her arm through Evangeline’s and was walking beside her as if they were old friends.

  “The pilot who was supposed to pick up Chaz said he waited two hours and then finally went ahead and made the flight without him. I knew something was wrong immediately and had him turn around and fly me here.”

  They stopped as they turned down the hall that led to the Captain’s room.

  “And he did?” Evangeline asked, facing Megan. The ease with which this young woman could apparently get what she wanted surprised her.

  “Well, he called Mr. Polland first. He’s Chaz’s producer,” she explained. “When he found out that Chaz had not arrived in California, he was all too glad to have the pilot bring me back here.” She leaned in to Evangeline, speaking in a whisper. “The studio has a lot of money invested in Chaz’s next picture. He wanted him found almost as much as I did.”

  “So, you came to Santa Fe, and … ?” Evangeline was curious.

  “And I got a driver and went to
Madrid and out to the house he was renting.” She paused. “Isn’t it funny that you pronounce Madrid that way instead of Madrid, like the town in Spain?” She waved away the stray thought. “Anyway, I had come here with him a couple of times last fall, so I knew my way around,” she added with a sigh.

  They continued walking down the hall, nearing the room.

  “And I waited there for a day and decided something must have happened to Chaz. He just wouldn’t disappear like that, not without calling me.” She removed her arm from Evangeline’s and took off her sunglasses, then reached into her purse for a tube of lipstick and a mirrored compact. She studied her reflection, dabbed under her eyes, painted on the dark red balm, smacked her lips together, and returned the items to her purse. She smiled at Evangeline, who was watching, and went on. “The last time I was here, I met your dad at that local bar where everybody hangs out.” She stopped briefly. “The Mine Tunnel?” she asked.

  “Shaft,” Evangeline answered, knowing the place quite well. “The Mineshaft.”

  “Right. I just love that little place,” she said, grinning. “It’s so quaint.”

  Evangeline nodded. She thought about explaining that Marcie Lunez, the owner, was an old and dear friend of the family, but before she could do so, Megan continued.

  “After Chaz didn’t show up and the police were no help at all, I located Captain Divine’s office near the fire station and asked for his help.”

  Evangeline glanced at the door to his room.

  “I guess he started the ball rolling for the search by filing a missing person’s report with the police. He has a lot of friends there,” she noted, as if Evangeline hadn’t heard. “And then Chaz’s wife, Victoria, called them. Mr. Polland called. After a few days, everybody in Hollywood was dialing up the Santa Fe police, supposedly looking for him. But your dad and I were searching the entire state long before anybody else bothered to show up.”

  “So, you were here in New Mexico all last week?” Evangeline asked, calculating how much time the Captain had spent with his most recent client.