The woman turned around again, conferred with someone behind her.
'Who was the lady? A young lady, an old lady, a social worker, a friend, who?'
'Yes, friend.'
'What did she say?'
'Lin was sick at work again. Went home early yesterday. Nice lady. She want to take Lin to hospital.'
'So she took Lin to the hospital?' The light went on. This must be Annie Lee the woman was talking about.
'Yes. Second time.' Lao seemed to be nervous about this.
'She went to the hospital before?' Nanci was angry at herself for not knowing this. But there were a lot of things she didn't know. Of course, Lin had gone to the hospital. Nanci felt worse and worse. 'She has more than a cold, doesn't she?'
'Just bad cold,' the woman insisted.
'Okay, that's fine. You're not a help.'
'Yes, I help. I took good care of her, save her life many times,' the woman said indignantly.
'Then why didn't
take her to the hospital?' Nanci demanded.
'She had her friend. Her friend take.'
'Okay, okay, and you don't even know if Beekman is where she went.' Nanci was very angry. 'And this is the second time. That's not taking good care.'
'How can I find Lin? I don't speak English.' Now the woman was ashamed. She hung her head. 'Maybe you find,' she said, hopefully.
'I'll find her,' Nanci said angrily. 'And I can tell you, when I do find her, I'll make sure she never comes back here again.'
Deeply disturbed, Nanci went to look for Lin at Beekman Downtown Hospital. There was no record of her at the clinic, or the emergency room; Lin had not been admitted there today or yesterday or any other day. Now Nanci was really worried. With a sinking heart, Nanci Hua realized she was an evil person. She and Milton hadn't wanted to tell the police about her cousin for their own reasons. They should have called yesterday afternoon as soon as they got home, and they hadn't. Now she knew they had no choice; the Lao woman and Annie Lee at the factory were both lying to her. She had to involve the police. Finally Nanci went into the 5th Precinct and asked for Detective April Woo. The desk lieutenant sent her upstairs, where an ugly man wrote down April's number and even dialed it for her. The person on the line in whatever precinct April now worked said Sergeant Woo was out.
'Anything I can help you with?' the ugly man asked, staring at her hard as if he were trying to place her.
Nanci had met him before, but he didn't seem to remember. All Chinese must look alike to him.
'No thanks,' she said. 'I'll try her again later.'
Nanci left the station and went down into the subway, boarded a train for Penn Station. On the Long Island list of stations Garden City was listed, so the taxi driver had lied to her about that. Today everybody was lying.
When she got off the train in Garden City, she was surprisingly relieved to be back there. And she was even happier to get out of the taxi at home. The house she lived in was like houses in the movies with lawns and flowers and happy families inside. Now she understood why this was the American Dream, why it was necessary for her to put her fears away and learn to drive a car, be in control. It was almost as if she had been cleansed of her fond feelings about her former life in Chinatown, where old ways of thinking caused so much trouble and kept so many secrets that it was sometimes impossible to untangle all the lies.
Everything was peaceful at home, but Nanci was not soothed by her nice neighbor, a plump woman who didn't have much to do since her children were all grown. Enthusiastically, the woman offered friendship and much advice about family life in the area. She was clearly in no hurry to return to her own kitchen. 'Call me anytime,' she said at last, when Nanci escorted her to the front door, thanking her profusely for her kindness.
When the woman was gone, Nanci sat down and made a list of all the hospitals in Manhattan. She called every single one. No Lin Tsing had come to any of them. After that, with trembling fingers, she punched out the number of the medical examiner's office, the place to call if a person died in suspicious circumstances and no one knew his name. There was no young Asian woman in the morgue, either. After that, there was nothing else Nanci could do for Lin but wait for April Woo to get back to her.
CHAPTER 15
W
hat's going on, boss? You look upset,' Woody said on the return trip to the squad room after the visit with Heather Rose.
April shook her head. Oh, man, she hated to see this. A Chinese woman, college educated, married to a creep. Okay, it happened. But there was more. Heather Rose might be one of those people who could do weird things. What she'd done just now was make her voice fly around the room like a ventriloquist. Called herself an insect, cried like a baby. 'Nutty as a fruitcake' was the only explanation April let enter her mind. She got a tingling in the middle of her palm. Her skin crawled. And all this gave her a bad feeling. Iriarte was always threatening to fire her. Could be that, but it could be the woman was crazy. She had those scars on her arm. Perfect circles. In the twenty minutes April had spent trying to get Heather Rose to stop making crying noises from outside her body, a voice called April insect woman and predicted her death. It was creepy because the new sound had a toneless quality that almost made April think it came from the other side.
April told herself. She also told herself she was a cop and hadn't heard this. No one heard this. But she was shaken all the same. Crazy people could do that to you. Now April had to reconsider this whole issue of the woman killing the baby, after all; and maybe the husband was shielding
She shivered. One thing was clear: this woman was no longer unconscious, if she ever had been.
'You okay, boss?' Woody asked a second time.
April didn't hear him. At the precinct she left Woody to park the car and climbed the stairs to the second floor, fervently hoping to beat the odds and find her office free. Instead, there was a federal agent comfortably ensconced at her desk. She saw him through the glass in the door and didn't have to ask who he was. She knew he was FBI by the gray suit, white shirt, gray-and-white-striped tie. Mouse-brown hair a quarter of an inch long, features undefined enough to act like putty whenever necessary. No glasses, about thirty-five, medium height, slender build. This one was sharp, though. He looked down at the 'Sgt. Woo' nameplate on the desk and up at her. Then he stood up behind the desk and waved her into her own office with three fingers. Showing her who was boss.
'Sergeant Woo, I presume?'
'Yes, sir. Special Agent—?' April got it all, the seeming politeness of his standing to invite her in, and layered under that, a putdown in the clear indication of his intention not to surrender the territory. God, she hated this.
'Gabriel Samson. Good to meet you, Woo.' He held out his hand, challenging her to advance to the front of her desk. She advanced for the shake. She didn't have much choice in the matter. Then when she reached out for the bony hand he offered, she got her knuckles crushed.
'You must catch a lot of flak for the name,' she remarked, flexing her fingers. 'Gabriel
Samson. Your mother must have had high hopes for you.'
'I disappointed her in the music department,' he said modestly.
'Only that? Then you're doing well. What can we do for you, Gabe?' April wasn't feeling as perky as she might, what with the crushed fingers, disembodied death threat and all.
His lips tightened. Oh, he didn't like a cop using his first name. He was a real FBI type. She felt a little better.
'There was no space outside, so the lieutenant offered me your office. I hope it won't inconvenience you too much.' His smile lacked sincerity.
'Not at all. What's the deal?'
