Tuffy jumped Mason when he got home, forgiving him for leaving her to be fed by a neighbor while he was gone. Mason had brought Jordan's file home from the office. He spread it out on his kitchen table, searching it for missing pieces while he drank a beer for dinner.
Mason had read every word on every page too many times to count. He didn't expect the words to change, but he knew that their importance could as he learned more about his case. The trick was to figure out what had changed. He finished his beer and started another, picking up Gina Davenport's autopsy report.
He forced himself to pay attention to each of the pathologist's findings, including the weight and color of each internal organ, the splintering of Gina's skull, and the pulverizing impact on her brain when she hit the pavement. He read the description of Gina's reproductive system twice, the second time out loud, to make certain he understood what he was reading.
Mason called his Aunt Claire. 'Female anatomy is not my strong point,' he told her.
'I'm so sorry,' Claire said. 'I thought by now you were more experienced.'
'I'm good with the surface structures,' he assured her. 'Help me out with the internal stuff.'
'You are such a sophisticated man,' his aunt said. 'How can I help?'
'If a woman's fallopian tubes are blocked, she can't get pregnant, right?'
'Good guess,' Claire said. 'Next question.'
'A congenital abnormality is one from birth. That means that a woman who was born with her fallopian tubes blocked could never get pregnant. Still right?'
Claire sharpened her tone. 'Get to the point.'
'I just read Gina Davenport's autopsy report for the tenth time. She had a congenital abnormality that caused blockage of her fallopian tubes. She couldn't get pregnant, but the city of St. Louis issued a birth certificate for her daughter, Emily, showing Gina as the mother.'
'Gina couldn't have given birth,' Claire said.
'Exactly. Plus, Emily's birth certificate says that she was born at Caulfield Medical Center in St. Louis. That makes Gina the only mother in the history of the hospital that didn't sign the maternity ward Baby Book,' Mason said, explaining what they had learned at the hospital.
'You said that the hospital has no record that Abby was ever a patient there,' Claire repeated. 'Didn't you?'
'That's what they say, even though Abby's signature is in the Baby Book.'
'Why would Gina Davenport falsify the birth of a baby? Why not adopt?' Claire asked.
'Because no court was going to allow a couple to adopt a baby when the father was a drug addict,' Mason explained. 'Gina Davenport bought a baby and claimed it as her own because that's the only way she could get one. She and her husband probably left St. Louis at the same time so that no one would become suspicious.'
Claire followed the implications of Mason's theory. 'You're suggesting that Gina Davenport bought Abby's baby along with a phony birth certificate and that she managed to get rid of Abby's medical records in the process. You know what that means if you're right?'
'Yes,' Mason said. 'It means that Abby's daughter is dead.'
Chapter 28
Mason's theory was so disastrous for Abby that he couldn't tell her unless he was certain. Even then, he didn't know how he would do it. He shoved that prospect to the side and focused on the implications for his defense of Jordan.
He was now convinced that the phone call Abby received about finding her daughter had set in motion the chain of events that ended with the murders of Gina Davenport and Trent Hackett. That was the only way to tie the available evidence together.
Terry Nix was the only person Mason could think of that knew the Davenports had purchased their child, though he also knew that at least one other person had to be involved. While he believed that Terry Nix stole Abby's medical records to cover up the illegal adoption, Mason doubted that Nix also forged Emily's birth certificate. That required help from someone working in the city's Vital Records department. Mason found Roy Bowen's business card and called him at home.
'You don't waste time, do you?' Bowen told him.
'I don't have time to waste,' Mason said, explaining what he was looking for.
'I'll see what I can do,' Bowen told him. 'They may not keep records that far back. This may take a while.'
Mason gave Tuffy fresh water and promised to take her on a long walk in the morning. Tuffy sniffed the water and wandered off, not impressed, ignoring Mason's pat on the back as he left again. How, Mason wondered, could he ever manage a long-term relationship with a woman if his dog could make him feel guilty for ignoring her?
Mason didn't find Robert Davenport at home, so he headed for his studio. It was almost ten o'clock when he parked a block away after finding the street barricaded by police officers. Satellite trucks from local TV stations lined the curb. Mason ducked his head when he saw Sherri Thomas and her Channel 6 cameraman. He was in no mood to make the late evening news.
'What's going on?' Mason asked one of the cops.
'Guy OD'd,' the cop answered.
Mason knew the answer to his next question but asked it anyway. 'Robert Davenport?'
The cop looked past him. 'No names released yet.'
'Is Samantha Greer in charge of the investigation?'
'Yeah,' the cop answered, paying more attention. 'Who are you?'
'Lou Mason. Do me a favor, call Detective Greer. Tell her I'd like to talk to her.'
The cop spoke into the radio clipped to his shirt, waving Mason through. Mason found Samantha waiting for him next to a sculpture planted on the lawn outside the studio. The sculpture was an irregular cone of bronze affixed nose-down to a polished black granite base. The police had set up bright lights around the studio to assist in the search for physical evidence. The beams collided with the sculpture, making it glow like an errant space probe just returned to earth.
'At least you can't blame this one on my client,' Mason told her.
'It's hard for one person to kill everybody,' she said.
Mason said, 'One of the cops directing traffic said Davenport OD'd.'
'Looks like it. What brings you here?' Samantha asked.
'Loose ends,' Mason answered. 'I'm getting ready for the preliminary hearing in the Trent Hackett murder. I had some questions for Robert.'
'You accused Trent Hackett of killing Gina Davenport. Are you going to accuse Robert Davenport of killing Trent to avenge his wife's death?'
Mason shrugged. 'It's a theory,' he said, not wanting to thank Samantha for thinking of a red herring he'd overlooked.
'Don't bother,' she told him. 'Davenport was giving a lecture that night. He's got a hundred alibis. Tell your client to plead guilty and get this mess over with.'
'She's not guilty, Sam,' Mason said.
Samantha grimaced, grinding her heel in the grass. 'It's me you're talking to Lou, not some fresh cop out of the academy, not some reporter who wants to make you the lead in her story. I'm a damn good cop. We both know the evidence against your client is enough to send her away forever. If you don't have something better by now than the smoke you've been blowing, call Ortiz and make a deal.'
They were both right, Mason realized. He believed Jordan was innocent even though there was enough evidence to convict her. Samantha was also right that Mason's defense had so far been little more than a bluff. Mason saw no point in telling Samantha his newest theory, knowing that she would rightly dismiss it as the ravings of a lawyer whose latest scapegoat conveniently died of a drug overdose.
Mason got up early enough on Tuesday morning to take Tuffy on a grand tour of Loose Park, leaving her panting on her living room pillow, her bushy tail thumping against the floor in gratitude. Mason even thought the dog
