“Do you use other psychologists besides Professor Devane?”
“I have in the past. And some patients have their own therapists. But after I met Hope she became my preferred choice.”
He put both hands on his knees. “She was terrific. Very insightful. A great judge of people. And excellent with the patients. Because unlike other psychologists and psychiatrists she had no stake in sucking people into long-term treatment.”
“Why's that?”
“She was busy enough.”
“With her book?”
“Her book, teaching.” He clapped his hands. “Quick, to the point, the least amount of treatment necessary. I guess that appealed to the surgeon in me.”
His ruddy cheeks were almost scarlet and his eyes had turned distant. Rubbing his foot some more, he leaned forward. “I- the practice misses her. Some of these shrinks are weirder than the patients. Hope talked plain English. She was fantastic.”
“How many cases did you refer to her?”
“I never counted.”
“Were there any patients who weren't happy with her?”
“Not a one- oh, come on, you can't be serious. No, no, Detective, not a chance. I deal with civilized people, not nutcases.”
Milo shrugged and smiled. “Gotta ask… Is it my imagination, Doctor, or is there more infertility, nowadays?”
“It's not your imagination at all. Some of it's probably due to people waiting longer to start. The ideal conception age for a woman is early to mid-twenties. Tack on ten, fifteen years and you've got an aging uterus and diminished probability.”
He put a hand on each knee and his slacks stretched over thick, muscular thighs. “I'd never say this to a patient because they've got enough guilt, but some of it's also due to all the messing around people did in the seventies. Promiscuity, repetitive subclinical infections, endometriosis- that's internal scarring. That's also part of what I used Hope for. The guilt.”
“Why'd you pay her directly instead of having her do her own billing?”
Cruvic's head moved back. The hands came off the knees and pressed down hard on the love-seat cushion.
“Insurance,” said Cruvic. “We tried it the other way and found out it was easier to recover payment for a gynecologic-behavioral consult than for psychotherapy.”
Another stroke of the crew cut. “My CPA assures me it's all on the up-and-up. Now, if that's all-”
“Did she work well with the husbands, too?” I said.
“Why wouldn't she?”
“Her opinions about men were controversial.”
“In what sense?”
“Her book.”
“Oh, that. Well, she was never controversial here. Everyone was very satisfied with her work… Not that it's my place to tell you how to do your job, but it seems to me you're barking up a completely wrong tree. Hope's murder had nothing to do with her work for me.”
“I'm sure you're right,” said Milo. “Where'd you meet her?”
“At another health facility.”
“Where?”
“A charity clinic in Santa Monica.”
“Name?”
“The Women's Health Center. I've been active there for a while. Once a year they throw a fund-raiser. Hope and I sat next to each other on the dais and we began talking.”
He stood. His tie had ridden up and he pulled it down. “If you'll excuse me, I've got some ladies out there who want to be mommies.”
“Sure. Thanks, Doctor.” Milo stood, too. Blocking the door. “One more thing. Did Professor Devane keep her patient files here?”
“She had no files of her own. Made notes in mine. That way we could communicate easily. My files are kept strictly confidential, so it wasn't a problem.”
“But she did see patients here.”
“Yes.”
“In this room, by any chance?”
“You know,” said Cruvic, “I believe she may have. I don't assign rooms, the staff does.”
“But she stayed in this wing,” said Milo. “The privacy issue.”
“Exactly.”
“Nice setup for privacy. Location-wise, I mean. Off the beaten path.”
Cruvic's bulky shoulders rose, then fell. “We like it.”
He tried to sight around Milo.
Milo seemed to move aside, then his notepad came out. “This Women's Center, you do fertility work there?”
Cruvic inhaled, forced a smile. “Fertility is rarely an issue for the poor. At the center I donate my time to general women's health care.”
“Does that include abortions?”
“With all due respect, I don't see that that's relevant.”
Milo smiled. “It probably isn't.”
“I'm sure you know I'm not free to discuss any of my cases. Even poor women have a right to confid-”
“Sorry, Doc. I wasn't asking about specific cases, just a general question about what you do there.”
“Why raise the abortion issue at all? What's the point, Detective?”
“Abortion's legal but it's still controversial. And some people express their opposition to it violently. So if you do perform abortions and Professor Devane was involved in that, as well, it might give us another angle.”
“Oh, for God's sake,” said Cruvic. “I support a woman's right to choose and so did Hope, but if anyone would be targeted it would be the person actually performing the procedure.” He tapped his chest. “And I'm obviously here.”
“Obviously,” said Milo. “Once again, I have to ask, Doc.”
“I understand,” said Cruvic, but he didn't look mollified. “I'm sure my opinion doesn't mean much but I think Hope was murdered by some psychotic who hates women and chose her because she'd achieved fame. A nut. Not a patient here or at the Women's Center.”
“On the contrary, Doctor. Your opinion does matter. That's exactly what we need. Opinions of people who knew her.”
Cruvic colored and he touched his tie. “I only knew her professionally. But I think her death represents so much that's wrong with our society.”
“How so, sir?”
“Success and the malignant jealousy it evokes. We adulate talented people, put them on a pedestal, then enjoy knocking them off. Why? Because their success threatens us.”
The cheeks bright red now.
He walked around Milo. Stopped at the door and looked back at us.
“The losers punish the winners, gentlemen. If it keeps going that way, we all lose. Good luck.”
Milo said, “If you think of anything, Doc,” and gave him a business card. The straight version, not the one the detectives pass among themselves that reads ROBBERY-HOMICIDE: OUR DAY BEGINS WHEN YOURS ENDS.
Cruvic pocketed it. Charging into the hallway, he unlocked the door to the west wing and was gone.
“Any hypotheses?” said Milo.
“Well,” I said, “he blushed when he said he only knew her professionally, so maybe it was more. And he got a little antsy talking about his billing, so there could have been something funny about that- taking a cut of her fee,
