clothes she wore to the service. Her car had probably been towed or driven to the station. More than likely, her clothing and possessions had been catalogued and examined. They had to be in the evidence room. If her shoes were closed on top, he could rule out the possibility that Grimes had seen the tattoo beneath any straps.
He returned to the policeman.
'Tarvis,' he said, 'you want me to tell Grimes this wasn't your fault?'
'I need you to, Ledge. I've had some trouble lately and — '
'In that case, I need a favor from you.'
Lyons brightened. 'Name it, Ledge.'
'When she was loony from her concussion, Dr. Solari started babbling on about what she was really doing down here. It seems she runs a business up north where lady doctors provide, you know, services, to high-roller men who have big bucks to spend.'
'Services?'
'Sex, Tarvis. She runs a prostitution ring where the women are all doctors.'
'Holy — '
'And she has a book — a black book with the names of all her clients and all the women doctors in Boston, New York, and around here who work for her.'
'She really is a babe,' Lyons said wistfully, his imagination clearly running as far amuck as it was capable of. 'That's what they were after her for? That book?'
'Exactly. Grimes didn't mention it, so I don't think he has it yet.
If we can find it, you'll be a hero.' He bent over and spoke man-to-man. 'Plus, you'll know which lady doctors in these parts give… the best exams.'
He punctuated the remark with a nudge.
'What do you want me to do?'
'Can you get me into the evidence room?'
'I have a card. We all do. I just have to swipe it.'
'Well then, what are we waiting for?'
Lyons had driven his battered, grease-stained Wrangler to the hospital. Matt followed him back toward the station, but cut off a block from the building, parked the Harley, and met him by the basement door in back.
'So how many lady doctors are in this book?' Lyons asked.
'Don't know. Dozens, I'll bet. When it comes to admitting women students, the med schools often insist on brains and looks.'
'Ooee,' Lyons said, swiping the electronic lock and opening the solid oak door. 'There's an electronic record of whoever swipes in, so I gotta sign the ledger.'
There were ten large plastic baskets, but only two of them held evidence. Both were labeled SOLARI.
'The book is small,' Matt said, rummaging through the first basket. 'It may be able to fit in the heel of a shoe.'
'Not these shoes.'
Lyons was holding up a pair of black flats — plain, closed top, no straps.
So much for an accidental sighting of the tattoo.
'So, these are the little mice who set off the evidence room warning light.'
Grimes and Steve Valenti stood shoulder to shoulder in the doorway.
Matt felt his heart freeze.
Tarvis, you jerk!
'Oh, hi,' Matt said, too brightly. 'I asked Tarvis here to show me Nikki's things. We thought we might find something that would suggest who might have done this or why. I guess he forgot there was a warning light.'
'And did you?' Grimes asked.
'Did I what?'
'Did you find any undiscovered clues?'
Matt's pulse now had gone from standstill to jackhammer. Never an adept liar, he was having great difficulty maintaining eye contact with the policeman. It was clear from the man's tone that he didn't believe a word of what Matt was saying. Off to one side, Valenti appraised the situation, his face an unfathomable mask.
'Oh, no,' Matt stammered. 'No, actually, we didn't find anything. At least I didn't. How about you, Tarvis?'
Lyons looked as if he had been shot with a blowgun.
'Nothing, Chief,' he managed finally. 'I, um, hope you don't mind my bringing the doctor down here.'
'Why would I ever mind that, Tarvis? I always thought it was stupid for us to take all these precautions just to lock up a bunch of evidence.'
Matt could feel the wheels spinning in Grimes's head, searching for an explanation — any explanation — as to what he and Lyons were doing in the evidence room. Finally, he exchanged glances with Valenti, who merely shook his head.
'Okay, Rutledge,' Grimes said, 'I don't know what in the hell you're doing here, but I don't think I'm going to find out from you. Mark me well, though. This is the last time I'm kicking you out of my station house. Next time you'll be begging us to let you go.'
'Go easy on Tarvis,' Matt said. 'I asked him to let me in here so I could look at Dr. Solari's things.'
Ramrod straight, chin up, he strode past Grimes and Valenti and down the corridor to the stairs, half expecting to hear a shot and feel a bullet smack into his spine.
What he heard instead was Grimes saying, 'Tarvis, get the fuck upstairs to my office.'
And Lyons replying, 'I can explain everything, Chief.'
CHAPTER 20
Matt spent the hours following his clash with Bill Grimes consumed by dread for the life of Nikki Solari. He was bone weary from a dearth of any healthy sleep, but over his years of training and medical practice, he had developed internal techniques for coping with that sort of exhaustion. What he was much less adept at dealing with than the lack of sleep was the lack of answers. He felt like a marionette, dancing to the commands of some deranged puppeteer. But who? Right now, the only viable candidate was Grimes. But why him? And how was he able to pull together the elements of Nikki's abduction from the hospital so quickly and smoothly?
This is Dr. Rutledge calling. I've scheduled Dr. Solari for an emergency MRI and arranged for immediate ambulance transport.
Smooth.
Matt had two patients in the hospital. One of them, an elderly diabetic recovering from an arterial bypass to her leg, was in the room across the hall from Nikki's. He was on the way in to see her when he stopped and, using the phone at Nikki's bedside, called information and got the number for Kit and Samuel Wilson. Kit answered on the first ring.
'First of all,' Matt said after establishing that she knew who he was, 'I want to tell you how sorry I am about your daughter.'
'Thank you. The service yestiddy made everyone that knew Kathy feel jes a little better.'
'I'm glad. Mrs. Wilson, I'm calling about Nikki Solari.'
'Nikki? What about her?'
'I guess you haven't heard. I hate to be the bearer of bad news with all you have been going through.'
'Please, what about Nikki?'
'Shortly after she left the church yesterday, two men ambushed her on Wells Road. She got away from them, but nearly drowned in Crystal Lake in the process.'
'Oh, my God. Where's she now? She all right?'
'I'm afraid we don't know where she is right now, Mrs. Wilson. Someone — not me — called in an order in my name, sending her to Hastings Hospital for an MRI. Then they kidnapped her from the ambulance on the way.'
'Oh, my God. How awful. Why'd anyone do such a thing?'
