The Cradle Will Fall

'No. I don't want them to know we're checking on him.'

For some reason the younger woman seemed relieved. 'I'll get right on it.' 'You'd be a good lawyer,' Katie said, meaning it. 'I'm surprised you didn't go to college.' 'I was insane enough to get engaged the summer I finished high school. My folks persuaded me to take a secretarial course before I got married so at least I'd have some kind of skill. How right they were. The engagement didn't stand the year's wait.'

She looked unhappy, and Katie decided she must have been pretty hurt about the breakup.

Maureen went out of the room. The telephone rang. It was Richard. 'Katie, I've just been talking to Dave Broad, the head of prenatal research at Mount Sinai. On a hunch, I sent him the fetus Vangie Lewis was carrying. My hunch was right. Vangie was not pregnant with Lewis' child. The baby was distinctly Oriental!'

CHAPTER TEN

THE funeral service for Vangie Lewis was held on Thursday morning in the chapel of a Minneapolis funeral home. Chris stood beside Vangie's parents, their muffled sobs assaulting him like hammerblows. They had been outraged to hear that Vangie could not be buried, that her body was to be shipped back east, then returned later for burial. 'Why?'

'I simply don't know.' There was no use saying more-not now. He thought of Edna's call. Could she throw some light on Vangie's death? Before he left Minneapolis, he had to call Dr. Salem. What did he know about Vangie that had made him react with such shock last night? Why had Vangie wanted to see him?

There had been someone else in Vangie's life. He was sure of it now. Suppose Vangie had killed herself in front of someone and that person had brought her home?

The minister was saying the final prayer. 'When every tear shall be dried…' Chris led Vangie's parents into the anteroom to accept the sympathy of their friends.

When he was able to get away to a phone, Chris called Dr. Salem's office. 'This is Vangie Lewis' husband,' he said. 'It's urgent I speak with the doctor immediately.'

'I'm sorry,' the nurse told him. 'Dr. Salem left a short time ago for the American Medical Association convention in New York. He will not be back until next week.'

'New York! Can you tell me where he's staying, please?'

The nurse hesitated. 'I suppose it's all right. I know Dr. Salem intends to get in touch with you. He took your wife's medical records with him. You can reach him at the Essex House Hotel on Central Park South.'

SCOTT Myerson had called a noon meeting to discuss Vangie Lewis' death. When Katie arrived, Maureen was there with a pen and paper.

'We're bringing sandwiches in,' Scott said. 'I'm due in court again at one thirty. We've got to move fast on Captain Lewis.'

As Katie had expected, Scott was zeroing in on Chris. She looked at Maureen. The girl had an aura of nervousness around her. 'Any results on Dr. Fukhito?'

'So far not much. He's not a member of the AMA or the Valley County Medical Society. But I have a call in to the University of Massachusetts. He attended medical school there.'

'Who told you that?' Katie asked.

'I remember hearing it somewhere.'

Katie sensed that Maureen was being evasive.

At that moment Richard, Charley and Phil came into the office. Quickly they gave Maureen their lunch choices. Scott began to speak. 'By now you all know that the Lewis baby had Oriental characteristics. So that opens two possibilities. One: with the birth imminent, Vangie panicked and killed herself because she knew she could never pass the baby off as her husband's. Two: Chris Lewis found out that his wife had been having an affair and killed her. She could have been rushing home to Minneapolis because she was afraid of him. From what Katie tells us, the psychiatrist claims she ran out of his office nearly hysterical.'

'The Japanese psychiatrist,' Katie said. 'Are you suggesting there was something between him and Vangie?'

'I'm not suggesting anything yet. Vangie could have known another Oriental man. But he was nervous when I spoke with him yesterday. He carefully chose every word he said to me, and I certainly did not get the whole truth from him.'

'Which brings us to Edna Burns,' Scott said. 'What about it, Richard? Did she fall, or was she pushed?'

'It's possible that she fell. The alcohol level in her blood was point two five. She was blotto.'

'But it is possible she was murdered?' Scott persisted.

'Absolutely.'

'And Edna was heard talking to Chris Lewis about Prince Charming.' Katie thought of the handsome psychiatrist. Would Edna refer to him as Prince Charming?

'Maybe Vangie told her something Monday night,' Charley suggested. 'Maybe she knew Chris and Vangie had quarreled and why they'd quarreled. Maybe she was putting the arm on Lewis. She did threaten to go to the police.'

'She said she had something to tell the police,' Katie objected. 'That's the way the super's wife put it.'

'All right,' Scott said. 'What turned up at the Lewis house?'

'Not much,' said Charley. 'There's a phone number with a 612 area code scribbled on the pad beside the kitchen phone. We thought we'd call it from here. The other thing is that she tore her dress on a prong sticking out from a shelf in the garage.'

Scott picked up the message pad Charley had handed him and tossed it to Katie. 'Why don't you try this number now?'

Katie dialed the number and waited while the phone rang.

'Dr. Salem's office.'

'Perhaps you can help me. I'm Kathleen DeMaio from the Valley County, New Jersey, prosecutor's office. We're conducting an inquiry into the death of Vangie Lewis last Monday. She had Dr. Salem's phone number on her pad.'

'Oh, that is a coincidence. I was just about to call your medical examiner. Dr. Salem wants to talk with him. The doctor is on his way to New York right now for the AMA convention. Can your medical examiner phone him around five p.m. at the Essex House Hotel on Central Park South?'

'Yes. I'll give him the message.' Then, on a chance, Katie added, 'Do you know anything about Mrs. Lewis' call? Did she speak with the doctor?'

'No. She spoke to me. She called Monday and was so disappointed that he wasn't going to be back till Wednesday. I made an emergency appointment for her for Wednesday.'

'One last question. What kind of doctor is Dr. Salem?'

'Oh, he's a prominent obstetrician and gynecologist.'

'I see. Thank you. You've been very helpful.' Katie hung up the phone and reported the conversation to the others.

There was a knock at the door and Maureen came in with coffee and sandwiches. 'Katie,' she said, 'that call from Massa chusetts about Dr. Fukhito is just coming in. Want to take it?'

Katie nodded and picked up the phone. As she waited for the call to be switched, she became aware of a slow, persistent head ache. I'm not operating on all cylinders, she thought. So many things were teasing her mind. What was she trying to recall?

The personnel director at the University of Massachusetts Medical School answered guardedly. 'Yes, Dr. Fukhito graduated from U. Mass. He interned at Massachusetts General and later became affiliated with the hospital. He also had a private practice. He left the hospital seven years ago.'

'Why did he leave?' Katie asked. 'You must understand this is a police investigation. All information will be kept confidential.'

There was a pause. 'Dr. Fukhito was asked to resign. He was found guilty of unethical behavior after he unsuccessfully defended a malpractice suit.'