She sat there for a moment, then tucked the covers up around Cassie's neck and touched a soft cheek. The drapes were open. I saw her look out at the night with tired eyes.
'It makes no sense,' she said. 'Why did he use insulin, right after you found the injectors? Unless Cindy didn't tell him you found them.
Was their communication that bad?'
'I'm sure she did tell him, and that's exactly why he used them. He planted them there for me to find. Made a special call to verify that I was coming out and making sure he wouldn't be there.
Playing concerned daddy, but he was really pinpointing the TIME
Because he knew we had to suspect Munchausen by now, and he was hoping I'd snoop, discover the cylinders, and suspect Cindy, just as I did.
What could be more logical: They were her aunt's samples. She was in charge of the house, so she'd be the most likely one to hide them there. And she was the mother-that stacked the deck against her from the beginning. The first time I met him he made a point of telling me they had a traditional marriage-child rearing was her bailiwick.'
'Pointing a finger at her right from the beginning.' She shook her head in disbelief. 'So... orchestrated.'
'Meticulously. And if I hadn't found the cylinders during yesterday's visit, there would have been plenty of other opportunities for him to set her up.'
'What a monster,' she said.
'The devil wears jogging clothes.'
She hugged herself.
I said, 'How big of a dosage was loaded into the Insuject?'
She looked at Cassie and lowered her voice to a whisper. 'More than enough.'
'So tonight was to be the final chapter,' I said. 'Cassie seizing fatally, Cindy right there snoozing, with all of us suspecting her. If we hadn't caught him he probably would have stashed the needle in her purse or somewhere else incriminating. And the Valium in her system would have added to the picture of guilt: suicide attempt.
Remorse for killing her baby, or just an unbalanced mind.'
Stephanie rubbed her eyes. Rested her head on one hand. 'What an incredible prick... How'd he get in without going through Security?'
'Your friend Bill said he didn't enter the hospital through the front door, so he probably used one of his father's keys and came in through the back. Maybe one of the loading docks. At this hour there'd be no one there. We know from the hallway camera that he took the stairs up and waited until the Five East nurse went into the back room before entering Chappy. Probably did the same thing when Cassie had that first seizure here in the hospital. Dress rehearsal. Sneaking up in the wee hours, injecting her with just enough insulin to provide a delayed reaction, then driving home to the Valley and waiting for Cindy's call before coming back to comfort her in the E.R. The fact that Chappy's nearly always empty made it easier for him to come and go unnoticed.'
And all this time I was obsessing on Cindy. Brilliant, Eves.'
'I zeroed in on her too. We all did. She was a perfect Munchausen suspect. Low self-esteem, easygoing manner, early experiences with serious illness, health-care training. He probably came across the syndrome in his readings, saw the fit, and realized he had an opportunity to get her. That's' why he didn't have Cassie transferred to another hospital. He wanted to give us time to develop our suspicions. Worked us like an audience-the way he works his students.
Hes' the exhibitionist, Steph. But we never saw it because the books say it's always a woman.'
Silence.
'He killed Chad, didn't he?' she said.
'It's a strong possibility.'
'Why, Alex? Why use his own kids to get at Cindy?'
'I don't know, but I'll tell you one thing. He hates Cassie.
