On my third time around the block, just as I’m thinking about pulling over and waving the van past me, it hangs a left when I turn right and disappears. Then, as I pull my car into Lauren’s driveway and think about the meeting ahead, my rising level of anxiety erases all thoughts of the van from my mind.
If Lauren suspects an ulterior motive or harbors any concern about the reason behind my visit, she hides it well. She greets me with a quick but warm embrace and a cheerful smile.
“You look great,” I tell her. And she does. Her cheeks are rosy, her blue eyes sparkle, and her skin bears the remnants of a healthy summer tan. She’s been working in the yard and even though the air has an autumn bite to it, she’s managed to work up a bit of a sweat that makes the curls in her hair spring to life.
“Thanks. You look pretty good yourself, though perhaps a bit worse for wear,” she says, eyeing the bandage on my head.
“Oh, this,” I say, touching it. “No big deal. Just a freak accident, actually. I broke a glass and a piece of it ricocheted up and cut my forehead. Took three stitches.”
“Ow,” Lauren says, grimacing. “You’re lucky it didn’t hit your eye. It looks like it came close.”
“It did.”
“Well, come on in. I just put on some coffee and I have a sour cream coffee cake that’s been calling to me all morning.”
I follow her inside to the kitchen, where the smells of just-brewed coffee and cinnamon permeate the air. Lauren pours two mugs full, slices two generous helpings of the cake, and sets us up at the kitchen table. Her sleeves are rolled up to her elbows and I can see dirt beneath her fingernails. That’s one of the reasons I like Lauren. There is no pretense, no sense of falseness about her. She is who she is and makes no apology for it. I taste the cake, which melts in my mouth, compliment her on it, and then set to devouring the rest of it.
“Thanks for inviting me over on such short notice,” I say between bites. “As I mentioned on the phone, I have something I need to talk to you about, something related to my new job. I work at the medical examiner’s office now.”
“So I’ve heard. Arthur told me about it last night. It sounds exciting. Do you like it?”
“So far. Though I haven’t been at it long enough to encounter anything too awful yet.”
Lauren nods knowingly.
“What I want to discuss with you is…well…it’s a bit…awkward.”
Lauren smiles. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve listened to Arthur talk about some of the stuff he’s encountered in his work and I know it can get pretty gruesome at times. I’m used to it.”
“Well, it isn’t your tolerance for gruesome that I’m concerned about, Lauren. It’s your privacy. I need to ask you about some very personal stuff.”
That seems to give her pause but she recovers quickly. “Do what you need to do,” she says brightly.
“You’re aware of the Karen Owenby murder, aren’t you?” It is more or less a rhetorical question, an icebreaker of sorts, since I have no doubt everyone in Sorenson knows of it by now.
“I am.”
“Well, I spoke with a woman who knew Karen and she said that Karen mentioned some sort of business dealings—investments she called it—with some of the surgeons. It may have nothing to do with Karen’s death, but it doesn’t hurt to check everything out. I thought you might be able to tell me if you knew of anything like that, any business dealings that Karen might have had with Arthur or any of the other surgeons.”
Now it is Lauren’s turn to look hesitant. “Have you asked David about this?”
“I have. He won’t tell me anything.” I hesitate, then decide that a shared confidence from me might make Lauren more likely to reciprocate. “I don’t know if you’ve heard or not but we’re separated. He…um…had an affair.”
Lauren nods and looks at me sympathetically. “I had heard. I’m sorry, Mattie.”
I shrug it off, trying to pretend it’s not a big deal. “Anyway, since David knows I intend to file for divorce, he refuses to discuss anything to do with money or business, fearing it may somehow affect the outcome.”
“Divorce,” Lauren says, making a face like she just tasted something disgusting. “Why does it always have to be so nasty?”
I wonder if Lauren’s attitude toward divorce will be any different by the time I leave. I also sense the merest hesitation, the barest flicker of doubt in her voice.
“People do some strange things when they’re emotionally wrought,” I say, watching her face closely. “Particularly when there’s money involved. I don’t know if David’s reluctance to talk to me about business stuff means he’s hiding something or not. But I’m going to try to find out.”
“Well, I don’t know about David, but Arthur wouldn’t do anything like that,” Lauren says, sounding as if she is trying to convince herself as much as me. “And since I do the books and financial reports for his office, I’m intimately familiar with all of his business dealings.”
“So there’s no unexplainable income you’ve noticed, or any expenses that seem odd.”
“Of course not. And if there were, I’d be the first to know about them.”
I make my first tentative foray into delicate territory. “Does Arthur have a checking account of his own?”
“He does. But I don’t see how that figures into any of this.”
“Where does the income for that account come from?”
“From his practice, of course. That, and a few investments. Why?” She frowns at me. “I mean, I really want to help you here, Mattie, but I’m not sure I see the relevance. Why are you asking me about this?”
I hesitate, carefully considering my response. “It’s important that we investigate any aspect of Karen’s life that might be significant, and there could be a connection between her murder and her business dealings.”
Lauren pales. “You think…do the police think…” She tightens her arms even more and shakes her head vehemently. “No. No way. Arthur couldn’t do anything like that.”
“Arthur is a good man,” I say.
“Yes,” Lauren says quickly. “Yes he is.”
“But even good men can stray,” I add gently. I expect her to object but she says nothing, just eyes me with a wounded expression. A long silence stretches between us and then I make the decision to jump in with both feet. “Lauren, are you certain, absolutely certain you can trust Arthur?”
She flashes me an indignant look, opens her mouth, and then just as quickly snaps it shut again. Her whole body sags and her eyes dull just before she looks away from me. It is an awful, sad thing to watch.
“You know, don’t you?” she says quietly. I don’t answer, still reluctant to be the one to spill the beans in case I’m on the wrong wavelength here and Lauren is talking about something else. “About Ruth,” she clarifies. “You know about her, don’t you?”
My face flushes hot and I nod.
“I figured as much.” She leans back and sighs, staring at the ceiling. “This damned town and all its gossiping biddies.”
“Well, to be honest, I didn’t find out through gossip, Lauren. Arthur is pretty…discreet here in town. But I bumped into him and Ruth at a medical conference a couple of years ago in Chicago. I don’t think Arthur was expecting to run into anyone he knew there since he was the only one from Sorenson originally scheduled to attend. But David got called at the last minute to fill in for a speaker who canceled, and the two of us went on down.
“At first I thought Arthur was just having a one-time out-of-towner, and he seemed so embarrassed when he realized I’d seen the two of them together that I figured he’d drop what he was doing and straighten up. It wasn’t until months later when Ruth came into the hospital as a patient that I realized she was local.”
Lauren stares at me, tears welling in her eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Lauren. I know I should have said something to you, but it was awkward for me. I mean, I have to…well,
Lauren finally uncrosses her arms and waves away my apology. “I’d expect nothing less from you, Mattie. I know from our past dealings that you have a deep respect for people’s privacy, and unlike some in this town, you can and will keep a secret. I knew it when you took care of me at the hospital a couple of years ago.”
I nod.
“And then there’s that whole patient confidentiality thing.” She pauses, then says, “I’m guessing you have some kind of obligation along those lines with this new job as well?”
“Some,” I tell her. “Obviously if I discover something relevant to a case I’m investigating, I have to share that
