“Is that where you learned to deal with the energy?”
“Any artist feels connected to the world in a way that’s well beyond the norm,” she said, “so to not feel anything, to not feel that connection—which, in this case, means energy—just means an artist isn’t connecting with their subject.”
“So it’s just terminology to you?”
“What are you getting at, Detective?” She hated that he was questioning all this because she had no idea where his beliefs were, but, if the media ever got a hold of it, they would have a heyday at her expense. She didn’t tell anyone about what she did. It wasn’t secret, but it was private.
“Just asking questions.”
“I guess you’ve got to dig into the dirt, don’t you?”
“No,” he said. “I’m just trying to find out who killed Elena. That means I have to understand everything in her life. And that means everything, … whether it makes sense or not.”
“And what does her seeing Dr. Maddy years ago have to do with anything?” she cried out. She leaned forward, wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling them tight to her chest. “Or me, for that matter?”
“Maybe nothing,” he said, “but do you really want me to not turn over every rock to find out what’s going on?”
“No, of course not.” She threw back her covers, frustrated and upset, hopped out of bed, and said, “Now that you’ve destroyed my early morning peace while I lazed about in bed, which I was really looking forward to in order to recover from last night, is there anything else you can upset me about?”
“Maybe,” he said mildly. “I just wondered if you knew anybody in your circle of the world who has any medical skills, enough to have done that to Elena.”
Her breath caught in the back of her throat, before she let it out slowly. “I hadn’t considered that,” she said. “And I really don’t want to. Although what they did to Elena’s body could never be called surgical. However, to answer your question, several medical people are in my world, but that doesn’t make them criminals.”
“Of course not,” he said. “That doesn’t make them innocent either.”
She winced. “Fine. One of the philanthropists is Dr. Hilltop. He’s a surgeon. You can talk to him. I’m sure he’ll be just thrilled to see you.” She smiled at that because Dr. Hilltop was definitely blustery and left no doubt about his opinions.
“What about Dr. Maddy?”
“What about her? Would she have those surgical skills? I imagine the answer is yes. But then so would millions of people around the globe. I haven’t spoken to Dr. Maddy since my last appointment with her years ago.”
“So you don’t see her outside of your doctor-patient relationship?”
“I’ve sent her invitations to a couple art shows, but I don’t know that she’s ever shown up to one.”
“Actually, she has shown up to several of them,” he said.
She groaned. “And, of course, I didn’t see her to say hi.” She shook her head. “Sometimes I’m just so blind.”
“Any reason she wouldn’t come up and say anything to you?”
“Dr. Maddy likes to stay fairly unobtrusive in the public eye,” she said. “It’s not an easy life for her.”
“Meaning?”
“She’s famous, and the world is a sad place today. A lot of people want what she has to give.”
“What is that?”
“Hope,” she said. “Simply hope and healing.” There was a silence at the other end. She smiled and said, “I know that’s not what you were looking for in terms of an answer, but I’ll have Anita send you a list of anybody else I might know of.”
“Good,” he said. “I’d appreciate it.”
“Anything else, Detective?”
“No,” and then his voice deepened as he said, “Go back to bed and enjoy your morning. You worked hard for last night, but it was worth it.” And he hung up.
She stared down at her phone in surprise. But his words left a smile on her face, and the tone of his voice left a smile in her heart.
*
It’s not that Richard wanted to wake her, but, now that he had, he couldn’t get past the idea that she had been lying in bed, and his mind immediately filled in a tiny little silk negligee as she was surrounded by heavy down comforters and pillows, looking dreamy-eyed and still half asleep. He shook his head and swore.
“Now what’s your problem?” Andy asked.
Richard shot him a hard look. “Nothing. What’s up?”
He shrugged. “We have another case. Sketchy details at the moment.”
“Dammit,” Richard said. “Don’t we have enough problems to be working on without getting another?”
“Oh, absolutely, but that doesn’t stop the crime in this town from carrying on.”
“True enough,” he said. “Let’s go. What is it we’re doing?” Richard asked, as he reached for his jacket yet again.
“Visiting a body in a dumpster.”
“Wow. And why is that a surprise?” Richard shook his head. He followed Andy outside to his small truck. “How far away?”
“Not,” he said. “Just a couple blocks away from where Elena was found.”
Immediately he shot him a hard look. “Any connection?”
“Not that anybody’s aware of yet,” he said, “but who’s to say?”
“Right,” he said. “Something to consider.”
“Absolutely.”
It wasn’t long before they pulled up at the scene, already cordoned off with crime scene tape, police all around.
Richard looked at the crowd and asked, “No coroner yet?”
“They’re on the way,” somebody said at his side.
He turned to see another team member. “Hey, Thomas. What have we got here?”
“A young man,” he said, his
