“It’s also possible,” Steve said, “that we’re seeing a good cop trying to squeeze a confession out of a guy he thinks killed his girlfriend.”
“What does your gut tell you?”
“My gut tells me nothing.”
“Well, we’ve got nothing connecting him to the crime scene.”
“And no documented history of his lying, false arrests, or giving misleading evidence in court.”
“What about Pendergast?”
Steve shook his head. “We’ve hit stone. Even her friends and coworkers never heard of Earl Pendergast, nor the brother and sister. Nothing from his credit cards, phone records. And he doesn’t fit the profile.”
“Well, it’s in the prosecutor’s hands.”
“Yeah.”
“Whatever, Neil’s off the case. When he comes back, we’ll put him elsewhere. Meanwhile, work with Dacey, Hogan, and Vaughn. And this does not get out. The last fucking thing we need is the media getting wind we’re investigating a crime where an investigator’s a major suspect.” He rubbed his face. “Jesus H. Christ, I don’t need this.”
49
“Well, Dana, if I must say so myself, you look wonderful.”
With his hand on her chin, Dr. Monks inspected the work he had done on her eyelids and the crease line above her nose bridge, turning her face as if examining a rare vase.
The assistant handed her a hand mirror. “I think you look great.”
Dana inspected herself. The scowl crease was gone and so were some frown lines. Even through the discoloration she could see that her eyes looked more open. But the enhanced smoothness only made her nose look bigger.
Dr. Monks donned a set of magnifying lenses to study the stitches. His eyes were huge, the centers almost completely black pupils. While he inspected her, it crossed her mind that what people said was true: enlarged pupils added to a person’s sex appeal, which was probably why magazine ads showed models with exaggerated blackness to associate arousal with the products.
After a minute he removed the glasses. “The incisions are healing well and the swelling is down. Dana, you once again have smooth young eyelids.”
“Thank you.” Again he had addressed her by her first name. Until today she had been Mrs. Markarian.
He slipped the lenses back on and removed the stitches. Probably because of the ice compresses and medication she felt only minimal discomfort. When he was finished he handed her a hand mirror. “What do you think?”
She looked in the mirror again. “It looks great.” When the nurse left and closed the door she said, “I want you to know how grateful I am, given your schedule.”
He smiled. “No problem.”
“I’m considering having my nose done. But the recovery period is probably much longer.”
“Yes. The bruising fades in a week or so, but it takes a month or more for the swelling to go down, especially inside.”
From the look on his face she could tell he knew what was coming next.
“Well, I’d like to schedule that, but the only block of time I’ll get is Christmas vacation, and I don’t want to wait six months. Also I don’t want to show up in class all black and blue.”
“Of course not.” He leaned back in his chair. “So what you’re asking is if I can work this in before I go on vacation and before your summer vacation is over.”
“Yes.”
“Well, let me ask you why exactly you want to have it done?”
“Because I hate it. I look in the mirror and all I see is a fat potato in the middle of my face.”
He smiled. “So, it’s not related to your separation from your husband?”
“No.”
He studied her as if trying to assess the veracity of her statement. “Forgive me for being so blunt, but you don’t see this as a way of reestablishing your relationship with Mr. Markarian?”
“Not at all.”
“I ask because on occasion we get patients who confuse cosmetic needs for emotional or psychological ones. They’ll show up in a state of urgency because they’re going through an emotional crisis—usually a traumatic loss like the death of a loved one or separation or divorce—and believe that the only solution is aesthetic augmentation.”
“Well, that’s not the case.”
Monks nodded. “But you can understand how some people regard a makeover as a way of restoring a lost emotional connection.”
“Yes, but that’s not me. I don’t want a nose job to win my husband back. I’ve wanted this long before I was even married, since I was a teenager, in fact.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“And if you had doubts?”
“I’d send you home. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. So what are your expectations from the surgery?”
“My expectations are that I’ll like the improvement and feel better about myself.”
He nodded. “And I think you will. I see it all the time. In fact, it’s one of the joys of this profession—seeing how much happier and better adjusted people are after aesthetic procedures. Of course, it’s no guarantee, and we’re very careful to avoid promising folks that a nose job or face-lift will change their lives. But improving one’s appearance will improve one’s confidence, especially in establishing intimate ties with others.”
“I can see how rewarding that must be.”
“Yes, and especially so if a patient has a physical deformity or some disfiguring ailment. It’s also true if something in a person’s appearance constantly bothers them. If every time you walk by a mirror your heart sinks when you look at your sunken chin or narrow cheeks—”
“Or nose.”
“Or nose. If it’s a constant source of anguish, then something should be done about it. I’ve had patients whose lives were turned around following cosmetic surgery. One woman had a prominent nose and a tiny chin. She hated her appearance, saying she looked like a troll. The sad thing was, she did. After a nose job and some jaw reconstruction, she not only looked like a different person, she was a different person. She’d come in and say how her life had been transformed. In the past she’d avoid social engagements, parties, and bars. She never dated. Now she’s a woman about town, dating and partying. Like others, she changed from the outside in. The procedures released someone who lived deep inside but who needed the physical transformation to bring her out.”
“I’m not sure that’s me, but I want a new nose.”
“Then, I think something should be done. Because it’s not so much your nose but how you feel about it.” He moved closer and slowly turned her face to profile and back.
Again, she wondered why he never had cosmetic work done. His skin was dry and rough with pockmarks. He also had that distracting mole. Evidently he had no problem with his appearance.
“You should know that rhinoplasty is the most dramatic alteration of one’s appearance. And since your nose is measurably out of harmony with the rest of your face, the change will be significant.” As he spoke, he ran his finger along her nose to demonstrate the changes and she followed him in the hand mirror. “What we’d do is remove the hump and narrow the cartilage pyramid and reshape the tip and base, which will open the plane of your face, making your cheekbones more prominent.”
