Page 2 of Holmes Is Missing

Poe looked toward a small glass-fronted room off the mainunit. The crying was coming from there, from where half a dozen women in shapeless hospital gowns were sobbing and wailing and clinging to one another like condemned prisoners. Suddenly, Poe felt a hard shoulder against his chest. An athletic man in a bulky grey suit was blocking the way. Like Helene, he wore a detective badge around his neck.

“What are these assholes doing here?” he asked. The question was directed at Grey, as was the follow-up: “Who the hell invited PIs to an active crime scene?”

“Back off, Vail,” said Helene. “I brought them in. My call.”

Poe was fully aware of the friction between his firm and the NYPD in general. The reason for it was simple. Holmes, Marple & Poe Investigations had recently solved some very big cases—right under the noses of the police department. Those noses were still out of joint. But Poe didn’t care. He poked Detective Vail in the chest. “Haven’t you heard? There’s been a kidnapping.”

“That’s not possible,” said Vail. “This place has security up the ass. You couldn’t steal a goddamn Band-Aid from this floor.”

Before Poe could respond, Marple yanked him aside. “Stop it, Auguste! You won’t make any friends with that attitude.”

“I’m not here to make friends,” Poe replied. “I’m here to get answers.”

A nurse in burgundy scrubs walked up and handed Grey a sheet of paper.

“Is this the list?” Grey asked.

The nurse nodded grimly. She had the look of a woman at the end of a very long shift—maybe two.

Grey tapped the page. “Six,” she said. “Six missing newborn babies.”

Poe looked at Marple. Helene had not exaggerated. This was a huge case. Too bad their firm was not at full strength. He leaned over and whispered in Marple’s ear. “Of all the times to be one brain short!”

CHAPTER3

MARPLE TURNED TOWARDthe roomful of sobbing women in hospital gowns. She realized that she was looking at the frantic mothers—the ones whose babies had been stolen from the nursery in the middle of the night. Had they been gathered together in the same room by the cops or had they found one another in their fear?

As she watched through the glass, Marple saw a detective slip into the room with them, her pen and notepad ready. The women lurched forward, almost engulfing her. Their faces were streaked with tears, their expressions haunted.

Marple felt Poe at her elbow. “Best day of their lives,” he said. “Now the worst.”

Suddenly, an elevator door opened and a whole new group burst into the unit.

“Brace yourself,” said Marple. “I think the dads just arrived.”

The partners emerged as a single mass, wild-eyed and panicky. Marple counted five men and one woman. A big guy in expensive slacks and a blue dress shirt was in the lead.A Master of the Universe type,thought Marple,looking to take control.

“Where’s my wife?” he shouted. “Christine!” He moved like a rugby player, bumping cops and nurses aside. When he spotted the room full of distraught women, he waved frantically. One of the women waved back. A young cop stepped up to ask for ID. The big guy pushed past him like he wasn’t even there.

Marple watched as the other five followed him into the glass-fronted room, finding their partners and embracing them tightly.

The keening inside the room intensified, now accompanied by curses and angry mutters. The man in the dress shirt turned on the young detective. “What happened here? What are you doing about this? Where are our babies?”

Marple saw the detective try to assert her command, but it was no use. The furious father towered over her. A couple of hospital security guards hustled over, but the angry dads shoved them out of the room. The detective backed out too, clearly flustered.

Helene Grey walked over to Marple and Poe. “What a shit show,” she muttered.

“What else do we know?” asked Poe.

“It was clean. It was quick. It was professional.”

“How many babies were in the nursery at the time?”

“Eight. We’re keeping the remaining two babies there for the moment—under close watch—but we’ve isolated the mothers and moved all other patients off this floor.”

“Inside job?” asked Marple.

“No doubt,” said Helene.

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