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“When?”Kate asked.
“Um… Monday.”
Kate and Marcus exchanged a glance.“Any idea where he went?”
The young man scratched his nose.“Hospital?”
“Why are you saying it like a question?Are you not sure whether he went there or not?”
The man looked awkward.“Uh, they said he kinda went in, and then he checked out.”
Kate sighed.“Who’s they?Actually, never mind.Where’s your boss?”
The young man looked even more lost.“It’s my first day,” he said, apologetically.
After a quick call and a short wait, a dark-haired lady, sporting a lavender-colored suit and an air of authority escorted them to Ray’s former room on the first floor.It was virtually empty: a small, weekender type of suitcase, a crime novel on the bedside table, a few toiletries in the adjoining bathroom.
“He didn’t arrive with much,” said the lady.“Typically people don’t.”
“They’re at an especially low point when they check in, I guess,” said Kate.“But what exactly has happened to Mr.Sullivan?”
The lady – whose badge read “Elena Mendoza, Care Manager” – took a deep breath.“From the top?He was having palpitations.This was on Monday, directly after lunch.Feeling faint.That’s what he told us, anyway.We don’t take any chances, particularly not with middle-aged ex-coke and meth users, so we called an ambulance and it took him to the hospital.We were short-staffed that day, so nobody was available to go with him.”
“Which hospital was that?”
“Zion Cedars.Middle of Brunswick.Eventually, I got sufficient cover organized so that I could go over there myself.That would have been about six in the evening.By which time, they’d lost him.”
“Lost him?”
“They ran a few tests, determined that there was nothing serious going on.As I said, they have to be extra-cautious with anything heart- or blood-pressure-related.But they thought, in this case, he maybe had a few too many espressos.They told him to rest up while they got in touch with us.”
“And when did they get in touch with you?”
“They didn’t.I don’t mean to say that they’re incompetent assholes.But they are, actually, incompetent assholes.Nobody got in contact with us.And it was only when I showed up there, like I said, around six, that they realized he’d gone.”
“So the last time you had any contact with him was when the ambulance came, just after lunch.Can you be more specific about the time?”
“It was two o’clock, dead on, because I heard the news.”
“What steps have you taken since discovering that he left the hospital?”
“I’ve reported him missing to the local PD, but he’s deemed to be an adult with capacity, so they’re not going to be looking for him too hard.He’s free to leave if he chooses.Though I must say, I’m surprised by it.He was really making progress this time.”
“So he’s been in rehab before?”
“Middle of last year, and again this year.That’s at this institution.He may have been at others before then.He can certainly talk the talk, but that’s true of a lot of our patients.They’ve usually spent hours in various 12-step groups and meetings before they go residential.”
“But he seemed to be making progress this time,” Kate prompted.
“Participating in all the programs.Contributing in group.Helpful and compassionate towards others.Leading light of our puzzle and crossword circle.”
Kate remembered the cryptic clue left at the crime scene.
“And no sign that he was thinking of throwing in the towel?”
“None at all.But when you’ve got complex addictions like Ray’s… well, anything can trigger a slip.”
“Complex addictions?”Marcus echoed.
