Page 35 of The Perfect Revenge
“I never thought it should have been a secret anyway,” he eventually said.“I told Vonnie that there’s nothing to be ashamed of.But she considered her inability to conceive to be a failure on her part.She had a sense of shame about it that she couldn’t get past.But I guess that doesn’t matter now.Yes, we used a surrogate.”
“Did you go through a service?”Jessie tried to keep her excitement at bay.
"We tried privately first.But that didn't work, so we went with a company called Elite Family Services.They're in Santa Monica."
Jessie silently pumped the air.That was the same company that Maggie Caldwell had used.
“And what was your surrogate’s name?”
“Angela something,” he said, searching his memory.“Last name was Baracco or Bracco.Something like that.”
Jessie felt her enthusiasm briefly dissipate.The name of the Borowitz's surrogate was Mandy Carr.Then it occurred to her that she was making too big an issue of them potentially having the same surrogate.Her working assumption had been that the surrogate felt somehow wronged by the couple and sought revenge.That appeared not to be the case, but it didn't mean she was completely off base.Maybe their killer worked at the surrogacy service itself.
“Thank you, Mr.Sterling,” she said.“You’ve been extremely helpful.But there is one more thing you could do.”
“What?”
"Authorize us to access your files at Elite Family Services.We can get a court order if we have to, but this would be a lot faster.And we're worried that time might be running short."
“If it helps catch whoever did this to Vonnie, I’ll authorize anything.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
“EFS has very strict protocols.”
As Jessie sat across from the woman giving them such a hard time, she could feel her agitation getting the better of her.She tried Jamil’s technique of clenching and releasing her fists before responding to their hostess.Sitting next to her, Susannah looked like she was about to blow her top.
“We get that, Ms.Mulligan,” Jessie said, clenching and unclenching violently.“But as I said, this is a murder investigation and we have authorization from the next of kin of both victims to review their records.”
Mary Mulligan, the executive director of Elite Family Services, or EFS, was sitting across the desk from them in her office, looked unimpressed.In her fifties, with a shock of short white hair, black horn-rimmed glasses, and a seemingly permanent scowl, the woman had been nothing but difficult since they arrived.
“But that doesn’t mean you can go rooting around in the records of other patients,” she almost spat.
Jessie was at her wit's end.And something told her that Mary Mulligan might be more receptive to Susannah's interpersonal style than her own.Glancing over, she gave the detective a slight nod and leaned back in her chair to take in the upcoming fireworks.Susannah smiled as she leaned forward.When she spoke, her voice was full of cold, coiled derision.
"Ma'am, we're less concerned with the records of other patients than we are with your employees.We have reasonable suspicion that a member of your staff may be responsible for these killings.Since the killer is still at large, we are more than willing to bring the full force of the Los Angeles Police Department to bear as we pursue this matter.That means we call a half dozen patrol cars, confine your entire staff to one room, and put police tape up around the entire building.We brought along a uniformed officer with us today who will ensure that all that happens in the next half hour.”
Jessie did her best to keep a stern expression as her partner continued.It was true that they’d brought along Officer Devery, just as they had when they met with Teddy Borowitz.But as before, he was currently in the parking lot, likely trying to solve today’s Wordle puzzle if past was present.Susannah’s ongoing threat made Jessie re-focus.
"Then we request a warrant for access to all your records—employees and patients.That might not come today, so we'll need to shut down EFS until it does arrive, probably tomorrow sometime.You'll need to call all your clients to reschedule, assuming they'll want to come back.They may not, once they see this building plastered all over the local news in the context of the murders of two women who came here for help.That's option one.Option two is you share your employee files with us here in the privacy of your office, and we review them quietly.To be honest, I'd love to go with option one, but considering that there's a murderer on the loose, I'm willing to compromise.Now with all that in mind, what is your preference going forward?"
Jessie had watched with barely suppressed glee as, over the course of thirty seconds, Mary Mulligan’s self-satisfied scowl was replaced by something between anxiety and full-on panic.Before she spoke, she swallowed hard and adjusted herself in her seat, seemingly trying to maintain some dignity.
“I’ll give you the employee records, since those aren’t protected,” she said, adding that last bit as if it made all the difference.“But I can tell you right now that you won’t find any issues with anyone on our current staff.”
“How can you be so sure?”Susannah pressed.
“Because we had them vetted by a firm that does specialized background checks.”
“That seems excessive,” Susannah noted.
“I’m guessing it has something to do with Ms.Mulligan’s use of the word ‘current,’” Jessie mused.
Susannah’s brow furrowed in confusion.Jessie shared her theory.
“Ms.Mulligan, did you vet all your current employees because you discovered an issue with aformerone?”
The woman looked both embarrassed and indignant as she answered.
