be easy knowing death is lurking around the next corner.
Lucien, who has been uncharacteristically quiet through all of this, a fact that makes my inner alarms clang even louder, finally speaks up. “Is anyone under arrest?”
“Not yet,” Hurley says. “It seems I have an entire facility of people to talk to.”
Lucien looks at Irene. “If everyone here thinks Bernard Chase was a killer, why are you the only one who called a lawyer?”
“It wasn’t for me,” Irene says.
Before she can explain herself, Connie Lane bursts through the front entrance to the wing. “I need all of you to stop what you’re doing.” She might as well have told us to dance a jig. “The board is on the way.”
“The board?” Lucien says. “What are you going to do, paddle us?”
“I’m referring to the board of directors,” Connie says with a reverent tone. “I called to let them know what’s going on. With Mr. Chase’s death, our vice president is now in charge and she said no one is to do anything until she gets here.”
Hurley shakes his head and sighs. “No, this is a crime scene and as such, I am the one in charge.”
“Dorothy isn’t going to like that,” Connie says.
“Dorothy Granger?” I ask, and Connie nods. I let out a low whistle and tell Hurley, “You might have met your match. Dorothy was one of the hospital supervisors back when I first started working the ER. She pretty much ran things her way, something the existing director of nursing was happy to allow. No one complained because it turned out that Dorothy’s way worked well and the DON at the time was an idiot. Unfortunately, the hospital CEO figured out that the existing DON was an idiot and fired her, hiring Nancy Molinaro to take her place. Both management and the hospital’s general culture underwent a drastic overhaul, and when Dorothy and Nancy came together, it was like trying to bring together like poles on two different magnets. The resulting repellent force became part of hospital lore mainly because Dorothy is one of the few people Molinaro ever fired who didn’t disappear altogether. We all figured it was because Molinaro was new to the area and hadn’t had time yet to set up her body disposal process.
“Anyway, Dorothy got snatched up by Twilight Home’s previous owner and hired on as the director of nursing. If rumor has it right, over the past decade she helped turn this place into a decent, clean, and profitable venture. Plus she got to run things her way again. It was a win-win for all. But I have to tell you, Dorothy is a force to be reckoned with.”
Hurley doesn’t look the least bit intimidated. He looks at Connie and says, “Do you know who Bernard’s next of kin is?”
“His wife Vonda.”
“I’ll need an address. Can you tell me why Bernard was here on a Saturday?”
“I have no idea,” Connie says. “I didn’t even know he was in the building. He parks out back in the side employee lot and comes in through the rear entrance on his workdays, so I assume he does the same if he comes in on an off day. He can be back here without anyone knowing.”
“Does he typically come in on the weekends? Or other off hours?”
Connie closes her mouth, and swallows hard. After the slightest hesitation—enough to let me think that she’s hiding something—she shakes her head. “Not that I’m aware of.” She quickly adds, “But I always work the day shift. I don’t know what happens at night.” She shoots me a worried look and I’m guessing that even if Hurley wasn’t intimidated by my description of Dorothy Granger, Connie is. “Is the place going to have to close down? Am I going to lose my job?”
I shrug, unsure why she directed her question to me. “I don’t think the place will shut down. It’s home to a lot of people. As to whether or not you’ll lose your job . . .” I shrug again.
Connie rears back as if I slapped her in the face. Her expression shifts from fearful, to stunned, to angry in
Lucien, who has been uncharacteristically quiet through all of this, a fact that makes my inner alarms clang even louder, finally speaks up. “Is anyone under arrest?”
“Not yet,” Hurley says. “It seems I have an entire facility of people to talk to.”
Lucien looks at Irene. “If everyone here thinks Bernard Chase was a killer, why are you the only one who called a lawyer?”
“It wasn’t for me,” Irene says.
Before she can explain herself, Connie Lane bursts through the front entrance to the wing. “I need all of you to stop what you’re doing.” She might as well have told us to dance a jig. “The board is on the way.”
“The board?” Lucien says. “What are you going to do, paddle us?”
“I’m referring to the board of directors,” Connie says with a reverent tone. “I called to let them know what’s going on. With Mr. Chase’s death, our vice president is now in charge and she said no one is to do anything until she gets here.”
Hurley shakes his head and sighs. “No, this is a crime scene and as such, I am the one in charge.”
“Dorothy isn’t going to like that,” Connie says.
“Dorothy Granger?” I ask, and Connie nods. I let out a low whistle and tell Hurley, “You might have met your match. Dorothy was one of the hospital supervisors back when I first started working the ER. She pretty much ran things her way, something the existing director of nursing was happy to allow. No one complained because it turned out that Dorothy’s way worked well and the DON at the time was an idiot. Unfortunately, the hospital CEO figured out that the existing DON was an idiot and fired her, hiring Nancy Molinaro to take her place. Both management and the hospital’s general culture underwent a drastic overhaul, and when Dorothy and Nancy came together, it was like trying to bring together like poles on two different magnets. The resulting repellent force became part of hospital lore mainly because Dorothy is one of the few people Molinaro ever fired who didn’t disappear altogether. We all figured it was because Molinaro was new to the area and hadn’t had time yet to set up her body disposal process.
“Anyway, Dorothy got snatched up by Twilight Home’s previous owner and hired on as the director of nursing. If rumor has it right, over the past decade she helped turn this place into a decent, clean, and profitable venture. Plus she got to run things her way again. It was a win-win for all. But I have to tell you, Dorothy is a force to be reckoned with.”
Hurley doesn’t look the least bit intimidated. He looks at Connie and says, “Do you know who Bernard’s next of kin is?”
“His wife Vonda.”
“I’ll need an address. Can you tell me why Bernard was here on a Saturday?”
“I have no idea,” Connie says. “I didn’t even know he was in the building. He parks out back in the side employee lot and comes in through the rear entrance on his workdays, so I assume he does the same if he comes in on an off day. He can be back here without anyone knowing.”
“Does he typically come in on the weekends? Or other off hours?”
Connie closes her mouth, and swallows hard. After the slightest hesitation—enough to let me think that she’s hiding something—she shakes her head. “Not that I’m aware of.” She quickly adds, “But I always work the day shift. I don’t know what happens at night.” She shoots me a worried look and I’m guessing that even if Hurley wasn’t intimidated by my description of Dorothy Granger, Connie is. “Is the place going to have to close down? Am I going to lose my job?”
I shrug, unsure why she directed her question to me. “I don’t think the place will shut down. It’s home to a lot of people. As to whether or not you’ll lose your job . . .” I shrug again.
Connie rears back as if I slapped her in the face. Her expression shifts from fearful, to stunned, to angry in
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