He moved on to a stack of mail and quickly took in the return addresses. None were familiar names, but he took pictures of the envelopes as well.
The desk phone rang. Decker picked it up before the service could get to it. “Loving Care Residential Home.”
“Is this Dr. Lionel Lewis?”
It was a female voice. Decker said, “This is his assistant. Who am I speaking to?”
“Dr. Forrester. Dr. Lewis left a message yesterday about Kathrine Taylor.”
“Right,” Decker said. “Dr. Lewis wanted to make sure Kathrine was all right. Where are you located? In Connecticut, right?”
“Yes. Why do you think Kathrine isn’t all right?”
“She had a boyfriend who used to live at your facility. Bertram Lanz.”
“Of course. I know Bertram. What about him? Is he all right?”
“He’s missing. We’re thinking that he went to visit Kathrine.”
Another long pause. “I don’t want to be rude, but could you please put Dr. Lewis on the line?”
“Dr. Lewis is in a meeting. We’re all frantic about Bertram. Whatever you tell me, I’ll pass along to him.”
“Bertram’s not here.”
“Okay. Thank you very much. And what about Kathrine? Is she all right?”
“Why shouldn’t she be all right?”
Decker paused. “It’s a simple yes or no answer.”
There was a long pause over the line. “Who is this?”
It was time to come clean. “Actually, Dr. Forrester, I’m Detective Peter Decker from Greenbury Police in Upstate New York. I’m in charge of the Bertram Lanz Missing Persons case. I’m waiting for Dr. Lewis to come out of his meeting, and that’s why I answered the phone. I knew that Dr. Lewis called you, and I was hoping you had some information for me. Is Kathrine all right?”
“She left here two days ago, and she was fine when she left.”
A beat. He said, “Was the departure unexpected?”
“We got a call from her mother, saying she was needed home—family emergency.”
“Did you phone up her parents to make sure it was actually Kathrine’s mother who called?”
There was a long pause. “Detective—if you are one—please ask Dr. Lewis to call me.”
“Doctor, I need your help.”
“I shouldn’t be talking to you.”
“On the contrary, I’m the one person you should be talking to.”
“So you say.” She hung up.
Decker looked at the desk phone and was about to press redial when Lewis came through the door. His face was not happy. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I was about to press redial because Dr. Forrester hung up on me. She’s the head administrator from Bertram’s former home in Connecticut.”
“I know who Dr. Forrester is. I called her.” A pause. “Did you answer Linda’s phone? That’s totally inappropriate!”
“Your righteous indignation is going to have to wait because we have more important things to worry about.” Briefly Decker told him about the blood at Elsie Schulung’s house. “We found some photographs there, Doctor. I’d like to show them to you. Perhaps you can identify the people in the snapshots.”
“Fine, fine.” Lewis snatched the pictures from Decker’s hands. “This is Bertram. I’m sure you knew that already.” A pause. “I don’t know the woman he’s with.”
“What about the other one?” Decker asked.
Lewis spent a little more time with the woman in her mid-thirties. “No . . . No, I don’t know her.”
“You’re sure.”
“I’m not holding back on you.” He sat down at Linda’s desk chair. “I do hope you’re not planning on showing them around to the residents.”
“Residents, staff. Why not?”
“Because it’ll upset them.”
“These aren’t morgue pictures. They’re just plain photographs.”
“Even so.”
“Dr. Lewis, something happened at Elsie Schulung’s house. Her car is missing. I find pictures of Bertram with a woman that’s probably Kathrine. And she’s most probably missing—”
“How do you know that?”
Decker waited a few seconds. “Dr. Forrester told me that Kathrine Taylor was called home by her mother for a family emergency a few days ago—around the time Bertram went missing. Did you know that?”
“No, I didn’t know. How could I know? I hadn’t spoken to the woman yet.”
“I’m pretty sure that no one from Kathrine’s residential home called her parents to verify that it was actually her mother who phoned. I just left a crime scene and now have Kathrine Taylor’s safety to worry about.” Decker pressed redial and handed Lewis the phone. “Find out the details and ask for Kathrine’s phone number, okay?”
Lewis took the receiver. When the line clicked in, he said, “This is Dr. Lionel Lewis from Loving Care Adult Residential Home in New York. Is this Dr. Renee Forrester?” Decker couldn’t hear her answer. “Yes, this really is Dr. Lewis. The man you spoke to—Detective Decker—is legitimate as well. One of our residents—Bertram Lanz—went missing in Upstate New York, and Detective Decker was assigned to the case.”
Decker put the phone on speaker. “Hello.”
Lewis sighed. “Detective Decker would like to speak to Kathrine’s parents just to make sure that she’s okay.”
A voice squawked over the speaker. “How do I know you’re both legitimate?”
“Dr. Forrester,” Decker said, “I can find out where Kathrine Taylor’s parents live. That won’t be hard for me. And when I do find the phone number and address, I’ll call up the local police department and ask for a welfare check. I don’t mean to frighten you . . .” A lie. “But what started out as a Missing Persons case has potentially turned into something more serious. We found blood.”
She gasped. “Bertram’s?”
“We don’t know yet, but we’re investigating all possibilities. If Kathrine’s parents don’t know that their daughter left your home, they’re in for a rude awakening. Her disappearance might be better coming from you. And if Kathrine’s all right, then there’s no harm done. All I want to do is make a phone call.”
“Who are you again?”
“Detective Peter Decker—Greenbury Police Department. Here’s the number.” He recited the digits to the front desk. “Call them up. You can verify that it matches Greenbury PD. Ask for anyone. They’ll let you know that I’m on official business.”
“I’ll call you back.” She hung up.
Lewis said, “I know you are dealing with Bertram’s disappearance, so I’ll excuse the intrusion into someone else’s property—this time. But you know that you just can’t simply barge in here and run your own show.”
“Apologies.”
“I’d like to call up Baniff Police and find out the situation at Elsie Schulung’s place,” Lewis said. “Who do I ask for?”