“I . . . I’ll help however I can,” she managed.
“Tell me about the body you saw in the tunnel. Include everything you can remember.”
Dr. Baldwin sat down hard in his chair, shaking his head in disgust.
She swallowed. “It was my sister, Rosemary. Her hair had been chopped off, like it was done with a knife or dull scissors. And her lips were painted red. Not normal, but more like a clown face, with the lipstick going up her cheeks, like this.” She touched the corners of her mouth and traced lines toward her ears.
“And her injuries?”
“Her wrists and throat had been slit, and blood was running down her legs and chest.”
Nolan glanced knowingly at Sergeant Clark, then looked back at Sage. “Do you have any idea who might have killed your sister?” he said.
Baldwin slammed a hand on his desk. “That’s enough, Detective,” he said. “I can’t allow this type of questioning. It’s just feeding into her delusions.”
Nolan ignored him. “Miss Winters? Who do you think killed Rosemary?”
She glanced nervously at Dr. Baldwin. If Eddie was right and he’d somehow covered up Rosemary’s murder by getting rid of her body, he would make her pay. And if Nolan thought Sage had killed Evie, she could go to prison. “I . . . I don’t know for sure. I wish I did, so I could tell you. But like I said before, if I had to guess, I’d say it was that attendant Wayne. I don’t know his last name.”
Nolan turned to Baldwin. “What’s Wayne’s last name?”
Dr. Baldwin grumbled in disgust. “This is ridiculous.”
“Maybe. But I need his last name.”
“I’m not sure,” Baldwin said. “I’d have to look it up.”
Nolan’s eyebrows went up. “You don’t know who takes care of your patients?”
“We have over two thousand employees working on campus, Detective. I can’t be expected to remember everyone’s names. And we prefer the term resident, not patient.”
Nolan shot him an exasperated look. “I’m going to need you to look that up,” he said. “And I’d also like to know how Miss Winters found her way into the tunnels in the first place. Is it possible for a patient . . . excuse me, I mean, a resident, to find their way down there without being noticed?”
“Of course not,” Baldwin blustered. “We keep all doors locked. Only employees have access to the basement and tunnels.” He took another sip of coffee. When he set the cup back down, his hand trembled.
“I had help,” Sage said.
“From who?” Nolan said.
She glanced at Baldwin. “I’d rather not say. Not yet anyway.”
“Do you know who she’s talking about?” Nolan asked Baldwin.
Dr. Baldwin squeezed his forehead between his thumb and fingers, closing his eyes as if he were getting a headache, then pulled himself together and regarded Nolan again. “Look, you have to understand something. A news crew broke into Miss Winters’s building that day and all hell broke loose. She tried to escape but got caught, and now she claims to have found a body. A body we didn’t find anywhere. As far as her getting into the tunnels, someone could have easily left the door unlocked with everything that was happening. And as her doctor, I’m telling you that whatever she said to me, and whatever she says to you now, you need to understand that it’s all part of her delusions. Her story.”
“I understand your position,” Nolan said. “But regardless of that, the similarities between the conditions of the body she described as her sister’s and Evie Carter’s body are too much of a coincidence to ignore. And due to the fact that Mrs. Carter’s body was found on Willowbrook property, you might as well get used to the idea that there will be a full investigation. So from here on out, I’ll be talking to your employees and your residents, if need be. I’ll have some questions for you too, Dr. Baldwin, so be prepared. And I’ll be sending someone to check out the tunnels. In the meantime, I’m hoping Miss Winters will agree to look at Mrs. Carter’s body.” He turned to her. “Do you think that’s something you can do? Only to point out any similarities, of course.”
“Good God,” Baldwin said. “You’re being unreasonable, Detective. Miss Winters is unwell. And I would never allow you to take her off the premises. It’s too big a risk and she’s too unstable. Not to mention we’ve already caught her trying to escape several times. You’re welcome to bring the body into our morgue for her to examine if you wish, but that’s it.”
“I’m afraid that’s not an option,” Nolan said. “Evie Carter won’t be going to Willowbrook’s morgue. The coroner will be taking her body to the city morgue. But that’s irrelevant right now, because we’re still investigating and photographing the crime scene, which includes the body. And that means I won’t need to take Miss Winters off the premises.”
Baldwin balked. “Are you saying you want to show her the crime scene?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying, yes,” Detective Nolan said. “If she’s willing, of course. I don’t want to force her to do anything she’s not comfortable with.”
“As her doctor, I cannot allow it,” Dr. Baldwin said. “It could send her into another psychotic episode.”
Nolan let out an irritated sigh. “Did I mention I called the bus station and they did indeed have Miss Winters’s name and Alan Tern’s phone number on record? I believe it concerned a stolen purse.”
Sage gasped. He’d actually listened to her the last time he was there.
Dr. Baldwin rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t mean anything. She could have easily hopped on the bus while it was on campus and taken a joyride.”
“Do the residents ride the bus for free?”
“Actually, we do have a few residents who go home with relatives on occasion for short visits, and we always pay the bus fares for them. Maybe the driver allowed her on by mistake and she told him one of her imaginary stories.”
Sage groaned inside. As usual, he had an answer for everything. She looked at Detective Nolan. “Did you call the number they gave you?”
“I did,” Detective Nolan said. “Several times, but there was never any answer.”
Sage nodded, not surprised. She’d realized by now that Alan was not going to be the one to save her. She had to save herself. And if looking at another dead body would help find Rosemary’s killer, she could handle it. She could handle anything. “I’ll go,” she said. “I want to help however I can.”
“Again,” Dr. Baldwin said, “as her doctor, I don’t think that would be wise.”
“Are you advising Miss Winters to hinder our investigation, Doctor?” Nolan said. “I have to warn you it wouldn’t look good, especially not after the statements made by Evie Carter’s husband.”
“What statements?” Dr. Baldwin said, his face going dark.
“I’d rather not get into the details of that right now,” Detective Nolan said. “Just be aware of the fact that he believes his wife was romantically involved with someone at Willowbrook.”