about the money, Mrs. Blanc?”
Kathy looked up. “Pardon?”
“Had Adrianna ever loaned Garth any money?”
“What?” Mack stared at his wife. “Did she give that loser money?”
“She didn’t give it to him, she loaned it to him.”
“I don’t believe…” He jumped up and started pacing again. “Why?”
Kathy erupted into tears. “I don’t know why, Mack, all I know is that she did!”
“Was she generally a soft touch?” Decker asked.
Mack muttered under his breath and kept pacing. Kathy said, “Softhearted. That’s why she became a nurse.”
Decker said, “I’m just trying to get a feel for her, so please don’t take offense at my questions. As far as you know, did Adrianna take drugs or drink excessively?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Kathy told him.
“Of course we know,” Mack said. “We found weed in her dresser when she was in high school. Twice!”
“She said she stopped.”
“She also said the weed wasn’t hers.” To Decker: “Yes, she probably smoked dope and she probably drank too much.”
Kathy wiped her eyes. “She didn’t have a problem, Mack.”
“I didn’t say she had a problem.”
“It doesn’t sound like she had a problem,” Decker said. “She had an important job, and from what I heard, she did it very well.”
“She worked in the NICU with all the sick little preemies.” Kathy started crying. “They all loved her.”
“Good Lord.” Mack’s eyes moistened. “What the fuck happened?”
Back to square one. Decker said, “What else can you tell me about Garth Hammerling?”
“Met him about a half-dozen times. Didn’t trust him.” Mack stopped pacing. “Tell you the truth, I didn’t always trust Adrianna. Her judgment wasn’t the best.”
“A good kid,” Kathy said. “But she could be a little—”
“She was wild. She was also spoiled. We were spoiled by her older sister. That one never gave us anything to worry about.”
“Bea was a different child. There’s no sense comparing.”
“But we do anyway,” Mack told her. “More than once we were up at four in the morning, calling Adrianna’s friends because her cell was off and we didn’t know where she was. When she wanted to be a nurse, I was skeptical. But…”
Mack Blanc’s voice cracked.
“The girl proved me wrong.” He sniffed back tears. “She not only graduated, but got a job with responsibility. Her coworkers love her.”
“You met her coworkers?” Decker asked him.
Kathy said, “She had a Christmas party in her apartment two years ago. She invited us and we went.”
“I think that’s when we first met Garth,” Mack told her.
“Do you remember any other coworkers?”
“There was her friend Mandy Kowalski,” Kathy told Decker. “They went to nursing school together. I think it was Mandy who set Adrianna up with Garth.”
“Mandy set her up with Garth?” Decker repeated.
“I think so.” Kathy squinted, trying to bring back memories. “I think she knew a boy who knew him…something like that.”
“Do you remember the boy’s name?”
“No.” Mack waved his hand in the air. “We kept out of Adrian-na’s business.”
Kathy said, “His name was Aaron Otis.”
“How did you remember that?”
“I just do.”
Mack shook his head. “She’s a whiz with names.”
“That’s very good,” Decker said. “Aaron Otis. Did you ever meet him?”
“I had to have met him once because I recall he was tall with sandy hair…unless I’m getting things confused.” She looked down. “That’s certainly possible.”
“That’s helpful,” Decker said. “How about the names of Adri-anna’s other friends?”
“You can start with Sela Graydon and Crystal Larabee. The three of them were a tight little group.”
“Did either of them become nurses?”
“Heavens no,” Mack said. “I think Crystal wanted to be an actress. At twenty-nine, it ain’t gonna happen. What is she? Like a bartender?”
“She’s a main hostess at Garage.”
“Yeah, waiting to be discovered.”
“Be kind, Mack.” Kathy regarded Decker. “Garage is the newest Helmet Grass restaurant. It’s downtown…right near the New Otani.”
“Got it. What about Sela Graydon? What does she do?”
“She’s a lawyer,” Mack told him. “She was always the smart one of the three.”
“Do both women live in town?”
“Yes,” Kathy said. “I’ll get you their phone numbers.”
“Do you know anything about Mandy Kowalski?”
“Just that Adrianna met her in nursing school,” Mack said. “She seemed nice enough.”
“She used to help Adrianna study, especially when finals rolled around. The first time they happened, Adrianna freaked out. I couldn’t help her. I don’t know the first thing about the nervous system or the circulatory system, but after studying with Mandy, she not only pulled through, she did well. She even got a couple of A’s in some of the classes.”
The tears came flowing down Kathy’s cheek.
“She was so…proud!”
Decker gave her another Kleenex and watched the woman sob. There wasn’t a state-of-the-art dam in the entire world that could hold back that torrent.
“THERE’S NOT MUCH to come down for.” Marge was just outside in the parking lot of St. Tim’s because the reception for her cell was better. “The car’s being processed and we’re just about done with our preliminary interviewing.
