Devil’s Waltz. By: Jonathan Kellerman

Cindy had lied about her discharge.

Maybe Laurence Ashmore found some data too. Saw Cassie’s name on the

admission and discharge sheets and got curious.

What else could have caused him to take another look at Chad Jones’s

chart?

He’d never be able to tell me, but maybe his former assistant could.

I called 2I3, 3I0, and 8r8 Informations for a listing on Dawn Kent

Herbert and got nowhere. Expanded my search to Sos, 7 I4, and 659 with

the same result, then phoned Milo at Parker Center. He picked up and

said, “Heard about your homicide last night.”

“I was at the hospital when it happened.” I told him about being

questioned, the scene in the lobby. Feeling as if I’d been watched

when I left the parking structure.

“Be careful, bucko. I got your message on Bottomley’s hubby, but I’ve

got no domestic violence calls to her address and there’s no one on

NCIC who could be her hubby. But she does have a troublemaker living

there. Reginald Douglas Bottomley, D.O.B. 70.

Which would probably make him her son or maybe an errant nephew.”

“What’d he do to get in trouble?”

“Sure,” I said. “Have you had epidemics of meningitis?Lots-he’s got a

sheet long enough to cover Abdul-Ja A few. The most recent was two

years ago. Before that, 83, then 78 and ~~-almost looks cyclical, come

to think of it. Might be worth checking that out, see if someone can

come up with a p~~~~~~~~ “How serious were the outbreaks?” bed.

Sealed juvenile file, then a bunch of DUIs, possession, shoplifting,

petty theft, burglary, robbery, assault. Lots of busts, a few

convictions, a teensy bit of jail time, mostly at County. Got a call

in to a detective over at Foothill Division, see what he knows.

What’s the relevance of Bottomley’s home situation to the little

kid?”

“Don’t know,” I said. “Just looking for stress factors that might get

her to act out. Probably because she was getting on my nerves.

Course, if Reggie turned out bad because Vicki abused him, that would

tell us something. Meanwhile, I’ve got something that definitely is

relevant. Cindy Jones lied about her military discharge. I just

talked to Fort Jackson and there was no pneumonia epidemic in’83.”

“That so?”

“She might have had pneumonia, but it wasn’t part of any outbreak. And

she made a point about the epidemic.”

“Seems a stupid thing to lie about.”

“The Munchausen game,” I said. “Or maybe she was covering up

something. Remember I told you the discharge seemed a sensitive topic

for her-how she blushed and yanked her braid? The public health

officer at the army base said there was an epidemic in 83just about the

time Cindy would have been in. But it was bacterial menIngitis.

Which can lead to seizures. Giving us a link to another organ system

Cassie’s had problems with. In fact, she had a grand mal seizure last

night. In the hospital.”

“That’s a first.”

“Yup. First time anyone but Cindy saw it.”

“Who else did?”

“Bottomley and the ward clerk. And what’s interesting is, yesterday

Cindy was talking to me about how Cassie always gets sick at home, then

recovers right away in the hospital. So people start thinking her

mother’s crazy. And here we are, a few hours later, with eyewitnesses

and chemical corroboration. The lab tests turned up hypoglycemia, and

now Stephanie’s convinced Cassie’s really sick.

But hypoglycemia can be faked, Milo, by anything that alters the blood

sugar, like a shot of insulin. I mentioned that to Stephanie, but I’m

not sure she’s hearing it. She’s really geared up, looking for rare

metabolic diseases.”

“Pretty sharp about-face,” he said.

“I can’t say that I blame her. After months of dealing with this,

she’s frustrated and wants to practice medicine, not play psychological

guessing games.”

“You, on the other hand. .

“I’ve got an evil mind-too much time hanging around you.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Well, I can see your point about the meningitis, if

that’s what the mom had. Seizures for all like mother, like

daughter.

But you don’t know that yet. And if she was covering up, why would she

bring up the discharge in the first place? Why even tell you she was

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