Free Fall

44

So, we have a few hours to track down Revae Dunn.

She works as the office manager at a place called “The Garden State Reproductive Science Center,” about half a mile away from Mainland Medical in Avondale.

It’s a very medical-looking building. Lots of dark windows and sterile stucco walls. The islands of grass sprinkled around the asphalt parking lot look like they get manicured instead of mowed. As we pull into a visitor parking spot, I notice that Michael has been even more generous to Revae Dunn than her sister.

In a parking slot “Reserved For Office Manager,” I see a bright red Jaguar XKR convertible. Those kitty cats cost over a hundred thousand dollars. That’s right. More than some houses.

“Michael Rosen sure likes the Dunn sisters,” I mumble as we climb out of Ceepak’s car, which, all of a sudden, doesn’t seem all that super dooper any more.

“Indeed,” says Ceepak, admiring the convertible. “And judging by their vehicles, I believe Revae is his favorite.”

Revae Dunn agrees to talk to us.

“For five minutes. We’re very busy.”

We’re in her nice, gray-on-gray-carpeted office. She’s dressed in a crisply starched linen business suit the color of a dove. Her hair is perfectly coiffed. Her earrings match her necklace, which matches her bracelet. The woman has style.

“Ms. Dunn,” says Ceepak, “given your rigid time constraints, kindly allow me to be blunt: Why did the wealthy Hollywood producer Michael Rosen buy you a Jaguar convertible worth well over one hundred thousand dollars?”

“Who said he did?”

“Me. We know that Dr. Rosen also purchased a car for your sister Monae and, at your insistence, procured her a position as a home health aide at Dr. Arnold Rosen’s home in Sea Haven.”

“Who are you again?”

“John Ceepak. Chief of Detectives. Sea Haven PD. This is my partner, Detective Boyle.”

Revae Dunn glances at her wristwatch.

“I believe we still have four more minutes,” says Ceepak.

“Look, detectives. What we do here at this clinic needs to be treated with the utmost confidentiality.”

“You haven’t answered my question. Why has Michael Rosen been so generous to you and your sister?”

“I asked him to look after Monae as a favor to me. She’s fifteen years younger than I am. Mom and Dad called her their ‘whoops baby.’ I suppose I tend to mother-hen her. Anyway, a year or so ago, she was drifting. Living with me or our brother. She had no direction or goals. Finally, I encouraged Monae to take a class and obtain her home health aide license. It took a lot of effort-on my part and hers, but she did it. She was qualified to start a real career with a potential for growth. However, that did not mean her struggles were over. Like many young women of color, she had trouble finding employment. So I lent her a hand. Used my connections.”

“With the Rosens?”

“That’s right.”

“And so we come back to my original question: Why has Michael Rosen been so generous and helpful to you and your family?”

“Because we, here at the clinic, have been extremely helpful to him and his family.”

“How so?”

“Dr. Rosen’s only grandson. Michael’s sole nephew. We had a hand in that. Fifteen years ago, Dr. Rosen paid for his daughter-in-law to undergo certain fertility treatments.”

“Were you here at the time?”

“Yes. Judith Rosen and her husband, I believe his name is David …”

“That’s correct.”

“They had been trying to get pregnant with no success for several years. Judith was rapidly approaching her fortieth birthday.”

“So her biological clock was ticking.”

“Very loudly. Plus, her father-in-law, Dr. Rosen, desperately wanted grandchildren. So, after several unsuccessful but costly attempts at other fertility clinics, the Rosens ended up here.”

“These sorts of treatments, they’re quite expensive?”

“They can be. In Vitro Fertilization. Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection. Therapeutic Donor Insemination. Controlled Ovarian Hyperstimulation. Frozen Embryo Transfer.”

Man. Making babies never sounded so un-sexy.

“Each of these procedures can cost several thousand dollars.”

“And Judith’s father-in-law paid for it all?”

Revae Dunn finally cracks a smile. “What can I say? The man wanted a grandbaby.”

“And Michael gave you a Jaguar, found your sister a job and gave her a Z-car, just to say thanks for helping his sister-in-law give birth to his only nephew?”

“Michael Rosen is an extremely generous individual.”

“Then why didn’t he pay for the treatments?”

“Excuse me?”

“If Michael Rosen wanted a nephew so badly, why didn’t he pay for all the procedures? Surely he could’ve afforded the costs much more easily than either his father or older brother.”

Revae Dunn’s left eye twitches. Twice. She glances at her watch again.

“I don’t know,” she says. “You’ll have to ask him. Now if you gentlemen will excuse me.”

And she shows us the door.

“She’s lying,” I say the second we’re back in the parking lot.

“Actually,” says Ceepak, “I don’t believe she told us any lies. However, that does not mean she has told us the entire truth.”

“So now what?”

“I want to check in with Bill Botzong. See how we’re doing on the cyanide search.”

“And then?”

“Let’s head back to Williamsville. Spend a little more time with Revae’s sister.”

“You think Monae knows the whole story of what went on here?”

“Doubtful. But I am certain she will be able to shed some more light on the Rosen family dynamics.”

Yeah. Like why Michael was so excited about having a nephew he gave everybody involved in the process of bringing Little Arnie into the world a flashy new car-except, of course, the baby’s parents.