Mary, Mary

Chapter 114

STILL AND ALL, I was feeling like a real cop again, and it didn't seem half bad to me.

The wall clock in the administrative office said 5:52 when I slipped in.

I smiled across the counter at a young woman with pink- streaked blond hair and a lot of costume jewelry. She was draping a plastic cover over her typewriter.

“Hi, I've got a really quick request for you. Really quick. I need it, though.”

“Can it wait until tomorrow?” the woman asked, eyeing me up and down. “It can wait, right?”

"Actually, no. I just spoke with Doctor Shapiro, and she asked me to run down here and catch you. I need to see the women's forensic ward visitor's log for the last few years.

Specifically for Mary Constantine. It's really important. I wouldn't bother you otherwise."

The woman picked up her phone. “Doctor Shapiro sent you?”

“That's right. She just left for the day, but she told me this wouldn't be a problem.” I held up my ID. “I'm with the FBI, Dr. Alex Cross. This is part of an ongoing murder investigation.”

She didn't hide her displeasure. “I just shut down the computer, and I have to pick up my daughter. I suppose I can get you the hard copy if you want.”

Without waiting for an answer, she disappeared into another room and came back with a small stack of three-ring binders.

“Youcan only stay as long as Beadsie's here.” She waved to a woman in a goldfish-bowl office at the back. Then she left, without another word - to me, or to Beadsie.

The pages of the visitor's log were divided into columns. I worked from the back of the most recent book, looking for Mary's name under Who Are You Here to See?

For two years' worth of entries, there was nothing at all. It was obvious how alone Mary Constantine had been in this place.

Then, suddenly, a rash of names cropped up on the log. Here was the flurry of interest that Dr. Shapiro mentioned. It lasted over the course of about a month and a half.

I slowed down and perused the visitors' names. Most were unfamiliar to me.

One of them, I recognized.