The 6:20 Man

Chapter 59

Devine rode back to the town house in Mount Kisco.

After they learned about Deveraux’s fate, he and Michelle had first talked about her going into hiding. He had even thought about calling up Campbell to have his people protect her. But in the end they had decided that her best protection was to stay put. To not let Cowl or others know that anything was amiss. But he had told her to keep a watch out and call the cops if anything looked off.

He had communicated with Campbell about these latest developments and his meeting with Elaine Nestor, and arranged to meet with the man later.

There was no one at the town house at this time of the day. Valentine wasn’t on the couch and the Mini Cooper wasn’t in the garage. Tapshaw must be at her office, he thought.

He knocked on Speers’s door; there was no answer. He called out, “Helen, you decent?” There was still no answer.

He tried to turn the knob. It was locked. That wasn’t unusual. He locked his door, too. He could have picked it, but he didn’t want to risk it. If she had a camera in there...

He went to his room, looked up the number for NYU Law School, and placed a call.

He was passed from person to person and department to department until he came to a man who seemed to be the right one.

Devine said, “My daughter, Helen Speers, just graduated from NYU. I haven’t been able to reach her and I’m getting concerned. She still lives in the same apartment. I’m on the West Coast. I wanted someone to go and check on her.”

“That might be a matter for the police, Mr. Speers.”

“Look, I paid a ton of money for her to go to law school there. Can you at least help me?”

“Please hold for just a moment.”

He heard classical music for about thirty seconds before the man came back on. He said in a somewhat snarky tone, “We have no record of any Helen Speers being enrolled at the law school or having just graduated, Mr. Speers. You might want to check with your daughter about that. Have a good day.”

Devine put down the phone. Okay, Helen Speers is not who she claims to be. So who is she and why is she here?

Devine thought back and recalled that Speers had come here just about the time he had. Was she a plant? If so, by whom? She had been very curious about everything, telling him time and again to let her recommend a lawyer for him. Since she hadn’t gone to law school, he wondered what she would have done if he had taken the woman up on her offer. And where did she go during the day with her briefcase?

His phone buzzed. It was a number he didn’t recognize.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Devine?”

“Yes?”

“This is Dr. John Wyman. You called my office seeking information on Sara Ewes?”

Devine tensed. “Yes, I did. I worked with her. We were friends.”

“So you said in your message. What exactly do you want to know?”

“I know that she was pregnant but she ended up aborting the baby.”

“I knew about her pregnancy, I didn’t know she had terminated it.”

“I talked to the doctor who helped with the abortion. Sara wasn’t that far along, so it seems no medical procedure was necessary.”

“So a medication abortion, then,” said Wyman. “Probably done at home.”

“Yes. Sara gave your name to the abortion clinic. Are you her ob-gyn?”

“Not exactly.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Can you tell me of your interest in all this?” asked Wyman.

“As I said, I worked with her, and, well, the police and her mother seem to think that I was the father. Even though I didn’t meet Sara until after she became pregnant. I’m not sure they believe that. Quite frankly, I think they want to make me out to be her murderer.”

“I thought that might be it.”

“What?” Devine said sharply.

“I know you’re not the father of Sara Ewes’s baby.”

“How?”

“Because she underwent artificial insemination and utilized a donor in acquiring the sperm. I run a practice pretty much devoted to that. I told the police this when they came by to see me as well, which is why I’m telling you. They mentioned your name, not understanding at that point how Sara became pregnant. When I told them, they were quite surprised. They wanted to know if you had donated the sperm. I told them that you had not. I told them that Sara never mentioned you to me. When I saw your name on the message my receptionist took from you, I put two and two together and decided you needed to know the truth.”

“Well, I appreciate that, Dr. Wyman. Do you know who donated the sperm?”

“No, I do not. Sara provided it. I told the police that, too.”

“Then how do you know it wasn’t me?”

“About six weeks after she became pregnant through insemination, Sara told me that the sperm donor had died. You obviously are very much alive.”

“Was it Detectives Shoemaker and Ekman who talked to you?”

“Yes. And they seemed very disappointed to know that you were not the father.”

“I’m sure they were. Did Sara have anyone with her when she consulted you, or when she had the insemination done?”

“No. But I got the sense that she was not going through this alone. That there was someone who was partnering with her in this process.”

Devine thought of Jennifer Stamos, and then Brad Cowl. Cowl said he hadn’t had sex with Ewes. But with artificial insemination, he wouldn’t have had to. “She didn’t mention any names?”

“She didn’t, but from the little she volunteered, I had the impression that she was going to take time off to be with the child.” He paused. “Was there someone like that in her life that you knew of?”

“Possibly,” said Devine vaguely, and he meant to be very vague.

“Do you know how far along Sara was when she terminated her pregnancy?” asked Wyman.

“I was told about eight weeks. So, shortly after she told you the sperm donor had passed away.”

“She seemed so excited about being a mother. I wonder what changed her mind?”

So do I, thought Devine.