Tracking Time

Twenty-four

Armed with Allegra's address, phone number, and a promise to talk again tomorrow, April and Woody made a big mistake. They believed it would be a piece of cake to call her in again for further questioning tomorrow, and they let her go. Then, they collected Maslow's appointment book, patient lists, and speckled patient notebooks, and drove to Jason Frank's Riverside Drive building. She'd promised Mike she was on her way and left Woody downstairs in the car.

"I'll just be five minutes," she told him.

Upstairs in Jason's apartment, Emma opened the door with baby April in her arms. Before April had a chance to say hello or admire the baby, the phone rang.

"Excuse me." Without warning, Emma handed over the baby and went to answer it. April had s6en babies in her time. At family gatherings they were always the center of attention. For a decade Skinny Dragon had been using other people's adorable babies to beat April over the head with the lack of her own. April had come to look on them as triple trouble because of the woes they brought her.

Jason and Emma's baby had blue eyes. Not much reddish hair, chubby cheeks, and a rosebud mouth. She was actually pretty cute. She studied April with a serious expression for a few moments, then broke into a huge grin, revealing the beginnings of a tooth in several places. "Aaaa," she said.

"Hi, yourself." April couldn't help being impressed.

The baby drooled down her chin. A long string of saliva descended from her mouth and landed on April's sleeve. April thought this was better than a dog nosing her crotch, but only just.

"Hi," she said again and bobbed the cute bundle up and down a few times. The baby giggled. April felt this was going pretty well. In the intense pleasure of the moment, she forgot that Mike and Woody were waiting for her.

She gathered the courage to move into the living room, where some of Jason's many clocks started chiming the hour of seven at ten to. The clock was ticking on her case and on her life, but she had spent an hour with Allegra in Maslow's waiting room and eliminated her as a suspect. She was now so late she figured she could take another minute or two to imagine what it would be like to be a mother.

She sat in one of the big comfy chairs at the end of the sofa and settled the baby on her lap. April Frank didn't seem to mind this, either. She leaned forward and started to gnaw on April's jacket collar. "Uh, uh, uh." The baby sounded like Skinny Dragon, concentrating on some important, slanderous gossip that could ruin a person's life.

April tried a little conversation. "Tastes great, huh?"

Emma stood in the entry arch watching them. "You two look very cute together. You should try motherhood, April."

Just what April had been considering herself. She jumped as if burned by the idea. "Uh-uh." She handed the baby back as fast as ever she could. "Great for you, maybe."

"Don't you think she's cute?"

"She's more than cute, she's gorgeous, and probably smart, too." Still, April couldn't help thinking of motherhood as the fatal disease that would turn her into the crone her mother was. Naturally, she didn't believe that the burden of her debts or the fact that Skinny Dragon hated the man she loved had anything whatever to do with her fears.

"She loves all the toys and rattles you gave her. They're just right for her now. Jason told you, didn't he?" Emma looked very good in a pale yellow sweat suit. Beautiful blond hair, lovely body that didn't look an ounce fatter. Her face was sweet and calm. Motherhood was agreeing with her.

"Yes, he told me. You look great, Emma," April said admiringly.

"Thanks, I'm happy."

More clocks started chiming. For a while it got pretty loud in the room. Seven o'clock came and went. The two women talked for a few minutes about work and babies. April had a sad feeling that she did not have family pleasures like this. She never had a moment to relax, play with a baby, and have girl talk with a woman her own age who wasn't on the job. She was always in a hurry. Someone was always yelling at her. Even now she was supposed to be off duty and couldn't even think of taking a day off. Something had come up. A person was missing, and she wouldn't rest until she found him.

"I'll be right back." Emma dropped the baby on April's lap a second time and disappeared into the kitchen. This time the drooling infant went for her watch. April forced herself to remain where she was and let the sweet baby gum that until Jason arrived five minutes later looking horrible.

When he said, "How's my little sweetheart," neither woman had the slightest doubt which of the three of them he meant. He kissed his wife and his daughter, then hugged April distractedly. But his face was pale, and the pleasantries didn't last long.

"We have a very serious situation here, potentially very dangerous." He glanced at his wife, then at April. He sat on the sofa and rubbed his face with his hands.

"You know, at our Institute we offer analysis for very low fees-three or four years of intensive treatment with highly trained candidates, like Maslow Atkins, who are already practicing M.D.'s or Ph.D.'s. The patients are often students or academics who hear about the program through one of the universities."

The baby started to whimper. Emma got up and immediately took her into the kitchen. Jason glanced at them adoringly then watched them leave the room before he went on. "We have a process for screening, and Maslow's patient, the one he wanted to see me about last night before he disappeared, passed muster by a lot of people, including me."

April nodded.

"But I did some checking today. I found out the girl is not enrolled at the university she said she attended. She does not live where she said she lived, and her name is false, too. We don't know who she is, or where she lives, or why she faked her identity to get into the program." He got up and started pacing the living room.

Something clicked. "Is the girl you're talking about five-four, about a hundred pounds, black hair, brown eyes, anorexic, very pretty?"

"How did you know?" Jason was surprised.

"Woody and I interviewed her only a few minutes ago. She was waiting for Maslow in his office. She was also the last person seen with him last night."

An expression of intense relief settled on Jason's features. "Good. Where is she now? I need to talk to her right away."

April shook her head, feeling a little queasy. She didn't want to say she didn't know where the girl was. "She didn't seem dangerous to us. She seemed like a kid who had a crush on her doctor," was what she said.

"April, in the fifty-year history of the Institute, nothing like this has ever occurred. If something's happened to my supervisee because of an error in selecting a patient, it's my fault. It happened on my watch."

April shook her head again. "I don't think this girl has anything to do with Maslow's disappearance. I interviewed her myself. She didn't even know he was gone."

"You have to understand the elaborate hoax she pulled off. She lied to all of us." Jason was pacing again in his agitation.

April felt bad for him. She could see how a dangerous mental patient, violent and on the loose, could be a hot-button item for him. Like a convict who breaks parole with a repeat crime, the psychiatric patient who becomes violent while under treatment casts suspicion on the whole field. April thought she was pretty good with her takes on people, and that wasn't the girl she'd just seen. Or was the little white ghost playing tricks on her, too?

"Well, this is just my intuition. I may be wrong. In any case, we have to investigate other avenues as well. What about Maslow's other patients, his friends, parents?" she asked.

"Well, his parents are a sad pair. They don't seem to know their son very well. They were no help." Jason gave April an enigmatic smile. "Let's get back to Alle-gra. What did she tell you?"

"She told me Maslow annoyed her during their session yesterday, so she walked out. She saw him going into the park later and wanted to apologize. But he wouldn't let her. He walked away from her and that was the last she saw him. She hung around for a while, but when he didn't come back she went home to Riverdale on the subway."

"And you believed her?" Jason shook his head. "This girl is a good liar. Clearly she's very intelligent, a self-mutilator. Maslow was upset about her. I need to talk to her myself. You'll have to find her."

April's face went deadpan with the order. She intended to find her. "I'd like her file, Jason. Are you sure she hurts herself?"

"Oh yeah, she's a cutter; she uses razor blades. She was examined by a doctor; her injuries are genuine."

"Does she cut other people?"

He sank into an armchair, ready to lecture. "It's very rare for someone who hurts herself to attack others. For her, cutting brings relief from tension and misery. People who do it feel better when they see their blood trickling out. Then they feel ashamed of themselves later."

April had to get out of there. "Why are you so concerned?"

"I told you, the girl was lying about her identity, as well as a lot of other things. She's highly motivated and highly organized. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that she cut herself just to get into the program. Who knows what she wanted to achieve and how Maslow fits into the picture. Certainly she gained Maslow's sympathy around the issue of her self-destructiveness, as well as her lack of a safe and protective father. She claimed she was raped from the age of five or six by her own father. It's clear Maslow was attracted to her, cared for her a great deal, and was very troubled by her. He would have been better defended against someone whose angry feelings and aggressive acts were outwardly directed," Jason mused. "And of course he was worried about suicide."

"Patients lie," April murmured. She was scared silly that she'd missed something.

"Patients lie all the time, but psychiatrists are not supposed to get duped."

April pointed to her watch. "Look, Jason, I have to go"

"Well, find her, will you? And thank you, really. Do I count on you too much?" For a second he looked concerned about it, but only for a second.

April smiled. "No. Of course not. And I love the baby. Emma looks terrific. What a great mother she is. I'm happy for both of you."

Jason got up and gave her a hug. "Anytime you want some help getting there yourself give me a call."

"Moi, consult a headshrinker?" April laughed nervously. "I wouldn't have a thing to say."

"Everybody has a story, April. And again, I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."

Downstairs, Woody was standing by the car muttering to himself for being kept waiting so long. He was really upset when she told him they'd let a suspect go.