Chapter 23
CLAIRE WASHBURN CAREFULLY scrubbed her hands and arms up to her elbows.
It was the third step in a process she’d used since joining the medical examiner’s office.
She was rushing the process a little bit this morning because there was no one else in the office and she felt like she was about to cry.
She’d just finished an autopsy on a seven-year-old boy who’d been neglected to the point of starvation.
It was heartbreaking. Claire had seen a lot of terrible things, but she wasn’t a hardened social worker.
She wasn’t a detective. Claire was a doctor.
A medical doctor. It didn’t matter that she’d chosen to go into forensics.
She still had taken the Hippocratic oath.
She still possessed a full range of emotions.
Some healthy, some not so healthy. Either way, a good cry often made her feel better.
As she trudged to her office, Claire’s cell phone buzzed. She dug the phone out of her wide pocket and saw it was her cousin Ellen calling.
She stepped through her office door, closed it behind her. She answered the phone as she sat down in her ancient, extra-padded office chair.
The first thing Ellen said was “I hope your day is going better than mine.”
Claire said, “I just did an autopsy on a seven-year-old boy.”
“Dammit, you always have to one-up me.” That gave them both a needed laugh, and the cousins chatted for a few minutes. Then came the real reason for the call.
Ellen said, “Is Hope behaving for you?”
Claire hesitated. She wasn’t sure how to respond. The truth would likely send Ellen spiraling into a really bad day. But she had to know something was going on with her daughter. Hope was technically an adult but still a teenager, and she didn’t seem to opt for responsible choices.
Finally, Claire said, “We’ve had a few run-ins. She stays out late. She’s very secretive and gets phone calls all the time.”
Ellen tried to downplay what Claire was telling her. “I was a little wild at her age too. Remember how I had to depend on my older cousin to cover for me?”
“I didn’t cover much. You weren’t secretive.
You broadcasted that you were going out.
You brought boys back to the house. This is something else with Hope.
I’m a little worried.” Claire added, “But she was sound asleep when I left the house around seven this morning. She still looks like an angel when she’s asleep. ”
“I wish she’d lean in to those angelic looks instead of dressing like a slob all the time.”
“I feel just the opposite. She’s already stunning. There’s no need to advertise it. You never know who’s out there.”
“You’ve lived in the big city too long. You should move out here near me. It’s cheaper, safer, and a lot less stressful,” Ellen teased her. “I know Hope plans to come home sometime next week. Harold and I will sit down with her, lay out some goals. Like finding a job if she’s not going to college.”
Now that the issue had been raised, Claire wasn’t ready to move off the topic of her niece’s troubling behavior. “Ellen, how much money did you give Hope for this trip?”
Ellen paused, then said, “Harold gave her a prepaid debit card with a couple hundred bucks on it. Why?”
“She seems to have plenty of cash. And she takes Uber everywhere in the city.”
“Okay, we do all share an Uber account. I figure it’s a safety issue.
But we didn’t give her any cash.” There was a long silence on the phone.
Then Ellen said in a low voice, “I found a wad of cash in her room when I was cleaning up. I mean, like, seven hundred dollars.” After another few seconds she said, “Initially, I was impressed she was so good at saving her allowance money. Now I have a whole new thing to worry about the rest of the day.”
Claire wasn’t sure what to say.
Ellen asked, “Do you have any suggestions about what I should do with Hope?”
“I’m a big believer in open communication.”
“Me too. The problem is it takes two people to communicate. When we sit down to talk to Hope, it always turns into either Harold or I lecturing her.”
“I don’t know. She’s bright. And she has to follow her own path.”
Ellen said, “I just worry where that path may take her.”
That didn’t turn Claire’s mood around in any way.