“No it’s not … I should go out there and bust him … standing up there in front of all those people … so proud of himself … I should tell everyone what a fake he is, he’s friggin’ married!”

Christine kept her feet up, so they wouldn’t know the stall was occupied. It was hard to do, but it was too awkward to reveal that she was there. From the sound of the conversation, someone had been having an affair with a married man. She didn’t want to embarrass them or herself.

“Honey, you have to get a grip. We have to go back out there. People are going to notice you’re not there.”

“They know I’m her best friend … they’ll expect me to cry … he doesn’t deserve to speak at her service … he didn’t deserve her … I know she really loved him … but I told her, ‘he’s using you, he’s never gonna leave his wife, ever’ …”

Inside the stall, Christine couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Her service?” The two women must have been talking about Gail. Gail must have been the one having the affair, and the married man must be one of the speakers at her vigil. Christine flashed on the orthopedic surgery nurses at the memorial. They had told her the funny nickname of Gail’s best friend. Dink.

Outside the stall, the sobbing resumed. “It’s so unfair that she died right now … when she was going to end it for good … she was trying to date … she knew I was right…”

“Wash your face, come on. We have to go back out. Keep your cool. Do it for Gail. She would want you to, Dink.”

Dink. Christine had been right. She couldn’t wait to hear more. If Gail had been having an affair with a married man and had wanted to break up with him, then the married man could be a suspect in her murder. It was certainly possible. Christine made herself keep her feet high, so they wouldn’t know she was there.

Dink’s sobbing began to subside. “He would never let her go … but he wouldn’t commit to her either … he wanted it both ways … the ego on that man … he’s a total narcissist … I should tell everybody that he’s a fraud…”

“No, don’t do that. That won’t help now, and it will just upset her parents. Here, blow your nose. Let’s go.”

Inside the stall, Christine’s thoughts raced. So one of the speakers could be Gail’s killer, but which one? They were all in hospital administration, all about the same age, and all of them were decent-looking. She couldn’t remember any of their names. She wished she could get her vigil program from her purse but didn’t dare. She strained to keep her feet up, then she heard the sound of water running and the mechanical whirring of the paper-towel dispenser.

“Honey, hurry, really, we should go. They’re all out there.”

“That bastard!” Dink heaved a final sob. “He wasn’t worth her tears—or mine. You’re right, Amy. Screw him!”

“That’s the spirit! Ignore him! Take the high road. You won’t be sorry.”

Christine realized that the existence of a married boyfriend also explained why Gail wasn’t seeing anybody. Maybe Gail had been getting over the loss of someone in Iraq, but she had fallen in love with a married man who was stringing her along. Christine heard some nose-blowing outside the stall, then the door opening and shoes clattering as the women left the restroom.

Christine jumped up, dug inside her purse, and pulled out the program for the vigil, which was folded in half. On the right was a list of speakers, and there were three male names: Dr. Adam Verbena, Dr. Grant Hallstead, and Dr. Milton Cohen. One of them could have been Gail’s killer.

A serial killer.

Christine reached for her phone, hurried out of the stall, and flew out of the restroom.

Chapter Forty-seven

Christine called Griff, praying that he answered the phone, as she hurried down the hallway. She wanted to keep track of Dink and Amy, but the hallway was already empty. They couldn’t be far ahead of her. She had to catch them.

“What now?” Griff asked, picking up the phone. “I saw it was you on caller ID. I answered anyway.”

“Griff, this is important.” Christine hustled down the hallway. “Gail had a married boyfriend, one of the higher-ups at the hospital. She was about to break up with him or she may have, because he kept saying he would leave his wife but he wouldn’t—”

“What is it with the romance—”

“—Griff, it’s relevant—”

“—this one’s girlfriend, that one’s boyfriend—”

“If she were going to break up with him, maybe he killed her to stop her, or out of anger. What can we do with that information? Can’t we call the police and tell them that he could be a suspect?” Christine reached the end of the hallway and entered the lobby, which was bustling with more hospital employees and patients arriving for physical therapy. She assumed the vigil had ended.

“Who could be a suspect?”

“The married boyfriend.” Christine lowered her voice, so she couldn’t be overheard. She didn’t see Dink and Amy, but she didn’t know what they looked like. She hadn’t even gotten a chance to see their shoes. She looked for a woman who looked as if she’d been crying, but didn’t see one as she headed for the exit.

“What’s the boyfriend’s name?”

“I don’t know. He’s one of three speakers at the vigil. If we tell the police all three names, they can investigate, can’t they?”

“Who told you about this boyfriend?”

“I heard it in the ladies’ room.”

“Gossip.” Griff scoffed.

“Trust me, it’s true.” Christine figured that only a woman would know that a ladies’ room could be a goldmine of information.

“What’s the best friend’s name?”

“Dink.” Christine left the building and looked ahead for Dink and Amy as she hurried across the parking lot, careful of the cars pulling out of spaces, having used the lot to park during the vigil. Still no luck.

“Dink is a name?”

“It’s a nickname.”

Griff sighed heavily. “What’s the real name?”

“I don’t know, but I bet I can find her.” Christine reached the grass and made her way toward the South Lawn, where the crowd was dispersing. People scattered toward the various parking garages, and others flowed into the hospital entrances, returning to work. Some remained behind, standing, talking, and wiping their eyes in somber groups, clinging to each other for comfort. She spotted the group of Gail’s neighbors leaving together, and Kimberly was crying, being comforted by her sister Lainey and Dom, trailed by Jerri and Rachel. Phil, the handsome WCU student, spotted Christine and gave her a friendly wave, and she waved back, preoccupied. She scanned nurses who looked like they’d just come off a crying jag, but none of them seemed as upset as Dink had been.