Creep - Jennifer Hillier [70]
Morris thought of giving them Marianne Chang’s name, but then he shook his head. Sheila’s therapist obviously didn’t think anything was wrong, and he didn’t want the detectives contacting her and deciding they agreed before they conducted a thorough investigation. “Both parents are dead and she’s an only child. The only friends she ever talked about are from work.”
Torrance nodded, then glanced at Kellogg again. They seemed to have a wordless way of communicating with each other. It was irritating. “Listen, Mr. Gardener—”
“Call me Morris.”
“Morris. For what it’s worth, it doesn’t sound to me like anything bad’s happened to your fiancée. What she did may be unusual, maybe even out of character, but it’s not necessarily cause for concern. She’s an adult, and she left a very specific message telling you that she was leaving town. If we don’t find evidence of foul play, we won’t be able to pursue this. People have the right to up and walk out of their lives.” Torrance paused. “It’s shitty, but it happens every day.”
“She wouldn’t have let her fish die,” Morris said stubbornly. “How long can a goldfish go without being fed?”
“Five days,” Kellogg answered. She smiled, sheepish, when the men turned to stare at her. “I had one when I was a kid. Never remembered to feed it on time.”
Torrance gave her a look and her grin faded.
“Okay then.” Torrance stuck out his hand. Morris shook it halfheartedly. “We’ll be in touch. Don’t forget to bring that tape. And also the time of the call and the number she called from.”
“Got it,” Morris said, tired. He couldn’t have forgotten if he’d wanted to.
“You leaving with us?”
Morris shook his head. “I need to lock up.”
He saw them back to the door and watched them drive away, just as his BlackBerry rang. Private name, Seattle number. He answered the call.
“Morris?” a voice said.
His heart deflated. It wasn’t Sheila. “Yes?”
“This is Dr. Chang.” Her voice was more anxious than the last time they’d spoken. “I tried you at home first. I thought I would let you know that I called the treatment facility I thought Sheila might have checked into. They have no record of her. Neither do a dozen other places I’ve tried.” The therapist paused. “It was an in-patient program?”
“That’s what she said.”
“I thought so.” Dr. Chang was quiet for a moment. “Listen, I’m concerned.”
“I am, too. I’m at Sheila’s place now and the police were just here. I’ve filed a missing person’s report.”
“That’s good.” The therapist sounded relieved. “I think that’s best. Not that I think anything’s wrong,” she added quickly. “But it would be good to know she hasn’t been in an accident of some kind.”
“That’s pretty much what the police said. Should I give them your name?”
Dr. Chang was silent for a moment. “There’s really nothing I can tell them. If I knew something that could help, I would say so, but only if I thought she were a danger to herself or others. She’s not.”
“That’s what I figured.” Morris hesitated. “Listen, the detective on the case thinks Sheila probably flipped out. He said that people walk away from their lives all the time. Do you think that’s what she did?”
Dr. Chang answered carefully. “In my experience, I’ve seen people walk away for all kinds of reasons.”
His heart sank.
Finally, the therapist sighed. “I shouldn’t say this, but she loved you very much, Morris. You mean the world to her. Once she’s worked through everything she needs to, I really believe she’ll come back.”
He closed his eyes. “Thank you. You don’t know how badly I needed to hear that.”
CHAPTER : 24
It wasn’t even twenty-four hours before Detective Torrance called.
Morris was working late at the bank, running numbers for a new deal he was working on. He’d been at it all afternoon and was irritated to be interrupted, but the minute Darcy told him who was on the line, he forgot about his spreadsheets.
“Yes, Detective.” He didn’t