Page 59 of Fever Dream

She moved toward the door.“How?I have rights.”

“Your rights depend on how much you tell us.”He looked at his partner and then at Grace.“How cooperative are you willing to be, Mrs.Solomon?”

“Please sit down,” the officer said, and she did.

“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.But I want to see my children—Ihaveto see my children.”

“There’s no need to worry.They are being looked after.”

“By who?”

“Your in-laws, soon enough.They are on their way to them as we speak.”

The more stern of the two officers crosses the room.“Now, what can you tell us about where your husband might be?Is there anything he might have been involved in that could have led to his disappearance?”

“I’ve told you everything I know.We’ve been over this.”

“What about the maps?”I interject.“Have you told them about the maps?”

“The maps were of Cuba.Not Mexico.”

Mrs.Solomon is not the liar I thought she was, but the officers don’t take the bait, so I let it drop.We can discuss this matter later.At that moment, I was too entangled in where the conversation would go next.Although, more than anything, I was concerned about whether I would need to delay the patient’s surgery until the investigation was complete.I hoped not.Given the recent developments, the procedure might even be in Grace Solomon’s best interest.

The patient leaned forward in her chair, and the officer motioned for her to stay put.“I do not know where he is,” she promised.“If I did, I would tell you.”

“It wouldn’t be in your best interest to lie.”

“I am not lying.How many ways can I say it?I don’t know where Charles is.”

“How about you tell us about the last time the two of you spoke?”

“It was after I rushed Phillip to the hospital.It was late.I called him and told him they were keeping the baby.They needed to run some tests.He said when the kids woke up, he was going to take them to his parents, and that he’d meet me at the hospital in the morning.”

“And you didn’t think that was odd?”

“What?”

“That he didn’t say he’d come right away.”

“No.”

It was obvious she was lying.Obvious in the way her voice cracked.

The officer cocked his head.“You didn’t think to ask?”

“No.”

“And that was it?You didn’t say anything else?He didn’t mention anything?”

A slight shake of her head, and then she shifted in her seat.“I didn’t know it was going to be the last time we spoke.I didn’t think there was anything elsetosay.If I had known…”

The light in her eyes faded.Her expression turned dead.She was shutting down.I got the sense that she couldn’t go there.That it was too much for her psyche to handle.That or she was hiding something.

“We have reason to believe that you might have hired a man, ormen,to harm your husband.”

I hadn’t expected the officer to say that, and neither did Mrs.Solomon.

“Why would I do that?”