Rough Weather Part 29

Hawk and I were in Providence in the offices of Absolute Security, talking to Artie Fonseca. in the offices of Absolute Security, talking to Artie Fonseca.

"Security logs?" Fonseca said.

"You saying you didn't keep any?"

"Well, sure," he said, "we kept them. But they are for our internal use only. I couldn't release them to you without explicit instructions from Mrs. Bradshaw."

"How many of your people got killed," I said, "when the wedding thing went down?"

"Four," Fonseca said. "You know that."

"And what did you say to me about that?"

"Sure, I know. I said anything I could do to help . . . but the cops already got the whole wedding list. What good will the daily logs do you, going back five years?"

"I want to see if there's a shrink that was treating Adelaide."

"The daughter? Why?"

"If there is one," I said, "I'd like to talk to him."

"Man," Fonseca said. "I can't . . ."

I looked at Hawk.

"Four of his people," I said to Hawk. "Killed without a chance. Didn't even get the holsters unsnapped."

"Man don't seem to care," Hawk said.

"There's a confidentiality clause in the contract," Fonseca said. "I violate it, we lose the account. I gotta think of the guys working for me now. They'd be out of work."

"No," I said. "You violate it, and they find out and they find out, you might lose the account."

"And you won't tell them."

"No."

"How about him?" Fonseca said, nodding at Hawk.

"Hawk? He doesn't tell anybody anything," I said. "Even when he should."

Hawk smiled happily.

"Jesus, Spenser," Fonseca said. "You got me in a bind."

"Simple business," I said. "Either you let somebody gun down four of your people like vermin and walk away from it, or you do what you can to even it up."

Fonseca stood and walked across the room. He got a bottle of water out of a small refrigerator.

"You guys want any water?" he said.

Hawk and I shook our heads. Fonseca walked back to his desk and sat down. He unscrewed the top on the bottle of water and drank some.

"Gotta stay hydrated," he said.

I waited. Hawk waited. Fonseca looked at the water bottle. Then he looked out his window at the Providence River. Then he looked back at me.

"Okay," he said, "we got the logs computerized. You can read them off the screen. You know how to use a computer?"

"Sort of," I said.

Fonseca sat down, clacked around with his computer for a moment, and then nodded at the screen.

"You know how to scroll through?" he said.

"Yes," I said.

Fonseca stood and gestured to his chair.

"Be my guest," he said.

50.

Wearing jeans and a fluffy jacket, Susan came into my office in the middle of the afternoon. With her came the barely discernible scent of her perfume, and the apparent force of her self. Susan came into my office in the middle of the afternoon. With her came the barely discernible scent of her perfume, and the apparent force of her self.

"No patients?" I said.

"Teaching day," Susan said, "every Wednesday."

"Oh, yeah," I said. "Cla.s.ses over?"

"They are."

"You want to sit on my lap?" I said.

"No," Susan said. "I looked into your Dr. Rosselli."

"And?"

Susan took off her fluffy jacket and settled in to one of my client chairs.

"He's not a psychiatrist," Susan said. "His training is in urology. But he does emotional counseling and therapy."

"Dr. Feelgood?" I said.

"That seems the consensus," Susan said. "Dispenses and administers psychopharmacologic products to an elite list of wealthy clients."

"And I'll bet he makes house calls," I said.

"He does."

"Is he doing anything illegal?" I said.

"Not on the surface. My colleagues are contemptuous of him, but any licensed physician can counsel and prescribe."

"But he can't call himself a psychiatrist?"

"Not without a psychiatric residency," Susan said.

"How about psychopharmacology," I said. "Is it effective?"

"Often," Susan said. "Depends on the patient and the disorder."

"But," I said.

"Not all disorders are manageable by drugs, and if they are used anyway, they can at the very least impede a cure by masking the symptoms."

"How about a kid who's been s.e.xually molested?" I said.

"It is debatable," Susan said.

"Would you use drugs in such a case?"

"I'm a psychologist," Susan said. "Not a psychiatrist. So I can't prescribe. When it's indicated, I have a psychiatrist prescribe for me."

"Would it seem indicated in the case of Adelaide Van Meer?"

She s.h.i.+fted a little in the chair and crossed her legs. Her jeans fit her as if they'd been personally designed for her by Levi Strauss himself.

"I am not being cautious," she said. "It's you and me. But I honestly can't say. I've never talked with Adelaide Van Meer. I saw her briefly and unfortunately at the wedding. My only information is third-hand, originating with a shrink who is guessing."

I nodded.

"He could be helping, he could be hurting," I said.

"Yes," Susan said. "But all of us in the, ah, healing business run that risk."

"He seems to have gone regularly to the island," I said, "ever since her attempted suicide."

"He's obviously doing something out there," Susan said. "It would do you no harm to find out what."

"I will," I said. "Now do you want to sit on my lap."

Susan smiled.

"Maybe later," she said.

51.

Emil Rosselli, M.D., had some very nice office s.p.a.ce in a professional building on Route 9 in Chestnut Hill. There was a soft smell of flowers, the sound of quiet music. There was expensive carpeting, and a receptionist with excellent thighs. She and I were both pleased about her thighs, I think. And she allowed me to look at them for a while as I waited for the doctor. had some very nice office s.p.a.ce in a professional building on Route 9 in Chestnut Hill. There was a soft smell of flowers, the sound of quiet music. There was expensive carpeting, and a receptionist with excellent thighs. She and I were both pleased about her thighs, I think. And she allowed me to look at them for a while as I waited for the doctor.

After an appropriate wait, I was taken into the office. It was all white, with indirect lighting and a lot of plants. He was tall and handsome, and looked like the father many people might wish they had . . . wavy gray hair brushed straight back, even white teeth, calm eyes. Just the man to help you with your problem. His dark blue suit contrasted strikingly with his office.

He gestured me to a chair and sat back quietly with his hands folded on his desk. The desktop was clear except for a futuristic phone.

"I'm Dr. Rosselli," he said.

I put my card on the desk where he could see it.

"That would have been my guess," I said. "My name is Spenser. I'm a detective."

He nodded gravely.

"You're treating Adelaide Van Meer," I said.

Rosselli didn't say anything. He simply raised his eyebrows.

"You go regularly every two weeks to Tashtego Island and have done so since shortly after she attempted suicide five years ago."

Rosselli pursed his lips.

"I'm curious about her condition," I said.

He put them both together, pursing his lips and arching his eyebrows. Artful. I waited. He waited. I had a lot of experience at waiting. Apparently, so did he. It was turning into a wait-off when he probably figured that time is money and decided to cut it off.

"I am a physician," he said. "If I were treating this person and she did have a condition, patient confidentiality would prevent me from speaking of it."

I waited a little more, just to prove that I could, and then I said, "Not only are these questions of interest to me, they are of pressing interest to the Boston Police, the Ma.s.sachusetts State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

Rosselli smiled faintly.

"You can discuss it quietly with me," I said, "and suffer no ill effects, or I can get representatives from all three of the aforementioned agencies in here to tear your life apart."

He stared at me for a moment. Then he said, "Perhaps I should call my attorney."

I raised my eyebrows and said nothing. He leaned forward and put his hand on the phone. I pursed my lips. After a time he leaned back from the phone.