“Yeah, Tara had an estranged daughter, Loretta, from a marriage before Owen,” Gloria was thrilled to be sharing the information. “No one talks about Loretta, it’s like she doesn’t even exist. But I talked to her. Loretta went to live with her real father a long time ago and left the whole, sick family behind. Then she read about the accident and came back to see her mother one more time.”

“Why didn’t anyone say anything about Loretta?” Cindy still couldn’t get over it.

“It doesn’t matter why,” Gloria grew more heated. “I sat with Loretta the night before Tara died and told her what I’d heard her say.”

Cindy felt chilled to the bone. “How did Loretta react?”

“She really listened to me, too,” Gloria went on. “She was the only one who did. In fact, she asked me to tell her over and over.”

Cindy froze from head to foot. Could Loretta hold the key to Tara’s death? “Where is Loretta now?” Cindy’s heart was pounding.

“I have no idea,” said Gloria, “but I’m sure she’ll be staying around for the cremation. She told me she wanted to be here for that. The cremation will be in a day or so, as soon as the final medical report is in. “

“Gloria, I can’t thank you enough for this,” Cindy grabbed her hands.

“Finally, someone’s grateful,” Gloria flushed. “Finally, someone listened.”

“I need Alana’s address right away” said Cindy, hopeful Gloria would have it. “I want to talk to her immediately. Can you give it to me?”

“I don’t have it,” Gloria replied, “but I’ll tell you how to get it pronto. I’ll walk you to the office that handles hospital records. Just go in and tell them you’re Alana’s friend and she sent you to pick up a copy of her profile. Tell them she wants to change something on it. They’ll give it to you, no questions asked. Alana’s address and phone are on it.”

Cindy was horrified. “How is that possible? Just walk in and get the information? How do you know the office will believe me?”

“They will,” Gloria insisted. “People who work here need all kinds of papers and nobody makes it hard for them. The help at this hospital take care of each other. If you go in and ask for something, they’ll give it to you just like that.”

“Is that legal?” asked Cindy. “Doesn’t it cause trouble?”

“So far it hasn’t,” remarked Gloria. “Not that I’ve heard, anyway.”

Chapter 9

Cindy returned from the hospital in the mid afternoon with Alana’s contact information grasped in her hand. As Gloria said, it had been easy to get it, and that alarmed Cindy as much as anything else in this case. What was actually going on in this hospital? There was definitely not sufficient oversight of protected personal information here. How else was the hospital remiss?

Cindy stepped out onto the balcony of her hotel room with a thousand other questions tumbling through her mind. She stopped and ran her hands through her hair, trying to calm down. So many new possibilities were suddenly emerging. How could it be possible that Tara had a daughter Loretta that no one mentioned? Why hadn’t Loretta been present when Cindy and Mattheus met the family? Where was she now and what else could the family be hiding? Had Loretta believed what Gloria told her and with all good intentions helped her mother die? Cindy couldn’t wait for Mattheus to return from the police station and go over everything with him. She had no intention of contacting Alana before she did.

*

By the time Mattheus returned from the police station and was with Cindy out on the balcony, she’d had time to take a shower and absorb her visit to the hospital and all the new information she’d received.

“How did it go?” Mattheus asked as soon as he joined her.

Cindy hardly knew where to begin. “I have Alana’s contact information here,” she started, “but I got it in a crazy way. The head nurse wouldn’t give it to me, but anyone can go into the hospital office and get any record they want. No questions asked.”

“That’s not possible!” Mattheus was startled.

“But that’s what happened,” said Cindy. “An aide at the hospital, Gloria, told me how. I walked in to an office, said I was a friend of Alana’s, picking up her hospital profile for her. I said she wanted to make a few changes. They gave it to me without a question asked.”

“That’s illegal,” Mattheus was horrified. “It wasn’t smart to go along with it, Cindy.”

“That hospital is a world of its own,” Cindy continued, “there’s all kinds of strange things going on there.”

“I realize,” said Mattheus quietly, “I’ve been researching it all day long.”

By now the light of the day was beginning to fade and Cindy started to feel dizzy.

Mattheus came a little closer and looked at her carefully. “My God,” he said, “you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Actually I have,” Cindy responded, anxious to tell Mattheus about Loretta, Tara’s long, lost daughter who neither of them had known anything of.

“Before we go any further, let’s call down for dinner,” Mattheus said. “We need it.”

“Order me whatever you like,” said Cindy as she stretched out on a lounge chair and began to relax now that Mattheus was here.

Mattheus called downstairs, ordered dinner and then went inside to bring out two cool glasses of sparkling water for them.

“Okay, what kind of ghost did you see?” Mattheus asked, slightly smiling as he sat down on a lounge chair beside Cindy, waiting for dinner to come.

“Mattheus, Tara has a long lost daughter, Loretta, who came to the hospital to see her mother,” Cindy began, relieved to be sharing the news.

“What?” Mattheus sounded as startled as Cindy had felt.

“She’s probably still around,” Cindy continued, “waiting for her mother’s cremation.”

“Who told you this?” Mattheus asked, unnerved. “Why hasn’t anyone else mentioned it?”

“An aide Gloria told me,” said Cindy. “She worked with Tara and met Loretta herself. I have no idea why no one mentioned her, including Owen. That’s a big question, isn’t it?”

“You can say that again,” said Mattheus, slowly absorbing the information. “We’ll have to talk to Owen about this. And we have to talk to Loretta immediately. Where was she when we met the family?”

“They were obviously hiding her,” Cindy exclaimed.

“Or, maybe she just refused to meet us?” Mattheus suggested.

“I doubt that,” said Cindy, “because Gloria also told me that Loretta was the only one in the family who was willing to listen to what Gloria had to say. Gloria told the whole family she had important information and they just brushed her off.”

“What did Gloria have to say?” Mattheus was puzzled.

“I don’t know if she’s crazy,” Cindy continued, “or if she has her finger on something.”

“Could be both,” said Mattheus. “Crazy people can still see things that are right on. What did Gloria talk to Loretta about?”

Cindy didn’t know exactly how to tell Mattheus. She wanted to prepare him for what came next.

“The hospital’s a strange place and naturally, some of the people who work there seem a little far out,” Cindy started easing in gently. “I’m glad you’re not going to just discount Gloria as crazy.”

“Continue,” Mattheus said.

“Everyone has a different opinion about Tara’s death,” Cindy continued. “The head nurse gave me the party line, though she let me know that she herself doesn’t have a problem with euthanasia.”

“It’s her right to believe what she likes,” said Mattheus.

“Yes, of course,” said Cindy. “And a young guy, Skip, who covered the desk told me there’s a group of workers at the hospital who get together and pray for patients who’ve been in a coma for awhile.”

“Really? said Mattheus. “That’s interesting. But what did Gloria tell Loretta? Why are you holding back?”

Cindy felt odd repeating it to Mattheus, but knew he had to hear it.