She took out her phone, snapped several pictures of the scene, then picked up the pen and left the bathroom.
A nurse passed by and Eve stopped her. “Do you have a baggie of some kind?”
The nurse slipped into an unoccupied exam room and came out with a baggie marked HAZARDOUS WASTE.
“Will this do?”
“Yes, thank you.” Eve took the baggie, dropped the pen inside, and found herself a seat in the waiting room.
While she sat there, a custodian with a surgical mask and gloves rolled his cleaning cart up to the women’s room, dropped a yellow caution cone on the floor, grabbed a mop, and went inside to clean up.
Twenty minutes later, the bathroom was clean and Lisa emerged from the exam area with a doctor in tow and they headed for Eve. She stood up to meet them. Lisa gestured to Eve.
“Dr. Bradford, this is my sister, Eve, the detective who brought Mrs. McCaig in for treatment.”
Bradford appeared to be about fifty and somehow wore his stethoscope around his neck as if it was a tie, a fashion accessory that fit into his personal style statement, rather than a tool of his profession.
He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his lab coat and gave Eve a grim look. “Anna McCaig’s uterus and ovaries are intact and her cervix is fully closed.”
“Which means what, exactly?”
“She hasn’t given birth and she injured herself in a crude attempt to make it look like she did.”
“I found this in the bathroom.” Eve held out the hazardous waste bag to him and opened it so he could see the bloody pen inside. “Would this do it?”
He peered in and nodded. “I spoke to the deputy medical examiner this morning. My concern right now is for the actual birth mother. If she didn’t get immediate medical care, then she’s likely dead.”
“And Mrs. McCaig?”
“She’ll be fine,” Bradford said. “She can go home today.”
Eve did some quick thinking. “I’d say that a woman who’d mutilate herself to make it appear like she was seriously injured during childbirth is clearly a danger to herself, especially now that she knows her lie has been exposed. Don’t you agree?”
“Are you angling for a 5150?” Bradford asked, referring to the section of the state welfare and institutions code that empowered a doctor to detain an individual, against their will, for psychiatric evaluation if their mental state posed a risk of harm to themselves or others.
“I need to figure out where that baby came from, what happened to the birth mother, and keep Anna McCaig from hurting herself or disappearing on me while I do it.”
“The 5150 will only give you a seventy-two-hour hold,” Bradford said.
“I’ll take whatever I can get.”
While Bradford mulled that over, Lisa asked, “Can’t you arrest her?”
“I have nothing to charge her with yet,” Eve said. “And when I do, I want it to stick.”
Bradford nodded to himself, telegraphing his decision. “I’ll issue the order but we don’t have the psychiatric facilities here to hold her. She’ll have to be transported to Northridge Medical Center.”
“Do whatever you have to do,” Eve said.
“I’ll go make the arrangements.” Bradford walked away.
Eve turned to Lisa. “Where is Mrs. McCaig? I need to talk with her.”
“Exam room four.”
Eve went to the exam room, knocked on the door to announce her arrival, then went in without waiting for an invite. Anna sat on the edge of her gurney in a fresh gown.
“What do you want?” Anna said, angry.
“I need to read you your rights,” Eve said, and then did so. “Do you understand your rights as I’ve explained them to you?”
“Yes, I do. Are you arresting me?”
“Not yet.”
“Then what was the point of all that?”
“We know that you didn’t give birth to that baby and that you mutilated yourself with a pen to make it look like you did.” Eve held up the bag. “I have it right here.”
“That’s an outrageous and unspeakably cruel thing to say. I just lost my son. You were there. You know what happened.”
“I know your DNA doesn’t match the baby’s. The tests just came back. They aren’t even close.”
It was a lie, but Eve’s mom was right—thanks to TV, everybody believed in instant DNA results.
Anna certainly did. She lowered her head and cried, big sobs that racked her whole body.