The Baby Snatchers (24 page)

But something was up with Tammie Sinclair
and Cam was determined to find out what. He got straight to the
point.

“There have been an unusually high number of
babies die on your ward. What can you tell me about them?”

The woman squirmed in her chair. She looked
at the floor; around the room and then stared down at her hands
where they were clenched tightly in her lap.

Cam held his gaze steady. “Ms Sinclair? Did
you hear what I said?”

“Y-yes, I heard you.”

“Fifteen newborns have died on your ward in
the past twelve months. We haven’t even begun to look back any
further. You were on duty when ten of the fifteen passed away.
There must be something you can tell me.”

Do… Do I need a lawyer?”

Cam tensed and his heart skipped a beat a
moment before adrenaline rushed through his veins. With his heart
thumping, he answered her question with one of his own. “I don’t
know. Do you?”

The nurse stared at him. He could almost see
her mind turning over the possibilities, weighing her options. And
then her shoulders slumped and she groaned aloud on a heavy
sigh.

“I don’t know what’s going on in the ward,
but something’s not right.”

Cam sat forward. “Why do you say that?”

“I’ve worked as a midwife for ten years.
I’ve never worked on a ward with an infant mortality rate so
high.”

“What can you tell me about the babies who
died in your care?”

Her eyes flashed. “I didn’t do anything! I
swear! Yes, I was on duty those times, but I never had anything to
do with their deaths. It was Rosemary who found them. I only found
out about it afterwards. I… I didn’t even see them.”

“When you say Rosemary, you mean Rosemary
Lawson, right?”

“Yes.”

“You expect me to believe that ten babies
died on your shift and it was Rosemary who found them, every single
time? That sounds a little too convenient.”

“It’s the truth!” Tammie protested, her
freckles standing out in stark contrast to her ashen face.

“I find it hard to believe you worked the
same shift as Rosemary and yet apparently you didn’t see anything.
Where were you, Tammie?”

The woman lowered her eyes and a red flush
crept up her neck. “I was… I was asleep.”

Cam frowned in astonishment. “Asleep? What
the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Tammie’s embarrassment grew. “I’ve had
some…difficulties at home. I haven’t been sleeping well. I’ve been
coming to work exhausted. Rosemary’s been kind enough to let me
rest whenever we’re quiet.”

“So you mean to tell me you go to work and
if the ward isn’t busy, you go off someplace and sleep. Is that
correct?”

The nurse kept her gaze lowered to the desk,
but nodded. Cam shook his head in disbelief and swore under his
breath.

“Rosemary woke me to tell me when a baby was
found dead. She always offered to be the one to inform the mother.
I… I was relieved she was willing to take on that responsibility. I
can’t imagine how difficult it must be.”

“And what about the babies? You said you
never saw them. Did Rosemary take care of them, too?”

“It sounds farfetched, but yes, she did. She
told me she’d already called the doctor who’d pronounced the baby
dead and then arranged for the body to be transported to the
morgue.”

“And all this went on while you were asleep?
You must have slept away half a shift at a time!”

Tammie shrugged, but refused to look him in
the face. “Sometimes I did.”

Cam shook his head again.
“Unbelievable.”

“There was only one time I saw a baby,”
Tammie said quietly and Cam stilled.

“I woke in the early hours of the morning
and went looking for Rosemary. I couldn’t find her. And then I
heard the sound of a baby crying. I remember thinking how strange
it was.”

“You work on a post-natal ward. Why would
the sound of a crying baby be strange?”

Tammie stared at him. Her blue eyes were
huge and round. “You don’t understand, Detective. The baby’s cries
were coming from behind the door of a storeroom. It’s a room where
we keep old furniture, pillows and other odds and ends. There
should never have been a baby in there.”

Cam stared back at her and once again, his
heart began to pound. “Go on.”

“I… I opened the door, convinced I had to be
wrong, but inside the storeroom was a baby in its crib,
crying.”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

Cam frowned. “Nothing?”

“Rosemary came up behind me, startling me.
When I questioned her about the infant, she brushed my concerns
away. She told me it was Marie Fallow’s baby. He was suffering such
acute withdrawals, she just couldn’t get him quiet. Rosemary had
removed him to the storeroom so that his crying wouldn’t disturb
the other patients and their babies.”

“Was that standard procedure?”

“No! I’d never heard of it being done.”

“Was the baby returned to his mother?”

“I assume so. Rosemary told me she’d deal
with him and sent me on my way.”

Cam absorbed the information and scribbled
down some notes. Rosemary Lawson had some explaining to do.

“That wasn’t the strangest thing, though,
Detective.”

Cam looked up and frowned at the nurse.
“No?”

“No. The strangest thing was when Rosemary
told me it was Marie Fallow’s baby. I’d caught a glimpse of the
little boy a moment before Rosemary arrived. He was wearing a
blue-and-white knitted bonnet. I’d seen that bonnet on another baby
earlier in my shift and it wasn’t on the head of Marie Fallow’s
son.”

Cam stilled. Every nerve ending stood on
end. “Who was the other baby?”

“The bonnet belonged to Danielle Jamison’s
son.”

Cam swallowed a gasp and did his best to get
his heart rate back under control. “Are you sure?” he managed.

“Yes. I overheard Danielle telling the
patient in the bed next to her that her mother had knitted it
especially. A gift for their first grandson.”

“When did this happen?” Cam demanded.

Tammie took her time in answering. Cam tried
to contain his impatience. At last, she lifted her head and met his
gaze. “It happened hours after she’d informed me that the Jamison
baby had died.”

Cam closed his eyes against the rush of
adrenaline that poured right through his veins.
It was Rosemary
Lawson.
It had to be. What other reason did she have to lie
about the baby’s identity? But he needed to find hard evidence.
Right now, he had nothing but the tale of some strange behavior
from a work colleague and a gut feeling that Rosemary was
responsible. He needed more. It was a good thing she was next on
his interview list.

* * *

Rosemary Lawson looked enough like Marjorie
Whitely that it was obvious they were related. But that was where
the similarities ended. Unlike her sister, Rosemary couldn’t be
more obliging. Though younger than Marjorie by a couple of years,
her face bore increased signs of aging. From the course of tight
wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, Cam guessed she was a smoker
and a sun worshipper—or had been in the past—but even those
wrinkles didn’t take away from her charm.

She smiled at him and introduced herself
with a firm handshake and immediately asked him about his day. She
tut tutted over him like a kindly grandmother when he admitted he’d
slept late and skipped breakfast. If he hadn’t already spoken to
Tammie Sinclair, he might have found it difficult to believe she
could be involved in anything evil, let alone the murder or
abduction of newborns.

Then again, he had yet to find any hard
evidence that pointed toward her guilt and he hadn’t been a
detective for so many years without learning you couldn’t always
believe what you heard. The fact was, Rosemary Lawson was the nurse
on duty on almost all of the nights when the babies had met their
death. Guilty or not, she was an important link in the chain and he
would treat her accordingly.

“Thank you for seeing me, Ms Lawson. I
appreciate you coming in early. I understand you’re rostered on
night duty tonight?”

Rosemary smiled. “Yes, I do permanent
nights, but when I heard why you wanted to see me, I was more than
happy to give up a few hours’ sleep. Those poor, poor babies…” She
shook her head slowly back and forth and tears glinted in her eyes.
“I just wish there was something I could have done.”

Cam was surprised that she got straight to
the point. “What can you tell me about them?”

She remained silent for a moment and then
let out a heavy sigh. “There was nothing unusual about any of those
babies. That’s why it’s so hard to accept. They were perfect little
human beings, every one of them. There was no indication that they
wouldn’t make it through the night. It just happened, without
warning, without explanation.” She glanced up at him and then
looked away. “It sounds hard to believe, but that’s the way it
was.”

“You found them.”

“Yes.”

She answered without hesitation and without
a sign of nervousness. Cam noted her response on the legal pad in
front of him. So far, her evidence corresponded with Tammie
Sinclair’s.

“There’s at least one other nurse on duty
with you, isn’t there?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“I believe a lot of the time it was a nurse
by the name of Tammie Sinclair, is that right?”

“Yes, Tammie also works permanent
nights.”

“I’m curious,” Cam said in a conversational
tone. “How is it that you were the one to find the babies every
single time?”

“Detective, I’ve been nursing all of my
adult life. During the night shift, I’m the most experienced nurse
on the ward. I probably shouldn’t, but I tend to let the younger
ones rest while they can, particularly Tammie. She and her partner
have had a rough time of it. They’ve gone through three failed IVF
attempts. Tammie’s been on an emotional rollercoaster for the best
part of a year. She often arrives at work exhausted, unable to
sleep from the stress. I’ve tried to cut her some slack.”

“She’s trying to get pregnant?”

Rosemary grimaced. “Both of them are.”

Cam frowned in confusion. “I don’t
understand.”

Rosemary rolled her eyes. “She’s a lesbian.
Her and her partner figured they’d double their chances if they
both underwent the treatment. It’s why it’s cost them so much.
They’ve spent all their savings. They have nothing left.”

Cam recalled Tammie making a reference to
some difficulties on the home front. He guessed she’d been
referring to this. Still, Rosemary allowing her colleague to sleep
on the job seemed way too noble for anyone to contemplate,
especially when it had been going on for so long. No one could be
that kind hearted, could they?

Cam held her gaze. “That’s very kind of you
to allow her to sleep while you’re overseeing the ward. Not
everyone would be so generous, regardless of the circumstances. Are
you sure there isn’t any other reason why you’re so charitable
toward Tammie?”

“No, Detective. Believe it or not, some of
us do good deeds for the sake of it and to help out another
colleague. I don’t mind doing it for her in the slightest. Besides,
you never know when we’re going to get busy. Babies are like that.
They often come without warning. It’s best for the staff to rest
when they can.” She paused. “I guess the odds were in my favor for
being the one to find those infants. I was often the only one
awake.”

Cam nodded and made another notation. Her
explanation was supported by the statements given by the other
night shift nurses he’d interviewed, including Tammie Sinclair. It
was time to increase the pressure.

“Do you know how many babies have died on
your ward in the past twelve months?”

“I’m not sure. A few.”

“More than a few. Try, fifteen. And out of
those fifteen, twelve of them occurred during your shift.”

Rosemary looked surprise. “Wow, that’s a
lot. I didn’t realize it was so high.”

“Tammie Sinclair also thought it was high.
In fact, she’s of the opinion that there is something untoward
about all those deaths. What do you think?” Cam stared at her.

Rosemary frowned. “I don’t know what you
want me to say.”

“I interviewed Tammie a little earlier. She
told me about a baby she found in a storeroom. You identified the
baby as belonging to a certain patient, but Tammie’s adamant the
infant’s mother was somebody else—a baby who she’d been told by you
had already died. What do you say to that?”

Rosemary stared back at him and slowly shook
her head. “Poor, poor Tammie. I had no idea her mental health had
deteriorated to such an extent. She’s obviously delusional. Why
would I have a newborn in a storage room? And one that was
apparently already dead. The very idea is ludicrous.”

“Are you saying Tammie was lying?”

“I’m saying she’s mistaken.”

Cam held her gaze. “It isn’t true?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“Why would she say something like that?”

“I don’t know, Detective. I’m guessing she’s
sicker than I thought.”

“Why hasn’t she been relieved of her
duties?”

Rosemary sighed. “I feel sorry for her. She
needs the money. She’s exhausted her sick leave and holiday
entitlements with the IVF treatments. If she takes any more time
off, it will be without pay.”

Cam absorbed the information. So, Tammie
Sinclair needed money. It was strong motive to sell babies on the
black market, if that was what was happening. He made another note
on the legal pad.

“My sister’s baby died on your shift nearly
three weeks ago,” he said, changing tack.

Rosemary gasped, looking genuinely
distraught. She lifted a hand to her mouth. “Oh, no! I’m so
sorry!”

Cam compressed his lips and nodded, silently
accepting her condolences. “It’s been tough, especially for my
sister. She was given a business card by one of the nurses after
her baby had died. It was a card that had the contact details of
the
Peaceful Passing Funeral Parlor and Crematorium.
What
can you tell me about it?”