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Noah said, “In this case, if you believe that a particular patient is a threat, I think you would be allowed to tell us their name.”
“But that’s just it,” Trudy said. “There were patients who were unhappy with Beau, but I can’t think of anyone who seemed threatening. I’m not comfortable telling you the names of the patients who were dissatisfied or who left the practice. With Claudia gone, I have to find a new job.” She motioned to the doorway across the room. “I’ve got my mother to think about. I have to provide for her, and I want to keep her home with me as long as possible. For that, I need income. If I violate privacy laws, I’ll never find another job like this one.”
Josie said, “I get that, Trudy, I do. But Claudia’s killer is still a threat. We’re not asking to see a chart, here. We’re asking for a name.”
With a sigh, Trudy met Josie’s eyes again. “I’m sorry. Even if I could think of one, which I can’t, I’m not comfortable disclosing it. There really is no one I believe would harm Claudia or Beau. That’s the truth. Beau doesn’t actually see patients anymore. He stopped seeing them a long time ago. It’s just Claudia, and her patients adore her. They did adore her. My God. I guess I have to start making phone calls tomorrow. Break the news.”
She stopped as more tears slid down her face. “Claudia is the only reason the practice was even still alive. Like I said, if it weren’t for her, I would have been out of a job a long time ago. With my mom being as sick as she has all these years, I needed this job. I don’t even know how I’ll make it until I find something else. Maybe I can cut out the home nurse for a bit. I’ll have to talk to Beau. My brother lives in Virginia and he travels for his job. I’m all Mom has left. She’s confused enough already—”
Josie’s heart ached for the woman. She remembered when her grandmother, Lisette, had finally had to go into a skilled nursing facility. Josie had kept Lisette home with her and Ray as long as she could. She had hated moving Lisette to a facility even though it was for the best and even though Lisette insisted on it. Josie reached over and touched Trudy’s hand. “We’re the ones who are sorry. We didn’t mean to upset you. We just want to find the person who did this. You were the last person to see Claudia alive. How did she seem to you?”
Trudy took a steadying breath. “She seemed fine. She’s always her best self when she is treating patients. That’s what she really loves—loved. All this book and TV stuff,” she flapped her hands in the air. “That’s all Beau. She went along with it to humor him. The money didn’t hurt either, I’m sure.”
Noah asked, “Did she mention whether she’d been having trouble with anyone lately? Maybe not a patient, but anyone else? Maybe someone at the studio? A neighbor? A friend?”
“No,” said Trudy. “There was nothing like that. Claudia was a sweet person, though. I’ve never known anyone to get upset with her.”
Josie said, “To your knowledge, was Claudia having an affair?”
Trudy’s eyes darkened. She tried a smile but it didn’t hold. After a brief hesitation, she said, “Not to my knowledge, no. She was long-suffering, certainly. Beau can be a lot with all his grand ideas, always adding more and more to their plates, but she loves him—loved him. I don’t think she would cheat. I mean, I don’t think—” She broke off.
“What is it?” asked Josie.
Trudy looked at the floor and waved a dismissive hand in the air. “It’s nothing. I’m overthinking, and with Claudia dead, it wouldn’t be fair to say.”
“Say what?” asked Noah.
Tears leaked from her eyes again. “I just don’t want to—to besmirch her character in any way. She really was the most lovely person.”
Josie softened her voice. “Trudy, I promise you that telling the truth will not besmirch Claudia’s character. It might bring us closer to finding her killer.”
“But I don’t know the truth,” Trudy said. “I just know…”
She looked away, the nail of her index finger digging into the arm of the chair. “I don’t want to start something. Rumors. They never lead to anything good.”
Noah said, “Then just tell us what you know. Exactly what you know. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Trudy drew in a shuddering breath. “In the months before her death, maybe even a year, she left the office for lunch.”
Josie and Noah exchanged a look. This was the scandalous secret that Trudy didn’t want to disclose?
“I don’t understand,” Noah said.
Trudy dug out another thread from the chair’s fabric and pinched it between her thumb and forefinger. “In all the years that I knew Claudia, she loved her work—the practice, not the other stuff—more than anything in the world. Once she was at the office, she didn’t leave until the last patient of the day had gone. If she ate at all, it was at her desk. Something light. Often, Beau tried to get her to join him for lunch but she wouldn’t go. Then one day, she started going out for lunch. Just like that. Not quick ones, either. Some days she was gone for over an hour. Several times I had to push back her patients because she ran late.”
Josie said, “Did she ever tell you where she was going?”
“No,” Trudy said. “She just said she was going out and would be back before her next patient. She always used that time for charts before. It was very strange.”
“Did you ask her about it?” said Noah.
Trudy shook her head. “It didn’t feel right. It wasn’t my business. Plus, she always came back looking so…refreshed. Whatever she was doing, it made her happy. I hadn’t seen her like that in a long time. Not since early in her marriage to Beau.”
Noah asked, “Do you think she was having an affair?”
Trudy pursed her lips. The thread pulled away from the upholstery, lengthening. “I don’t know. It just seems so unlike her to do something like that.”
“Lots of people have affairs,” said Josie. “Even people who seem unlikely to do so.”
