Free Rohn Federbush - Sally Bianco 03 - The Recorder's Way by Rohn Federbush

basket.
    “Just for today is even more difficult.” Sister Alice smiled up at him.
    Max acted like a chagrined bear in a very delicate glass house. Helen and Sister Alice followed Max as he toted the suitcase and boxes down to the reception desk. Then, Sister Alice guided them through a series of connecting poorly-lit tunnels under the convent and church to the back windowless, basement bedrooms of the hired help.
    The room smel led of mildew and chocolate. The only light was a goose necked lamp on the bed. Marilyn’s clothing gave away her size. “Big woman?” Max stated. “Under thirty?”
    “You are good at this.” Sister Alice actually cooed.
    Among Marilyn’s few belongings was a diet journal with scribbling in all the margins. Helen sat down on the squeaking bed to examine the book. A flea jumped onto Helen’s arm. Helen leapt up. “Fleas,” she cried.
    Sister Alice screamed. “The dog must have slept in here sometimes. Marilyn said he laid down in the hall each night. Mother Superior will have a fit. Marilyn complained the food was giving her boils but I bet they were flea bites.”
    As the three of them stood in the hall, Max cran ed his neck to look over Helen’s shoulder at the diet journal. “What are those, drawing in the margins?”
    “That’s Gregg shorthand,” Sister Alice said. “My mother wanted me to be a secretary. I bet Marilyn’s mother wanted her to be a stenographer, too.” Max cocked his head to indicate he didn’t understand her ramblings about mothers. “…So Marilyn became a nurse. You know,” Sister Alice said. “Like I became a nun.” “Daughters often go against their mothers’ wishes,” Helen said.
    “Is that right?” Max winked at her.
    They had found no other reading material. Every available corner of the dresser and bookshelves had been stuffed with food. Tupperware packaged cookies and potato chips, tin cans filled with licorice and chocolates crammed the room.
    Helen asked, “How long was Marilyn supposed to work here?”
    “One month, 150 hours. For a five -hour day. She loved the grounds. Marilyn was always off somewhere with Rufus. We have a labyrinth, you know.” Sister Alice chatted away as if talking didn’t need an audience. “They were originally made to substitute for pilgrimages to Jerusalem. You know.” Max nodded. “You know about the Holy City and the Crusaders?” Sister Alice duly regarded Max. “You’re terrific.”
    Playing Tom Terrific to the hilt, Max winked at his crusader rabbit, Helen.
    He len understood why Marilyn took her first opportunity to escape the convent’s boredom. She probably car-jacked Sally Bianco as soon as they were far enough away from the convent.
    “ Sally Bianco probably didn’t have a chance against a very large drug-addict,” Max said. “One, who obviously needed a fix.”
    Helen called her father on her cell phone. “Better give the police Sally’s license number. I think she’s in trouble.”

Chapter Four
    “…plagues upon thy heart, a pestilence…”
    The Egyptian Plagues
    First Wednesday in May, 2008
    St. Anthony ’s Hospital
    The basement of the St. Anthony Hospital was a maze of identical corridors to Helen. Was Max ready to give up.
    “Let’s call the records room from The Firm,” he said. “We can ask for the files to be delivered.”
    Helen shook her head. “You’re more effective in person.”
    She watched as Max let his vanity assess the compliment. “You should know.”
    The truth was she wanted to keep Max interested in the agency long enough to convince him she was the only woman necessary in his life. She stopped every second person in the sterile halls to ask directions to the file room. Eventually, they found the small reception area for seekers of patient files.
    The basement room’s walls were covered with cheerful prints by Gauguin. A horizontally placed mirror over the sliding window of the receptionist’s desk let Max adjust his smile. Helen squinted to read the