Jonathan Kellerman - Victims

“She was a big-time liar, huh?”

“You have no idea.”

“What else did she lie about besides the lawsuit?”

“We have scripts, are supposed to stick to them. Did that matter to Vita? Not a chance.”

“She improvised.”

“Oh, boy did she. Like with a flu-type thing we’re supposed to start by having them list all their symptoms. We take our time so if it’s not serious just their talking about it will show them it’s no big deal and they’ll change their mind about wanting an appointment. If they don’t, we suggest over-the-counter meds. And drinking fluids, because let’s face it, that’s enough in most cases. If they get stubborn or call back, we ask if they’ve got a fever and if they don’t, we tell them they’re probably getting better, time will heal, but if they really need an appointment we’ve got one but it’s during working hours. After they’ve been cleared by the nurse. If they want to pursue that, we put them on the nurse’s call-back list. It’s a system, you know?”

“Vita wasn’t satisfied with that.”

“Vita would throw in her own stuff. Give them advice. Like try getting your mind off your problems. Concentrate on something else, stress is the cause of most symptoms, take a look at yours. Once I actually heard her tell someone to suck it up, colds were no big deal. That kind of thing.”

I said, “How’d people react?”

She said, “They didn’t like it. Sometimes Vita would just hang up on them before they could complain, sometimes she’d stay on the line and let them complain. Holding the phone like this.” Stretching her arm. “Away from her ear, you know. You could hear noise coming out of the phone like chirp chirp chirp. Vita just smiled and let them go on.”

“Enjoying herself.”

“She’s one of the meanest people I ever met.”

“Did policyholders complain about her?”

“I’m sure they tried but it would be tough. We never give our names out and our extensions are switched all the time so no one gets the same consultant twice.”

“High level of customer service,” I said.

“It’s to keep costs down,” she said. “So really sick people can get care.”

“You saw Vita improvise. Meaning you sat near her.”

“Right next to her. If I was smart, I’d have kept my darn mouth shut. But it bothered me, doing her own thing, so I said something to her.”

“What’d you say?”

“ ‘You know, Vita, you really shouldn’t leave the script.’ ” She winced.

I said, “She didn’t take that well.”

“Actually, she ignored me, like I wasn’t even there-talk to the hand. But a few days later she looked real mad so she must’ve found out.”

“Found out what?”

Pelleter looked to the side. “I was stupid. Because I cared.”

“You talked to someone else.”

“Not a supervisor, just one of the other consultants and they must’ve snitched because Vita got called in to a supervisor and when she got back to her cubicle she had a crazy look in her eyes, boiling mad. Nothing happened until after the first break but then all of a sudden she’s all over me, claiming I’m-a bunch of us-are bullies, we’ve never treated her like a human being, are out to persecute her.”

“How’d you react to that?”

“I didn’t do anything, I was so freaked out. But no, I can’t talk about it. Please. No more questions.”

Milo leaned in close. “Samantha, I promise you nothing you say will get back to the lawyers.”

“How can I be sure? I never really snitched on Vita but she thought I did and that’s what started the whole thing.”

He edged within an inch of her knees. “We know how to keep a secret, Samantha.”

“Whatever… so what kind of con did she try this time?”

“I know you didn’t harass her, Samantha, but did she have any particular problems with another consultant?”

“No one likes her, what goes around comes around.”

“Any special bad karma with someone else at work?”

“Everyone avoided her,” she said. “But no one bullied her. No one. What’d she do that you’re so interested?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? You said she was in trouble.”

“She is, Samantha. The worst kind of trouble.”

“I don’t understand.”

“She’s dead, Samantha.”

“Huh? What? How?”

“Someone killed her.”

“What’re you saying? That’s crazy!”

Milo didn’t reply.

She made a run for the kitchenette, stared at the fridge, returned, wringing her hands. “Killed? Oh my God oh my God oh my God. Killed? Really? Someone killed her? Who? When?”

“Who we don’t know. When was the night before last, Samantha.”

“So then why are you-oh, no, no, God no, not that, you can’t believe I’d ever-no, it wasn’t like that. I mean I don’t-didn’t like her but that? No no no no no. No uh-uh. No.”

“We’re talking to everyone in Vita’s past.”

“I’m not in her past! Please. I can’t stand this!”

“Sorry to upset you, Samantha-”

“I am upset. I’m totally upset. That you would think that? That you would-”

“Please sit back down, Samantha, so we can clear this up quickly and be out of your way.”

He motioned toward the chair she’d vacated. She stared, sank down. “I really can’t take any more stress. I’m like at the end of my-my freakin’ husband cheated on me with who was supposed to be my freakin’ friend. Then he left me with a pile of debt I didn’t even know about that lost me my house and screwed up my credit. Do you know what I used to have? A three-bedroom house in Tujunga, I used to have a horse I rode out in Shadow Hills. I used to have a Jeep Wagoneer. Now you’re coming here and thinking terrible things about me and if you go to the company and say those things I won’t even have my job!”

Milo said, “No one suspects you, Samantha, this is routine. Which is why I need to ask you-even though it’s a crazy question-where were you the night before last?”

“Where was I? I was here. I don’t go anywhere, it takes money to go anywhere. I watched TV. I used to have a fifty-inch flat-screen. Now I have a little computer screen in my bedroom, everything’s tiny, my whole freakin’ world’s tiny.”

Covering her mouth with her hands, she wept.

Maybe the closest to mourning Vita Berlin would merit.

Milo fetched her water and when she stopped crying, eased the glass toward her lips while resting a big paw on her forearm.

She drank. Wiped her eyes. “Thank you.”

“Thank you for putting up with us, Samantha. Now please give us the names of the other people Vita claimed had harassed her.”

I expected resistance but Samantha Pelleter’s mouth set crookedly. This smile was hard to characterize.

“You bet,” she said. “I’ll write you out a list. Time to look out for myself, I don’t care about anyone else’s issues.”

From a kitchenette drawer, she retrieved a scrap of paper and a pen. Writing quickly, she presented the list to Milo as if it were a school project. 1. Cleve Dawkins 2. Andrew Montoya 3. Candace Baumgartner 4. Zane Banion

“Appreciate it, Samantha. Are any of these people unusually strong?”

“Sure,” she said. “Zane is big and strong. He’s fat, but he used to play football. And Andrew’s into fitness. He bikes to work, says if people took care of themselves they wouldn’t get sick in the first place.”

“What about Cleve and Candace?”

“They’re regular.”

“They stick to the script.”

“We all do,” she said. “That’s the point.”

Milo drove north on Sepulveda. “Little Miss Sealed Lips, but get her feeling threatened and she rats out her work buddies. Any alarm bells go off?”