Danger in Plain Sight by Marta Perry

He should have known better than to think that would happen.
Libby seemed to take a moment to organize her thoughts. “Rebecca was sitting with Esther last night. She dropped off to sleep, and when she woke, a man in hospital scrubs, his face and hair covered, was leaning over Esther with a pillow in his hands.”
Libby was obviously trying to keep her voice calm, but he could read the tension in it easily enough.
“Rebecca spoke, and the man tossed the pillow aside and rushed out of the room.” She stopped, maybe waiting for his response.
“It could have been someone on a legitimate errand.” But he didn’t like that image of the man hurrying away when Rebecca spoke.
“Rebecca called the nurse and asked. The nurse claimed no one was in here. Rebecca couldn’t identify him…his clothes, face and hair were covered. But he was English.”
Rebecca nodded at that, and then lowered her gaze to her hands, clasping them in her lap.
He had to force himself to lean back, giving Rebecca plenty of space before he addressed her directly. “Mrs. Zook, did you notice anything else about the man? Hair color, eye color?”
She shook her head. A brief glimpse in the night, the lights dimmed—he could fill in the reasons for himself.
“What about his shoes? Could you see them?”
Rebecca frowned, as if trying to see the image in her mind. “He had something over them…” Her hands moved, as if trying to trace an amorphous shape. “Soft, like baby booties, it was.”
This character hadn’t missed a trick. Those elaborate precautions convinced him more than anything that this was serious.
He studied Rebecca’s face for a long moment. She was exhausted, and he had enough sense to know that he’d get nothing more from her. The whole episode probably hadn’t taken more than a minute or two.
He slid back his chair, rising. “Thank you, Mrs. Zook. Denke.” She had a faint smile for his use of the Pennsylvania Dutch word. “I’ll go and have a word with the nursing staff.”
Libby followed him to the door, as he’d known she would.
“You can’t tell me this wasn’t serious.” Her expression dared him to argue the point.
“Take it easy, Libby. I agree with you.”
That seemed to disarm her, at least for the moment. “I just don’t understand.” Her voice held anguish. “What could make someone take such desperate measures against Esther, of all people?”
He didn’t have an answer to that. “Let’s do this a step at a time. We can’t get at why before we know who.”
Libby nodded, some of the pain ebbing away from her face.
He’d guess, by the determined set to her chin, that Libby intended to follow him right out to the nurses’ station to make sure he investigated properly. He could be just as determined, but guile might serve him better at the moment.
“Rebecca’s exhausted,” he said softly, glancing at the woman. “Can’t you persuade her to sleep, or at least lie down, now that you can stay with Esther until some other family member arrives?”
That distracted her, as he’d been sure it would. For a moment she looked stricken.
“I should have done that the minute I arrived. But after I heard what she had to say, I knew I had to reach you before she changed her mind about talking to you.”
“I know. I appreciate what you did.” For a perilous moment they were too close, too much in sympathy, and he had to step back. “I doubt she’d have said anything to me about it if it hadn’t been for you. But right now…”
“Right now you want me to leave you alone to deal with your investigation.” Amusement sparked briefly in her blue eyes. “All right. I’ll work on Rebecca. But don’t you dare leave without touching base with me.”
“You’ve got it.” With a sketchy salute, he made his escape.
The staff on duty wasn’t able to add much to what he already knew. The night nurse Rebecca had spoken to had apparently not taken the incident seriously enough to do anything, certainly not calling