"Oh, hi. This is Mrs. Weston in the billing department at UCLA Medical Center. We're calling with regard to a patient who's been admitted to ICU. We understand he's employed by Pacific Coast Security, and we're wondering if you can verify his insurance coverage. "
"Certainly," she said. "The employee's name?"
"Last name Magruder. That's M-A-G-R-U-D-E-R. First name, Mickey. You may have him listed as Michael. Middle initial B. Home address 805 Sepulveda Boulevard; date of birth, sixteen September 1933. Admitted through emergency on May fourteenth. We don't have a complete social security number, but we'd love to pick that up from you."
I could hear the woman breathing in my ear. "We heard about that. The poor man. Unfortunately, like I told the detectives, Mr. Magruder no longer works for us. He was terminated as of February twenty-eighth."
"Terminated as in fired?"
"That's right."
"Well, for heaven's sake. What for?"
She paused. "I'm not at liberty to discuss that, but it had to do with d-r-i-n-k-l-n-g."
"That's too bad. What about his medical insurance? Is there any possibility his coverage was extended?"
"Not according to our records."
"Well, that's odd. He had an insurance card in his wallet when he was brought in, and we were under the impression his coverage was current. Is he employed by any other company in the area?"
"I doubt it. We haven't been asked for references."
"What about Unemployment. Has he applied for benefits? Because he may qualify for medical under SDI." Yeah, right, SDI. Like we were all so casual about State Disability Insurance we didn't even need to spell it out.
"I really can't answer that. You'd have to check with them."
"What about money in his pension fund? Did he have automatic debits to his savings out of each paycheck?"
"I don't see where that's relevant," she said. She was beginning to sound uneasy, probably wondering if this was a ruse of some kind.
"You would if you saw the way his bill was mounting up," I said tartly.
"I'm afraid I can't discuss it. Especially with the police involved. They made a big point of that. We're not supposed to talk to anyone about anything when it comes to him."
"Same here. We've been asked to notify Detective Aldo if anyone even asks for his room."
"Really? They didn't say anything like that to us. Maybe because he hadn't worked here for so long."
"Consider yourself lucky. We're on red alert. Did you know Mr. Magruder personally?"
"Sure. The company's not all that big."
"You must feel terrible."
"I do. He's a real sweet guy. I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that to him."
"Awful," I said. "What about his social security number? We have the last four digits, 1776, but the emergency room clerk couldn't understand what he was saying so she missed the first portion. All I need are the first five digits for our records. The director's a real stickler."
She seemed startled. "He was conscious?"
"Oh. Well, I don't know, now you mention it. He must have been, at least briefly. How else would we have this much?" I sensed her debate. "It's in his best interests," I added piously.
"Just a minute." I heard her clicking her computer keys, and after a moment she read off the first five digits.
I made a note. "Thanks. You're a doll. I appreciate that. "
There was a pause, and then her curiosity got the better of her. "How's he doing?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to divulge that information. You'd have to ask the medical staff. I'm sure you can appreciate the confidentiality of these matters, especially here at UCLA."
"Of course. Absolutely. Well, I hope he's okay. Tell him Ingrid said hi."
"I'll pass the word."
Once she'd hung up, I opened my desk drawer and took out a fresh pack of lined index cards. Time for clerical work. I began jotting down notes, writing as fast as I could, one item per card, piling them up as I went. I had a lot of catching up to do, days of accumulated questions. I knew some of the answers, but most of the lines I was forced to leave blank. I used to imagine I could hold it all in my head, but memory has a way of pruning and deleting, eliminating anything that doesn't seem relevant at the moment. Later, it's the odd unrelated detail that sometimes makes the puzzle parts rearrange themselves like magic. The very act of taking pen to paper somehow gooses the brain into making the leap. It doesn't always happen in the moment, but without the concrete notation, the data disappear.