“Dr. Hadi? This is Detective Davidson, and I am Detective Miller. Might we ask you a couple questions?”
“Sure,” she said with a wave of her hand. She did not even look up from her paperwork. As an ER doctor this was an ordinary occurrence, though this was not an ordinary day.
“Perhaps somewhere private?”
That made her look. She was at a desk in the main ER area. Though it was not private, everyone was so busy today that she doubted they would stop to eavesdrop on detectives chatting with a doctor. She leaned back and gave them a long look. They both had out their badges and were waving them at her like tickets for admission.
“I suppose, though I am sure you realize that we are a little busy today.”
“Of course,” said Davidson with a nod. “And we wouldn’t be bothering you unless it was extremely important.”
She sighed slightly as she stood up. Winding her way through people, she ignored the strange looks. She opened a door to reveal a small office and lead the detectives inside.
As they all settled into chairs she straightened her hijab and hoped this wouldn’t take long. It had been such a long and horrible day already.
“Dr. Hadi,” started Miller.
“Please,” she said. “call me Calli.”
“Calli,” said Miller with a nod. “What time did you get to the hospital today?”
“Umm,” she had to think. And this was a strange question. She wasn’t usually asked much about herself by the police, but during the day everything had changed. “4 am.”
“Did you see your husband this morning?”
“No.”
“Was your husband home this morning?” Miller asked.
“I have no idea,” admitted Calli. “Even if he is home, Sayid is never up at 4 am.”
“Where would he have been if he wasn’t home?”
“Probably at his brother’s. What is all this about?”
“Does he not come home often? Does he spend a lot of time with his brother?”
Calli sat back in her chair. She was not born yesterday, she knew what it meant when a man spend a lot of time with his brother. She did not know who the other woman was, but she was sure there was one. Sayid spent more and more time not at home. She wasn’t ready to call him on it, she wasn’t sure she had the energy. But she was not about to go into her marital issues with two random cops.
“Are you married?” she asked the detectives.
“Dr. Hadi,” started Davidson.
“Look,” said Calli with a hand raised. “Sometimes after 10 years of marriage you don’t want to go home to your spouse.”
“Do you usually not want to go home to your spouse?” asked Miller, raising his eyebrows.
“I go home to my children,” Calli said with a shrug.
“Where are your children now, Calli?” asked Davidson.
“They are in Wisconsin.” The detectives exchanged a look. “I should not have to explain that on a day when a bomb goes off in a festival, two small Muslim boys with a father of Arab descent would be better off not in the city. My parents came and picked them up and took them home.”
“No one has claimed the attack, what makes you think it was Muslims?” asked Davidson.
“Does that matter? The suspicion will be that it was, until it is proved otherwise. Even if it is proven otherwise, some people will still think Muslims did it. I feel better knowing my children are not in the city right now.”
