Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 31051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
I think it’s rather perfect, actually. I try to keep a smile off of my face. “Why would Dering have a reason to kill his own clients?”
The intern shrugs before bending her head again. “I don’t know. Motive isn’t really my thing. I never studied that in school. It was mostly bones, tendons, and nerves, you know?”
“That is what doctors ordinarily focus on.”
“Right. Anyway, I thought I’d go over the rest of the files tonight if that’s all right with you. I’ll write up a report tomorrow or the next day.”
“That’s fine. You can go study the files now, if you like. I can finish up here.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. The cause of death is fairly clear by the blue around his lips. The alveoli has collapsed and there is swelling in the lungs.”
“Yeah, I figured it was cardiac arrest caused by lack of oxygen, too, but I wasn’t sure if that happened before or after he got dumped in the water.”
“After, likely, but we’ll see by the blood samples and how much salt is in his blood.”
“Cool. Okay, let me get back to the files.” The intern strips off her gloves and scurries over to the corner where the files are laid out. I take out the lungs and weigh them, take a blood sample to be sent to toxicology, and then finish up the physical examination. Once the report is completed, I step out to call Angel.
“How is your day?” I ask.
“It’s going. This trial is so boring. It’s a slip and fall on ice and I’ve heard way too much about salt on the sidewalks.”
“Should I come and declare a state of emergency and steal you away?”
She sighs. “I wish, but at least we’re having a long lunch. I don’t have to be back for forty-five minutes and the judge has to leave early.”
“Sounds perfect. I’ll pick you up from the courthouse. Just text me when you’re ready to go.”
“But I drove this morning.”
“I know, but I’d like to pick you up. I’ll take you back in the morning or we can have someone from the police department drive the car home for you. Now, tell me what you’re having for lunch.”
“Ham and Swiss on a bagel from Bev’s Cafe. What are you having?”
“I’d like to say you, but, unfortunately, a protein bar. I have to do another autopsy. Has Dering been around you today?”
“No. I haven’t seen him.”
“Stay away, if you do. Or call me if he is near.”
“Why?” She’s alarmed. “Do you know something I don’t?”
“Nothing specific.” I don’t want to scare her. “And nothing that would indicate that you are in danger. I just don’t like him.”
“I don’t like him either. He does give me the creeps.”
And I have the perfect solution for that. “I’d say you have very good instincts but you married me, so your judgment is somewhat flawed,” I tease.
“Ha! Marrying you shows that I have superior judgment. You marrying me also shows how smart you are.”
“I’m glad we’ve established that we’re both brilliant.”
“I know, right? I guess I should go because I have to eat this sandwich or my stomach will growl in the middle of questioning.”
“Text me when you’re finished,” I remind her. “I love you.”
“Love you too, babe.” After I hang up, I dial Lee. “My intern has discovered something that you should come and see.”
“Oh? Tell me,” he orders.
“Come and see.”
Lee and Sanchez burst into the examining room five minutes later. They’re both out of breath.
“What is it?” they chorus.
The intern swings around and glares. “What are you doing here?”
“I invited them,” I say before the detectives reprimand the young woman for her irritation.
“But I’m not done,” she wails. “I’ve got at least fifteen more cases to go through.”
I take another look at the stack of folders. Have I really killed that many? I don’t remember them all.
“You’re not done?” Lee echoes. “You called us down here and you’re not done?” His thick brows beetle together to form one long hairy caterpillar. His dark eyes glower.
I step away from the body I’m examining and strip off my gloves. “Flora has discovered a connection between twelve of the cases. That’s almost a third of all of the files you have here. I thought you may want to be aware of them so you can adequately protect the citizens of our city.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sanchez says sharply. She puts her hands on her hips and joins Lee in glaring at me.
I scoop up the files that the intern had set aside and carry them over to the detectives. “Tell them what you shared with me earlier,” I say.
Flora licks her lips nervously. “Okay, but like I said, I haven’t gone through all the cases yet, but those files and these two”--she nods her head toward a small pile to the left of her--”all share one similarity.”