Last Licks

“I think I’m done here.” Dr. Snow gave them all a disapproving look and left the office. Collier laughed.

“Sometimes it’s not a bad thing to have a careful doctor,” Will said.

“It doesn’t hurt to consider possibilities.” The cardiologist shifted back in his seat. “Snow’s the expert, of course, but basically any drug that has a neurological effect could possibly be mistaken for a stroke. There are certain kinds of shellfish poisons, even a drug used to treat breast cancer.”

“Is there anything that could be swallowed?” Sunny asked, remembering Ollie’s story about being awakened.

“Some of the heavy metals, perhaps,” Dr. Collier replied. “Mercury, lead, cadmium, they all have toxic and neurological effects. But they’re usually eaten or breathed in. You can get cadmium from cigarette smoke—the lungs absorb it better than the stomach. Arsenic, though, that’s been a favorite since before the Renaissance. Its symptoms mimicked cholera, which was widespread up to the 1800s, when arsenic got the nickname ‘inheritance powder.’ And it’s still used today—an old reliable.” He got a little more serious. “It would require special tests—tests that a medical examiner might not perform if he thought the cause of death was a stroke.”

“Just for the sake of argument, let’s say the patient we described was being cared for by you and your partner. Given the situation, would you be asking the medical examiner to do those extra tests?”

Dr. Collier silently regarded him for a long moment, and then finally said, “No.”

Will gave him a glum nod. “That’s pretty much what I was thinking, too.”

7

Sunny and Will thanked the doctor for his help and left the office. “So, natural causes or foul play?” she said. “It looks as if we’re coming right down the middle.”

“It would have been nice if he’d gotten something clear-cut,” Will admitted. They walked into the parking lot for the medical building and stood between their two trucks. “Guess we might as well head back to Bridgewater Hall and talk to the people who cleaned out Room 114.”

When they got back to the facility, they found Rafe Warner working the security desk. He was uncharacteristically silent as Sunny signed in. But as she turned away, words seemed to tumble out of him. “Is it true that you’re investigating how Mr. Scatterwell died?”

There goes our chance of keeping this quiet, Sunny thought.

“Where’d you hear that?” Will demanded.

“People say things.” Rafe’s eyes roved the area, checking for anyone who might overhear. “Folks in the office say Dr. Reese has them working on a big document for you to sign.”

The damned confidentiality agreement! Sunny had forgotten all about it.

“I can’t say anything about that.” She kept her voice low, too. “But we’ll want a look at the log to see who came in and went out last night.”

“That’ll be up to Dr. Reese,” Rafe said nervously.

“And he’ll agree.” Will gave him a wolf’s smile. “That’s in the big document, too.”

Then he asked for directions to Housekeeping, which Rafe was willing enough to give, but talking to the crew that cleaned Gardner’s room got them nowhere. The maintenance people weren’t withholding—they just didn’t know anything.

“We go in whenever anybody passes away,” a guy in janitorial greens explained. “We don’t do anything while the other person is in the room. That upsets them. But once they’re away, we clean and clear out as soon as possible.”

He leaned forward. “This time around, the patient had puked. So we cleaned up after that, and did a specially careful job.” He allowed himself a small smile. “They don’t like germs around here.”

Sunny and Will left the office. “Well,” he said, “should we go give Ollie a lack-of-progress report?”

“Hey, we found out a couple of things,” Sunny replied. “Can we help it that they’re things he won’t want to hear?”

When they arrived at Room 114, though, Sunny was surprised to see Luke Daconto just leaving.

“Thought I’d stop by,” he said. “Mr. Barnstable was pretty bummed to lose his friend.”

“Not just Ollie,” Sunny told him. “I’m sure you’ll miss Gardner, too.”

Luke lowered his eyes. “Yeah. It’s kinda rough. He was a great guy.”

It seemed as though Luke wasn’t as plugged in to the rehab center grapevine as Rafe Warner. He obliviously shook hands with Will. Obviously, here was another person that Ollie hadn’t let in on the investigation. Is Ollie being cagey, or did he just get hit with Reese’s confidentiality agreement? Sunny thought. She introduced Will, not mentioning that he was a constable. If that’s the way Ollie wants to play this, I’ll go along.

They chatted for a moment, and then Luke moved on.

If Ollie had been bummed out before, hearing their report didn’t cheer him up much. He sat up in bed, listening with a frown on his face. But when they finished, Ollie said, “I’ve got a suspect for you.”