Page 42 of Charmed Forces
Suki shrugged. “Not as well as Daniel. I met him a couple times. Seemed an okay guy. It’s awful that he’s dead. But you know what else? I’m so glad it’s not Pete! Isn’t that horrible of me to say?” she squeaked before bursting into tears.
“It’s natural to feel relieved,” I said, reaching out to stroke her arm. “I’ve been where you are. It’s hard when you’re flooded with such a storm of emotions.”
Suki patted her pockets and pulled out a packet of travel tissues. She dabbed her eyes and blew her nose. “You have?”
“I have. And my husband was treated here too. Your husband’s in the best hands he could be.”
“Thank you.”
“Going back to the case, do you know if they were joined by anyone else?”
“I’m not sure what you mean. There was the witness, but Pete said he was easy enough and not giving them any hassle.”
“He?”
“That’s what Pete said but I suppose it could have been a man or a woman. He probably said ‘he’ just to be as hazy as possible. Is that everything? I’m sorry. It’s just I came out here to use the bathroom and grab a minute or two of alone time but I really should get back to my husband. I’m scared if I step out longer than a couple minutes, something awful will happen to him.”
“Of course. Thank you for your help.”
“It’s no problem. I hope you find Daniel and he’s okay. Will you let me know?”
“Of course.”
I stepped out of the restroom to give Suki her peace and signaled Solomon to join me. As we walked out of the ICU, a blue-scrubbed orderly with a black cap was coming towards us pushing a cart stacked with medical supplies. I held the door open and she grunted, “Thanks.” I pulled my toe out of the way before she ran me over with the cart.
I let the door shut behind her and said, “She didn’t know much because her husband was as tight-lipped about the case as Daniel, but I got the first name of the third police officer. A detective named Frank. She confirmed his surname was Desmond.”
“Do you know him?”
“No, his name isn’t familiar to me but I’m sure I can find out some more information. She said he’s the one who went to get the pizzas.”
“Are you thinking this Frank guy might have tampered with them?”
“Possibly, but I don’t see why he would then be shot too? If you knew something bad was about to go down, wouldn’t you make sure you had a superficial injury or some excuse to simply not be around when it occurred? He could have pretended he needed to make a private call and headed out to the backyard. Or set it up to happen while he was out getting the pizza. It doesn’t make sense to come back and eat while waiting for the killer to arrive. Plus, if the pizzas were drugged, he would have been knocked out cold too. A person who would drug himself for an alibi would have to trust the anticipated killer one hundred percent that he or she wouldn’t kill them too.”
“Captain Brandt may try to argue the killer was already there and was trusted. Plus, we don’t know yet that everyone ate the pizzas.”
“If I intended to kill someone in such a cold-blooded way, I don’t think I could stomach eating any pizza and making small talk right before. Could you? Also, why wait until then? He could have shot them at any time. Even while they were sleeping.” I thought for a moment, then said, “And if you’re going to the trouble of drugging everyone with pizza, why not go the full whack and just poison it? Lace the cheese with cyanide or arsenic or something? Get the whole job done in one step.”
“So we’re back to the idea that another person must’ve been in the house.”
“Yeah... and they didn’t expect one of the supposed victims to escape. Perhaps when Pete wakes up, his memory will return and he can exonerate Daniel. I wonder if they blood-tested him?” I glanced over my shoulder, another thought bugging me. “That orderly was wearing blue.”
“So?”
I frowned, wondering what was puzzling me. “All the other orderlies on this floor are wearing beige. The doctors are in blue. None of them wear caps like that. And they all wear rubber-soled booties not running sneakers.”
Solomon stopped and turned towards the ICU, then he broke into a run.
Chapter Nine
We burst through the ICU doors at a full gallop, almost colliding with a nurse. “Watch it!” she shouted after us as I tailed Solomon, just barely able to keep up. Halfway down the corridor was the medical supply cart, abandoned neatly by the wall, notably lacking its blue-scrubbed orderly.
Solomon skidded to a stop in front of the two police officers. “Did anyone go in that room?” he asked.
“Who are you to ask?” sneered the older of the pair. He straightened, cracked his neck and tried to loom over Solomon, which was no use since he was a couple inches shorter.
“John Solomon, Solomon Detective Agency,” said Solomon, flashing his license.