Page 4 of Corrupted By Sin
“Millie Gwinn, these are my colleagues—Theo Neville, Sylvie Deering, Bit Nowacki, and Kate Lin.” Brook paused while her team all nodded their greetings. She also caught the way Kate’s eyes had widened with recognition. “Kate was who you spoke with on numerous occasions this past week.”
Theo had quickly vacated his chair and motioned for Millie to have a seat. He claimed the empty one at the end of the table while Brook removed her dress coat and draped it over the back of her own. She made sure to take out her cell phone with the leather card holder to place on the table in front of her. As a matter of fact, two tables had been pushed together so that they could all sit comfortably without knocking elbows.
Bit was to Brook’s right, Kate was at the other end of the table, and Sylvie was sitting across from Bit. That meant their guest was seated directly in front of Brook, while Theo made himself comfortable to her left.
“If I may, how is it that you knew we would be here?” Brook asked as she spotted a waitress heading their way with two pitchers of beer. While Brook preferred a sparkling white wine, she usually opted to be more casual when drinking with the group. “Why didn’t you simply come up to our offices?”
Millie Gwinn still hadn’t bothered to take off her winter jacket, and she held onto her purse as if it was a lifeline. Her brown hair had been pulled back with a clip, though there was no hiding the natural curl of the strands. Her bangs were slightly lower than her thin eyebrows, enough so that her lashes hit them every time that she raised her eyes. She wore no makeup, her nails were neatly trimmed, and she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.
What Brook found most interesting was that she kept checking her surroundings, as if she believed that she was being followed by someone.
“I was about to open the door to your building when Ms. Deering stepped out with the rest of the group. I assumed that your offices had closed for the evening.”
It didn’t come as a shock that Millie had recognized Sylvie. A couple of months ago, Sylvie had been abducted by a serial killer who S&E Investigations had been investigating, and her face had been splashed across national news networks for close to a week. It was also no secret that the firm had been garnering the attention of the press for various other reasons over the past year. Truthfully, the past month had been a godsend with a cold case that had posed next to no danger to the team.
“I followed them here, hoping that you would join them at some point,” Millie explained with a reluctant shrug. “I’m sorry. I truly am, but no one believes me. I’m hoping that you will be able to recognize that I’m being sincere.”
Byyou, Millie meant everyone at the table.
Everyone fell silent as the waitress set two pitchers of draft beer down onto the table. Bit, who was the firm’s technical guru, began to pour the malted beverage into several chilled glasses. The first of which he proffered to their guest.
He wore a pair of faded jeans with a long-sleeved t-shirt sporting one of the Marvel superheroes and a grey-knitted hat. Whereas Sylvie had blonde hair that was usually pulled back into a bun, Bit’s strands were a bit darker and on the longer side.
“Ms. Gwinn?” Bit was still holding up one of the chilled glasses in her direction, but she quickly shook her head. “Are you sure? This is hands down my favorite beer that this pub has on tap.”
“No, thank you,” Millie murmured as her gaze darted toward the front of the pub. She then focused her attention on Brook. “Dr. David Kolsby is one of the hospital’s top psychiatrists. He’s a serial killer, and he needs to be stopped.”
The crowd of the pub groaned in unison, their reaction to what had taken place on one of the televisions covering up Bit’s mutter about how they were all going to need another pitcher or two. Theo ran a hand over his chin as he processed Millie’s words, though his black eye patch didn’t move from its secure position. As for Sylvie, her black-rimmed glasses had slipped down the bridge of her nose as her head had whipped in Millie’s direction.
“I’m sorry. Are you talking abouttheDr. David Kolsby?“ Sylvie asked before adjusting her glasses and shifting in her chair so that she had a better view of Millie. “The one who made national headlines last year when he talked a man down from the ledge of the hospital?”
Brook vaguely recalled the news coverage of that event.
Unfortunately, such tragic occurrences were almost commonplace in cities such as Washington D.C.
“Yes,” Millie replied, once more glancing over Brook’s shoulder toward the front entrance of the pub. “ThatDr. David Kolsby. He was in a very serious car accident a few weeks ago.”
“The multi-car pileup on the Beltway?” Theo asked for clarification.
Millie nodded her response to his question.
“Dr. Kolsby had some very significant injuries that required immediate surgery. I won’t go into specifics, other than to say that he was in an induced coma for nearly forty-eight hours. I was his ICU nurse when they began to gradually bring him out of anesthesia, and…” Millie visibly swallowed and glanced down at her hands. The grip on her purse had turned her knuckles white. “Dr. Kolsby repeatedly said that he had killed someone. At first, I thought that he was referring to the car accident. I continued to reassure him that no one had died from the collision, but nothing I said seemed to calm him down.”
“I take it there is more to the story.”
Brook didn’t like having her back to the door. She almost always sat facing any entrance, but she’d been late joining the others for drinks. Seeing as Theo and Sylvie also shared her outlook when it came to situational awareness, they had been the ones to claim those specific chairs.
Fortunately, Sylvie had also taken notice with the way Millie kept glancing in the direction of the bar. The former FBI analyst had as close to an eidetic memory as one could get, which meant that she would likely notice if something was amiss.
“Dr. Kolsby continued to say how he liked to watch the life drain from the women’s eyes, and that no one would ever find their bodies. Plural.” Millie inhaled a rather shaky breath, and Brook didn’t get the sense that the woman was lying. “His laugh finally faded, but it was a horrible sound that I will never forget. I didn’t misunderstand what was being said during that time, and I don’t believe for a second that Dr. Kolsby was dreaming or had an overactive imagination. For that matter, I have never been accused of having an overactive imagination. I also don’t consider myself dramatic. Dr. Kolsby killed someone. Several someones, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t warn people. You can help stop him.”
It was apparent that Millie’s family, friends, coworkers, and the police had all attempted to excuse away Dr. Kolsby’s alleged confession as drug-addled nonsense. Someone in his position also carried the respect of his peers.
Brook was a firm believer that people should stay in their lanes of expertise. She wasn’t familiar with the medical field, so she had no idea the reaction that patients had to anesthesia. To keep a patient in an induced coma was almost certainly a complicated process, and she couldn’t imagine that every patient reacted to the medication in the same manner.
“My father works for the CDC,” Kate said cautiously, as if she wasn’t sure she should contribute to the conversation. She’d proven on a few occasions that she could be beneficial to an investigation, although she’d yet to be allowed in the field. Brook nodded for her to continue. “Anesthesia isn’t a truth serum. It doesn’t force someone to tell his or her darkest secret.”
“I’ve been told that a lot recently, too,” Millie replied wryly. “And while I do agree with you, this was different.”