Chương 10
“No rush.”
He looked toward Terrence.
“This has become theatrical.”
Park said, “You ran into a basement and dumped a bottle in a sink.”
“I panicked.”
“That happens.”
Douglas seemed surprised by the concession.
Park continued.
“Why?”
“Because armed officers were chasing me through my home.”
“They were chasing you because you ran.”
“I felt threatened.”
“Okay.”
Terrence saw Douglas relax by half an inch.
Park was letting him construct the version he wanted.
“What were you pouring out?”
“A compounded sedative.”
“Prescribed to whom?”
“My wife.”
“Why destroy it?”
“I wasn’t destroying it.”
“You were pouring it down a drain.”
“I no longer wanted it in the house.”
“Why then?”
“Because Laura misuses medication.”
Park nodded as though this made perfect sense.
“What does she misuse?”
“Sedatives.”
“The same one prescribed under your credentials?”
Douglas stopped.
Park’s voice stayed mild.
“You prescribed medication to someone you believed abused sedatives?”
His eyes sharpened.
“She had a therapeutic need.”
“So she needed it and abused it.”
“Both can be true.”
“Sure.”
Park folded her hands.
“Why was she restrained?”
“She became combative.”
“With whom?”
“Me.”
“Did she hit you?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“My face.”
“No visible injury.”
“It happened yesterday.”
Park looked at him for two quiet seconds.
“Bruises usually don’t improve that fast.”
Douglas’s composure slipped.
Only slightly.
“You’re not a physician.”
“No.”
“I am.”
“That seems to be doing a lot of work for you today.”
He leaned forward.
“I was protecting my family.”
Park said nothing.
Douglas continued.
“My wife has been deteriorating for months.”
Terrence watched him choose each word.
“She became paranoid about my research.”
Park’s eyes narrowed.
“Research?”
The room changed.
Douglas heard it too.
He had meant to say monitoring.
Terrence could see the correction arrive too late.
Park did not rescue him.
“What research, Dr. Sinclair?”
Douglas stared at the table.
Then the front door opened.
Beth stepped back inside.
She held a laptop against her chest.
“I found the rest of Laura’s copies.”
Douglas looked up.
For the first time since Terrence had met him, he looked genuinely frightened.
Beth met his eyes.
“She emailed them to me.”
Park turned toward Beth without moving from her chair.
“When?”
“Last night.”
Beth held up the laptop.
“I didn’t see them until ten minutes ago.”
Douglas stood so fast the officer behind him caught his shoulders.
“Those files are stolen.”
Park looked at him.
“Sit down.”
“You cannot use illegally obtained records.”
“Sit.”
“They contain protected information.”
“Sit down.”
His chair legs scraped hard across the floor as the officer pushed him back.
Beth kept both hands wrapped around the laptop.
“She sent them to an old email account.”
Park held out her hand.
“Don’t open anything else.”
Beth hesitated.
“They’re already open.”
“Then don’t click anything else.”
“I downloaded them.”
Park’s expression tightened.
“To the laptop?”
“Yes.”
“And anywhere else?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Douglas laughed once.
“That is already compromised evidence.”
Park ignored him.
She stood and crossed to Beth.
“Show me only how you received it.”
Beth opened the mail client.
There were four messages from Laura.
All had been sent within eleven minutes the previous morning.
The first subject line read IF I DON’T CALL YOU.
The second read GIRLS.
The third read DOUG RECORDS.
The fourth read PLEASE READ.
Beth’s hand shook over the trackpad.
Park said, “Don’t open attachments yet.”
“I already opened them.”
“I know.”
“I thought Laura was being dramatic.”
Her voice dropped.
“I keep saying that.”
Park looked at her.
“Then stop saying it.”
Beth blinked.
“What?”
“You made one decision yesterday.”
Park nodded toward the basement.
“You made a different one today.”
Beth looked away.
The evidence technician photographed the screen.
Douglas said, “Ask her how many times Laura has threatened to leave me.”
Beth did not turn.
Park said, “Nobody asked you.”
“Context matters.”
“It does.”
Douglas smiled faintly.
Park added, “So does shutting up.”
His smile vanished.
Terrence remained near the kitchen doorway.
He had watched Park interview people before.
She never rushed into the most dramatic fact.
She circled it until the person talking became uncomfortable enough to fill the silence themselves.
Douglas seemed to recognize the method.
He crossed one ankle over the other.
“Detective, I’m invoking my right to counsel.”
Park nodded immediately.
“Good.”
Douglas looked surprised.
“Good?”
“Means I don’t have to listen to you explain medicine anymore.”
She turned to the officer.
“No questioning.”
Douglas said, “I want my phone.”
“You’ll get access through procedure.”
“I need to contact my attorney.”
“You’ll be given an opportunity.”
“My hospital may be trying to reach me.”
Park paused.
“What hospital?”
Douglas’s face stiffened.
He had stepped into another problem.
Terrence said nothing.
Beth did.
“You haven’t worked at a hospital in six months.”
Douglas looked toward her.
“Stay out of this.”
“You told the girls you were working nights.”
Park looked at Beth.
“Explain.”
Douglas snapped, “I invoked counsel.”
Park raised one hand.
“I’m not asking you.”
Beth stared at Douglas.
“Laura told me he lost privileges.”
Douglas’s breathing changed.
Just slightly.
Park said, “Where?”
Beth gave the name of a private medical center across town.
Terrence knew it.
Not large.
Mostly elective procedures, imaging, outpatient surgery.
Beth continued.
“Laura said there was some prescribing issue.”
Douglas closed his eyes.
Park asked, “When did she tell you that?”
“February.”
“Did she know details?”
“She said he was under review.”
Park glanced toward the licensing attorney’s letter on the evidence table.
The timeline was beginning to tighten.
The first logged dosing entries had started months before.
The professional scrutiny came later.
Whatever Douglas had been doing had not begun as a reaction to losing his position.
That made it worse.
The evidence technician copied the emails using forensic software while Beth stood beside him.
Terrence stepped outside.
The rain had finally stopped.
The neighborhood looked washed clean in the bluish evening light.
May you like
A boy on a scooter rolled slowly past the police cars until his mother called him back.
The woman in the yellow raincoat had disappeared.
