The Coroner, page 15
Once she was out of sight, Nick said, “Well, it didn’t end as smoothly as I would have liked, but she confirmed Gary’s alibi.”
“And you believe her?”
“Why wouldn’t I? What reason does she have to lie to me?”
“So, you didn’t see it?” Emily asked.
“See what?”
“Her baby bump. Mindy’s pregnant,” said Emily.
“She is?”
“Guys are always so clueless to these things,” Emily mused. “I’m a woman and I’m a doctor and I know a pregnant belly when I see one.” She gave Nick a knowing smile, and he just shrugged. She knew he wasn’t gonna fight this one.
Nick and Emily started to head back down the hall and toward the school exit. They walked the halls in silence for a moment, confidently navigating the well-traveled landscape as they had done a hundred times when they were students here. Taking the stairs down toward the main entrance, they passed a memorial wall of former students, faculty, and staff who had passed away during their time at Freeport High. Emily couldn’t bring herself to look at it. There was a secret luring there too—one she could find in her father’s files. But that was a case for another time. Right now all that mattered was Julie Dobson.
“So, you confirmed Gary’s alibi, and the crime lab has the video. What next?” said Emily.
“Gary provided me with a list of names of everyone with access to the stable,” Nick said.
“How big is the list?”
“A couple dozen.”
“It’s gonna take a lot of time to investigate all those people,” said Emily. “I hope you have some help. You look like you could use a break.”
“I called in a few favors from the State Police Crime Team, and they’re doing the rest of the interviews, but so far nothing’s turning up,” Nick said, trying to stifle a yawn. “Hey, Em, I want to thank you. It’s been huge having you around the last few days.
“Not that I had much of a choice, right?” She cracked a smile, and their eyes met for a second. Nick held her gaze.
“How long are you staying in town?” said Nick. They were now on the sidewalk in front of the school. A cool autumn breeze rustled through the trees, sending a shower of leaves around them. Emily shuddered as goose bumps formed on her arms, another reminder that in her haste she hadn’t packed enough cool-weather clothes.
“I’m not sure. Maybe a week or two.”
“Life changes in an instant, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does.” And often times not for the better, Emily wanted to add.
“Hey, how would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow night?”
Was he asking her on a date? He must have read her mind because he followed up with, “No, not like that. I’ve got some of the old gang coming over for a barbeque,” Nick said.
“Oh. Okay. Yeah, maybe.”
“Six thirty. Four-seventy-five Spruce. Right on the lake down from the old Parker cottage.”
“I know the place,” Emily said, nodding. “You always said you loved that old heap.”
“Still do. Even more now. You should come by and see what I’ve done with it.”
“I’ll see.”
Emily split off toward her car in the parking lot as Nick walked to his cruiser along the sidewalk. After she had gone about twenty steps, Emily glanced back. As Nick was getting into his patrol car, his eyes met hers, and Emily could have sworn they held the same imploring look she’d left with twelve years ago.
25
Once back inside her hotel suite at the Pennington Inn, Emily took a few minutes to gather herself after her very full and emotionally draining day. She called Brandon and started to leave a voicemail. But what else could she say? She wasn’t going to beg him to be somewhere he didn’t want to be. She hung up, thinking about Mindy’s comment, “Wow, that’s huge!” But what good was a huge ring if he couldn’t be by her side right now? When she really needed him?
She called her father at the hospital. Cathy answered the room phone. Her dad was doing fine and sleeping. Emily said she would be by later to check on him, but Cathy insisted she get some sleep.
Even though it was close to nine o’clock, Emily sucked down a mug of hotel coffee and flipped through the all TV and radio stations. Nothing satisfied. Finally, she tuned into a local classical station, hoping it would soothe her disquieted mind. She pulled up her emails on her iPad. Scanning down, she noticed one from the toxicology lab she had used for Julie’s tissue and blood samples. She was surprised to see the results had come in so quickly. She clicked into the confidential link from the lab and swept through the analysis. Everything checked out normal except for one glaring result. Ketamine. A horse tranquilizer. The dose in Julie’s system was not lethal, but was concentrated enough that it may have led to misjudgment and confusion. Questions bombarded Emily’s mind. Why had Julie been taking ketamine? And where did she get it? Did the horse abuser from the video have anything to do with this? Had he found out about the GoPro and sought revenge? Maybe he’d drugged Julie, killed her, and then taken her out to the trail to make it look like she fell off her horse? Anything was possible. That had been cemented in her during her years of death investigation with her dad. She had to stop with the assumptions. Never jump to conclusions. Let the evidence guide you.
She immediately texted Nick and told him to call her. She expected an instant reply, but none came. He was probably at home, crashed out on his couch. Emily paced for forty minutes, listening to an entertaining podcast on small-town murders, did some sit-ups to get her blood flowing, and then dove into a medical-surgical textbook. She remembered that she had three surgeries scheduled for Monday, and she was sure that Dr. Claiborne had found a replacement surgeon, but she wanted to review the procedures to keep fresh. Just as she was diving into a chapter on appendectomies, there was a knock at her hotel suite door.
“Em? It’s Jo!” came the familiar voice from the other side. Emily bounced off her bed and flung open the door.
“Are you busy?” Jo asked with a wink, holding up a bottle of red wine.
Emily ushered her in. “Jo, you have always known just what I needed. And when I needed it.”
“I’m coming from my shift. Paul’s at home, and the kids are down. I was too wired to go straight home, so I thought I’d see what you were up to.”
“I’m so glad you did.” Emily unwrapped the water cups from their sanitary plastic wrap. “This is the best I can do for now.”
“I don’t care if you pour it into a shoe. It’ll taste good to me.”
Emily found a package of crackers and a block of cheese in her mini fridge. With Jo’s arrival, the stress of the past day just melted down her neck and shoulders.
“How’s the case going?” Jo asked.
“No. No case talk. No hospital talk. No horse talk,” Emily said as she handed Jo her glass. “Only girl talk.”
“Agreed.” Jo took her wine and flopped onto the double bed across from Emily.
“Let’s talk about your life. Tell me more about your husband, your kids, your job.”
“Oh, it’s a real page-turner. Brace yourself. I met Paul in college. We got married. Moved back to Freeport. Popped out Jeremiah, Jessica, and Jaden. I work as an ER nurse. Paul works as a farming engineer. He travels some around the Midwest. And that’s pretty much it.”
“It sounds like a really full and happy life,” said Emily. “Are you happy?”
“On most days, yes. Very happy. Of course, I daydream about an alternative life. One where I’m living in a little French village, riding my bike through the lavender fields in the countryside with my French lover and a picnic basket of baguettes,” Jo said, laughing.
“I’ve had that same daydream, only mine takes place in Italy,” Emily said, nodding with a grin. “Now I remember why we were friends.”
“I wanna know what you’re up to in Chicago. And all about this wedding! That’s way more exciting.” Jo cut herself a slice of cheese and placed it atop a cracker.
“I’m in my third year of surgical residency. I live in the city. I love it. You should come visit sometime. Bring the family.”
“And your fiancé?” Jo asked. “That rock is divine.”
“Yes. Brandon. My fiancé. For exactly forty-eight hours now,” Emily said.
“When’s the date?”
“Didn’t get that far. He proposed, and literally the next moment I got the news about my dad. Truthfully, it’s all come a bit prematurely. I was hoping to be done with residency and settled into a job first.”
“But that’s like, what, a good two years away?”
Emily nodded. “Just feels like odd timing.”
“You’ve got a lot on your plate right now. Give it a couple of weeks.”
“I just thought he would make more of an effort to come up, you know?”
“Doctors, right? It was like this with your dad and mom too. Remember? He was always on call. He had to leave in the middle of your National Honor Society induction.”
“And my piano recital. And my junior high graduation.”
Emily appreciated Jo’s candidness and perspective. It was refreshing. And so was her friendship.
“I can’t remember the last time I sat down for a glass of wine with a good friend and had a talk like this,” Emily said.
“Are you kidding? If you lived here, we would do this every week.”
Over the years, Emily had tried to convince herself that she hadn’t missed out on friendships like Jo’s as she sacrificed them to concentrate on school and career. But being here with Jo made her feel she may have been wrong. It was therapeutic. And made her feel connected.
A text from Brandon popped up.
Hey sweetie. Can u talk now?
“Sorry, it’s Brandon. We’ve been phone-tagging all day.”
“You should set a wedding date,” challenged Jo lightly.
“What? No. When?” said Emily texting him back her love.
“I’m telling you. Set a date. It makes things real.”
Jo grabbed Emily’s phone. “What are you doing?” Emily demanded.
“Playing wedding coordinator. Okay, what’s your favorite time of year?” she asked.
“Jo, come on,” Emily said.
“Summer?” asked Jo.
“Too hot and muggy,” Emily replied.
“Spring?” Jo went on.
“Weather’s too unpredictable,” Emily said.
“Is it an outdoor wedding?”
“Not necessarily,” said Emily.
“How about early fall? End of September? Still warm and with the leaves turning, it’s just gorgeous. Like now,” Jo said.
“Christmas,” Emily finally said. “I’ve always wanted a Christmas wedding.”
“Really? That would be amazing,” said Jo. “Twinkling white lights. The smell of evergreen. White and red roses. A fresh snow blanketing the ground for your pictures. I love it!”
Jo started to type.
“What are you typing? Jo, come on!” Emily jumped over to her friend and leaned over to see the screen. Jo had typed out: What do you think about a Christmas wedding?
She held the phone out to Emily. “Okay, girl, get ready to rock his world. Press ‘Send.’ ”
Emily looked at her friend and nodded confidently. She pressed ‘Send.’
Within a few seconds his answer came back: That’s less than three months.
“He’s got a point.”
“Tell him short engagements are healthy. I’ll help you plan. You can imagine with three kids and a traveling husband how great I am at multitasking,” said Jo.
“You’re hired. But you may regret it,” said Emily as she glanced over to the phone and paused for a moment. “Text him, ‘Found a wedding planner to make it happen.’ ”
They waited. No answer pinged back. Then Emily’s phone rang. Jo passed it over to her.
“Brandon? Hey, how are you?” said Emily, putting it on speaker.
“So Christmas, huh?”
“Yeah. White lights. Snow falling. Horse-drawn carriage around Millennial Park. The city’s so beautiful in December.”
“Sure, I get it. And I like the idea, but my mom already called the country club and locked us into a date in mid-June.”
“She what?”
“She even put down a deposit. I was waiting to tell you until you got back. You have so much on your plate right now, and she really wanted to do something to help.”
“So you told her she could book our reception?”
“We can hold the ceremony there too. Down by the pond. They’ll set up chairs and a trellis.”
Emily rose from the bed, wine glass in hand, her jaw locked so tight no words could escape. Jo came to her side and encouraged her to take another sip of wine.
“Em? Are you there?”
“Mm-hmm.” She swallowed her wine.
“Look, we can talk about this more when you get back on Sunday.”
Emily nodded, but still no words would form.
“Em? Hello? You are coming home on Sunday, right?”
Emily finally found her voice. “What’s so important that you can’t break away to come up here?”
“When you said your dad was no longer in critical condition, I told Dr. Claiborne he could have me all weekend to work on research for the article.”
“I thought you wanted to meet my dad.”
“We’ll make that happen another weekend. Besides, he’d probably rather meet me when he’s feeling better.” Brandon had it all planned out. Simple and practical.
“You’re not taking me into consideration here.”
“I could say the same.”
She wasn’t expecting this backlash. “What do you mean, Brandon?”
“Let’s be honest, Em. How much time are you really spending with your dad?”
She didn’t know where this was going.
“You’re up there working a death investigation case. Right after we just got engaged. So I could make the argument that you aren’t taking me into consideration.”
“You’re mad because I’m helping my dad out with his work?”
“You completed the autopsy the first night. What else is there to do? Then I hear you’re gallivanting around the county, playing detective. With a guy who was your high school sweetheart.”
“How did you even—?”
“I’m not dumb.”
“You’re jealous.”
“Of a two-bit town sheriff? Come on, Em. All I’ve ever wanted is for you to let me in. And I’m really tired of begging.”
“I want you here. But I’m not going to beg either.”
They said little more and hung up. Emily turned to Jo.
“So … ‘no’ on the winter wedding?” asked Jo, pouring more wine into Emily’s glass.
26
Emily awoke around seven the next morning to her phone buzzing. There were a least twenty texts pointing her to a news story that had broken, via a local blogger, about Julie having ketamine in her system.
What in the world? How did this get leaked? She bolted straight up in bed and clicked onto the story. The facts were right. She had to call Nick! But he was already ahead of her by three voicemails she’d obviously slept through. She dialed him without listening to the messages.
“What’s happening?” Her voice sounded a little gravelly.
“More damage control.”
“I just got the results last night. How did this get leaked?”
“I should have called you back right away last night. But when I got home about seven, I crashed on the couch. Ten minutes later I got a call from a local blogger who was about to release Julie’s tox reports unless I told him the names of the suspects. Found out he got chummy with the lab technician down at the university who ran Julie’s blood work.”
“He paid him off?”
“Naturally. I was up all night booking them for interference and disclosure of key evidence in a homicide case.”
“Have you heard from the senator?”
“That shoe should drop any minute.”
“Any idea where Julie got the drug?”
“Well, it’s a commonly prescribed horse tranquilizer. And Julie was around horses. So, my first inquiry will be to Dr. Lillen.”
Emily got out of bed and stretched out her stiff limbs.
“Is there any chance I could get you to head over to Dr. Lillen’s practice and look into this ketamine thing?”
“Me? Why?”
“It’s toxicology related. You and Dr. Lillen speak the same language.”
“She’s a horse doctor. I’m a people doctor.”
“Please. I’m swamped today with all this backlash.”
“Isn’t there someone else in your office who can do it?”
“I can’t pull my street cops off duty for this. Especially when the media is telling everyone Freeport County is on a witch hunt for a killer ketamine dealer.”
“Fine. Fine.” Emily gathered up a bath towel and her clothes. “Any news on Julie’s bracelet?”
“I got nothing. But don’t worry—I haven’t forgotten about it.”
“Keep me posted.”
“Touch base with me after you see Dr. Lillen. Oh, and don’t forget about the barbeque tonight.”
“You’re still doing that?”
“I’ve got a keg, a roast pig, and fifty dinner guests coming. No killer is keeping this town from the annual Nick Larson early autumn barbeque.”
“You mean there’s a late autumn one too?” Emily was grinning.
“Yeah, it’s basically my version of Thanksgiving dinner. And then a month later is the New Year’s open house outdoor grilling challenge.”
“In the snow?”
“Snow. Sleet. Blizzard. You name it. That’s what gives it the challenge part.”
Emily laughed. “Do you ever take a break?”
“Only during ice fishing season.” She laughed again. “But I start right back up again for the basketball tournament buffet open house.”
When she hung up, she felt light. And then she saw she had missed several texts from Brandon, telling her he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with her. Pictures of the country club. The pond. A blissful couple posing under the trellis arch with a soft sunset behind them. It was so manicured. So Brandon’s family. And so not her.
