Edge of Mercy (A Kate Reid Novel Book 11), Robin Mahle [freenovel24 .txt] 📗

“That’s not what I meant.”

Kate pressed her hand against her forehead. “I know you didn’t. I just, you know, when I get those inclinations…”

“I get it. You want to run on it,” Surrey replied.

Kate peered at the documents once again. “I have to be missing something.” With her fingertips, she pulled each document, one by one, for another look. She re-examined the initial intake questionnaire when Dr. Bishop had arrived on the day of his death. “This one here. It says Dr. Bishop had been sick for a couple of days. Vomiting.” She peered at Surrey. “It was attributed to a stomach bug or flu.”

“Okay.” Surrey appeared to wait while Kate’s wheels spun.

“And yet, I see no other notations regarding this. It was as if they dismissed it.”

“The guy was having a heart attack,” Surrey began. “They might’ve been more concerned with that problem than a flu virus.”

Kate peered into the distance. “This sounds familiar to me. I—I can’t place it.” She retrieved her phone. “Hang on. I need to call Duncan and ask her a question.” Kate pressed the contact button and held the phone to her ear. “Eva, it’s Kate. Yeah, doing all right. Listen, you remember back, maybe earlier last year, we had that consult out of Detroit?”

“I think so. I’d have to pull the file. Why?” Duncan replied.

“Didn’t it have to do with some sort of suspected poisoning of a victim who the doctors thought had had a heart attack?”

“It’s starting to ring a bell. Hang on.” Duncan typed on her computer. “Do you have a minute to stay on the line, or do you want me to call you back?”

“I have a minute. Thanks,” Kate said.

“Okay, I’ve got the file. It was last year. Detroit field office. They had a couple of victims they thought were related.”

“Right. That’s right. I remember now,” Kate said. “One of the victims had a heart attack and the autopsy revealed it was due to his obesity.”

“Yep. Hang on, I’m still reading this,” Duncan said. “Turned out that only after the fact, after someone had bragged about killing this person in prison did the original ME go back for additional testing on his samples.”

Kate might as well have had a light bulb glowing over her head as she sat upright and set her sights on Surrey. “The samples were tested again for poison. They hadn’t been originally.”

“You got it. How does this help?” Duncan asked.

“It does, trust me. I need to get my head around this. I’ll call you back, though, okay? Thank you so much, Eva. I needed this.” She ended the call.

“You want to tell me what that was about?” Surrey asked.

“I think Dr. Bishop might’ve been poisoned. And I think his son did it.”

24

The winds kicked up with ferocity as it reached midday with the flag outside the hospital whipping and rattling the metal pole. Kate hurried through the doors and buttoned her coat on her way to the car. Agent Surrey seemed to catch onto the notion that when Kate’s intuition struck, he’d better keep pace. And this had been one hell of a hunch.

“There’s no way you’ll be able to prove this, Reid.” Surrey walked beside her. “They would need tissue samples, and not only would they no longer have samples since it’s been 16 years, but there was no autopsy to begin with.”

“I don’t need to prove it.” Kate unlocked the door and stepped behind the wheel. She waited for Surrey to get in. “I just need Mrs. Whitman to know that we know what her son did. We have enough on Bishop to put him away, but we need to find him first. Mrs. Whitman needs to be confronted on this because I think she’ll crack.” Kate fired up the engine. “We’re going back to talk to her.”

“You still believe she’s been helping Bishop?” Surrey asked.

“I sure do. I think Theo killed his father to either protect his mother or defend her in some way.” Kate noticed Surrey turn away and peer through the windshield. “You know I’m right.”

He was silent for a moment and kept his eyes forward. “Maybe.”

Kate smiled. “Uh-huh.”

“That case you were talking about with your co-worker, the one in Detroit,” Surrey added. “How had the victim been poisoned to make it look like a heart attack?”

She glanced at him. “It was a flower. Oleanders. They’re incredibly poisonous and also extremely difficult to detect unless you were looking for it.”

Surrey shook his head. “But how would a kid of that age—what was he then, 15 or 16? How would he have known about any of that stuff? Sure, his dad was a doctor, but he wasn’t a chemist.”

“That might be a question for Mrs. Whitman,” Kate replied. “And since we’re here now.” She parked alongside the curb that fronted the extravagant home. “We should go and ask her.” Kate jumped out and headed straight to the front door. With Surrey approaching, she rang the bell.

The door opened to the same housekeeper she had seen yesterday. “Afternoon. I was here yesterday speaking to Mrs. Whitman.” She turned to Surrey for a moment. “We had a couple of quick questions for her if she has a moment.”

“I’ll go get her. Would you like to come in?” The housekeeper asked.

“Yes, we would. Thank you.” Kate walked inside and when the woman left, she turned to Surrey. “It’ll be tougher for Mrs. Whitman to ignore us if we’re standing in her foyer.”

“Yes, it will. I would’ve expected a door slammed in our faces had she answered herself.”

Voices erupted from somewhere beyond the foyer. Kate turned to Surrey. “Here we go.”

It took several more minutes before Mrs. Whitman appeared. “Hello, Agent Reid, Agent Surrey. I apologize for making you wait here. My housekeeper knew I was in an appointment. Please forgive the delay.” She smoothed down her silk blouse. “Now, I am quite busy, so how may I assist you today?”

“Mrs. Whitman, you should know that we were able to obtain