Clearing the Course

by Diane Weiner

  When he got no response, he went back down to the ER and asked the nurses if they’d seen him.

  “No, he never answered the page.”

  He ran up to Detective Wooster, who was still in the waiting area.

  “Do you know what kind of car it was that hit him?”

  “The witnesses say it was a white sedan…or a minivan…or an SUV. It sped by so fast, no one caught the make or model.”

  Henry flew out into the parking lot. Dan drove a white Infinity. He ran to the doctor’s area of the parking lot and down the length of cars to Dan’s empty spot. Gone. Just like those files. He ran back to the hospital, too late to catch Detective Wooster. He headed back to the parking lot, his Fitbit dinging that he’d met his 10,000 steps for the day.

  Driving home, about to call the police, a call came through the Bluetooth.

  “Henry, I have to tell you something.”

  “Dan! Dan, where are you? The police are going to be looking for you. Why did you do it? If you turn yourself in, it’ll be better, trust me.”

  “Turn myself in? You think I killed Damari and ran over that nurse? Some friend.”

  “Seriously, I’m not judging you.”

  “Henry, I didn’t kill Damari but I know who did. I have proof. Meet me at the diner by the new Walmart. I’m in danger and so are you. The killer’s coming after us both. Hurry, and make sure you’re not followed.”

  The phone went dead. On one hand, Henry wanted to turn around and go to the police. On the other, something in Dan’s voice made him believe he was telling the truth. He sounded frightened. What if he was right and someone was coming after him next? At the fork in the road, Henry veered right, in the direction of Walmart.

  Stepping on the gas, Henry hugged the winding road up the mountain. Dusk had given way to nightfall and it was drizzling, making the glare off the road sting his eyes as it was reflected by the high beams. The road was nearly deserted. He pulled around a turn and came to a screeching stop. The guardrail had given way and fire lit the night sky off past the mountain’s edge. He ran out of the car and looked over the side. His stomach churned. Down below, a car was blazing. Henry smelled the gasoline scented smoke as it blustered past where he was standing. Taking a few steps closer to the edge of the cliff, his heart dropped. The car on fire was a white Infinity.

  Chapter 16

  “Henry, are you okay?” asked Emily. She’d made him a cup of tea and wrapped an afghan around his shoulders.

  “I can’t believe he’s dead. I don’t get it.”

  “The police are sure it wasn’t an accident?”

  “They’re sure. They saw skid marks in the mud by the side of the road. They think he was run down by some sort of truck.”

  “Just when we were convinced Dan was responsible for Damari’s murder. Do you think it was one of his fertility patients? Maybe Li Min or her husband.”

  “Those two drive a little Smart Car. I saw them get out of it at Coralee’s. There’s a connection here that we’re missing. First Damari, then Chauncey, and now…” He wasn’t sure he should tell Emily what Dan said to him before he died.

  “You’re hiding something. Tell me what it is?”

  Maddy came in holding a sandwich. “Henry, eat something.”

  He was touched by the gesture and took a bite. Chester jumped up on the couch, lured by the smell of ham.

  “Henry,” said Emily, “What are you hiding?”

  “I spoke to Dan on the phone in the car. He said someone was after him and to watch out because I was going to be next.”

  Maddy’s face turned pale. He didn’t want to worry her like that. She was super sensitive about losing loved ones since her mother’s death. He wished Emily would have laid off until he could have told her in private.

  “How do you know he was telling the truth? He could have been trying to get attention off himself. After all, he was suspected of killing Damari. We still don’t know he didn’t.”

  “He said he had proof. So much for that. Nothing survived in that car fire.”

  “Are you sure? Did the police tell you that?”

  “Emily, lay off. Whatever proof he had is gone, and by the tone of his voice, I’m convinced he was scared, and that he didn’t kill Damari.”

  Maddy said, “Does this clear Robby? He’s in jail. He couldn’t have gone after that nurse or Dr. Fischer.”

  “I don’t know. It’s all a jumble in my head right now. I know that some files were missing out of Dan’s office, the n, o, and p files. And it looked like he’d left in a hurry.” He poked at the fire Emily had started in the fireplace.

  “You should finish your sandwich and get some rest.”

  “Sounds good to me. I’m exhausted.” He tore off the crust, finished what was left of his ham sandwich, and kissed Emily goodnight. Then he climbed the ladder to the loft bedroom. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the fluffy pillow.

  Emily and Maddy ate leftover quiche in front of the crackling fire. Dan told Henry that someone was going to come after him. Was that meant to throw him off track, or was it true? What if someone blew up Henry’s car next? She just wanted Damari’s killer found and this whole thing to be over. Maybe they’d prove Dan killed her and that would be that. When they finished, Rebecca came by. Emily explained in a nutshell the events of the evening.

  “Poor Henry,” said Rebecca. “Imagine seeing your friend burn up like that.”

  Maddy shuddered. Emily put the afghan she’d given to Henry over her daughter’s shoulders and gave Rebecca a stern look.

  “I’m sorry. That was really blunt. I found out about your Dr. Fischer, but now…”

  “What?” said Emily.

  “I don’t like speaking poorly of the dead.”

  Emily sat at the edge of the sofa. “If you have anything that can help us make sense of this, just say it.”

  “Did you prove Robby’s innocent?” said Maddy.

  “Fischer wrote a generous check to the husband of that woman who died from the hormone overdose. No wonder he didn’t sue the good doctor.”

  “Can you connect Damari to the fertility business?” said Emily.

  “Nope. No evidence that Dr. Fischer was hiring egg donors or surrogates. Just importing those drugs from Mexico, which isn’t exactly illegal.”

  “Ill regulated and cheaper, right?” said Emily.

  “And untraceable. Or they were supposed to be,” added Maddy.

  Emily said, “Then it has to be that Damari knew or saw something that incriminated him. Surely Li Min told her she was working with the doctor. She made no attempt to hide it.”

  “But did she know about the imported drugs? And did she find evidence of him harming his fertility patients? I’ll keep digging,” said Rebecca.

  “Where are my manners? We have coffee left from dinner. I’ll get us some.” She gave the fire a poke before heading to the kitchen.

  “Maddy, did you hear any more from that girl on Facebook?” said Rebecca.

  “I sent her the number for the suicide hotline. She never answered back. I did some research. Did you know that after accidents, suicide is the leading cause of death in young adults 15-24?”

  “I had no idea. I would have thought drugs or alcohol.”

  “I read that more than 5,000 teens a day attempt suicide, and 1 in 5 seriously consider it.”

  “I believe it. I came out as gay when I was in high school. Social media hadn’t yet taken off, but the comments and the disapproval from my classmates and even friends of my parents were unbearable. I considered suicide myself.”

  “That’s awful!” said Maddy. “What got you through it?”

  “My parents were really supportive, and I made friends with a boy in my class who was also gay. That helped a lot. Do you know why she’s considering suicide?”

  “Not really. Just that she feels alone.”

  “I followed up after you asked me for help,” said Rebecca. “You can report this directly to Facebook. On the post, go
to the pull down arrow. You can choose to message her directly, which you already did, or you can report the post to Facebook anonymously. They will message your friend saying someone is concerned about them and they can link her directly to the suicide prevention lifeline.”

  “I don’t want her to think I snitched on her,” said Maddy.

  Emily, who’d been listening as she retrieved the coffee, said, “They won’t say her name, right, Rebecca?”

  “They won’t. Besides, even if she knows it’s you that reported it, wouldn’t it make her feel like someone cares?” She looked at her watch. “I’d better get going. I told Abby I’d just be a few minutes and I don’t want her to worry.”

  Emily locked the door behind her, checking three more times that it was indeed secure. She flashed back to when Maddy herself tried to overdose in foster care after her mother’s death. That’s what prompted Henry and her to fly to Chicago and step up as guardians. She assumed that was why Maddy had taken such an interest in this girl. Thank God Maddy didn’t succeed.

  “Emily, I’m going to bed,” said Maddy. She scooped up Chester from the back of the sofa.

  “Goodnight, honey.”

  “Maybe tomorrow Robby will finally come home.”

  She wished it was that simple. There were two ways to approach this. First, they could prove Dan was the murderer. The detectives may go through his things and find some sort of proof that he killed Damari. The motive? To keep her from divulging information about his fertility business. Or, they were lovers and had a big fallout. It wouldn’t have been good for his reputation if they found he was dating a colleague half his age. But then, who killed Dan?

  If Dan is innocent, it’s likely the same person who killed Damari killed him, and was now after Henry. A chill ran through her body. And what about the hit and run in front of the hospital? She doubted that was a coincidence. What was the common bond between the four of them?

  And there was a third possibility. Robby found out Damari was involved with Dan and killed her out of jealousy. For Maddy’s sake, she prayed that wasn’t the reason.

  Chapter 17

  Henry woke feeling rested and it took a minute before he remembered the sight of Dan’s car burning up off the side of the road. He could still smell the fire. Dan had been his colleague ever since he and Emily moved to Sugarbury Falls. He was beginning to consider him a friend since the golf outing and more frequent meet ups in the hospital cafeteria. What if Dan was telling the truth? What if someone was coming after him next? He didn’t want to say much in front of Emily and Maddy, but he couldn’t deny worrying about their safety. Emily’s came into the room and kicked off her running shoes.

  “Hey, did you have a good run?”

  “I did. I ran into Kurt and Prancer. He went on about how nice of a kid Robby is and how he hated to think of him in jail.”

  “After meeting him, I tend to agree. Besides, Maddy is a good judge of character and she thinks he’s innocent.” Seeing Emily damp from her run, not to mention smelling the efforts of her workout, inspired him to strap on his Fitbit.

  “I’m going to shower. The coffee’s made.”

  “Thanks. I’m going to leave a few minutes early and check in on Chauncey.”

  Henry left for the hospital, pulling the door behind him to make sure it was secure. He didn’t know much about Dan’s family, just that he’d been married a few times, and hoped the police could find who to notify about his death. It was hard to stop replaying the scene from last night—the bent guardrail, getting out of his car, smelling smoke, Dan’s car on fire… In his gut, he felt Dan was innocent, and the warning he gave him about being next was intense and reeked of sincerity.

  When he arrived at the hospital, he went directly to Chauncey’s room.

  “There hasn’t been any change,” said the nurse. “We still have him listed as critical.”

  Henry looked at Chauncey’s bruised face with the swollen eyelids. Although he’d been a doctor for thirty years, he’d never hardened to the sight of injured patients. His empathy was one of the reasons he chose radiology over emergency medicine. True, he worked here in the ER, but normally the worst he encountered in Sugarbury Falls was someone needing a few stitches or perhaps a broken bone.

  A pretty black woman came into the room with a small suitcase and a Styrofoam cup. “I brought him some clothes and his favorite CDs. Chauncey’s a big baby when he’s sick. Wait till he wakes up and looks in the mirror. All these wires and tubes. I can barely find a spot to touch him.”

  “You must be Chauncey’s wife. I’m so sorry this happened.”

  “The police asked me if he had any enemies. Why would they ask that? you say. They think someone did this on purpose. That’s why. I say to them Chauncey ain’t got no enemies. The man would give you the shirt off his back.”

  “I know. We’ve worked together for some time. He’s wonderful with the patients.”

  “What’s with all the beeping and flashing? Does he really need all these machines?”

  “For the moment, yes.”

  “I saw you here last night. He’s gonna be okay, right?”

  Henry hated being asked that question. “He’s a fighter and he’s in the best hands. Those nurses are his friends and, believe me, he’ll get the royal treatment.” Little did she know how badly his liver had been lacerated or that they had to remove his spleen.

  The wife pulled out a CD and portable CD player which she busily set out to get working. She found an outlet behind the bedside table.

  “I’ll stop by later. Let me or the nurses know if you need anything.” He closed the door behind him and took the elevator down to the morgue. He imagined how he’d feel if it was Emily unconscious in that hospital bed with the bandages and wires and a chill ran through him. He opened the door to the morgue.

  “Hey, buddy. You doing okay? I heard what happened last night.”

  “I was sure Megan would fill you in.”

  “She mentioned it was no accident. Who had it in for Dan? I mean, he was a bit of a player, but to be angry enough to kill him?”

  “It may not have been out of anger, but out of fear. I’m thinking Dan knew something the killer didn’t want revealed.”

  “Like what? His affair with Damari.”

  “How do you know he was…”

  “The rumor mill. Heck, even being isolated down here I heard it. Didn’t pay much attention to it, but now.”

  “Now what?”

  “It makes sense her ex-boyfriend wanted to get even.”

  “He’s sitting in a jail cell. Besides, you’re not making sense. I think whoever killed Damari also killed Dan. It’s too unlikely that we have more than one murderer running around Sugarbury Falls.” He cleared his throat, thinking back to Kurt’s tenant and that dead biker last summer. “At least not at the same time.”

  “What about the whole fertility thing? That woman at Coralee’s was breathing fire at him the other night at dinner.”

  “My working theory is that he was doing some shady fertility business and Damari found out.”

  “Then he killed her to keep her quiet.”

  “And who killed him? An angry patient?” He wasn’t convinced that Dan killed Damari.

  “Maybe that Chinese woman or her husband.”

  “I’m sure the police will start with them. Hey, if you wanted to keep drugs hidden here and didn’t want to keep them locked and accounted for, where in the hospital would you hide them?”

  “Come on, buddy, I know you only work part time but if you need the money there are better ways.”

  Henry swatted Pat on the head. “Where would you hide fertility drugs that you didn’t want everyone to know about?”

  “If he was doing fertility treatments, they’d expect him to be signing them out.”

  “Then why was he ordering from Mexico?”

  “Don’t know. In any case, they’d need to be refrigerated. Let’s get some help here. Skyler down in pharmacy is a buddy of mine.
You know who he is, right?”

  “Yeah. He’s in charge of the hospital pharmacy.”

  “Let’s see if Dr. Dan was legitimately signing out infertility hormones.”

  Henry followed Pat down to the pharmacy, which was around the corner from the morgue. Skyler, a young Ryan Gosling look-a-like, sat at his computer. He swiveled around when the door opened.

  “Hey, Pat. I just refilled the candy drawer. Help yourself. You too, Dr. Fox. What do you need?”

  Pat grabbed a Twix bar from the drawer and tossed a second one to Henry.

  “My buddy Henry and I are looking for some info. Can you check the records and see if Dr. Fischer signed out fertility drugs over the past few months?”

  Tyler tapped a few keys. Pat ate the candy bar, then grabbed a small bag of M&Ms from the drawer. Henry stared at the screen while Skyler worked.

  “Yeah, he did. Nothing unusual. Looks like he had a handful of patients on them.”

  “Looks like the correct amount?”

  “Yeah. Like I said, nothing sets off a flag here.”

  “Thanks, buddy.”

  “He must have an office fridge,” said Henry. His words echoed in the empty, shiny corridor. “If he was getting what he needed right from the hospital pharmacy, why was he buying the same drugs from Mexico?”

  “They’d certainly be cheaper. Do you think he had other patients who weren’t registered with the hospital?”

  “For what purpose? Was he augmenting the dosages?”

  “Come on. I have a few minutes. Let’s see what we can dig up.”

  Henry followed Pat to the elevator and up to Dan’s office, where a custodian had propped the door open. Pat moved the ‘Caution Wet Floor’ sign down the hall and motioned for Henry to follow, pulling the door shut behind him.

  “Here’s the fridge. Let’s take a look.” Pat pulled the handle. “Waters, some expired yogurt, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups…”

  “What’s in the back?”

  Pat reached in. “Some sort of leftovers in this Styrofoam container. Be my guest. And a box of raisins.”

  “Raisins? Look inside.”