Till Death - Mark Kane Mysteries - Book Four: A Private Investigator Crime Series of Murder, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Stories...with a dash of Romance. A Murder, Mystery & Suspense Thriller

by John Hemmings

  “No problem,” she said. “But it will be a few more days yet, I’m afraid.”

  “I understand – but I told you it wasn’t urgent before. I think it is now.”

  “I’ll do my best,” she said. “How’s your new assistant shaping up?”

  “Fine,” I said.

  “Give her my love,” Jill said.

  “I’ll see you later,” I said to Lucy. “I’m going to fax the DNA report from the cold case to Jill.”

  During the short but chilly walk back home I realized that we may be in a race against time. It was almost February and I didn’t want Barbara to slip through my fingers. If I was wrong about her connection with the cold case, then there probably wasn’t much I could do about it. The police forensics lab wouldn’t have anything for a while yet and I had no idea where she might go when she left Withers’ apartment. It wasn’t hopeless, of course. If the police needed to pick her up they’d no doubt be able to find her; but I wanted her around for a while longer to try to wrap the case up.

  As soon as I got home I called Tony. “I hope you’re available at short notice. Barbara’s due to be discharged from hospital on Monday and I’m assuming she’ll go back to the apartment – at least for a few days. When she’s discharged I’ll need you and June to keep tabs on her day and night for a few days, or at least from early morning until late at night. She’s got a broken leg,” I said, “so I don’t suppose she’ll be going far – but the apartment’s not her permanent home and I don’t want to lose her.”

  “Sure thing, boss; we’ll look after it for you. Let me know her time of discharge and we’ll get right over there.”

  “Good, she’s got stuff in the apartment so I’m sure she’ll be going back there; hopefully for a few days at least.”

  “We’re on it,” Tony said, and we hung up.

  Chapter Thirty One

  Dr. Sanjit

  Nothing much happened for the next couple of days. Tony called on Monday to report that Barbara had arrived home in a taxi just after lunchtime. She had a brace on her leg and was walking with the aid of crutches. The remainder of Monday passed, then Tuesday. I heard nothing from Jill, nothing from Calley, and Tony only called to say he hadn’t seen Barbara. He’d been up to the apartment and listened outside. He’d heard the TV, that’s all. But on Wednesday everything suddenly changed. Tony called me at about five in the afternoon.

  “An ambulance showed up about half an hour ago,” he said. “A woman was just brought out on a stretcher and I was pretty sure it was Barbara, even though she had an oxygen mask on. I went up to the apartment and confirmed it; the paramedics were just finishing up in there. You want me to stay here or follow them to the hospital?”

  “Just confirm where they’re going to take her,” I said. “I’ll take it from there.”

  Tony called back about fifteen minutes later. They were taking her back to Boston Medical. I called Lucy who was in the new office, bawling out one of the contractors about something.

  “You better get back here,” I said. “There’s been a sudden and unexpected development.”

  Less than ten minutes later Lucy turned up. I repeated what Tony had told me.

  “My God, I wonder what happened,” she said.

  “Search me – I thought she just had a couple of broken bones.”

  “Do you want me to call the hospital?”

  “No, we’re going to go there,” I said.

  “To do what?”

  “I doubt they’ll give you any information over the phone. It’s not the same as after the accident – you were a concerned witness; but this is different. We need to go there and tell a few lies. Try to find out what’s happened to her. We’ll tell them we’re working for the insurance company or something – either hers or the taxi driver’s – I doubt they’ll check if we appear to know about the accident, her injuries and her treatment. We’ll tell them we heard she’d been taken ill and want to know whether her present condition is connected to her recent accident.”

  “Now?”

  “No, we’ll leave it until the morning. They’re going to need time to examine her and make some kind of diagnosis.”

  “Maybe she had a fall in the apartment,” Lucy said.

  “Let’s wait and find out. In a way this is a godsend – I’ll be able to access the apartment again and see if I can discover if there’s any clue as to where Barbara comes from. I wasn’t looking for anything like that before – but I’ll have to be cautious. We don’t know exactly when Withers is coming back.”

  *

  We arrived at the hospital at eleven o’clock and went to the admissions reception. I handed one of my business cards to the receptionist – one that had ‘accident and personal injury investigations’ printed on it. We were asked to wait. After a couple of phone calls we were told that doctor Sanjit would be down to see us shortly.

  Doctor Sanjit was a tall and strikingly handsome Indian in his mid-thirties. He asked us to accompany him to a consultation room.

  “We’re making enquiries about Miss Green on behalf of the insurers,” I said, careful not to say whose insurers, “in connection with her recent traffic accident. We understand she was discharged from hospital on Monday but was re-admitted yesterday. We’re enquiring as to whether there is any connection between the fractures that Miss Green sustained in the accident and her re-admission yesterday.”

  “Miss Green has developed a subdural hematoma,” Sanjit said. “She’s presently being closely monitored. At this stage I’m not in a position to confirm that this arose from her recent accident, but it seems likely that it did.”

  “Wouldn’t that have been picked up on her admission last week?” I said.

  “Not necessarily. As you may know from your line of work, Mr. Kane, a subdural hematoma is a collection of blood outside the brain, usually caused by a head injury, from a fall, a motor accident or an assault. Blood collects between the layers of tissue that surround the brain. In a subdural hematoma, bleeding occurs between the outermost layer, the dura, and the next layer, the arachnoid. The bleeding in a subdural hematoma is therefore under the skull but outside the brain, not in the brain itself − but as blood accumulates, pressure on the brain increases. The pressure on the brain causes a subdural hematoma's symptoms. If pressure inside the skull rises to very high level, a subdural hematoma can lead to unconsciousness, and sometimes death.”

  “But in this case why would the symptoms have been delayed for so long after the accident?” I said.

  “People with a bleeding disorder and people who take blood thinners are more likely to develop a subdural hematoma, even after a relatively minor head injury. But the symptoms of subdural hematoma depend mostly on the rate of bleeding: a person may appear normal for days after a head injury, but slowly become confused and then unconscious several days later. This results from a slower rate of bleeding, causing a slowly enlarging subdural hematoma. In very slow-growing subdural hematomas, there may be no noticeable symptoms for more than two weeks after the bleeding starts. It’s probable that Miss Green fits into this category of case. I say that because she was able to confirm, after readmission yesterday, that she hadn’t suffered any other head injury, and the symptoms she described were consistent with that diagnosis.”

  “And what symptoms were they?” I asked.

  “Miss Green telephoned the hospital yesterday afternoon complaining of a persistent headache, drowsiness and nausea. After reviewing her hospital notes a decision was taken to readmit her immediately.”

  “Is it too early to give a prognosis?”

  “She’ll be treated conservatively initially. She’ll be given drugs to assist in the coagulation of the blood. She may have been on blood-thinning medication for some reason – she was rather confused when she was readmitted yesterday and we have no information either from her or from any other medical source about this. If that doesn’t work, and the symptoms persist or worsen, then we may have
to consider a burr hole in order to drain the blood and thereby relieve the pressure on the brain. I’m afraid it would be unwise for me to give you any long-term prognosis at this stage. Patients can vary considerably from one case to another.”

  “So even the CT scan on her admission failed to detect the hematoma?” Lucy said, eager to have at least some input to the conversation.

  “Yes, that’s correct,” Sanjit said. “An MRI scan would have given a more detailed picture. But the history of the accident from both the patient and the witnesses didn’t seem to merit that at the time.”

  “Well, we must let you get back to work, doctor. Thank you very much for your assistance. Let’s hope she makes a complete recovery.”

  Doctor Sanjit nodded and led us out of the room.

  “Well,” Lucy said as we left the hospital, “whatever happens it’ll give us more time to get the DNA analysis finished.”

  “You’re all heart,” I said.

  “She’s a blackmailer and probably a murderer – maybe even a serial killer – so it’s hard to feel any sympathy for her.”

  “I agree,” I said. “Did you hear about the guy who was found asphyxiated by a mouthful of cornflakes? The police thought that was probably the work of a cereal killer.”

  Lucy thumped me on the arm.

  Chapter Thirty Two

  DNA

  When we got home I called Tony again. “I need you back on the job, Tony. It turns out that Barbara’s likely to be in the hospital for some time. I want to get back in the apartment for another search, but Withers, who’s either the principal tenant or the owner, is due back at any time. I need you to keep it under surveillance again until I’m satisfied that it’s safe. I’m afraid I don’t know what he looks like, though, so you’ll probably have to keep an eye on the actual apartment rather than the entrance to the building.”

  “No problem, boss. After a rather slow start this is turning out to be a pretty good month. Still, I don’t want you to spend your money unnecessarily – I think I’ve got a better idea.”

  “Okay, what?” I said.

  “What’s the guy’s name again?”

  “Paul Withers,” I said.

  “I’ll tell the management office that I’ve got a package for him which he’ll need to sign for – I’ll tell them I tried to deliver it but no-one’s home. I’ll ask them to contact me when he gets back.”

  “Not a bad idea Tony – you’ll need some credentials.”

  “Don’t worry, it’s a trick I’ve used before – I’ve got a uniform and a business card with a fake company name on it.”

  “You’re a man with many hidden talents, Tony,” I said.

  “Pity nobody’s paying us for any of this,” Lucy said, after I hung up.

  “You can say that again,” I said, “only please don’t.”

  “When do you think Jill will have the results?”

  “Hopefully by the weekend.”

  “I wonder if Don and Lisa are still on vacation.”

  “I hope not – we’re still waiting for his check,” I said.

  “I could do with a little bit more to get everything in the office finished,” Lucy said.

  “Why? Do you want to hire a window cleaner?”

  Lucy smiled. “Among other things,” she said.

  It was six o’clock when Jill phoned. The analysis was finished and the results were being collated. If I’d like to come to the lab at eleven o’clock tomorrow, everything should be ready. I called Lucy and told her. Jill and Lucy had known each other for years, but Lucy had never been to the lab before. I wondered whether there was a match. If not, then the investigation into Delmar’s murder would no doubt drag on at a snail’s pace whilst we waited for the crime lab to process their samples. Surely the fingerprint examination had been done by now, I thought. I made a mental note to call Calley in the morning. It was a shame I had no-one else to go to, but Calley was my only link to the police investigation.

  Almost as soon as I put the phone down Don called. They were back from their vacation. He and Lisa had enjoyed a wonderful holiday. He’d love for us to meet her.

  “Are you free for dinner over the weekend?” he asked. “I’ve told Lisa I used to work with your brother and that I met you both through him. I’m sure she and Lucy will hit it off, and it’s a small way of saying thanks for your help. No mention of the recent investigation obviously.”

  “Thanks, Don,” I said. “We’d love to come.” Maybe he’d bring his checkbook with him, I thought.

  “Ruth’s at eight on Saturday. Is that okay for you both?”

  “Perfect, Don,” I said. “We’ll look forward to it.” I didn’t like to tell him I didn’t know Ruth or where her restaurant was – I’d ask Lucy; she was bound to know.

  I walked over to Lucy’s place and told her.

  “We’re driving over to Cambridge in the morning. Jill’s completed the DNA testing.”

  “Is there a match?”

  “I don’t know yet – we’ll find out tomorrow. And Don called. He wants us to meet Lisa. We’re going to Ruth’s, wherever that is.”

  “Oh it’s fabulous. It’s a steak-house at the old city hall. I went there last year.”

  “You didn’t invite me.”

  “You were out of town,” she said. “How was their vacation?”

  “Seems it all went very well.”

  “You want some coffee?” Lucy said.

  “Sure.”

  “I wish there was some way of letting Lisa know about Cody,” she said. “And that Delmar won’t be bothering her again and that Barbara …”

  “We’ll have to think of a way. Let’s just enjoy the evening tomorrow,” I said. “I plan to search Barbara’s apartment over the weekend. I don’t really expect to find anything – I did a pretty thorough job before, but I may have missed something. Let’s see what Jill’s come up with first.”

  *

  We arrived at the Complete Forensics laboratory at eleven. Jill came down to meet us. She hugged Lucy.

  “I haven’t seen you in ages,” she said. “How’s the new job? I hope Kane’s not bossing you around too much.”

  “He wouldn’t dare,” Lucy said.

  We went upstairs to Jill’s office. We sat down and she picked up a sheaf of papers from the desk. I think she was enjoying the suspense.

  “As far as the female DNA sample and the DNA report you faxed me, there’s no doubt that there’s a match,” she said, handing a duplicate copy of the report to me. “You’ll see that in the report it’s worded ‘could be’, but that’s how these reports are always worded. If you read on, you’ll see the probability – in this case it’s over a billion to one.”

  “So it is a match then – why does the report only say ‘could have been secreted from the same person’?” Lucy said.

  “It’s just a matter of being cautious. Like fingerprints, nobody has ever found identical prints from two different people and it’s presumed we never will, but unless you examine everyone in the world you can never be scientifically certain. DNA analysis is a much newer science than fingerprinting. But you can rest assured that this DNA came from the same person.”

  “Phew,” I said. “That’s a real breakthrough for me.”

  “Did the swab you sent me come from the crime scene?” Jill said.

  “No, the police are investigating that and they haven’t produced their results yet – or if they have I haven’t been told. But I’ve a good reason to believe that they’ll find this lady’s DNA there.”

  “And if they do is it a slam dunk?”

  I thought about it for a minute. “Not quite,” I said. “But together with your analysis of the DNA from the cold case it will make a strong prima facie case.” I thought about it again. “There’s another link, you see? The manner of death in each homicide was not only similar it was highly unusual, but …”

  Jill waited.

  “But there’s a
problem,” I said.

  “Which is?” Jill said.

  “I’d better tell you the details – maybe it’s something you could think about?”

  Jill looked at her watch. “Okay. I’ve allocated half an hour for this meeting – why don’t you tell me about it?”

  “The victim in both homicides was found dead lying in a bathtub full of water. There were no physical signs of injury. Now I haven’t yet had the full results of the autopsy from the recent homicide, other than the fact that the cause of death couldn’t be determined, but I have full details of the other case. No external injury, no discernable physical ailments, such as a heart attack, stroke etcetera. There was some water in the airways, but insufficient to be conclusive that the victim drowned. No trace of any drug was found, neither was there a significant amount of alcohol in the blood or organ tissues. The cause of death was presumed to be drowning, but there was no explanation as to how it had occurred. The report said death was instantaneous. The victim was twenty-nine and apparently healthy. In the recent homicide the victim was a similar age, maybe a year or two older. There were no visible marks on him either to indicate that a struggle had taken place.”

  “Okay,” Jill said. “So I take it that what you have – or expect to have – is the presence at the scene of the same woman, but of course, there’s no way of establishing when the DNA was secreted – is that the problem?”

  “That’s part of it,” I said. “But there’s another puzzle. I have no evidence that anyone other than this woman was involved in the murders. I’ve seen her – we’ll call her Barbara – she’s of medium height, slim build, now in her mid-thirties I think. I can’t think of any circumstances where she’d have been strong enough to have carried out the killings.”

  Jill looked at me. “I have a few questions,” she said. “Can you describe the relative size of the bath and the deceased in each case?”