by Aimée
Ella scarcely breathed. She didn’t want Loretta to stop and think, she was doing just fine angry. “I thought you never allowed Julian to have candy.”
“I don’t usually, but Julian had been so good! Even so, I didn’t let him have the whole piece. It was too big, and I didn’t want him to spoil his dinner. We each ate half. But that’s what I meant about the young man trying to be nice—” Loretta’s eyes grew wide. “Wait. You don’t think that one tiny piece of candy was what made us both so sick?” she whispered.
“I don’t know. But I’m going to find out,” Ella said flatly.
TWENTY-TWO
Loretta sat down on the ground. “You can’t trust anyone or anything anymore. I should have known better.”
“Quit blaming yourself. We don’t know anything yet, for sure. Right now it’s all speculation.” Ella tried to think back to that day at the clinic. “I was there, but I don’t remember Lee giving out candy. Was it in a dish somewhere?”
“No, he kept it in his jacket pocket. He said he couldn’t afford to buy enough for everyone, so he only gave it to the people who looked like they could use a pick-me-up.”
“How noble,” Ella muttered.
“I can’t believe that he’d do anything to hurt anyone, particularly the kids.”
Ella nodded. Maybe she should have listened to Carolyn more when she’d spoken about Lee as being bad news. “Let me check things out. In the meantime, don’t tell anyone what we discussed. We all know only too well how easy it is to ruin someone’s reputation through innuendo.”
Loretta nodded, but guilt clouded her eyes. “You’ll let me know if it was him?”
“Of course,” Ella said, then walked back to the Jeep with Justine.
“What now?” Justine asked.
“I want you to make some discreet inquiries about Howard Lee at the hospital as soon as you can. If he contaminated that candy, we need to know where he got the bacteria.”
Justine shuddered. “Maybe from the dead bodies in the morgue?”
“I don’t know, could be. I’ll talk to Carolyn and see if she can come up with anything. I also want you to start working on putting together the evidence to support a request for a search warrant, but hold onto the paperwork for now. I want to look through his home, but we don’t have probable cause yet.”
Ella drove back to the station, adding a few more specific instructions as they went.
Justine nodded, jotting a note to herself to get the photo Ella had requested of Howard Lee from his personnel files. The one they had of him with a group of miners, via Anderson, was too small for easy identification.
As Justine got underway, Ella knocked on Big Ed’s open office door and walked inside. “I think we have our first break on the case against the M.E. and, with luck, it may also crack open the one concerning Angelina Yellowhair.” She filled him in on all the details.
He let out a whistle. “There’s going to be all hell to pay if that med student used contaminants from the dead to create the problems we’ve been having. How are you going to go about getting evidence? If you spook him now, all he’ll do is cover his tracks.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right about that. I’m going to talk to Carolyn and then play it by ear.”
* * *
Ella met Carolyn at a diner in Farmington. It had taken some time to track her friend down, but she’d played a hunch that had paid off. Though Carolyn was suspended from work at the hospital, Ella had suspected Carolyn would still carry her pager. She had guessed right.
Carolyn was sitting in a booth facing the street when Ella arrived.
A moment later a young waitress brought them some iced tea, took Ella’s order, then left. “I’ve been shopping for new furniture,” Carolyn said. “What’s the emergency?”
“It isn’t an emergency, but I do need to pick your brains.” She told Carolyn what she’d learned about Lee.
“That little no good son of a—” Carolyn clutched her glass of iced tea as if she wanted to strangle something. “How dare he use my team as cover for something so vile! If I’d seen him, I’d have shoved that candy right up his nose.” Anger blazed in her eyes.
“I don’t have any real proof yet. It’s still possible he’s completely innocent. But I intend to check this lead out carefully. Can you think of a way he might have obtained the contaminants that were used? All the illnesses were caused by bacterial infections of one type or another.”
“Lee’s on staff at the hospital. He can go anywhere he wants to there, and has duty stations outside the hospital, too. You’d need the log of his daily activities to find out all the places he’s been. It’s on file somewhere, but I’ll warn you, the center is really picky about giving out information from hospital or staff records.”
“I could get a court order, but that will take time and some fast talking. I have nothing substantial to offer a judge yet, and if I’m wrong about Lee, a lot of people in and out of the police department will look bad.”
“What’s more important, the welfare of The People, or looking bad?” Carolyn asked.
“Lee isn’t going to any more clinics, so the danger is far from imminent.”
“There’s one way to circumvent the problem you’re facing. Go in and find a way to borrow the records.”
“You mean just take them? In a hospital filled with people?” Ella shook her head. “Even if I managed to find any evidence that way, it wouldn’t stand up in court, and I’d lose any case I had against him.”
Carolyn stared at an indeterminate spot across the room, lost in thought. “I have a suggestion. Do you know Dr. Charlie, the center’s toxicologist?”
“I’ve met her once or twice.”
“Lee’s always bugged the heck out of her. He worked in her lab last semester. One day she overheard him saying that middle-aged women were easy to get in the sack because they were always grateful when a man paid attention to them. She was never sure who he was referring to, but she gave him hell after that.”
“I’ll talk to Dr. Charlie, then.”
“I think she’ll help if you tell her the whole story. Lee, by the way, is afraid of her. He hated even taking autopsy samples to her.”
Ella left Carolyn at the diner and drove directly to the Medical Center. The long drive tested her patience. Once there, Ella went straight to Toxicology. It was down the hall from the pharmacy, just one floor above the morgue. In the lab, she found a woman wearing a white lab coat staring into a microscope and taking notes.
“Excuse me, Dr. Charlie?”
The woman looked up, rubbed her eyes, and reached for her glasses. “Can I help you?”
Ella identified herself. “I’d like to talk to you in private, if you have a moment.”
“There’s nobody else here. This is as private as it gets. What can I do for you?”
“I need your help. Carolyn Roanhorse suggested you might be able to point me in the right direction on something.”
Lea Charlie exhaled softly. “Poor Carolyn. Someone’s setting her up, you know. That woman’s heart is tied to her work and this center. She could no more jeopardize that than I could sprout wings and fly to the moon.”
“I wish you’d call and tell her that. She would benefit from knowing that there are still a few people in her corner.”
“I can’t call her. Some jerk decided to burn down her trailer. I don’t even know where she’s at.”
“She’s staying at my mother’s home for now. This is our number,” Ella said, scribbling it down on the back of her card. “But I’m not sure how long she’ll be our guest. She’s already found a new trailer and is shopping for furniture.”
“I’ll give her a call later. Now tell me what can I do to help?”
Ella told her the whole story about Lee.
“So, you’re looking for a source of bacteria that he might have tapped into, right?”
“That’s it.”
“I’ve seen him hanging around the microbiology lab quite a bit lat
ely. I know he trained there for a semester, and that he likes lab work. When we had that outbreak of meningitis, Dr. Murphy was swamped and I believe Lee volunteered to help him out.”
Ella felt her body thrumming with tension. “Is Dr. Murphy around?”
“Yeah, I’m sure he is, but his lab is way at the other end of the building. He deals with a lot of strains of bacteria that are really nasty, so you can’t just walk in there and talk to him. I could page him, but that’s not going to put him in a good mood. These days he’s been working harder than any two of us here.”
“Can you get him on the phone, and at least verify that Howard Lee worked with him there recently?”
“I’ll try.” Dr. Charlie disappeared into an adjoining office.
It took several minutes but finally she returned. “He was defensive about it when I asked. He thought I was complaining about the help Lee gave him.”
“Did you tell him why you were asking?”
“I just said that I was hoping to get someone to help out here, and I wanted to find out how it had worked out for him, particularly during a crisis.”
“What did he say?”
“He gave Lee glowing praise. He said he’d never seen a harder-working student. He said if it hadn’t been for Lee and the other staff members who came by and volunteered to help, he wouldn’t have been able to keep up with the workload, identifying the type of bacteria causing illnesses, confirming viruses, and maintaining safety protocols for biohazards.”
“Did he mention the names of any of the others who helped?”
Dr. Charlie rattled off the names of several doctors and medical students, none of whom were familiar to Ella, then added, “He said Nelson Yellowhair, an orderly, spent hours there running errands for him, and some of the day shift nurses helped. He was very proud that Judy Lujan was one of those who showed up, since she’d had both a patient and a friend pass away recently.”
The addition of the senator’s brother and Bitah’s girlfriend to the list gave her a bad feeling. The center was short on staff, so helping out during an emergency wasn’t unheard of, but it still made her uneasy to have so many of her possible suspects turn up in such a sensitive area.
“Is it busy enough at this lab that someone could have taken samples of some strains from there without being detected?”
“I’d say so.”
Ella considered things. One lead at a time. “Where’s Lee now? Do you happen to know?”
“Since Carolyn was suspended the morgue is being staffed on a rotation basis. Coverage there could fall to any doctor. Lee isn’t assigned there right now because he has to have a full-time supervising physician with him and there isn’t one available there currently. Do you want me to try to find him?”
Ella shook her head. “No. In fact, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t even mention that I’ve been here asking about him.”
“No problem.”
Ella was in her Jeep, driving back to the station when Justine called her on the cellular. “I’ve got some news you’re not going to like.”
“Howard Lee wasn’t Angelina’s boyfriend?”
“I don’t know about that yet. I haven’t managed to catch up to that waitress. She’s due in for work at eight. I’ll try to meet with her then. I called because Blalock has a situation on his hands. He found out that we were doing a check on Joe Bragg, and asked me to back off.”
“Why would he care?” Ella spoke the thought out loud, then shook her head. “No, don’t bother. I can guess.”
“He wants to meet at the Totah Café. All three of us.”
“How soon?”
“He can get there in thirty minutes.”
“Can you meet me there in ten? We should talk first.”
Justine agreed.
By the time Ella arrived, Justine was already there, nursing a glass of iced tea, looking restless.
Ella sat down facing the room. “We don’t have much time, so listen up. I don’t want Blalock to know that we tried to get our own informant, but never got anywhere.”
Justine’s eyes narrowed. “You had someone you were trying to cultivate on your own, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but his use to us was limited,” Ella said obliquely. “What I don’t want is for Blalock to know that he managed something neither of us were able to do.”
Justine nodded slowly. “Yeah, he’d never let us forget it, would he?”
“You can bet on it.” The door opened and Blalock came in. FB-Eyes was early. “Follow my lead, but don’t volunteer information. I can’t seem to let this pass without appearing angry, or he’ll smell a rat.”
“Detectives,” Blalock greeted congenially.
“Since when do you tell my people to stop investigating?” Ella demanded.
“Calm down. That’s why I asked both of you here. I’ve got good news for you.”
“It better be great news,” Ella mumbled.
“Joe Bragg is working for me. He’s a former cop who agreed to help out.”
“But his references checked out, and there was no mention of police experience. I went over his employment record myself,” Justine protested. “Was this guy a cop in a previous lifetime?”
“I arranged for all the references to be verifiable as part of his cover. That’s how I found out you were checking up on him. People called me after you called them.”
“And you got the mine’s head honcho to agree to this undercover operation?” Ella asked.
“Bureau credentials open doors. Some people still trust us,” he said. “But the reason I’m here is that we just got a big break. Joe was approached to join The Brotherhood.”
“So you now know who some of the members are?” Ella asked, leaning forward.
“No. He was approached in writing. I ran that note through every test we’ve got, but there’s nothing we can follow up on. It was handwritten on school notebook paper, and there’s nothing special about the ink. And before you ask, no, it doesn’t resemble the writing in the notes you’ve been getting,” he said in a quiet voice. “It was block-lettered, all caps.”
“When is your man going to meet with The Brotherhood?”
“I don’t know. There’s a fly in that ointment. There’s a chance he’s been made, but he wants to let it play out a little longer.”
“So, what do you need from us?”
“Backup, tonight when I meet with him to get his report and give him some equipment he’ll need for his meeting with The Brotherhood. I need you to observe from a distance and make sure my man wasn’t followed. The standard routine.”
“When’s the meet?” Ella asked.
“At eight, north of Shiprock and off the Cortez Highway near Blue Hill, right where a dirt road passes under the second transmission line coming from the San Juan Power Plant. I picked the spot because its on the reservation and can be easily located on a topographic map. Bragg can find it, but is less likely to be noticed by The Brotherhood this far off their ’turf.’”
“If I remember the area, that’s a good spot and a bad spot. There’s not a lot of places for anyone to hide—including you two and us.”
“We’ll stay low profile, no radios or wires. I have my misgivings, but Bragg insisted. He’s worried about scanners. Just make sure nobody comes to blow us to kingdom come.”
“All right. We’ll be there. But let me fill you in on what we’ve learned about a med student named Howard Lee.”
* * *
Back at the office, Ella and Justine brought out a detailed topographic map of the area where the meet was to take place. “I’ve only seen this area from the highway,” Justine said. “What do you know about it?”
“Not much. There’s a bunch of gas wells to the east. It’s only about four and a half miles from the Colorado state line. There’s a mesa to the west, but it’s a bit far for us to maintain visual contact. We could always climb partway up Blue Hill. We used to go up there to have parties back when I was in high school. I understand the kids now d
on’t use it though. Too lazy to drive that far.”
“Sounds perfect. I’ll pick us up some good binoculars for tonight, and some scope-equipped rifles in case we need them,” Justine said, helpfully.
“I remember a nondirect way up to that hill. Though it’ll take us about twice the travel time going directly there would, it’s worth it.”
Ella went through her phone messages, then checked the computer for interdepartmental memos and E-mail. Finding nothing that was urgent, she stood and went to the door. She wanted Howard Lee’s personnel records from the hospital as well as Judy Lujan’s and Nelson Yellowhair’s, but she also wanted to avoid trying to get a court order. She needed to keep this facet of the investigation under wraps, for now.
She mulled the situation over, considering her options, and came up with a plan. She’d go to the one person guaranteed to want to avoid negative publicity—hospital administrator, Andrew Slowman.
* * *
When Ella arrived at the hospital, she made her way quickly to the administration offices. The fewer people who knew about this visit, the better. The last thing she wanted to do was tip-off Howard Lee before she was ready to make her move.
Slowman stood up and regarded her warily as she came in through the door. “Is there a problem, Special Investigator Clah?”
Ella shook her head. “Believe it or not, we’re on the same side,” she answered with a smile.
“Maybe, but I represent the interests of this medical center and, to me, that precludes knuckling under to abusive police officers.”
She watched him for a moment, then decided that her best chance lay in playing it straight with him. Asking that he agree to keep their conversation confidential, she told him what she’d managed to discover about Howard Lee, and confided her suspicions about Nelson Yellowhair and Judy Lujan. “I can get their records with a court order, but we both know that will take time and could leak to the press. If you cooperate, things will move faster, and fewer people would know. That works to the advantage of this center, as well as my investigation.”
“So our interests coincide.” He nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll pull their files.”
