Alex Barclay - Time of Death

‘Hello, there,’ she said.

‘Hey,’ said Glenn. ‘I spoke with Colin Grabien.’

Am I supposed to know why?

‘And he was right about the transaction database.’

What?

‘So, yes,’ said Glenn, ‘the security guy hadn’t looked at it.’

The security guy at the warehouse! ‘OK,’ said Ren. ‘That’s great.’

‘Someone did hack the system — that’s how your name showed up as having accessed the premises.’

‘OK…so…someone was deliberately trying to place me at a crime scene?’

Glenn shrugged. ‘Do you know why anyone would do that?’

‘I have absolutely no idea.’

‘Whoever it was, they did a very good job. Colin was able to see that they had been there, but after that, they left not a trace.’

‘That’s all very odd,’ said Ren.

‘Anyway, I’m sorry for having to ask you about all that.’

‘No problem, Glenn. What else could you do?’

‘Thank you.’

‘So,’ said Ren. ‘How’s it all going?’

‘Well one development,’ said Glenn. ‘When we looked at Wheeler’s office the day the body was found, there were notes on her desk. They looked like they were notes for a book.’

‘What?’

Glenn nodded. ‘It had “Untitled” on the top, but it was obviously a collection of case studies from her practice.’

‘On what subject?’

‘The notes were rough. Patient A this, that…’ He looked at Ren. ‘You didn’t know anything about it?’

‘No. She didn’t mention anything.’

‘Well, it’s good news for us, because it means we can access the patient files.’

Whoa. ‘I can’t imagine it will be that easy. Even if the notes were in plain view. You’d have a hard time convincing the DA…’

‘It’s done and dusted,’ said Glenn. ‘It’s a very real possibility that Helen was killed by a patient.’

‘But is there anything that made you think there was a killer in those notes?’ She gestured for him to sit down.

Glenn shrugged. ‘Who knows?’ He sat down.

‘Well, what did they say?’

‘Patient A: male, thirty-one-’

‘Loner, gun fanatic?’

‘I wish,’ said Glenn. ‘No — male, thirty-one, married, electronic engineer, schizophrenic, aural delusions, substance abuse problems, failed rehab times three…Patient B: female, thirty-seven, single, psychotic episodes-’

‘There’s our killer,’ said Ren. ‘Crazy woman.’

Glenn shrugged. ‘Psychotic episodes, bipolar, leo, Rx Zyprexa…’ He scanned down the page. ‘Patient C: male, forty-two, married, undertaker, history of depression, alcoholic, physically/verbally abusive to spouse-’

Ren pointed to the page he had in front of him. ‘What’s that leo thing in patient B? I doubt Helen was doing star signs…’

‘I said LEO. Law Enforcement Officer.’

Thirty-seven, single, psychotic episodes, bipolar, law-enforcement officer, Rx Zyprexa…

Ren’s stomach turned.

Glenn was still smiling at her, but Ren could barely respond.

‘So,’ said Glenn. ‘There you have it.’

‘How will it work from here?’

‘A taint team will access the files-’

‘A what?’

‘A taint team — there’s a lot of crap in those files no one needs to see. I might need to know that Patient A’s giant white rabbit friend was telling him to kill all medical professionals, but I don’t need to know he wore his great aunt’s yellow drawers to his sixteenth birthday party.’

‘Right.’

‘So this taint team goes in, reads the psych files, tries to match them to these Patients A, B and C, and hands only what they see as the relevant parts of these files over to the judge.’

Ren paused. ‘And this is so that a defendant — if you find one — can’t file a motion to suppress all the information in the files on the grounds that it could taint the investigators and prosecutors?’

Glenn paused. ‘I believe that is correct.’

‘And these are the only three files you can access? Just because they were in plain view?’

‘That’s the law.’ Glenn shrugged.

‘Do you know who’s on this taint team?’

‘Three prosecutors from the DA’s office that aren’t involved in the case.’

‘For objectivity.’

‘Yes.’

‘And who’s the judge?’

‘Douglas Hammond.’

‘And…how will it all work?’ said Ren. ‘I mean, the fact that a patient is a patient is privileged information in itself.’

Glenn nodded. ‘I guess they feel that the taint team addresses that. It goes no further than those three people.’

‘That doesn’t sound strong enough to hold up.’

‘Douglas Hammond seems to think so.’

‘What did Helen Wheeler’s assistant say about the book?’

‘She said she didn’t know anything about it.’

‘And you don’t find that strange?’ said Ren. ‘Her own assistant doesn’t know?’

‘Not really. Wheeler could have just wanted to keep it on the down low before she told anyone what she was doing. The assistant didn’t seem very helpful,’ said Glenn. ‘Wouldn’t you think she would want us to find her boss’s killer?’

‘Yes, but not to destroy all her patients’ mental health in the process,’ said Ren. ‘I doubt Helen Wheeler would want that either. Also, I’m sure if her assistant really thought one of the patients was a threat, she would have let you know.’ I am talking about this too much.

‘Sure,’ said Glenn. ‘But it’s not like the assistant’s a trained psychiatrist.’

‘True. Right, well, keep me posted,’ said Ren. ‘Hopefully something will come up.’

And please God let it not be Patient B’s deep dark secrets.

Gary was the only person in Safe Streets who knew about Ren’s condition. She rushed to his office.

‘Gary, I was talking to Glenn Buddy and they’re going to try and access Helen’s patient files.’

‘I wish them well.’

‘No — it looks like they’re able to do it,’ said Ren. ‘Apparently Helen was writing a book and her notes were in plain view when they went to check out her office. They were like Patient A, male, thirty-one, whatever. Patient B, Patient C. And I’m Patient B.’

‘Whoa. What?’

‘I am Patient B. No names, obviously, but it is me. Female, my age, law-enforcement officer, bipolar…’

‘But they’re privileged files-’

‘These notes were right there on top of her desk,’ said Ren. ‘Denver PD’s got nothing to go on so far, so they’re looking at the patient-gone-nuts angle. The closest they can get to a patient at this stage is these notes.’

‘You had no idea she was writing a book?’

‘No,’ said Ren. ‘And I would, let’s face it, be the last person to give Helen permission to use me as a case study if she had been. I mean, it’s not like I’m relatable to in the grand scheme of things. My case study is too unusual. She was probably writing notes first, then going after permission.’

‘Has this been confirmed — was she definitely writing a book?’

‘I didn’t ask, I was too thrown. Glenn didn’t seem to be questioning it.’

‘Did she have a publisher?’ said Gary. ‘Is there anything else to back this up?’

‘There might be something in her email. But according to Glenn, her assistant knew nothing about it.’

‘That just doesn’t add up.’

‘What can we do?’ said Ren.

‘I’ll talk to Glenn Buddy and tell him not to go after Patient B’s files.’

‘Can you do that?’

‘If he knows I can vouch for Patient B, he’ll take my word. He would know that I wouldn’t go out on a limb for that. The judge isn’t going to have a problem with it — the less he has to wade through, the better.’