The Medical Murder Mystery Ch. 04

The chronological order of my stories is as follows:

Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, The Murdered Football Player Series, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, The Case of the Black Badge series, A Case of Revenge series, Teresa's Summer Race, The Trilogy series, Dark Side Of The Force series, Caught In The Act series, Case of the Murdered Bride series, The Credit Card Caper series, The Hot Wives Investment Club series, Seriously Inconvenienced series, Case of the Paper Trail series, Christmas Mystery Theater, The Porno Set Mystery series.

The Medical Murder Mystery, Ch. 1-4.

Feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, language and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

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Part 14 - Lockhart Locked Down

"One thing's for sure," I said to Cindy as we drove in my Police SUV to Smith-Morra Pharmacy, "Darla Clifford was at home all last night. Her ankle monitor didn't go anywhere, and our officers watching the front and back of the house said she did not leave or even open the door."

"However," I continued, "the patrols did report that John Clifford left at around 8:00pm. The police checked his car to make sure his wife wasn't inside it or in the trunk, then let him go. He went to the University Hotel and checked himself in. I sent officers to pick him up and bring him to Interrogation-A."

"Interesting." said Cindy. "This thing is getting deeper by the minute. One more killing, and it might be worthy of the Iron Crowbar."

"Oh, I can assure you that vengeance for Gloria Searles is making it worthy for me." I said, feeling Cindy's ice-blue eyes watching me as I spoke.

At the scene, I found the Crime Lab team showing up as well as several uniformed Police officers going in and out of the back door. "Okay," I called out. "Who got here first and found the bodies?"

"We did, sir." said a young rookie officer, indicating himself and his partner.

"Was the back door open when you got here?" I asked.

"No sir." said the young officer. "We tried the door, and it was unlocked and it opened when I pulled on it. We entered based upon the phone call and the sighting of a wanted suspect... after calling for backup, of course. We found the body, and then cleared the pharmacy. There was no one else inside."

"Good work." I said "So I guess you touched that door handle in testing the lock."

"Uh, yes sir, I did." said the rookie officer. "I'm sorry, sir."

"Lesson to be learned, but don't sweat it too much. We'd never have known the door was unlocked, much less found the body for hours if you hadn't have tried it." I said. "Labcoat! Use some testing technology to see if there are any prints underneath our officers' prints on that doorknob." Labcoat said he would. The tests would prove negative for the knob and the entire door.

Inside, I saw the body of an older man, who gave me the strong impression of a nutty professor, lying on his back on the floor. The prescription area behind the counter was trashed.

"That's the guy from the restaurant, Commander." Lt. Ross said. I nodded.

"Did anyone move the body?" I asked loudly. A technician told me it had not been moved. "Interesting. It's not natural for a person to fall and lie flat on their back like this. That means the perp searched him. His wallet is here, but no cell phones. Lt. Ross, what do you want to bet the perp did not want us to find a burner phone on this guy that might lead us back to the perp or perps?"

"We may never know one way or the other," Cindy said, "but I wouldn't bet against you."

I nodded again as I looked at the screen of the computer on the counter in front of the dead man. I got out a pen and poked at the mouse with it. The black screen lit up.

"Ah, here we are." I said. "A patient profile has been pulled up. One... Natasha Norelle."

"Natasha..." Cindy said.

"Yep." I said, making notes of the name, address and phone number of Natasha Norelle. "This address sounds fake, if I know my geography of the Town. But the phone number might be a burner that might come up in connection with our other cases."

"Geez," Cindy said, "now I've got to memorize the entire Town map just to keep up with you."

"Your time would be well spent doing so." I said. "Okay, any prints on that computer or mouse?" I asked the Crime Lab technician examining the computer.

"Just the dead man's, sir."

"Does this pharmacy have videocamera surveillance?" I asked.

"Yes sir." said one of the Uniformed Officers. "It's set off by motion sensor when the burglar alarm is set, too. Our Sergeant has already secured the tape and it's going to Headquarters under two-man control."

"Excellent!" I said, very happy to be hearing that. "Call the Station and tell them to make sure Master Technician Milton gets that tape immediately." The officers hurried off to comply.

The assistant Medical Examiner, the woman who had examined the bride's body in the 'Murdered Bride' case, was here and examining Lockhart's mortal remains. "Hi Martha." I said. "How are things with you?"

"All too busy these days." Martha said. "First poor Dr. Searles, she was such a nice lady and a very professional doctor... and now this man here."

"Hello, Commander." said the new Coroner, John Quincy Kelly, coming up behind us.

"Ah, Coroner," I said, "I didn't realize you were here or I would've said hello. How is your new job?"

"Job is good, I'm getting into the hang of things. As to this case, I just happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped in." Kelly said. "Martha seems to have this one fully under control." I said nothing, knowing that Kelly had not just 'stopped in'. Something was going on...

"Yes sir." said Martha. "And if Commander Troy would like to hear my preliminary findings, I'll be happy to give them."

"By all means, Martha." I said. "By all means."

"He was ambushed, hit on the back of the head by a blunt object." Martha said. "But that didn't kill him or even knock him out. However, he was weakened, and while he tried to put up a fight, he was quickly subdued. You can see the markings on his hands that show he landed a punch or two, but his face and neck took a much worse beating. He finally fell to the floor, where the blunt instrument, at least I'm thinking it's the same one, was pressed onto his larynx until he died of asphyxiation."

"Any idea of a time of death?" I asked.

"Eight to ten hours ago." Martha said. "Midnight to two a.m."

I turned to Cindy. "Call Captain Charles and ask him who was supposed to be watching this location between 10:00pm and 6:00am. I know I ordered around-the-clock surveillance. And Cindy," I said as she was about to walk off, "don't tell Charles what happened, just ask and get the info. Then tell him to have all those officers available for questioning when I get back to the Station. If he asks, tell him I want to talk to them to see if anyone observed anything."

Cindy nodded and walked off, knowing that I did not just want to 'talk' to them... somebody was in trouble for either sleeping on the job or not being where they were supposed to be.

"Okay, anything else I need to be shown while I'm here?" I asked loudly, but mostly to Labcoat.

"Nothing yet, sir." he said. "I'll get word to you immediately if we find something important."

"Good. Detective Cummings," I said to the lovely blonde Joanne Cummings, who had come to the scene behind Cindy and myself, "remain here and stay in charge of this crime scene until everyone's finished. Have them see if any drugs are missing, especially Schedule II or III drugs." I then lowered my voice to a whisper. "Don't say this out loud, but I would be more interested if drugs are not missing than if they are."

Out loud again, I said "Okay, I want a full inventory done of the drugs in this place, including any in the storerooms, and a copy sent to my email ASAP. You're in charge, Detective Cummings." With that I left, knowing that Joanne was trying very hard to hide her excitement and elation at the trust and confidence I'd just shown in her by leaving her in charge of this scene...

Part 15 - The Clifford Cliffs

I strode into Interrogation-A, with Detective Martin Nash and Lt. Cindy Ross joining me. A host of other detectives were watching from the anteroom.

"Thank you for coming down, Dr. Clifford." I said.

"As if I had a choice, Commander?" Clifford replied.

"Well, at least you didn't give my officers any trouble." I said. "I had you brought here so that we could videotape this interview, and that is for your protection as well as ours. I wish to note that you are a lawyer yourself, but if you choose to have other legal representation on your behalf come in, I will afford you every opportunity to do so."

"Thanks." said Clifford. "I might do that, but for now, what do you want to ask of me?"

"You went to the University Hotel last night, checked in, stayed all night." I said. "Why did you do that?"

"I... I got into an argument with my wife. A big one."

"Did you stay there all night? Can your presence there be verified at all times?" I asked.

"Pastor Westboro of my church came by to see me." said Clifford. "I'd called him. We talked for a few hours; he was very comforting. Then I went to bed. Surely the Hotel's cameras will show I never left my room until the next morning." I made a note on my pad, as if to write a reminder to check out this alibi.

"So what was the fight with your wife about?" asked Nash.

"Over her arrest." replied Clifford. "I don't need your room full of Detectives to figure out that she has been having extramarital affairs."

"What gives you that idea?" asked Nash. "We have not said why we arrested your wife. Officially, she's a material witness and tried to evade us."

"True," said Clifford, "but I've been suspecting something has been off for some time with her... with us. She's always leaving her cell phone at home, claims to forget it... but she's never forgotten it anywhere else, or lost it anywhere else. And that guy who actually grabbed her at the restaurant... he absolutely believed he knew her, and he must've felt some familiarity with her to grab her arm like he did. That suggests a comfort level between them."

"So last night I asked my wife what the hell was going on." Clifford continued. "She was arrested on the west side of town, why the hell was she there? Why was a guy so sure he knew her that he tried to grab her and hold on to her at a restaurant? What was it that Dr. Searles was so agitated about after her doctor visit? And so on..."

"What did she say?" I asked.

"She denied everything!" Clifford almost yelled out. "She must think I'm an idiot! She keeps saying that the restaurant incident was mistaken identity, and that she was on the west side of Town shopping. Shopping! Over there?!?!"

Clifford took a moment to regain his composure, but he was also peering at me to gauge the effects of his words on me. I remained passive, as did Nash. Clifford missed the look on Cindy's face, and she regained her look of passivity in time.

"Dr. Clifford," I asked, "I noticed that your wife had bruising on her leg the other night. Do you have any idea where that bruising came from?"

"No, and that's another thing." Clifford said. "She said she hit her leg against something, didn't hardly realize her leg was bruised. But she had a bruise on her leg like that a couple of months ago, too."

"Any times previously?" I asked. "And how often?"

That caused Clifford to sit back and think. "Nothing before November... well, she did have a bruise on her leg once about four or five years ago, and it wouldn't heal up properly for a while. It finally went away, and didn't come back... until last November."

"So of course I have to ask: have you and your wife gotten into physical altercations?" I asked.

"No." Clifford replied. "I understand you need to ask that, but we had a good relationship, a good marriage, until..." He let the sentence hang, unfinished.

"Dr. Clifford," I said, "I'm going to have to be blunt here: we are aware of the botched surgery, and what happened to you a couple of decades ago. How did that affect your marriage with your wife?"

Clifford's face showed his shock that we knew, and also the pain and humiliation of it all. "You know about that." he said. "Damn. Well, to answer your question: I told Darla about it before we were married. She was accepting of it, accepting of the fact that we could not make children together. I never heard a word of complaint from her, and I can still... 'perform'... so it didn't seem to be a problem."

"Doctor," I said, "I would not ask this question if it were not necessary for my investigation: has the frequency of your sexual relations diminished over time, particularly the last few months and years?"

Clifford answered "It never was all that frequent after about a year into our marriage. I could perform, but my desire was affected by the... botched operation. Darla didn't seem to be overly interested in sex, either. We did a good bit of cuddling and kissing, and we still do... well, after last night, I'm not sure how that's going to go."

"Detectives," I said, "do you have any questions for Dr. Clifford before I let him out of here?"

"Yes sir, if I may." said Cindy Ross. "Dr. Clifford, did you ask your wife what it was that Dr. Searles wanted to discuss with her? And what was your wife's response?"

"Yes, I asked." said Clifford. "I asked after we left the party. She said it was nothing, and that she'd have to get back with Dr. Searles and let her know it was nothing. I brought it up again last night during our argument. She was yelling at me by then, and said it was none of my business."

"And just to make sure," said Nash, "your wife was home the entire night and morning that Dr. Searles was found dead?"

"I can't speak for the time after I left my house to go to work," said Clifford, "but she was there all night while I was there..."

Part 16 - Burners Burned

At 2:00pm on the same Wednesday, FBI Special Agent In Charge Jack Muscone was admitted into my office. Special Agent Sandra Speer was in MCD, gossiping with my Detectives while Jack and I talked business.

"This Paul Wicker is coming up roses for us." said Jack. "The DEA has asked me to look into this. Wicker's 'patients', such as they are, are relatively wealthy women for the most part. He writes them prescriptions for all the fun Schedule II and III drugs: Percoset, which is oxycodone, barbitols, steroids, Fiorinal. We need to have a good conversation with him."

Just then Myron called me and said he had some information. I assembled a meeting... but in Classroom 'C', which was Vice's meeting room next door to MCD's Classroom 'E'. (Classroom 'D' was on the other side of the building, for Uniformed officers, in case you're wondering). Present at the meeting were Myron and myself, Jack, Sandra, Martin Nash, Diana Torres, Tanya Perlman and Cindy Ross, but also Lt. Teresa Croyle and Detectives Christopher Purvis and Julie Newton were in attendance.

"Okay, Myron, whaddya got?" I asked.

"Two things, sir." said Myron. "First, the videotapes do show some movements behind the prescription counter, but it's very dark. Special Agent Speer has offered to have the FBI try to enhance the tape and see if we can get anything out of it, though it looks like the perp made efforts to hide his facial features."

"I appreciate the FBI's help in this." I said, nodding at the FBI agents in the room. "So what's next?"

Myron went into his narrative. "Sir, I first looked up Natasha Norelle's number from the computer entry at Smith-Morra Pharmacy. The phone number was a burner phone, and it contacted several other burner phones, including Paul Wicker's phone that was found in the hidden desk compartment. And I also need to tell you that this phone number information was asked about from computers at the University Campus Police Department."

"And those can be accessed via the University's full computer network, with which most professors and the medical staff are connected." I said. "But they'd have to be Myron-and-Mary-class programmers to know what to do."

"Or Commander-Troy-class." said Myron. "I've got my alibi, sir, what about you?" There was some laughter at Myron's effrontery.

"Mine's pretty bad, everyone knows my mother and my baby daughter will say anything to give me an alibi." I said, to more tepid laughter. "So, keep going with your report, Myron."

"Yes sir. One of the burners is pinging now... at the Fillmore Pharmacy, which is south of Smith-Morra Pharmacy, and in a fairly sleazy area near the Tenderloin District." Myron said. "They're well known for only having private appointments with certain people associated with gangs and drug pushers, and use that taxi service that came up in the dead bride case."

"Geez, why didn't you tell me that when you first called, Myron?" I asked, angry at the time delay even of a few minutes. "Lt. Ross-" I began, but Cindy already had her police cellphone out.

"Calling ADA Washington for a warrant now." she replied. "On what charge, by the way?"

"Having a burner phone that has been called by known illegal drug distributors, or some such." I said. "Let Washington handle the correct law and terminology, and he might want to ask for a Federal warrant while he's at it." Cindy left the room.

"Sorry sir," said Myron, "but I thought you might need more evidence to get a warrant, so I collected as much data as I could before contacting you."

"We'll talk about that later." I said, not wishing to berate Myron in front of my Detectives. "So, what else did you find?"

"Natasha Norelle's burner phone made three phone calls in the early morning hours of last Tuesday, just hours before Dr. Searles's death." Myron said. "Two were to Paul Wicker's burner. The third number has only a few calls, very sporadically... but one call from that third number was to our Duty Desk this morning... the call that gave us the tip about Lockhart being seen at Smith-Morra Pharmacy." That caused a buzz of conversation to start. I let it, because I was thinking hard, nearly in a reverie.

A moment later, I asked "Myron, do you have any idea where that unknown person's phone was when the call was made... the tip to the Station, that is?"

"Yes sir." said Myron, going through some papers. "Eastern Downtown District... the tower just west of First Baptist Church and just northeast of the Old Courthouse Building."

"Courthouse, eh?" I mused, then got back to business. "Okay, guys, let's get going. Croyle, get with Ross and get ready to raid Fillmore Pharmacy. Heavy presence, SWAT is authorized if you see anything at all while casing the place before you go in. Nash, Torres, I'd like for you to hang around with me and Agent Muscone. We're going to help Myron analyze this data. After the raid, we're going to talk to Paul Wicker."

Part 17 - Wickety Wicker

At 3:30pm on Wednesday, I was informed that the Fillmore Pharmacy had been successfully raided. The burner phone in question was found on the pharmacist there, one Abel Fillmore. Plenty of evidence of potentially illegal drug transactions had been found, and Sandra Speer was working with my Vice team on that. Two DEA agents were also en route from the City.