Critical Condition by Peter Clement

Author:Peter Clement
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780345443403
Publisher: Peter Clement
Published: 2002-01-01T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

That Same Morning, Wednesday, June 27, 6:47 a.m.

Richard watched as the police artist put the finishing shading on the composite created with his laptop computer from Kathleen's instructions.

"Is that him?" McKnight said.

She studied the image of a clean-shaven, broad-faced man with blue eyes and very closely cropped hair who might have been anywhere in that no-man's-land of age between the mid-twenties and early thirties. At least Richard, peering over her shoulder from the opposite side of the bed, couldn't peg it any closer.

Kathleen took a breath and, able to use her right hand to block her tracheal tube, said, "Yes." She could also turn her head slightly to that side, enough to look at the detective and back to the young officer who'd done the portrait.

"What about you, Doc? Is that the guy you ran into on your way out of ICU?" McKnight asked.

"It could be. But as I said, I hardly paid him any attention at the time. If it was, I was by him so fast I don't even remember getting a whiff of that awful aftershave he wears."

McKnight glanced up at the wall clock, which read 6:51 A.M. "Before the night shift goes off at seven, ask them to take a look as well," he said to the young policeman who was making backup disks of his work.

"Right, sir."

The man closed his case, shouldered it, and wandered off toward the nursing station. Soon he was surrounded by women who seemed as interested in him as his sketch. Richard's nemesis with the spiky hairdo and aquamarine eyes arrived and appeared particularly fascinated by him. Richard wondered if the cop would end up drawing her, in private. "Look out for sharp teeth if you do," he said under his breath.

". . . as many witnesses as possible usually gives us the best likeness," McKnight was explaining to Kathleen. "Then we'll e-mail copies all over the hospital and to the media, to see if anyone recognizes the creep. Now, we'll also check the cleaning cart and around this cubicle for prints, plus medical records, especially the shelf unit your Doc toppled on him to see if we get a match for all three areas, but with everything so public--""He wore . . . latex gloves . . . when he was ... in here," interrupted Kathleen.

"And I wouldn't be surprised if he kept them on the whole time," continued McKnight. "No, it'll be the picture of him that'll help us. That and the fact the motive here seems pretty obvious."

Something uneasy stirred within Richard. "You know, the way the guy was screaming about 'the Almighty's just punishment' and killing me off as an 'agent of the devil,' a rational motive may not exactly be the guy's strong suit."

"What are you talking about? It's clear this creep was trying to kill Dr. Sullivan before she could convince anyone that Hamlin and Lockman had done something to her. He obviously didn't know she had managed to communicate with us. And he

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