State of Denial by Marie Force

Author:Marie Force [Force, Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HTJB, Inc.

Chapter Twenty

“I want to see Marcel Blanchet’s mother,” Freddie said to Gonzo as they began their day. “She lives in Bowie, Maryland, so we’ll head out there and see what she knew about the lawsuit.”

“Can I come?” Sam asked from behind them.

Freddie spun around. “What’re you doing here?”

“I’m back.”

“You’re on a leave of absence.”

“I was. That’s over now.”

“It was one day, Sam.”

She shrugged. “Did the trick. What’d I miss?”

Freddie wasn’t sure how to respond to this turn of events. Did her return mean he was no longer in charge of the case? Part of him wouldn’t mind that, but the other part was sort of disappointed.

“We, ah, talked to the partner, Rory McInerny and his wife, Brittany, as well as the four women suing Dr. Blanchet.”

“You can bring me up to speed on the way to Bowie,” Sam said.

“I don’t need to go if you’re with him,” Gonzo said. “I want to take a closer look at the wife and her text messages since gunpowder residue was also found on her hand.”

“Interesting,” Sam said. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“We didn’t either,” Freddie said. “It threw a wrench into things right when we were starting to think he had killed his family and then himself.”

“What are you hearing from Crime Scene?” Sam asked. “Any stray bullets that might indicate a struggle over the gun that would put residue on the mother’s hand?”

“Still waiting for their report,” Freddie said.

“You can call Haggerty,” Sam said. “He’ll tell you what he knows so far.”

“I’ll do that on the way, unless you want to take it from here,” Freddie said.

“Why would I want to do that? It’s your case. I’m just along for the ride.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, let’s go to Bowie, then.”

As they approached the morgue, Lindsey came through the automatic doors and stopped short when she saw Sam. “Thought you were on leave.”

“I was. I’m back.”

“Good to see you. Everything all right?”

“So far so good, Doc. How are you?”

“Fine.” Lindsey gave her a wary look. “You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m good. I needed a break. I took one. Now I’m ready to get back in the game.”

Lindsey glanced at Freddie.

He shrugged. What was he supposed to say? Sam was the boss. If she was ready to be back, so be it.

“Have a great day, Doc,” Sam said.

“You, too.” To Freddie, she added, “We’re transporting Marcel Blanchet’s body to GW for the MRI today. I’ll know more soon.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

“Sure thing.”

Freddie followed Sam to her Secret Service SUV.

Vernon jumped out of the driver’s seat to hold the back door for them. “Where to, Sam?”

Sam looked to Freddie.

He recited the address in Bowie.

“GPS says about forty minutes,” Vernon said.

“You can use that time to update me,” Sam said to Freddie. “What’s up with Marcel having a postmortem MRI?”

“Before I do that, are you sure you didn’t come back too soon?”

“I’m sure.”

“What did you do yesterday?”

“Spent some time with my White House people, had lunch with Nick, hung out with my sisters, took the twins for ice cream, helped Scotty with his homework, watched a movie with the kids.

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