The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

Author:Tess Gerritsen [Gerritsen, Tess]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3, pdf
Tags: Fiction, Thriller
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2012-11-27T05:00:00+00:00

10:48, stairwell camera:

Veronica Tam, nurse, 5 West.

Unknown female, black hair, lab coat.

A total of seven people came through the stairwell door. The nurses recognized five of them. So far Rizzoli had counted thirty-one people who’d arrived by either elevator or stairwell. Add to that the personnel already at work on the floor, and they were dealing with at least forty people with access to 5 West.

“Now watch what happens as people leave during and after the code,” said Moore. “This time they’re not rushing. Maybe you can pick up a few more faces and names.” He fast-forwarded. At the bottom of the screen, the time display advanced eight minutes. The code was still in progress, but already unneeded personnel were beginning to drift away from the ward. The camera caught only their backs as they walked to the stairwell door. First, two male medical students, followed a moment later by a third unidentified man, departing alone. Then there was a long pause, which Moore fast-forwarded through. Next a group of four men exited together into the stairwell. The time was 11:14. By then the code had officially ended, and Herman Gwadowski had been declared dead.

Moore switched tapes. Once again, they were watching the elevator.

By the time they’d run through the tapes again, Rizzoli had jotted down three pages of notes, tallying the number of arrivals during the code. Thirteen men and seventeen women had responded to the emergency. Now Rizzoli counted how many were seen leaving after the code ended.

The numbers did not add up.

At last Moore pressed Stop, and the screen went blank. They had been staring at the video for over an hour, and the two nurses looked shell-shocked.

Cutting through the silence, Rizzoli’s voice seemed to startle them both. “Do you have any male employees working on Five West during your shift?” she asked.

The charge nurse focused on Rizzoli. She seemed surprised that another cop had somehow slipped into the room without her realizing it. “There’s a male nurse who comes on at three. But I have no men during day shift.”

“And no men were working on Five West at the time the code was called?”

“There might have been surgical residents on the floor. But no male nurses.”

“Which residents? Do you remember?”

“They’re always in and out, making rounds. I don’t keep track of them. We have our own work to do.” The nurse looked at Moore. “We really need to get back to the floor.”

Moore nodded. “You can go. Thank you.”

Rizzoli waited until the two nurses had left the room. Then she said to Moore, “The Surgeon was already on the ward. Before the code was even called. Wasn’t he?”

Moore rose to his feet and went to the VCR. She could see anger in his body language, the way he jerked the tape out of the machine, the way he shoved in the second tape.

“Thirteen men arrived on Five West. And fourteen men left. There’s an extra man. He had to be there the whole time.”

Moore pressed Play. The stairwell tape began rolling again.

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