Always Remember by Cathryn Grant

Author:Cathryn Grant [Grant, Cathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-10-16T23:00:00+00:00

22

Kelly

Frank’s activity during his final hours nagged at me all weekend. I couldn’t imagine why he would have been so stupid. He knew the danger of alcohol for his condition. The quantity he’d consumed made no sense. Not to mention going into the sauna, which he was well informed about as well. Did he pause to realize the deadly combination of the two?

Why had Louise made that slightly insistent comment about him having one drink? At the time, it had washed over me, but now I wondered what had gone on between them the evening before Frank died. If she knew about the drink, she was with him for part of the night. As far as I’d known when I’d gone to sleep that night, Louise had checked on him before going upstairs. Yet when I brought his breakfast to his room that morning, Frank’s bed had clearly not been slept in.

I tried a few more times to get Wyatt interested in what the coroner had to say, but he shut me down just as firmly each time. By Monday, it was all I could think about.

Instead of heading north to Menlo Park where our offices were located, I headed south to the concrete and high-rise office buildings in downtown San Jose. Just before I’d fallen asleep the night before, I’d checked the report for the name and address of the medical examiner who had written it. I’d thought about calling her, but I decided it was one of those conversations that demanded face-to-face interaction. It was a risk, thinking this swamped county official would have time to chat with me, but I’ve always been good at connecting with people. I figured whatever gatekeeper was in place, I could win their support and charm them into being an ally.

An hour later, I was seated in the cafeteria where Dr. Blankenship was eating eggs and whole wheat toast, sipping from an enormous mug of coffee.

“Thanks so much for talking to me,” I said.

“No worries. Breakfast is the one time of day people can usually catch me.” She took a sip of coffee. “Sometimes I think we need to have someone on staff who’s able to translate medical terminology into words average people can comprehend.”

“I suppose you’d worry about facts getting miscommunicated.”

“That, and budget.” She laughed, then took a bite of buttered toast. “So what do you want to understand?”

“I was surprised that Frank’s alcohol level was so high. He was on several medications from his surgery—”

“Yes, I noted that he’d had recent bypass surgery.”

“He wasn’t supposed to be drinking.”

She swallowed more coffee. “In my experience, people do a lot of things they aren’t supposed to that damage their health.”

“I’m just so shocked; I’m not sure what to do with that information. He was really good about following his new diet, taking his meds on time, limiting caffeine … all of that.”

She nodded. “So what can I do for you?”

I’d thought I had a clear question, but now my concern once again felt like the trivia Wyatt had labeled it.

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