Mortal Crimes: 7 Novels of Suspense (100 page)

“Do you think he knows who his target is going to be before he goes after her, or does he pounce on a likely candidate once he spots her at the nightclub?”

“I still can’t answer that one. I’m inclined to think it’s the latter, but I’ve yet to prove it. If he’d been stalking Sandy for a while, he would have realised she was pregnant, I guess,” Ellen said thoughtfully.

“I don’t think so. Didn’t she or her husband say that they’d only just found out and that was the reason she was out that night, to celebrate the fact?”

“Yep, you’re right.”

“Supposing Brian and I allow you to proceed with your plan, how will you go about disguising yourself? He’s seen you up close, hasn’t he?”

“Obviously, I’ll have to invest in a blonde wig. As to disguising my facial features from close scrutiny, I’ll use heavy makeup. I don’t tend to use much during the day usually, so that should work. Don’t you think?”

Her brother looked uncertain for a moment or two, until he’d mentally worked through the idea. “I’m not totally sold on the idea. I’d be able to tell it was you.”

“You’ve known me for years. Fallon’s seen me a maximum of three times.”

“I still don’t like it, Ellie.”

“I hope that doesn’t mean you won’t support my decision?”

“Don’t be silly. Of course it doesn’t. Let’s just hang fire for a day or two, yes?”

Ellen nodded her agreement. “Until the tox result comes back, you’ve got it.” Despite what she’d told her brother, her mind kept racing during the evening. Piece by piece, she slotted the mechanics of her plan into a plausible position. Come ten o’clock, she was exhausted and fell into bed, where she dreamed of her plan. When she woke the next morning, she was relieved to find that the outcome had been successful. She couldn’t prevent her grandfather’s warning voice tapping on her head, though. When she’d frequently dreamed exciting dreams as a child, he had often reminded her to reverse them.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

To prevent herself from watching and waiting for the phone to ring, Ellen cleaned her bedroom. She threw out all the old, mindless celebrity gossip magazines she’d bought on a whim and had just skimmed.
Do millions of people around the globe really read such crap? What a shallow world we live in. Everyone and their dog clambering for their fifteen minutes of fame, buying the magazines to hunt for and copy what their favourite stars are wearing or where they’re hanging out.
She switched off the vacuum cleaner and heard the phone ringing in the background. She ran downstairs and into the kitchen, like a woman possessed. Jim raised his thumb and nodded. Ellen sank into the chair and clenched her hands tightly in front of her on the table as she anxiously waited for her brother to end the call.

“Well?” she demanded the second he hung up.

“As you’ve already gathered, the tox results came back.”

“And?”

“Our assumption is right. There are traces of midazolam to knock them out and Hartmann’s solution which he uses to give them fluids. He probably thinks that’s enough to feed them.”

“Wow! He has to be getting it from work, doesn’t he?”

“I’d say so. But surely someone would have spotted the drugs missing, unless…”

“Unless he has the keys and has doctored the inventory to serve his needs.”

Jim nodded. “Exactly. What do you want to do next?”

“I’m going down to see his mother again at the hospital, to get some answers. Do you want to come along for the ride?”

Jim seemed uncertain about his answer.

She added, “You don’t have to if you think it will jeopardise your job.”

“It’s not that. I promised Suzie and the kids that we’d go swimming this morning. The boys have been looking forward to it.”

Ellen waved away his concerns. “I can go by myself. I don’t have a problem with that. Don’t feel bad about it, Jim.”

“Thanks for understanding.” He leaned forward and whispered, “I’d rather be going with you, though. I’m not exactly thrilled about the prospect of sitting in a noisy swimming pool, cheering on the kids with dozens of other parents.”

“Wouldn’t really be my idea of fun, either, but thems the breaks, Daddy!”

“Just ring me if you have any problems, all right?”

“God, you sound more and more like Brian every day. Every time I visit someone, I have to ring the office to check in when I leave the location. I feel like such a child sometimes.”

“He’s worried about you being out there on your own. I’m glad he has your back and knows where you are every second of the day. It’s a bad world out there, especially in your line of business. You could be visiting a mass murderer, for all he knows. There are a few of those around, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“All right, stop your nagging. I’ll ring your mobile before I go in the hospital and the second I step back out into the fresh air. All right?”

His hand shot across the table towards her. “Deal.” They shook hands briskly, but instead of releasing her hand quickly after the shake, Jim held on and refused to let go. “Any problems at all. If you’re put in a compromising position, I want you to promise me that you’ll get out of there immediately.”

“You’ve got it. Hey, I don’t intend to go in there off guard, you know. My antennae for any crazies in the vicinity will be on red alert, I assure you.”

“Make sure it is. What time are you going?”

She rose from the table and looked down at him. “I’m heading off now. I’ll let you know how I get on.”

She made it to the kitchen door before he spoke again. “Sis, be extra vigilant, just for me, huh?”

She smiled warmly at him. “You have my word. Now, go get ready and have fun with your kids.”

He mumbled something she couldn’t quite catch. She turned and ran upstairs to fetch her bag and put on some sensible shoes, just in case she had to make a quick getaway.

________

At ten minutes after eleven, Ellen arrived at the private hospital to find only a few cars in the car park. A mixture of old bangers sat comfortably alongside three reasonably cared-for cars. She suddenly realised that she had neglected to research Fallon’s car. She thumped her fist against her thigh as she went into the building.

The receptionist regarded her with suspicion. “May I help you?”

“I wondered if Dr. Nixon was in today?” Ellen combatted the woman’s suspicious glance with a broad smile.

“She is.”

“Then I’d like to see her, please?”

“Not possible. She’s with a patient’s family at the moment. We had a death here last night.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I’m in no rush. I’ll wait for them to finish.”

“But…”

Before the snotty middle-aged woman could object further, Ellen took a seat outside the doctor’s office. She sat there, avoiding the receptionist’s scathing stare, for another fifteen minutes before the door opened and a couple in their late forties walked out. They shook hands with the doctor and left. Ellen jumped to her feet. The doctor seemed surprised to see her but welcomed her with a smile anyway.

“Ms. Brazil, what are you doing here? We don’t have an appointment, do we?”

“No. I’d like a quick word, if that’s possible?”

“Come in.” She noted the time on her watch. “I have to go out on a home visit to an ex-patient in ten minutes.”

How convenient!
“This really won’t take long.”

The doctor sat regally behind her desk. Ellen, on the other hand, ignored the chair and chose to stand instead.

“What can I do for you?” the doctor asked warily.

“As I told you the other day, one of your employees is a suspect in an ongoing missing persons case. Can I ask why you forgot to mention Mr. Fallon is your son?”

“I… er…”

Ellen jumped on the woman’s hesitancy. “That’s a hard thing to forget, isn’t it, Doctor?”

The doctor pushed away from her desk, and her high-backed executive chair flew backwards on its castors. “I’ll have to ask you to leave now.”

Ellen threw herself into the chair the doctor had invited her to sit in moments earlier. “Not until I get some satisfactory answers. Why did you fail to inform me that Fallon is indeed your son, Doctor?”

“It never really came up. If you had asked me outright, then I would never have denied it.”

“You have a funny way of dealing with people who are trying to help the general public, considering your position in the community.”

“That’s your opinion, Ms. Brazil. Is there a specific point to your visit, or is your purpose being here just to be antagonistic?”

“I wasn’t aware that I was being antagonistic, but yes, there is a reason behind my visit.”

The doctor rested her hip against the edge of her desk and folded her arms. “Which is?”

“I wanted to ask you if your son, Mr. Fallon, has access to the drugs at this facility.”

“Of course he does. Why?”

“Can I ask who carries out the inventory and whose job it is to replenish the stock from the drug company?”

The doctor frowned. “He does. I’m not sure where this is leading, but I wish you would get to your point, Ms. Brazil, and promptly.”

“Okay.” Ellen’s gaze bored into the doctor’s as she delivered her sucker punch. “My investigation into the disappearance of several Worcester women over the past several months has led me to your son’s involvement. The police have been notified of my findings. A few days ago, one of the women your son abducted was found walking a country lane in the middle of the night. She’s pregnant. I don’t have to tell you how dangerous that situation could have been for the baby, do I, Doctor?”

Dr. Nixon appeared to sway a little and then scrambled around the desk to sit down in her chair. Her complexion turned peaky. “Go on?”

“Well, rather than add your name as an accomplice to your son’s crimes, I wondered if you would be willing to co-operate with me.”

“How?”

“It comes back to the drugs. The girl he set free said that she had been sedated and had a drip connected to her arm. Would you be willing to take a look at your inventory to see if any drips or sedatives are missing?”

“Of course, anything to help.” Dr. Nixon stood up, but before she could open the door to her office, it burst open.

“Going somewhere, Mother?”

The doctor and Ellen exchanged worried glances. Ellen swallowed, then smiled at Fallon. “Your mother was going to check if you had room for a friend of mine. She needs an operation and a convalescent stay, and after I visited the other day, I thought this would be an ideal place for her,” she lied—convincingly, she hoped.

Fallon closed the door behind him and leaned his back against it. His gaze turned slowly from his mother to Ellen. A look of hatred and disgust lingered in its depths. “What kind of fool do you take me for, Brazil?”

Ellen’s brow furrowed, and she tried to plead her innocence. “Sorry, I’m not sure I understand.”

He turned the key in the lock, then removed the key and placed it in his trouser pocket.

Shit!
Instinctively, Ellen reached for her handbag.

Fallon raced forward, swiped a hand across her face, and snatched the bag. “I’ll take that. We wouldn’t want you pressing any buttons on your mobile as an SOS, now would we?”

Ellen rubbed her sore cheek. “People know I’m here. The
police
know I’m here.”

“You mean your moron of a brother knows that you’re here.” He laughed when he saw her face drop.

“Mike, don’t do this,” Dr. Nixon apprehensively pleaded with her son.

“Don’t do what, Mother? Abduct another woman to fulfill my needs, my obsessive desires to dominate. Isn’t that how your psychiatrist friend labelled me all those years ago?”

“He was wrong to do that.”

“Was he?”

His mother flinched at his angry tone. “Yes, dear. In the end, we got a second opinion that proved he was wrong.”

“Maybe I just learned how to manipulate these stupid psychiatrists who think they know every minute thought running through people’s minds. I have news for them and for you, Mother. No one knows how complex this thing is.” He tapped the side of his forehead. “The psychiatrists understand nothing about serial killers. What, Mother? Are you shocked that I should refer myself as such?”