The Innocents by Nathan Senthil (autobiographies to read .TXT) 📕

“My pleasure.”

Gabriel turned around and opened the door for Bill, the bell tinkling again. Then he said, “We will be off now.”

“Alright. You have a safe day now,” she said, not looking at Gabriel who was still inside the shop, but at Bill who was exiting.

And then he understood what seemed off about her: the old lady was blind.

Chapter 33

May 10, 2019. 03:29 P.M.

As soon as Gabriel got into the car, he unlocked his phone and opened the browser. When the old lady had mentioned symptoms and conditions, it made him think about incurable diseases. At Lolly’s first robbery, they left a security guard alive. In his eyewitness statement to the DPD, the guard had reported that one of the kids had patches of baldness.

Why would a kid have bald spots?

And the ever-mighty Google confirmed what Gabriel had suspected. A condition called Alopecia Areata caused hair to fall in patches. Continuous treatment from a dermatologist was advised.

That’s it! He figured out how to possibly identify one of Lolly’s partners. He explained his plan to Bill before calling Conor and putting it on speaker.

“It’s Goodwill that’s been selling Zesty for a long time,” he said into the phone. “As per our findings, it’s also the only shop that survived from 1981 till now. My gut tells me Lolly gets his Zestys from here.”

“Then ask the person who runs the shop if they remember one of their regulars, a black guy with blue eyes. That’s something unique, and they would remember, right?”

“She’s blind.”

“Shit,” Conor said. “What about CCTVs?”

Gabriel sighed. “She. Is. Blind.”

“D’oh!” Conor quickly added. “So why do you need me now?”

As Gabriel took a deep breath, he heard Conor say, “Oh my god.”

“What?” Gabriel asked.

“I know that gesture. Generally you ask me stuff that’s hard to do. Like excavating dozens of dead bodies or performing thousands of DNA tests or the browsing history of a huge city, you know, typical Gabriel stuff…”

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Bill smiling. Probably nostalgic.

“… but when you take in a lot of air and prepare yourself to ask something, then it’s damn near impossible for me to do. However, it would be technically possible. And I would have to work my ass off for a really long time to make it happen.”

“Don’t be dramatic.” Gabriel drummed his fingers on the dashboard. “I just need access to the medical record archives of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan.”

Conor shouted, “See?! I told you. You’re sliding it in as if it ain’t no thang. But newsflash, mister! This is America. Medical records are more sacred to us than, I don’t know, pfft, Jesus himself!”

“Are they now?”

“Hospitals are crazy about their HIPAA, you know that.”

“But the records I’m requesting are from 1981 and earlier.”

“And that is different how?”

Gabriel bit the tip of his lower lip. “The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was implemented in 1996. So technically, those records aren’t protected, right?”

“Oh… no, no, no. It’s like saying that speed law doesn’t apply to you because you bought your car before the law was implemented.”

“Worst analogy ever.”

“But you get what I’m saying. There’s no way to circumvent HIPAA. A few years ago, a hospital down south ended up paying a multimillion-dollar lawsuit when they failed to follow HIPAA. And making the FBI bleed out millions of dollars just weeks after they promoted me will put a damper on my career, don’t you think?”

“This is one real shot we have at Lolly, and I’m not going to let bureaucracy ruin it. I will break into the hospital if I have to.” Gabriel glanced at Bill. “Won’t be our first time committing a little evil to defeat a greater evil.”

Another smile from Bill, if only a little. Nostalgic, again.

“Please don’t do that,” Conor implored. “You’re too old for that maverick shit.”

“This is very important.” Gabriel explained about the bald spots, about Alopecia Areata and how one of Lolly’s partners might have suffered from it.

Conor was quiet for a few seconds, then he said, “So I assume you want to go through all the medical records from that hospital?”

“Uh-huh. Mostly from the dermatology department.”

“If you need just a few, then a local PD can help you with the warrant. Now to sift through thousands of records, you need a really powerful authorization from a really powerful person.”

“Who?”

“US Department of Justice’s Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division.”

Gabriel felt good. AAG was the head honcho in the country when it came to criminal matters. Seeing that Lolly was the most wanted bank robber in the US, the AAG would authorize it, no fuss.

“Why’re you still on the call?” Gabriel asked.

“Don’t hold your breath. She isn’t on my speed-dial. Give me time. I’ll arrange everything and let you know.” Conor hung up.

“So what do we do now?” Bill asked.

“Get Lolly’s DNA.”

* * *

Big golden teeth grimaced from within the plastic cover. Gabriel turned it over, and the back of the black cloth was smeared with dried puke. They had analyzed it and found that Lolly had ramen for breakfast that fateful afternoon thirty-eight years ago.

Lolly’s DNA had been extracted from it and uploaded into CODIS.

Gabriel handed the evidence bag across the table to Captain Wheeler.

“They were good men. Great detectives. I’m sorry for your loss, Agent Chase.” Then he looked at Bill. “Sorry for both your losses, I mean.”

“Thanks, Captain,” Gabriel said and Bill nodded.

“I should have known this was coming.”

Gabriel frowned. “What do you mean?”

Wheeler frowned in return. “Because someone made an attempt on their lives?”

“What the?!” Gabriel leaned forward, and Bill sat up straight. “What are you talking about?”

“H-he didn’t tell you?” he asked.

“No!”

Wheeler shook his head and told