Ultimate Dilemma (Justice Again Book 2) by M Comley (best books under 200 pages txt) 📕

her gut instinct and I always pooh-poohed it, maybe that’s what I’m dealing with now. Something just isn’t sitting comfortably with me, and I can’t seem to put my finger on what it is. Am I making any bloody sense at all?”

“Yes and no. What are your reservations?”

“The daughter. You’re aware she called it in, aren’t you?”

“I am. Hmm…it’s too early for me to make a judgement call just yet. Wasn’t she with him at the hospital?”

“Yes. See, that’s where I begin to doubt myself. She’s a bloody nurse, her instinct would be to try and help her father, right?”

“You’d think so. Are you telling me she didn’t do that? Only, that’s different to what I heard.”

“No, she did. But surely, wouldn’t she know better than to get stuck in?”

“My honest opinion is that I think you’re probably reading too much into it. If she’s a nurse then it would be in her nature to try and help him all she could, wouldn’t it?”

“I suppose so. Maybe I’m guilty of overthinking the situation.”

“Probably. Want to join me for the PM?”

“I do and I don’t. Go on then. What time are you going to start?”

“Within ten minutes. I can delay it a few minutes, give you time to get here, if that’s what you want?”

“I’ll leave now. Thanks, for listening and not thinking I’m a nutter.”

“Nonsense. We all get cases that challenge us now and again. Mark this one down as your thorn-in-the-side case.”

“See you soon.” She rushed out of the office and stopped at Charlie’s desk. “I’m going to attend the PM. Do you want to leave what you’re doing and come with me, or would you rather give this one a miss?”

“I’m easy either way. You’re the boss, you tell me.”

“Leave that and come with me. We’ll be back soon, Karen. If you hear anything from the boys, ring me, okay?”

“I will. Erm…have fun.” Karen grimaced as the words tumbled out of her mouth.

Katy smiled and shook her head. “I doubt it.”

Suited in operating greens and half-wellies, Katy and Charlie joined Patti in the examination suite. “Good to see you both again. You’re just in time to see the first cut.”

Katy cringed. “I was hoping you’d have him opened up by now.”

Patti grinned. “Thought I’d delay it until you arrived. Here we go, ladies.”

Katy’s legs trembled slightly as Patti made the first cut. She faced Charlie who was straining her neck to see what was going on. “You’re warped.”

Charlie sniggered. “And there was you thinking I wouldn’t enjoy this side of things.”

Patti glanced up. “Just like your mother. She was always the first to step forward and take note of what I was doing with a scalpel.”

“I didn’t know that,” Charlie replied, her gaze fixed on the blade while it carved out the Y-incision.

“Okay, let’s see what we’ve got here. The cut to the throat was clean, no jagged edges in sight, therefore, the knife used would’ve had a straight edge. The cut was deep and severed his larynx.”

“What does that tell you, if anything?” Katy asked.

“My first inclination would be that the cut was made in anger.”

“Interesting.”

“What if this was a burglary? The perp would have been livid to find someone in the property, wouldn’t they?” Charlie piped up.

Katy nodded and rotated her head to relieve the tension in her neck. “True enough.”

“Shall I continue?” Patti asked.

“Please do.”

“From what I can tell there are no other wounds to the body. To me, that would suggest the perpetrator only had one intention: to kill the man. Would a burglar set out to do that?”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Katy said, her mind whirling. “Maybe he had an enemy, someone his daughter isn’t aware of, who wanted shot of him.”

“That’s for you to find out. Let me continue.” Patti carried on with her examination. She assessed the internal organs and gave them a full rundown of what she found. “His liver shows signs of excessive drinking. His lungs aren’t faring any better, heavy smoker, I’m guessing. I suspect he had a heart problem judging by the state of his valves.”

“Most men are at that age, aren’t they? Or is that me being presumptuous?”

“Not all men, but a vast majority, I have to agree. There are a few bruises on his lower legs. They’re old contusions, at least a week old, so not related to his murder. Ah, what’s this…?” Patti leaned in closer to the man’s stomach. She glanced up at Katy. “You’ll need to check his medical records, but I think you’ll find he was dying of stomach cancer.”

“Really? I wonder why Nadia didn’t mention that,” Katy said.

“Who knows? It’s a significant mass. He must have been in a lot of pain. Maybe he hid it from her.”

“Something I need to check with her all the same. Nadia lived with him. Surely, she would have noticed if he was in pain or not, wouldn’t she?”

“Possibly. In her defence, you know what most men are like when they’re ill. Again, check with his doctor, see if he was being treated first before your mind wanders into unknown territory.”

“I will, don’t worry. I wonder if the perp knew he was dying. Ignore me, a rhetorical question. The plot thickens, right? Anything else, Patti?”

“Nope, I think we’re about finished here.”

“Good. Okay, we’ll leave you to complete it in peace.”

Patti nodded and got back to work.

Katy and Charlie ditched their greens and wellies and left the hospital. “We need to find out who his doctor was. I don’t really want to ring the daughter again.”

“Want me to call all the surgeries in the area?”

“If you would.”

Charlie got down to the task and immediately hit the jackpot with the third call she made. “The receptionist is patching me through to the doctor now. Do you want to take over?”

“No, you deal with it. Ask him how long he’s had the cancer. What treatment he’s had for it. Whether he was taking any medication, and then finally, ask him if his daughter, Nadia, was aware of his