“But Walters didn’t come in today. First time in I-don’t-know-how-many years. So I decided to visit him.” Bellows sighed and poured himself some coffee, remembering the grisly details. “The poor bastard committed suicide over this thing, and I had to be the guy who found him.”
“Suicide?”
“Yeah. Apparently he’d learned that the drugs had been found, and he decided to take what he considered the easy way out.”
“Are you sure it was suicide?”
“I’m not sure of anything. I didn’t even see the note. I called the police and have gotten the details from Stark. But don’t suggest it wasn’t suicide. God, I couldn’t handle that. I’d probably be considered a suspect. What on earth could make you suggest such a thing?” Bellows was intense.
“No reason. It just seems another strange coincidence to have happened at this time. Those drugs that were found may be important somehow.”
“I was afraid that your imagination would suggest that they were important. That was one of the reasons why I hesitated to tell you about the drugs in the first place. But look, all this is somewhat peripheral to the present problem, namely your presence here at the Memorial at this rather sensitive time. I mean, Susan, you are not supposed to be here. It’s as simple as that.” Bellows paused and picked up one of the charts Susan had been extracting. “What the hell are you doing anyway?”
“I finally got some of the charts of the coma patients. Not all of them, but some of them.”
“God, you really are amazing. After getting yourself kicked out of the hospital, you still manage to have the balls, so to speak, to come back here and find a way to get these charts. I don’t imagine that they leave them lying around for anybody to look at who happens along. How did you manage to get them?”
Bellows looked expectantly at Susan, sipping his coffee and waiting for a response. Susan only smiled.
“Oh no!” said Bellows putting his hand to his forehead. “The nurse’s uniform.”
“Yup, worked like a charm. Great idea, I must admit.”
“Wait a minute. I don’t want any credit for it, believe me! What did you do? Get security to open McLeary’s or whoever-it-was’s office?”
“You’re getting more and more clever, Mark.”
“You do realize that you’re now breaking the law.”