Dr. Death by Jonathan Kellerman

He didn’t say anything for a while. Opened his window, spit, rolled it up.

Another minute passed. “You were waiting for the right moment to inform me?”

“As a matter of fact, I was. Till a few hours ago, I couldn’t tell you anything, because even the fact that I’d seen them was confidential. Then Mr. Doss called and asked me to see his daughter and I figured I’d have to bow off Mate. But he wants me to continue.”

“First things first, huh?” His jaw worked.

I kept quiet.

“And if he’d said not to mention it?”

“I’d have bowed off, told you I couldn’t explain why.”

Half mile of silence. He stretched his neck again. “Doss … yeah, local family—the Palisades. Toward the end of the list—the missus was in her early forties.”

“Traveler number forty-eight,” I said.

“You knew her?”

“No, she was already dead when I saw Stacy—the daughter.”

“Mr. Doss is one of those who has not returned our repeated calls.”

“He travels a lot.”

“That so … Anything about him I should worry about?”

“Such as?”

He shrugged. “You tell me. He said you could blab, right?”

He kept his eyes on the freeway, but I felt surveilled.

“Sorry if this is rubbing you the wrong way,” I said. “Maybe I should’ve begged off the case right from the beginning.”

Pause. Long pause, as if he was considering that. Finally, he said, “Nah, I’m just being a hard-ass. We’ve all got our rule books…. So what was the matter with Mrs. Doss that led her to consult Dr. Mate?”

“She was one of the undiagnosed ones I mentioned. Had been deteriorating for a while. Fatigue, chronic pain, she withdrew socially, took to bed. Gained a hundred pounds.”

He whistled, touched his own gut. “And no clue as to why all this happened?”

“She saw a lot of doctors, but no formal diagnosis,” I said.

“Maybe a head case?”

“Like I said, I never knew her, Milo.”

He smiled. “Meaning you’re also thinking she might’ve been a head case . . . and Mate killed her anyway—’scuse me, assisted her passage. That could irritate a family member, if they didn’t think she was really sick.”

He waited.

I said nothing.

“How long after she died did you see the daughter?”

“Three months.”

“Why’re you seeing her again? Something to do with Mate’s murder?”

“That I can’t get into,” I said. “Let’s just say it’s nothing you have to worry about.”

“Something that just happens to come up now, after Mate’s killed?”

“College,” I said. “Now’s when kids get serious about applying to college.”

He didn’t answer. The freeway was uncommonly clear and we sped toward the 101 interchange. Milo pumped the unmarked up the eastbound ramp and we merged into slightly heavier traffic. Orange signs on the turnoff announced impending construction for one and a half years. Everyone was going fifteen miles over the limit, as if getting in some last speed licks.

He said, “So you’re telling me Mr. Doss is like all the others—big fan of Mate?”

“I’ll leave it to him to express his opinion on that.”

He smiled again. Not a nice smile at all. “The guy didn’t like Mate.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“No, you didn’t.” He eased up on the gas pedal. We cruised past the Van Nuys exits, Sherman Oaks, North Hollywood. The freeway turned into the 134.

I said, “I found a feminist journal that claimed Mate hated women. Because eighty percent of his travelers were female and he’d never been seen with a woman. Know anything about his personal life?”

Graceless change of subject. He knew what I was doing but let it ride. “Not so far. He lived alone and his landlady said she’d never seen him go out with anyone. I haven’t checked marriage licenses yet, but no one’s turned up claiming insurance benefits.”

“Wonder if a guy like that would carry life insurance,” I said.

“Why not?”

“I don’t think he valued life.”

“Well, maybe you’re right, ’cause I didn’t find any policies at his apartment. Then again, all his papers might be with that goddamn attorney, Haiselden, who is still incommunicado. Maybe Ms. Zoghbie can direct us to him.”

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