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“Understood,” answered King.
“Pretty ballsy to do it with people all over the place,” commented Williams.
“Well, if someone were going to try something like that,” said the nurse, “they picked the right time to do it.”
“Yes, they certainly did,” said King.
As King and Michelle were leaving the unit, King stopped at the nurse’s station.
“Mind if I take a look?” he asked the head nurse.
He went behind the large console and studied the live video feeds appearing on the monitors. “These aren’t on tape, are they?” he asked.
“No. It’s not for security, just for the welfare of the patients.”
“Well, you might want to rethink that philosophy.”
“What was that about?” Michelle asked after they’d left the hospital unit.
“It occurred to me that someone familiar with hospital procedure would also know about the cameras. You don’t want to be caught on TV when you’re killing someone; it really puts a crimp in your legal defense. In
all the other rooms the camera was positioned such that the entire bed and all the apparatus on either side of the bed were shown. In Battle’s room the feed was only of the bed and the right side.”
Michelle said, “The killer moved the camera so he wouldn’t be shown doing the deed in case someone was looking at the monitor.”
“That’s right.”
On the way out of the hospital Harry Carrick met them at the exit. Though it was very early in the morning, Carrick was neatly dressed in a tweed jacket and dress shirt with an open collar.
“Harry, what are you doing here?” asked King.
“Bobby Battle and I are old friends. Well, we were old friends. And I’m also the general counsel for the hospital. They called me at home. I’ve just finished meeting with them. It’s a conflict, that I readily admit. But there you are. Have you seen Remmy?”
“No, she’d already come and gone by the time we got here.”
Carrick said, “I know some of what was found in Bobby’s room. I’m assuming there’s more to it.”
“There is. We just don’t know what really.”
“Well, I won’t keep you, but we need to reconvene shortly on Junior’s case.”
“How’s it going?”
“What you’ve discovered up to this point are things I needed to know but aren’t particularly helpful for our cause. I felt out the commonwealth’s attorney regarding a plea deal of some sort and got stone-cold silence for my troubles. Remmy is most definitely calling the shots. She was upset before, and now with Bobby’s death I don’t see her aggression abating.”
“Probably increasing,” said Michelle.
“Probably,” said Carrick glumly. “Well, I won’t keep you. If you hear anything more about Bobby’s death, let me know.”
He turned and left them. They watched as he climbed into a perfectly restored British MG convertible and sped off into the reddish glow of the ascending sun.
Michelle turned to King. “I really feel for Harry. He’s friends with the Battles, and yet he’s representing Junior Deaver and the hospital where Bobby died.”
King nodded. “I definitely see a lawsuit coming Wrightsburg General’s way. Pretty ironic, suing a place that has your name on the outside of the building.”
“I don’t think that would deter Remmy Battle in the least.”
“I wasn’t thinking it would.” He stretched and yawned. “I’m debating whether to go to the office or back to the boat to sleep.”
