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“Why bring the dog, if so? More likely someone came out of the woods and claimed someone was hurt. The dog would have gone along if Madison seemed okay with it.”
Jo exhaled deeply. “You’re right. Everyone says she was kind. If someone was in distress, she’d have wanted to help, especially if it was someone she already knew.” Jo’s phone rang, and she connected the call. “Jo Fournier.”
“This is Doctor Huang. You called about Madison Coelho? Is she all right?”
Tayla’s fear of incarceration apparently hadn’t compelled her to pass on any details. “No, I’m afraid she isn’t. She was murdered.”
Dr. Huang’s voice caught. “What—how?”
Jo gave a brief explanation. “Did you work closely with her?”
“Yes and no.” Her voice was thick. “It’s a small office, so we worked in close proximity. But I spent most of my day with patients.”
“So you all didn’t eat lunch together, anything like that?”
Dr. Huang gave a choked laugh. “I’m lucky if I have time to eat in my office while I respond to patient emails. But it’s not relevant anyway because her shifts weren’t long enough for her to have a meal break.”
Jo paused. “I thought she’d recently started working for you full-time?”
“Why would you think that?”
“Didn’t she ask for more hours?”
“No.” Dr. Huang was dismissive. “We have one full-time staff member, and the other two split the shift, four hours each. She knew we wouldn’t be able to give her more time without taking time away from Dana, our other part-time employee.”
Jo shot a confused look at Arnett. “How much did you know about her personal situation?”
“Not much. I believe in keeping a professional relationship structure in place for everyone’s benefit. She was pregnant, she was a student, she was efficient, on time, and was a self-starter.”
Jo’s mind flew to her own micro-managing lieutenant and wondered if a boss like that would be heaven or hell. “Got it. We’ll need to talk to everyone who worked with her.”
Something rustled, like Dr. Huang was shifting the phone. She then rattled off a phone number for another chiropractor, a nurse, and the two other staffers.
“To be thorough, I also need to know where you were this weekend, starting at ten-thirty yesterday.”
“My mother and father came down from Maine to visit. Since I’m on call we’ve stayed home, my mother and I playing cards while my husband and father watch football. You can verify with them if you like.” She called her mother to the phone. After her mother confirmed, she took the phone back. “Is there anything else I can do to help? Either you or her family?”
“Her mother is her only family. I’m sure a call from you would be appreciated.”
“I’ll call her now.”
When the call ended, Jo turned to Arnett. “If she wasn’t going to school and she wasn’t working extra hours, where the hell was she spending her time?”
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
As Arnett continued back to HQ, Jo contacted the other employees of Blue Bay Chiropractic, trying to find any lead on Madison’s mystery time-drain. Both the other doctor and the nurse shared Dr. Huang’s good-fences-make-good-employees approach to relationships with their staff. Dana also had little to say about Madison, not surprising since they’d spent very little time together. But Jo’s hopes deflated when Beth, the full-time assistant, also had very little to say about Madison.
“We got along fine,” she said with a shrug in her voice after a chorus ofoh-my-Godsandhow-horribles. “But we weren’t, like, close. She was really into her work, if you know the type. Like she was trying to prove something to somebody. I’d’ve thought she was trying to get a promotion, but there’s nowhere to be promoted to. So it made no sense, and all it did was annoy Dana.”
“Why did it annoy Dana?”
“Because it was like she was trying to show Dana up. I been there longer and I’m full-time, soI’msure not going nowhere.”
Jo suspected Dana wasn’t the threatened one. “So you never hung out after hours, nothing like that?”
“Nah. I have my own friends outside of work.”
Jo thanked her and hung up as they pulled into the HQ parking lot. “Lopez texted saying she brought the phone back here. Think she’s found anything useful?”
