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The next morning Carrie arose early and headed to the office to take care of some paperwork before driving to Petoskey. She arrived in the office around 7:00 am and planned to leave at 8:00. At this point, Carrie had no idea if Jeff would be at the meeting. In fact, she could not even be sure he got the message. She decided not to worry. She made him aware of the meeting, and if he attended or not would be entirely up to him.
At 7:55, she left the office and walked toward her car. A pickup truck waited in the back of the lot, and Jeff stepped out. As she entered her car, he approached her and said, “Good morning. I got your message yesterday and hoped we could share a ride to Petoskey today. I don’t really know where the lab is in the medical center. It would be great if I could tag along with you.”
“I need to be back for my afternoon patients,” Carrie said a bit coldly.
“No problem, I can’t stay too long anyway. Mind if I hop in your car and ride over?”
Carrie hesitated before saying, “Sure, I guess that would be ok.” Jeff got into the passenger seat, and Carrie pulled out of the parking lot, heading west toward Petoskey.
After driving for about 10 minutes, Jeff said, “Thanks for dropping that note off last night. I really want to hear what they found.”
“Well, the lab sounded pretty insistent that you or Eddie come. I didn’t want to intrude, but when I couldn’t reach you by phone…”
“Oh no, you weren’t intruding at all. I had my phone off most of the day to clear my head. I’d just returned from a walk and was cleaning up when you dropped by.”
“Well, it did feel like a bit of an intrusion because you and your girlfriend were getting ready to enjoy a meal. She seemed very nice, by the way.”
“Oh my goodness, Francine isn’t my girlfriend. She is just a business associate who owns the framing shop in town. She also watches my dog when I’m gone.” Jeff saw a look of skepticism cross Carrie’s face. “Seriously, there’s nothing more than a friendly relationship between Francine and me. She’s helped me out many times, and I felt obligated to offer her to stay for dinner, nothing more. We’re friends. Just friends.” Sensing he protested too much, Jeff lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.
“So, what have you been doing with your spare time Carrie?” Jeff hoped this question would change the subject.
“Oh, the usual. Taking care of my kids and working. I really haven’t had time for much else.”
“I saw you and the kids with your ex-husband that day in the Cuppa Joe and wondered if maybe you were back together.”
“Hardly,” said Carrie. He’s getting married to a woman he works with in Grand Rapids this weekend. Paula’s about ten years younger than him. Jenna and Tyler will be there this weekend for the wedding.”
“Will you be going too?”
“Hell no! In hindsight, I shouldn’t have even gone to the first one.” Carrie’s smile faded as she confessed, “My decision to move up here has been hard on Jenna. She doesn’t want to leave her friends or change schools for her senior year of high school. She’s asked to live with Todd and Paula until graduation. I really feel like a failure as a mom sometimes. Fortunately, Tyler has made good friends from summer stays with Uncle Joe. He seems to love it here.”
“I forgot to mention I met your son Tyler recently when I gave a presentation for the 7th-grade class career day.”
“Oh my gosh, I know all about it. Tyler’s been talking about nothing else since your presentation. He came home absolutely captivated by your tales of wildlife and close encounters with bears and bobcats. He’s been reading about photography nonstop. All I’ve heard around the house is Mr. Koehler said this, or Mr. Koehler did that. I’ve heard Mr. Koehler more than Mom lately. It’s so bad that he now says he wants to be a wildlife photographer instead of a basketball player when he grows up. His birthday is in three weeks, and he wants a camera instead of Nike basketball shoes. You made quite an impression.”
“Well, I’m glad, I think. Wildlife photography is a tough field to make a living in, but the kids in his class did seem very interested in it. He seemed like a great young man. Maybe I can give him some tips or take him on a shoot someday.”
“I’m sure he would absolutely love it.”
“I’m certainly nobody to give advice on children, but I’m sure you’re a great mother, and any issues with Jenna will work themselves out. Is Todd’s fiance someone he had a relationship with before the divorce?”
Carrie immediately became irritated as she replied testily, “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
Jeff immediately realized he had gone too far. “You’re right. I’m sorry. My mouth gets me in trouble sometimes because I spend more time with animals than people these days.”
Following this turn in the conversation, Carrie felt mad and embarrassed simultaneously. In all fairness, she had to admit that she had also been curious about Jeff’s background and relationships when she quizzed her uncle and nurse Valiant about him. Wasn’t she guilty of the same transgression she criticized him for? However, this whole conversation had become way too personal to have with someone she had never even dated. They rode the rest of the way to the lab in relative silence, immersed in their thoughts. Soon they arrived in Petoskey, and Carrie pulled into the back of the medical complex in front of a sign that said McLaren Clinical Lab. They exited the car and entered the lobby, where they were instructed to wait until Myra Ellsworth could be summoned.
Myra came out from the back room dressed in a white lab coat that looked like it had seen better days. She was a short, plump woman that Jeff guessed to be in her early 50s. Myra wore glasses with short brown hair and walked with a slight limp. “Hello, Dr. Cunningham. Nice to finally meet you in person. I appreciate you coming all the way here. I think you will find it worth your while.” Turning to Jeff, she said, “You must be the brother of our victim.”
“Jeff Koehler,” he responded. “ Nice to meet you, Myra.” Jeff made a mental note when Myra used the word victim to describe Eddie. This sparked his curiosity even more, to hear what the lab found.
“Come on back to our lab, you two. I’ve asked our director, Dr. Steven Haskins, to join us for the meeting.”
As they entered the lab, heading for a meeting room in the back corner, Jeff became fascinated by all the activity surrounding him. At least seven technicians could be seen working in the lab. Microscopes, electronic machines, and vials of various fluids surrounded them. Jeff smelled a particularly pungent odor circulating throughout the lab that he couldn’t identify. Everybody seemed so engrossed in their work that they barely noticed the entry of strangers into their lab. Dr. Haskins joined minutes later, introducing himself and offering coffee to Jeff and Carrie before the meeting started.
Dr. Haskins began the meeting by stating he appreciated them driving all this way. He said the results necessitated an in-person meeting rather than a phone call or Zoom session. He then turned the meeting over to Myra and asked her to review the results with Carrie and Jeff.
Myra started her review by saying, “It’s fortunate you sent the flask and samples to us because we are the only lab in Northeast Michigan with the capability to analyze the substance we’ve discovered. When we first got the flask, we ran a standard series of tests that allowed us to find trace amounts of a particular chemical substance in the container. We expected to find only alcohol in the flask because you told us it contained scotch. My intern isolated another substance that we couldn’t identify at first. Once we did, we sent the results to a lab in Minnesota affiliated with the Mayo Clinic for confirmation. They were able to confirm our findings.
