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“Yeah?” she asked with an edge of annoyance. “And who might you be?”
Frank showed her his ID.“Special Agent Jack Rivers, FBI. I’m working a case and Mr. Jensen’s name came up. Is this his home?”
“It is.”
“And ishehome?”
“Yes. But…the FBI?” She leaned forward and stepped into the doorway. “Are you aware of Harry’s condition?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t say that I am. I know that about a year ago, there was some drama at a follow-up appointment where he—”
“Yes, yes, I know. But the bad thing is, he’s only gotten worse. He has testicular cancer. Or, rather,had.They removed it, but he’s never fully recovered. It spread to his liver, and they caught it early, so he beat that, too. But he’s weak, and whatever happened to him the day he flipped out on everyone at the hospital seems to have stuck around. His doctors and shrinks call it adelusional disorder. Not quite schizophrenia, but it may as well be. He’s sacred to go out of the house most of the time. He’s convinced there are people outside that want to take his other testicle.” She rolled her eyes, but Jack saw a bit of anger there—anger toward him for knocking on the door. “I know how ridiculous that sounds, but that’s what I have to deal with at least once or twice a week.”
“And who are you to Mr. Jensen?”
“I’m Deborah, his sister. His insurance started to get really particular about his home care services, so we said to tell with it, and I moved in to help take care of him about five months ago.”
“I see,” Jack said. He knew that if even half of what she’d told him was true, there was no way Harry Jensen was their killer. But there were also plenty of places for holes in her story. “All the same, I’d like to speak with him. Being that you’re a caregiver, I’m fine if you sit in, too. If you see that he’s getting irate and uncomfortable, you give me the word and I’ll stop. Thisisquite important.”
Deborah considered it for a moment, casting a single, nervous glance back into the house.“What’s the case concerning?”
Being that she was going to sit in on his questioning anyway, Jack didn’t see the harm in telling her. “Two doctors that he saw in the past year or so have been murdered…both in the space of four days. And there aren’t many matches on the patient lists of these doctors. So, I’m checking in with each of the names the doctors shared in common.”
Deborah looked shocked for a moment but then nodded. She’d gone from being slightly protective to completely understanding in the space of about thirty seconds. “That’s fine, come on in.”
She led him into a small foyer that broke off into a hallway straight ahead, a dining room to the left, and a living room just ahead and to the right. Jack was led into the living room, where he saw a man sitting in a lounge chair, watching a house-hunting show on television.
“Who was at the door?” the man said.
He turned around to face Deborah but froze in place when he saw Jack standing behind his sister.“Who’re you?”
“He’s with the FBI,” Deborah said. “He just has some questions.”
The man—presumedly Harry Jensen—slowly got up out of his seat. He looked only slightly concerned; he was more curious than anything else. He had short-cut black hair, a five o’clock shadow and wore a hooded sweatshirt with shorts. Jack placed him at around thirty…certainly no more than thirty-five. It was difficult to tell for sure because he looked worn out and exhausted. It was mostly in his eyes and the heavy, dark half-rings beneath them.
“Questions about what?” There was an accusing quality to his voice as if he thought the visit might have to do with some of the events from his past, and, if that was the case, then he may just decide to be pissed off.
“I understand you’ve had quite a few health concerns over the years,” Jack said.
“Yeah, that’s right. And?”
“Well, two of the doctors you saw at some point have been murdered in the past four days. Doctors Matthews and Leery.”
“What? Murdered?” He seemed genuinely baffled. Jack wondered if Harry Jensen had been having what his sister might consider a “good day” so far. If so, would this visit set him off? Jack had no experience with paranoid schizophrenics, so he had no idea how quickly they might be triggered.
“Yes. And the only information the bureau can get pertaining to their work were their patient lists. I looked over their lists for the past year and there were several names that had seen both doctors in that time. You were one of them…and I hope you can understand that given your history, it only made sense that I come by to speak with you.”
“So…what? You think I had something to do with it?”
“I didn’t know. But, as I said, I had just cause to at leaststartwith you. I need to know what you’ve been doing over the past four days…places you may have gone, things you’ve done.”
“I haven’t gone anywhere!” Harry said. He sounded defensive now that he knew the overall reason for Jack’s visit.
“He’s right,” Deborah said, now also stepping in front of Jack and getting closer to her brother. “Like I told you at the door, it’s a real struggle for Harry to get outside. The only place he’s been outside of this house in the past week was three days ago when I drove him out to Taco Bell to get burritos for lunch.”
“Okay. Now, is there any evidence of this? Can either of you ack up that he’s been in this house for the last several days?”
“You mean other than my word?”
