“God damn it,” Jake muttered, shaking his head.
“Have you taken Miss West’s statement?” the chief asked.
“About Adam?”
“With regard to the accident tonight,” he clarified.
“Yes, I have. She was driving home from town and the guy just appeared in the middle of the road. She slammed on the brakes as soon as she saw him.”
“Is he alive?” Chief Walcott asked.
“Yes,” Jake answered. “Louisa was treating him. I was just heading back to check on his status.”
“Shall we, then?” He gestured with his hand, giving Jake no choice but to lead him to the room where his sister was treating the injured man.
“Doctor Linden,” Chief Walcott greeted Louisa in a low voice as he stepped into the room.
Louisa glanced up from the chart where she’d been scribbling notes. “Chief Walcott,” she replied, her eyes wary. “What are you doing here?”
He ignored her question as his gaze fixed on the man in the bed. “Can you give me an update on the victim?”
“The patient,” she corrected with a cool tone, “is stable. He has second-degree burns to his upper thighs, a first-degree burn to his left shoulder, smoke inhalation, and what looks to be a knife wound to his right forearm. He also has a mild concussion and a few bumps and bruises. Which suggests someone landed a few punches to his jaw and ribs. His injuries aren’t consistent with being struck by a vehicle.”
“Perhaps you are mistaken?” Chief Walcott replied.
Louisa’s jaw tightened. “I can find no blunt force trauma, bruising, or soft tissue damage that is consistent with being struck by a moving vehicle,” she stated emphatically. “The concussion may have been sustained when he collapsed and hit his head against the road. You’d have to check Olivia’s car for evidence, or rather lack of evidence, but I suspect he stumbled into the road, and she stopped just in time.”
“That seems very convenient.” His tone was just as cool as Louisa’s had been. “That he just happened to appear less than a mile from Miss West’s property, injured, only to collapse in front of her car, which she miraculously manages to stop in time, and that her childhood best friend just happens to be the doctor on call?”
Louisa stepped closer, her blue eyes flashing. “Be very, very careful, Chief, I will not tolerate anyone calling my professionalism into question. I have already spoken with one of the senior doctors on call tonight and requested a second opinion, which he will attend to himself so there can be no… misunderstandings.”
They stood locked in a battle of mutual distrust before he turned toward a clear plastic bag sitting on a table at the side of the monitor.
“Are these his clothes?” he asked.
“Yes,” she stated flatly, watching as he pulled the clothing from the bag which filled the air with a pungent, smoky odor.
His brow furrowed as he took in the strange, historical-looking clothing. “This is what he was wearing?”
“It’s Halloween.” She shrugged. She watched as he rifled through the pockets. “He has no ID on him, the nurse already checked.”
Chief Walcott ignored her as he pulled out what looked like a stick of graphite wrapped in string and a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it, and his brow rose, his smile smug. “Well, what do we have here.”
Louisa looked over his shoulder, her eyes widening. “What the…” she muttered. The picture he held in his hand was a very detailed sketch of Olivia’s face.
“When you interviewed Miss West,” Chief Walcott said to Jake, “did she confirm whether or not she recognized the victim?”
“You mean the patient.” Jake scowled. “And no, she didn’t know him.”
“Well, he seems to know her.” He glanced over at Louisa. “When will he be fit to be questioned?”
“We’ll reassess his condition in the morning. If there are no complications and we’re satisfied he’s breathing comfortably with no swelling to his airways from the smoke inhalation, we’ll remove the tube.”
“Very well.” The chief nodded. “I’ll check on his progress tomorrow. I’ll want to interview him myself.” He cast a glance at Jake.
“Of course you will,” Louisa muttered under her breath.
Before he could respond, the chief’s phone pinged with a message which he glanced at briefly. “I’m needed back at the station. If you’re done here, Jake, you can go and collect the autopsy report from Doc Hughes.”
