Toby snapped his chair forward and stared at the screen. “She had a PICC line and IV. But some drugs are still administered into the muscle or subcutaneously.”
“Might it be worth having a tox screen done, just to be sure she wasn’t poisoned?” Micha phrased it as a question, but he wanted to demand Toby arrange to have one done.
“I suppose.” He sucked in his lower lip and held it. “But that could only happen with the ME’s approval.”
The answer Micha expected but didn’t much like. “But if Holly were your patient, wouldn’t this evidence make you want to order that now?”
“It would, but even if I was willing to go to the ME, which I’m not, her body was released some time ago. I have to assume she’s already been interred, and we can’t take a tissue sample. Besides, some poisons aren’t detectable for as long as she’s been gone.”
“What about exhuming the body?”
“No. No.” Toby planted his hands on the edge of the desk and looked like he was going to get up and end the conversation, but he removed his hands. “No way anyone would exhume her based on this information. Especially when I can’t give the ME a logical reason why I’m even questioning one of his autopsies.”
“What about her blood?” Micha asked. “Might the lab still have a sample of it? Could you look for toxins there?”
“It’s possible.” Toby took off his glasses and dropped them on the desk with a loud clink. “But again, the ME would have to order the tests.”
Toby was starting to sound like a record. A broken one that Micha didn’t like. “What about checking her chart notes at hospice care? See if there’s a record of an injection into the muscle where the needle mark was located?”
Toby rested his elbows on the desk and steepled his fingers. “That I could probably get away with doing.”
“And would you be willing to do it?”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
“Soon?” Micha pressed.
He glanced at his watch. “I’m off in an hour, if no emergencies come in, I could go by the place on my way home.”
“Thank you.” Micha stood as he wanted to get out of there before Toby changed his mind. Right now this lead was the best one they had, and Micha didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize it.
Ava swiveled in the car seat to look at Micha. They were on the way to question the gun dealer who might’ve sold weapons to Buck, and Micha had just shared his conversation with Toby Wetzel. His tone was flat—emotionless—and she couldn’t tell what he thought about the outcome.
She desperately needed something to pin her hopes on. Anything, no matter how small, that moved them in the right direction. No way she would let the information he’d just shared go without discussing it.
She shifted even more to face him. “Do you think Toby will actually follow through and ask to see Holly’s records?”
“I do.” Micha exited the highway onto a busy four-lane road.
Not what your body language is saying.“Why don’t you sound more enthusiastic about it?”
He came to a stop at the red light and glanced at her. “The same old thing. Years of experience where leads don’t pan out. But also I’m concerned that a visit to the hospice center twice in one day—Colin and Toby—might raise suspicions and they could somehow lead back to you.”
She hadn’t even thought of that, but Micha’s investigator brain did, and she was thankful. Still, she wished he didn’t feel a need to be so suspicious. Must be unsettling. “You think it’s possible?”
He shrugged. “You learn in the military to plan and prepare for the worst possible scenario and be glad when the outcome is better. A holdover I don’t know if I’ll ever lose.”
With his neatness, organization, and dedication to service, she could easily imagine him as a Marine. “Did you like being a Marine?”
“I mean, it had its downsides like low pay and moving often, but yeah, the jobs I held were great and so were the people. Overall, I’d recommend it for sure.” The light changed, and he punched the gas.
She waited until he swerved around a car that came to a quick stop before saying, “I don’t think you mentioned why you left.”
“My sister needed me to be stateside full time and nearby for her.”
“You’re a good brother, and she’s lucky to have you.”
He cast her a brief smile. “I do my best.”
