Mercy

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

They were searching the wrong cubicle. Michelle went past her desk and found Detective Harris and Megan sorting through Dr. Landusky's things.

"Have you already searched my cubicle?" she asked

Megan.

"I thought this was where you worked," Megan said. She was sitting on the floor next to the desk, going through folders.

"Mine's next door."

"Gee, I'm sorry, Dr. Mike. All this time, since I started working here, I thought you were a slob because I thought this was your workspace. Every time I came up here, you were sitting at this desk dictating or writing in one of the charts."

"I used Dr. Landusky's cubicle because that's where the nurses and the staff secretaries put his charts, and I covered his practice while he was on vacation."

"But, I've been dropping your stuff off here."

"We'd better keep going, then," Harris said. "Maybe it was dropped here by mistake."

Since Detective Harris was searching the desk, Michelle got down on her knees and began to go through the pile against the wall. "I don't know how Landusky can work like this."

"He's always behind on his charts," Megan volunteered.

"Will you concentrate on the task at hand?" Harris demanded. She sounded like a schoolteacher reprimanding two errant students.

"I can talk and look at the same time," Megan assured her.

"Keep looking," Harris urged.

"Could this be it?" Megan asked a few seconds later. She handed a small yellow envelope to Michelle.

"No," Michelle answered. "It has to have the Speedy Messenger Service label on it."

"What about this one?" Megan asked.

Once again, she passed a package to Michelle. Harris glanced over her shoulder and waited for Michelle to answer.

The package was a legal-sized, padded manila envelope. Michelle read the name of a law firm in the upper corner just above the label and caught her breath.

"I think this could be it," she said as she handed the envelope to the detective.

Harris acted as though she'd just been given an explosive. She gingerly tested the weight, then slowly turned the package over. The detective took time and care pulling the tab across the top. There was another manila envelope inside. Harris sliced it open with a letter opener.

Holding the envelope by one edge, she looked around the desk. "This will work," she said as she picked up a large binder clip from one of the shelves. "I don't want to touch the papers inside and mess up any prints."

"I could get you some gloves," Megan offered.

Harris smiled. "Thanks, but this should work."

Michelle leaned back against the wall, a pile of folders in her lap. She watched as the detective used the clip to clasp the corner of one of the sheets and lift it halfway out.

Megan knocked over a stack of newspapers and charts when she got up on her knees. Michelle helped her restack the pile in the corner.

"What does it say?" Michelle asked the detective.

Harris looked disappointed. "It's some kind of an audit or a financial statement. No names on this page, just initials next to what I think are transactions. Lots and lots of numbers," she added.

"What about the other papers?"

"Looks like there's around twelve pages, maybe more, but some of them are stapled together behind this sheet," she said. Shaking her head, she added, "Too risky to try to pull out."

She was slowly pushing the paper back into the envelope. "I've got to rush this to the lab. Once they've gone over the pages, then I'll get someone to help me figure out what all these numbers mean."

It was a huge letdown not knowing what any of it meant. Michelle moved the folders and got up as Harris walked to the elevator and pushed the button. "Thanks for your help," she said. "I'll keep you apprised."

"You promised Theo you'd let him see the contents of that package," Michelle reminded her.

The elevator door opened. Harris stepped inside and punched the button. As the door was closing, she flashed Michelle a smile and said, "I'll let him see the papers in twelve hours and not a minute before."

Michelle stood with her hands on her hips, shaking her head as the door closed. Megan came up behind her.

"What did you expect to find in that envelope?" she asked.

"Answers."

"When things settle down, will you tell me what's going on?"

"Sure," Michelle agreed. "If I ever find out what's going on, I'll be happy to fill you in."

"Your boyfriend's an attorney. He'll probably know what those numbers mean, and you know he's not going to let that detective get past him without looking. I'm going to take the stairs down to ER. I don't want to miss the fireworks."

Michelle had one more patient to check; then she would be finished. "Tell Theo I'll only be a minute," she called out as she turned and headed to CCU.

Detective Harris wasn't about to take the chance of running into Buchanan. She got off the elevator on the second floor and took the stairs to the first. Following the exit signs, she found a side door and slipped out without anyone seeing her. She circled the outside of the hospital and was running toward the parking lot with the envelope clutched to her chest when she heard screeching tires behind her. Harris swung around just as the gray Toyota bore down on her.