The Infirmary (DCI Ryan Mysteries prequel)(41)

MacKenzie nodded.

“Interesting that he told his mother he was a surgeon and passed himself off as one on his dating profile, too.”

“Clearly, he felt he’d missed his calling,” Ryan said. “Or perhaps there was someone he identified with at work, someone he looked up to.”

“Cooper was right when she said we’re looking for someone with surgical skill,” MacKenzie said. “She just set her sights on the wrong man.”

Ryan felt his phone rumble and paused to answer it.

“Ryan.”

MacKenzie watched his face adopt a fixed expression she recognised immediately as controlled anger. She could feel it, coming off him in waves.

“Are you sure it’s the same person?” Pause. “Alright, thanks.”

He ended the call and looked down at the phone he held in his hand, considering the new information he’d received.

“That was the office,” he told her. “They’ve been going through the disclosure from LoveLife to see who else Isobel Harris went on dates with. They also looked at the disclosure about Sharon, since she went on a couple of dates through the site a few months ago.”

“And?”

“They came across a name we all recognise,” Ryan said. “Doctor Jeffrey Pinter, Chief Pathologist and the man with access to all the bodies.”

“Jeff?” MacKenzie was shocked. “Why didn’t he mention it?”

“That’s a question I’d very much like to ask him myself.”





CHAPTER 16


Ryan called an urgent briefing at four o’clock. He made a quick detour to the corner shop to buy a packet of paracetamol and a bottle of Lucozade, but ended up leaving with two carrier bags of crisps and chocolate to feed his team. It might not be healthy but, at times like these, lettuce leaves just didn’t cut it.

“What’ve you got in there?”

As they fell upon the multi-coloured wrappers like a pack of hungry wolves, Ryan took the opportunity to have a quiet word with Phillips.

“Frank?”

His sergeant ambled across the room clutching a bag of beefy Hula Hoops.

“Pinter’s name flagged up today,” Ryan said. “He went on a date with Cooper six months ago. It’s not recent, but—”

“He should have told us,” Phillips said.

“Yeah. He knows the drill. There was a clear conflict of interest, over and above just knowing her like he knows any one of us. Going on a date with her rolls over into the personal side of life and, since Isobel Harris used the same dating site, it’s bad whichever way you look at it.”

“Pinter might not know Harris used LoveLife,” Phillips reminded him. “But he still should have mentioned it. Hard not to wonder what else he might be keeping under his hat.”

Ryan nodded, looking at the faces on the board and mentally adding another.

“Let’s keep it quiet for now, at least until we know more. We need to be sure.”

“Aye, we do. He’s one of us, or as good as.”

“Speaking of Pinter, he’s sent the toxicology report through,” Ryan said. “It’s as we thought. High levels of sedative in Sharon’s bloodstream but nil for any other alien chemicals and zero added adrenaline content. She had a bit of alcohol swimming around but nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Enough to slow her down a bit.”

“Yeah, enough to do that.”

Phillips thought of where a killer might lay his hands on large quantities of medical-grade drugs and was troubled.

“We went to see Will Cooper today,” he said. “He’s been suspended from the dental hospital for over a month on suspicion of stealing drugs and possibly dealing.”

“Why didn’t we know about it?”

Phillips ran a hand over his chin and let it fall away again. Better to get it all off his chest.

“The university are still investigating but they’re supposed to report it to the police. I couldn’t find any report, but the university say they spoke to his mother and Sharon said she’d take care of it personally.”

“You’re thinking Sharon tried to look into things herself, to keep it quiet?”

“Yeah, I’m thinking that.”

Ryan tried to imagine how he might act if put in the same position, and the answer was simple.

“She should have referred it to the Drugs Squad,” he said.

Phillips gave him a lopsided smile.

“Black and white, eh?”

“Is there any other way? Let’s go back to Will and find out who he’s been selling to and where he gets his supply. I want to know if he’s been buying or selling medical-grade sedative, adrenaline, or any of the paraphernalia.”

Ryan didn’t wait for an answer but headed to the front of the room, having allowed his team sufficient opportunity to tank themselves up on sugar.

“Alright, settle down! It’s been two days since DCI Cooper was murdered,” he said. “During that time, we’ve taken statements, handled hundreds of calls, isolated male DNA at both crime scenes and the same sedative compound has been found in both women’s blood post-mortem. There was one difference between them: we found no excess adrenaline in Sharon’s system. That wasn’t the case for Isobel Harris.”