Chapter 13
While Lee and the boys were painting, Francine and Tom Edwards were analyzing his notes on the dumpster and waste removal companies he had researched. "Edwards, I have to say, your research is almost as comparable as Amanda's. You've got everything in here," Francine complimented him.
"Well, not everything. I talked to every single place and there's no connection between them. The dumpsters are picked up on a rotating schedule, each one paid for by different accounts. I traced the accounts back to their origination points and there is no link between any of them," Edwards announced.
"So, that is a dead-end, I guess," Francine exhaled. She snapped the file in her hand closed and tossed it onto the pile on the conference room table. "I won't say it wasn't a good thought though. What about the medical reports? Was there anything in those we missed?"
Tom flipped through his notes and shook his head, "I don't see anything. All the official causes of death were the same except for the last one. We just got that report from the medical examiner's office. The official cause of death was hemorrhaging. From what he wrote here, it appeared the woman suffered from something called Placenta Accreta. Now, I pulled out a medical dictionary when I was down in research and it says here that Placenta Accreta is the abnormal adherence of the chorion of the placenta to the myometrium of the uterus."
Francine blinked at Edwards several times before she stated, "In English this time." Tom exhaled loudly and grabbed another book from the table. Francine read the title aloud. "What To Expect When You're Expecting. Now, that sounds like it came from Amanda's personal library," she joked.
"No, but she was the one that inspired that one. I bought it at the bookstore down the street. In this book, it explains that it's a serious condition that occurs when the placenta grows too deeply into the uterine wall," Tom read.
"I get it sounds serious but how did this cause the death of the last victim?" Francine questioned.
"It says it can cause major hemorrhaging," Tom continued.
Francine tapped her nails on the table as she thought. "So, they didn't have to use heparin on this victim because she died naturally?" Francine surmised.
Tom shrugged his shoulders, "I guess you could put it that way. But it still doesn't get us any closer to who is doing this."
"No, but it does tell us that whoever is doing this has basic medical knowledge and possibly a medical license. I mean, it's not like you can just go buy these drugs off the counter," Francine stated.
Tom grabbed a pen and began making notes, "So, we are looking for a doctor… what about a midwife? I was reading about midwives in this book and it says they can perform almost all the duties a doctor can."
"Including writing prescriptions?" Francine asked.
Tom nodded, "Including writing prescriptions."
"All right then, get a list of all midwives and doctors in the DC area," Francine declared.
Tom's eyes widened, "Do you have any idea how long that list is going to be? How many hospitals, private practices, clinics there are?"
Francine slumped in her chair, "You're right. That was stupid. I'm just completely stumped."
Tom juggled the pen in his fingers for a moment before he suggested, "What if we go back to those pamphlets? I mean, there must be something in there. We can start fresh. Go with what we know versus what we don't know."
Francine leaned forward, "Okay, you start with those, I'll go through the files from Detective Bagley again." She pushed the file folders into a neat stack, opened the first one and began reading the handwritten notes. Tom looked at Amanda's notes and began flipping through each pamphlet, slowly making notes of his own. After an hour, Francine sighed as she closed the fourth file, "I can't read any more. This man's writing is atrocious."
Tom, on the other hand, sat up excitedly in his chair, "Francine, look at this." He spread three pamphlets out on the table for her to see.
"What am I looking at?" she asked, confused.
"I looked at all the pamphlets that Damaris Kataros had in that bag. I discarded the ones about getting assistance if she was keeping the baby since, we know from her father, she decided she was going to give him up," he began.
"Okay," Francine confirmed.
Tom pointed to one pamphlet, "Now, this one is professionally printed, high-quality paper, color images. Looks like someone has gone to a lot of trouble to make this, where these two other ones are just a piece of colored paper with information printed in black ink. Like someone copied a nicer one onto the paper."
"So, maybe they just ran out of the nicer ones and made copies while they waited to get new ones in stock," Francine suggested.
"Or maybe they were trying to attract attention by having a better flyer," Tom suggested.
Francine compared the flyers and added, "That's a pretty big assumption."
"Well, we know all the women, according to family and friends, were giving up their babies for adoption, right?" Tom stated.
"Yes, but-" Francine started.
Tom quickly cut her off, "So, why don't we find out if the families knew which agency the women chose to go through. It would seem logical that you would use an agency. I mean, they screen the families, have lawyers to help you, at least that's what these pamphlets all lead you to believe."
Francine considered Tom's suggestion. "You want to question the families and then what? Cross-reference the information?"
"It's a start," Tom insisted.
Francine glanced at her watch then sighed loudly, "I don't think we'll get anywhere today. It's almost time for our meeting, plus it's the weekend. Let's start the interviews first thing Monday morning. And, between now and then, maybe we can figure out if there is any other connection between the victims."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll start creating a chart, using the victims' names and anything else that looks like it might be helpful. Then we just need to start filling in the blanks," Tom stated. "I'm here tomorrow, too. I'll have all day to work on it."
"Don't you have anything else to do?" Francine asked as she stood slowly, arranging the files again.
Tom shook his head, "Here? No. This is the only thing I'm working on. I'm kind of glad, too. I've been able to help Lauren plan Charlie's first birthday in a few weeks. She's been so busy with her new job that she hasn't had a lot of extra time."
Francine smiled, "You and Lauren are still seeing each other?"
"Um, yeah," Tom replied shyly as he stacked the pamphlets into a pile.
"That doesn't sound like a confident answer," Francine teased.
Tom continued to clear the conference table, "It's complicated. And I'm trying really hard to follow all the suggestions the psych doctors have been giving me. Taking things slowly, at Lauren's pace. Somedays, I feel like it's too slow but I can't push her and I shouldn't push her. I care about her… and Charlie. I'm not sure if what I'm doing is the right thing or not."
Francine lifted the stack of files and placed them into the box. She took the pamphlets from Tom and arranged them in the box as well. "How does Lauren feel?"
"I think she likes me. I know she likes my company and now she's appreciating the help with Charlie. I can't believe he's gonna be a year old," Tom replied wistfully. "You know he's starting to really talk now. Dotty has been such a huge help, too. I think Lauren really feels comfortable with her."
"Yes, well, Amanda's mother has that effect on people," Francine smiled. "She's everyone's mother, whether you want it or not," she added with a laugh.