Chapter 22: The Hippocratic Oath
"Hey boss." Nick said as he walked over with Warrick to meet us. "Justin Parks is in interrogation room 3B. How did it go with Clark? Did you get a confession?"
"Didn't need one. Catherine nailed her to the wall with evidence."
"You don't seem to happy." Nick said. "We got her and Sara can come home right?"
"Let's tie up our loose end first." I gestured to the door. "Nick your with me."
We entered the room and it was identical in every way to that of the one I just came from. Justin Parks sat with a jumpy leg in the one chair. Nick took the other chair and I stood behind him against the wall.
"Mr. Parks," Nick started.
"Its Dr. Parks. I earned it Mr. Stokes."
"My mistake Dr. Parks." Nick gave him a big smile and continued. "Do you know Elizabeth Clark?"
"I might." He was playing 'the give them just enough' card and Nick was growing impatient.
"She is a patient of yours that you examined not a month ago."
"I examine a lot of people Mr. Stokes."
"I am sure you do, but you see Miss Clark was seen by you several times for injuries consistent with domestic violence."
He looked at me then back to Nick. "What's her name again?"
Nick just kept smiling. He was never one to get angry but I had a feeling it wouldn't last too long. "Her name is Elizabeth Clark."
"Yes I know a patient by your description. So what?"
"Why didn't you report possible abuse?"
"I believe she said she wasn't going to press charges against the man that hit her, so I saw it as a waste of time and money to report it."
"That's not standard procedure."
"No I guess its not. Look if this is what this is about, I take full responsibility. I was only looking out for the hospital."
"Don't you mean your baby brother?"
"No I don't mean such a thing. Look I might have known that Beth was my brother's girlfriend but that had no impact on my decision to not report abuse. If you must know Beth requested me as her doctor."
"I'm sure." Nick's eyes voice was suddenly no longer warm and welcoming but full of bitterness. "Where were you on the night of November 4, around 11:00 p.m.?"
"Home." Justin said with a heavy sigh.
"Anyone to validate your presence?"
"No. I left my father's around 10:30 and went home to my golden retriever. Would you like to question him?" He said smartly.
Nick brushed off the comment and went on. I knew he had something. "So you know about the phone call that your brother got around 10:15 from Elizabeth Clark."
"Yes I remember. In fact I think I answered the phone but I have no idea what it was about."
"That's okay, I won't hold it against you. Have you ever met Sara Sidle other than the time you treated her for injuries because of her attack by Thomas McBride."
"No." He answered quickly.
"Did you know that leather is surprisingly a good surface for getting prints off of?"
I smiled at Nick's statement. 'Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the evidence.' I said to myself.
"No Mr. Stokes I did not know that. Is there an end to your questions or meaning for that matter?"
"Let me get to that. Well like I was saying leather, especially treated leather like the jacket Sara Sidle was wearing, is a very easy surface to print. Could you explain how we found your fingerprints on Sara Sidle's leather jacket that she was wearing the night of her attack?"
Justin's attitude did a turn around from cool to panicked. I really love that aspect of interrogation.
"I don't know. She was probably wearing it when they brought her in." He tried to keep his voice even.
"No." Nick glanced back to me. "No the jacket was removed along with her torn shirt because of the blood spatter evidence on it. You see we need evidence to stay fresh and untouched so we don't get such mix-ups. If something were to happen in the ambulance that involved more blood then the shirt and jacket would be useless. You understand?"
"Yes." Justin was getting very annoyed by Nick's baby steps. Again I just smiled.
"Now when we first obtained Sara's clothing, including her jacket, we tested the blood spatter but had no reason to test for prints. I mean we already had the guy that's prints were all over her. That was until we found out that Sara was moved from the floor to the bed. By you."
The young doctor shifted in his seat. Gotcha!
"Look we place you at the scene and as far as we can tell you didn't do anything but move Sara. We just want to know why?"
He considered his words. "Fine. I was there and yes I moved her. I overheard about what Thomas was going to do, so I got worried and I drove out to his place. When I got there my brother was dead and she was unconscious. I moved her to the bed to get a better view of her injuries and tried to help her."
"You helped her by leaving her there badly beaten and unconscious until the police arrived almost an hour later?" Nick's anger was no longer hidden. He spat the words with fury.
"I was scared and angry. She killed my brother Mr. Stokes."
"Aren't you suppose to obey some oath to do no harm?" Nick hissed.
"Yes he is." It was the first time I spoke since it started. The first time I needed to, Nick was doing such a good job without me.
Nick smiled back at me. "That's what I thought."
"You can't get me for anything? Anyone would have panicked or been scared enough to leave her. What if it was your brother?"
"Sorry but I can't sympathize with you. No. My sister was the one that got the shit beat out of her."
"Easy Nick." I warned. The last thing we need was a complaint against us.
"Sorry. But for your information we have plenty on you. You see your first mistake was that you ignored Elizabeth's injuries for the sake of your brother, the second was that you allowed Sara's attack to take place, and lastly you abandoned your duty again as a doctor when you left her to die. So yes Dr. Justin Parks we have you for accessory to Sara Sidle's attack."
Justin's breathing began heavy. "I didn't know what he was going to do."
I decided to take that opportunity to really tear him down. "We have the conversation of that night, so we know you were well aware of what your brother planned to do."
The room was quiet.
"Do you know who my father is?" He asked cockily breaking the silence. "This won't go far in court."
I was going to say something but Nick beat me to it.
"Maybe not. You might get off with community service but your license will be taken by the San Francisco Hospital System and you will not be able to practice in this state or any other for that matter. Officer would you arrest Mr. Parks?"
Nick stood up and I joined him at the door as the officer carried Justin away. "Good work Nicky."
"Well someone had to pay for the neglect of Sara's friend and of course Sara herself. This might have never happened if he would have helped Elizabeth Clark a long time ago."
"Yeah. I am glad you went back to the jacket."
"Well after you told me that Sara was moved, I knew there would be prints. Thank God Sara was wearing that jacket."
"Well good work."
"So I guess it's over huh?"
"Yeah Nick, it's over." I patted him on the shoulder. It was over as far as the case was concerned but I still had to break the news to Sara. And that was just the beginning.
"Hey Grissom." Warrick came with two cups of coffee. "Here Nick." He said handing one to him and one to me.
"Thanks." We said.
"Catherine brought Sara from her cell to one of the interrogation rooms. She is waiting on you to tell her what's going on."
"Okay." I said. "You and Nick start packing the car. I want to get out of her as soon as possible."
"You're not the only one." Nick said smiling.
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tbc...