Chapter Twenty-Four
"Paige?" Bo repeated wondering if he had heard her wrong.
Natalie nodded. "I'm sorry Uncle Bo…."
"There has to be some sort of mistake…."
"There's not." John said, "She was the doctor that operated that night."
But Bo was unable to be objective, and quickly replied, "That doesn't mean she was involved."
"No it doesn't, but it's very likely that she could have been Uncle Bo," Natalie said as gently as she could.
Bo remained silent for a few minutes and just let everything absorb. Finally he spoke. "I'll bring here into the station for questioning in the morning, after you question Walter. But John, I want you operating under the idea of innocent until proven guilty."
"Fine, but…" John was just about to speak when Officer Matthews burst into the room out of breath and wide eyed.
"Commissioner, Lieutenant - Walter Balsom just collapsed and is not breathing."
"What?" Bo barked angrily as she stood up from his desk.
The officer nodded. "The guard on duty down there just radioed up and told me to call the paramedics."
"Have you?"
"Yes, sir."
"I have to get down there," Bo said as he rushed from the office, Natalie and John both behind him.
When they arrived in the basement where the cells where, they found the guard leaning over Walter performing CPR. Seeing Bo, the man stopped and shook his head.
Bo was just about to lose it and start demanding answers, when the paramedics rushed in and went over to the body. They spent nearly 10 minutes trying to revive him, before they looked over at Bo and also shook their heads.
"He's gone. Time of Death 9:32pm."
John felt numb. On one hand he was happy that the bastard that had shot his father was dead, but at the same time knew he would never have to pay for what he had done.
One of the paramedics made his way over to them, as the other two lifted Walter's body onto a gurney and covered his body with a sheet.
"What happened here Commissioner?"
Bo motioned for the guard to come over to them. "Phillips, what happened?"
The guard nervously shrugged. "I have no idea. I was standing at my post when I heard a thud. I ran over to the cell and he was just laying there."
The paramedic sighed. "It could have been a stroke, or a heart attack. There will have to be an autopsy and that should tell us more."
Bo nodded. "I am going to make a few calls to the M.E's office, make sure this gets top priority."
Bo turned away and made his way back up toward his office. Once he was out of earshot, and the paramedic had moved away from them, Natalie turned toward John with wide eyes. "There's no way this was an accident." She said, temporarily forgetting their earlier fight.
"I know." John tuned back toward the guard. "Philips, was there anyone else down here?"
The guard thought about it for a minute before nodding. "Yes Lieutenant, there was. One of the food suppliers came down with a tray for Balsom."
"They served him food at 9pm?"
The guard nodded. "He said that it was on the Commissioners orders as the prisoner hadn't eaten on the plane. I thought it was a little bit strange, so I check the man's ID."
"And?"
"Everything was in order, sir."
"Do you remember the name?"
Officer Philips nodded. "Yes sir, Tom Jackson."
Turning back to Natalie, John's eyes narrowed. "Someone got to him."
Spencer Truman leaned back in his chair with a satisfied smile on his face. Everything had been taken care of.
When Paige had called him earlier in a panic over Walter Balsom being on his way to Llanview, Spencer had been worried. Balsom was the only person who Spencer didn't control, and if he started talking it would be all over.
There was no way he was about to let that happen.
Getting a fake ID badge was easy enough so he had slipped in a lethal, heart stopping drug into some food and paid some junkie off to deliver it.
Now his only worry was Paige.
Up until now she had been doing everything he said, but if Bo and John found out about her connection to everything, she may start talking. And there was no way he was letting that happen.
He had worked too hard for everything already.