"David Vickers?" Natalie asked in shock.
"The one and only," Rex said, "Or let's hope at least. The strange thing is the doc withdrew the charges two days later. Said he was mistaken."
"Okay," Natalie said sinking into a nearby chair, "I need to get this straight. David Vickers is charged with assaulting this doctor. Doctor drops the charges almost immediately but hospital staff say he acts strange. Not long after Thomas McBain is brought in with a gunshot wound. He dies on the operating table, allegedly because this doctor was drunk when he operated, but no one ever remembers him drinking before. A few weeks later the doctor dies in an apparent suicide which mirrors almost identically the attempt on John's life 25 years later."
"Kind of an unlikely set of coincidences," he said.
"Of all the people in town I would have suspected of being involved in this, David was never one of them," she said.
"It still seems kind of suspicious to me," Rex said, "I have a hard time picturing David Vickers getting the drop on John like this."
"I need to talk to him," she said more to herself than to her brother.
Rex snorted. "Good luck. If he hasn't talked about it for 25 years I doubt he's gonna say much to you. I can head back and see if I can get anything out of him."
"No," she said quickly, "You stay where you are and keep looking." A thought occurred to her, but she hesitated, knowing Rex wasn't likely to appreciate her suggestion. "It might work better if I had someone who knew David better. Someone he'd be less likely to suspect."
"You're plotting something, Nattie," he said. "I can tell."
"You know, Rex," she said, "We do have someone on our side who knows David pretty well. And she was just here offering to help."
It took him a minute to process who she was talking about. "No," he said as soon as he connected the dots, "if you're talking about Adriana, leave her out of this."
"Rex she offered to help," Natalie protested.
"She doesn't know what she's volunteering for," he said, "she isn't some tough Jersey girl like you. Whoever's behind all of this, two people are dead and one's in a coma. She doesn't need to get involved in this."
"I'm not planning on involving her in this," she said, "I just want to take her to talk to a guy who was engaged to her mother for ages. They lived in the same house for years. I don't think she's in any danger from him."
"Look Natalie, you're desperate," he said with a sigh, "and I understand that and I appreciate it, but-"
"And the fact that you're so protective of Adriana is very sweet in a kind of Neanderthal way," Natalie interjected, "but having been on the other end, and having talked with her just now I know she hates the way you're shutting her out of this."
"I'm not shutting her out," he objected, "but this doesn't have anything to do with her."
"Whatever," she said, "I'm not interested in playing relationship counselor for you two, I just want to see if she can talk to David for me. Or with me. I promise I won't do anything that'll put her in any danger."
"Well forget about Vickers for a minute," he said, "'cause there's more."
"More?" she asked anxiously.
"An avenue I'm more comfortable with you exploring," he said, "one of the nurses that was in the OR with John's father and the drunken doc. She left AC right about the time this surgeon Snyder died."
"You think her leaving was related in some way?" Natalie asked.
"Could be," he said, "and she works at a nursing home in Aberporth now."
"Aberporth?" she repeated, "That's like fifteen minutes from here."
"Exactly," he said, "so why don't you take Dr. Mike and go pester her and hold off on the David Vickers angle till I have more info."
"Or I could send Michael to talk to her and I could go talk to David," she pointed out.
Rex groaned on the other end of the phone, "You know, sometimes I hate the way you don't give up on things."
"Only when it's inconvenient to you," she said, "what's the woman's name?"
Natalie scribbled down the name of the nurse and the nursing home. "Have I told you you're going to make an awesome PI?" she said.
"So you're going to check out the nurse first, right?" he pressed.
"Okay, I'll start there if it's that big a deal," she said dismissively, "you're the best. Call me if you find anything else out." She hung up the phone before Rex could make her promise anything about staying away from David or not involving Adriana.
Now that Michael was back at work he was more difficult to find, but Natalie finally found him looking over some x-rays. "What's up?" he said, realizing from her expression that something must have happened.
"Rex found one of the nurses that was in the OR with your dad," she said, deciding not to tell him about David just yet. "She works in Aberporth."
"You're kidding," Michael said, surprised.
She shook her head. "I was going to head over there, try to talk to her. Just on the off chance she knew anything that could help us figure out who's behind all this. Are you off anytime soon?"
"Theoretically I'm off at seven," he said but motioning to the four clipboards he was holding said, "but honestly it'll be at least eight."
"I hate to wait that long," she said glancing at her watch and seeing it was only 1:00.
"You okay to head over there by yourself?" he asked.
Natalie nodded, grateful that Michael was slightly less overprotective than Rex or John.
"Just be careful," he called to her as she walked away.
"Lina Weston?" Natalie asked the middle-aged woman that the receptionist had pointed out to her.
The woman looked at her in surprise, "Yes, can I help you?" There was still a bit of an AC inflection to her voice which helped clear Natalie's doubt she had the right woman.
"Hi," Natalie said extending her hand, "My name's Natalie Buchanan, I was hoping to ask you some questions about a patient of yours."
The woman shook her head. "HIPAA prohibits me from releasing any confidential information about my patients."
"Oh," Natalie said, "well I'm not actually looking for information about the patient—he died. I'm trying to find out about the doctor who treated him.'
The woman frowned, "One of the doctors here?"
"No," she clarified, "no, this was a surgeon you assisted in Atlantic City.'
She snorted, "Honey that was the better part of 25 years ago, I was just out of school. I really can't say I remember much."
"What about a Dr. Snyder?" N asked, "He was a surgeon you assisted. Do you remember him?"
N could tell immediately from the look on her face and the way she inhaled sharply that she did. "Yes, I remember him," she said softly.
"You were there when he worked on a gunshot victim," N explained, "a police officer. He was drunk and made a mistake on closing and the patient died."
"I'm sorry," the woman said breathlessly, "I can't help you." She turned and started to walk away but Natalie caught her by the arm.
"Please!" she said, "You're not in any kind of trouble, I promise. I just- my... someone I care about very much is in danger and it all goes back to this. I need to find out what happened in that operating room."
"No you don't understand," the woman said, "I can't help you. I don't know."
"You don't remember?"
"No," she said pulling her arm out of Natalie's grasp, "I wasn't there."
Natalie stared at her confused, "But the hospital records-"
"I know what the records say," she said, "but I wasn't in that OR. I was with Dr. Truman."
"Dr. Truman?" she asked. "Spencer Truman?" Immediately her mind started racing; if Snyder had initially identified his attacker as David Vickers and it turned out David's brother had a connection him as well...
Lina shook her head, "No, his wife. Paige was her name I think."
"What were you doing with her?"
The woman was clearly nervous about discussing this, but she kept talking anyway. "She overdosed that night."
"Overdosed," she repeated, "on what?"
"I don't remember exactly," she said, "it was a painkiller of some kind. And she'd mixed it with alcohol, which is never a good idea."
"So why do the records-?"
"Because she'd stolen it from the hospital. The rumors were she'd been addicted to it for a while. If there had been any record she would have lost her medical license and possibly been open to criminal charges. Plus it would have looked bad for the hospital."
"So they covered it up," Natalie said, "who?"
"Her husband," she said, looking back and forth as if she expected to be overheard, "there must have been other people involved, but I'm not sure who."
"So he falsified the paperwork," Natalie said, piecing together the information, "said everyone was in other rooms with other patients so there would be no record of Paige's overdose."
"I didn't hear about what happened in the other room until later," she continued, "I didn't believe it at first, Doc Snyder'd never been the type, but he admitted to it. Lost his license. And then a little while later..."
"He killed himself," Natalie said, "I know."
"He was a wonderful surgeon before that night," she said, "I don't know what happened."
"Let me ask you something," she said, "Spencer Truman and Dr. Snyder did they get along?"
The look of uneasiness on the Lina's face grew. "Dr. Truman was... I don't know it's hard to describe. There was something about him. He was a brilliant doctor. I mean really brilliant, I think everyone was sort of in awe of him. I was too at first. But he always seemed to have something going on behind the scenes. Him and his wife and a couple other people that worked there. I don't know what was going on, it was just understood that you didn't ask. And he tended to be very exclusive. If he liked you he could sometimes go out of his way for you, but if he didn't... Things tended to happen to people he didn't get along with. People who got in his way."
"He didn't get along with Snyder," Natalie guessed.
"No," she said, "They had a big fight one day. I'm not sure what it was about, but we all heard them shouting. Then they just sort of stopped talking, but things were very tense between them. But of course Dr. Snyder wasn't around for long after that."
"How did you get along with him?"
"Truman? He seemed to like me," she said, "as I said I was young. Right out of school. I think he knew I wouldn't stand up to him. I didn't want to get on his bad side."
"That's why he pulled you in when his wife overdosed. He figured you wouldn't say anything."
"And I didn't," she said softly, "He pulled me aside later. He wanted to make sure I knew exactly how bad it would be for me to say anything. That's part of why I moved away."
Natalie debated whether she should tell the woman how close she was to Spencer now, but decided against it. "Thank you so much," she said squeezing the woman's hand.
"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you more about Dr. Snyder," she said.
"No, no," she assured her, "you've helped me out a lot."
As she drove back to Llanview Natalie's mind raced, trying to make sense of the information she'd gathered. Between the allegations against David and what the nurse had said about Snyder and Spencer's interactions it was a reasonable conclusion that Snyder had crossed the brothers in some way. But these days they didn't seem to get along at all. Had they been on better terms back then? And connecting the two men to Snyder did not automatically connect them to Thomas McBain's death. Except that Snyder's death and the attempt on John's life had been almost identical, so someone had wanted them both dead and John's father was the only connection between the two. And someone at the hospital had attempted to kill John a second time, and with what the nurse had said about those who got in Spencer's way…
She flipped open her cell phone and dialed Michael.
"Did you talk to her?" he asked without even saying hello.
"Yeah," she said. "Turns out she wasn't actually in the room with your father."
"Damn," he said, "so that was a dead end."
"Not exactly," she said, "she was actually treating another doctor who had overdosed on pain killers and alcohol."
"Okay," he said, "I don't see how that helps us."
"The doctor's name was Paige Truman."
Michael was silent for a moment. "You still with me?" Natalie asked.
"Yeah," he said, "Paige Miller worked in the hospital with my dad?"
"And so did her husband," she said, "and the night your dad was killed Paige came in with an overdose of stolen painkillers. Her husband skewed the paperwork to hide the fact that she was ever treated. She also said that Snyder and Spencer did not get along."
"Okay," Michael said after thinking for a moment, "I think Dr. Miller's around--I'll talk to her and see what I can find out."
"All right," Natalie agreed. "I'll be there in a couple minutes. But you go ahead and talk to her—she might be more likely to talk to you."
Michael hung up the phone and started in the direction of Dr. Miller's office. He stopped short suddenly, however, at the sight of Evangeline Williamson sitting on one of the waiting area couches looking stunned. "Evangeline?" he asked.
She turned to look at him. "I don't know where Layla was the night John was shot," she said numbly. "She wasn't home when I went to bed. I don't know what time she came in."
"Okay," he said slowly, not sure what she was getting at.
"She could have made that phone call," she said, "I would have slept right through it."
Michael sat down next to her. "But a couple of hours ago you were totally convinced she couldn't be involved in this."
Evangeline kept staring straight ahead as she continued. "I just saw her… she stopped by my office and… she was acting pretty strange. And if I'm honest she has been for a while now. But she kept asking me questions about John and Rex and Natalie and…" she turned suddenly to Michael and he could see tears building in her eyes, "Michael, I think she knows something."
As much anger as he had towards anyone involved in his brother's shooting, Michael could tell how upset Evangeline was and he felt bad for her. "Any idea what?" he asked gently.
She shook her head. "No. But Michael even if she's involved she can't be the one behind this. I mean she doesn't even know how to fire a gun, there's no way she could have… I mean maybe she made the phone call, whatever it was, and she didn't even know what was going to happen."
"Maybe," he conceded.
"She might have been dragged into this against her will," she added.
"Could be," he nodded, "but we need to find out. If she knows something she could be in danger herself."
"I know," she said, "but she's my little sister, Michael. I'm supposed to look out for her and I don't know how to do that now."
"Maybe someone else should be the one to talk to her," he suggested, "that way you don't have to feel like you're betraying her."
"I already do," she said with a wry smile, "besides she won't talk to any of you. Maybe if I can convince her that if she comes clean I can help her… I don't know."
Leaning forward so as not to be overheard he said, "Ask her if she knows Dr. Truman."
Evangeline pulled back and looked at him in surprise, "You think he's involved in this?"
"Just a hunch at this point," he said.
"Okay," she nodded seeming resolved suddenly, "I'll go find her. I'll let you know what I find out." She stood and made her way down the hospital corridor; Michael watched her walk away before rising himself to find Dr. Miller.
Natalie looked down at John's unconscious form. There were other things she should be doing, but she felt like she needed to stop in and remind herself of exactly what was at stake. She took a deep breath. "So apparently cooing over you like a baby isn't doing any good," she said, "so what's it going to take? What do I have to do to make you wake up?" She began pacing at his bedside. "Everyone keeps telling me I'm supposed to give you something to live for, but clearly they don't know what they're talking about. Because apparently I'm not enough. Come on John, I'm running around being impulsive, mixing with dangerous people, and trying to solve crimes on my own again. Don't you want to at least wake up to yell at me?"
Falling back into the chair at his bedside she softened suddenly and kissed his hand. "Please John," she said, "I really need you. I need you to help me figure this one out. I need you to tell me what to do next."
At that moment the door to John's room swung open and Natalie was startled to see Spencer Truman standing there. "Hello Natalie," he asked in his usual good natured manner.
"Dr. Truman," she said, hoping her suspicions weren't too obvious. "I was just sitting with John."
He nodded. "That's good. It's good for long term coma patients to have the voices of loved ones. Speaking of which, do I hear congratulations are in order?"
"Word gets around," Natalie said forcing a smile and placing a hand lightly on her abdomen.
"Well," he said putting a hand on her shoulder, "hopefully he'll be awake by the time his child is born."
Controlling the urge to brush his hand away Natalie looked at him steadily. "He will," she said, "John lost his father young—he wouldn't do that to his own child." Watching him react to that statement, Natalie was certain for the first time that Spencer was involved in what happened before. He didn't flinch, but it was obvious he wanted to. She could see him making the effort not to react to the mention of John's father. And that meant she was going to have to talk to David.
Natalie pushed open the door to the diner trying not to let the urgency of her errand show. Standing behind the counter Carlotta gave her a look of disapproval which made it clear she had probably heard the news about the baby. Natalie scanned the room and found Adriana sitting at one of the smaller booths.
"Thanks for coming," she said as she slid in across from her.
"What's going on?" Adriana asked, "Is it Rex?"
"No he's fine," Natalie said, "except he's going to kill me when he finds out I got you involved in this."
"Involved in what?"
Natalie leaned forward so she could be heard if she spoke softly. "It's about John. It'll take too long to explain, but… Are you still on speaking terms with David Vickers?"
On some level he was aware that he wasn't actually speaking—that he wasn't making any sound audible to the waking world. It seemed strange that forming speech only in his mind should be so difficult, but he struggled to put together the words he needed to. "Caitlyn," he said again, "you need to go. Leave."
"I can't do that John," she said in a voice that was gentle but firm and touched with sadness, "not until I've done what I was sent here to do."
There was a time when he would have done anything to be with her again. So why did she finally come for him when he had a reason to stay behind?
To be continued.