Murder at St Mary's
Chapter 09
9.1
"Chief Ironside?" A nurse had stepped into the waiting room.
"Yes."
"Sister Agatha is out of surgery. Doctor Develin asked me to tell you that the pressure on her brain has been relieved. Barring no further complications, Doctor Develin said she will make a complete recovery."
"Thank you, nurse. When can I see her?" Ironside asked.
"She will be in recovery for quite some time. Doctor Stern told us to consider you her next of kin. Therefore, Chief, you can see her at any time. She will not be able to respond, obviously but you can see her in a few minutes, if you like."
"I would," he responded. Chief Ironside waited for an hour before Doctor Josh Develin walked into the waiting room with Ben Stern.
"Josh, I would like you to meet Chief Robert Ironside," Stern said, introducing the two men.
"Chief, I feel like I know you... seeing you so much on television and reading about the cases you have solved in the newspaper. You really outdid yourself with helping your brother clear the president of the United States of murdering his wife. That one fascinated me. However, I must say the one I appreciate the most was stopping that maniac from blowing up our city." Doctor Develin reached out his hand and Ironside shook it.
"Thank you,'
Doctor. You will have to forgive me for not being in the mood for going down memory lane… how is Sister Agatha?"
Doctor Develin laughed. "Ben said you were blunt and to the point. I see he was right on with that observation. To answer your question, she will recover and I believe completely. We were able to stem the bleeding in the brain and ease the pressure. She will be in the hospital but I promise you we will take very good care of her."
"I have assigned police protection for her. I know you people don't like police officers interfering with the running of the hospital but someone tried to kill her and I intend to make sure they don't get a second chance," Ironside said.
"I have no problem with it, Chief," Develin replied. "In fact I think that under the circumstances, it is a good idea. Besides, it is not my hospital. You are not interfering with me." He chuckled knowing that Peter Witt would be fuming about it.
"Ben, I want to thank you for assisting Doctor Develin at my request," the chief told his friend.
"Don't mention it, Bob. I am just as fond of Sister Agatha as you are."
Ironside turned his chair in the direction of the surgeon. "When will I be able to talk to her?"
Develin shook his head, indicating he did not approve. "This was very serious surgery. She will be kept under sedation to give time for the swelling to go down in the brain. The best I can do for you is possibly in about a week." When Develin saw the expression on Ironside's face, he put his hand up. "Chief, I know you are concerned over who attacked her. So am I but my first obligation is to make sure she recovers and I fully intend to keep her in a drug-induced coma to give her time to heal."
"It is not that I don't appreciate what you have done, Doctor, but if I am to catch the man who did this, I need to speak with Sister Agatha." The insistence in his voice was apparent.
Develin shook his head again. "Sorry, Chief. That is the best I can do. If you would like to see her, I am sure the nurse has already said that Ben listed you as her next of kin. You can go in at any time. You will not, however, be able to talk to her for about a week and that is final."
"Give it up; Bob, Josh is just as stubborn as you are." Ben smiled. "Why don't you go down to recovery and spend some time with her."
"I intend to. Thank you, both, for attending to Sister Agatha," Ironside said.
"You are pretty fond of her, aren't you?" Doctor Develin asked.
Ironside said nothing for a moment. "That woman pulled me out of the depths of hell. I don't know if I could have handled this," he said, gesturing to his chair, "if it had not been for her. Whoever tried to kill her made the mistake of his life. There is no place far enough he can go or no hole deep enough he can hide in. I will find him. Now, if you will excuse me, I will go see Sister Agatha now." Ironside turned his chair around and wheeled out of the waiting room.
"He won't quit, will he?" Develin asked.
"Quit, what do you mean?" Stern inquired.
"Until he finds out who did this to Agatha."
"Josh, a criminal's worse nightmare is to have Bob Ironside on his trail after harming someone that man cares about. No, he won't quit. The word is simply not in his vocabulary."
9.2
He sat alongside her bed looking into the face of someone very dear to him. He knew the little game the two of them played with one another… pretending that they could not stand each other was just that… a game. He loved Sister Agatha in a way he could not even explain to himself. She had given him the proverbial kick in the ass that he had needed to quit feeling sorry for himself, to accept his disability and rise above it. Ironside knew he had her to thank for having been able to finally move on with his life and to continue living it to the fullest. Not even Ed or Eve had been able to do that for him… only Agatha.
"I will find him, Sister. You can count on it." He lifted her hand in his and kissed the back of it.
9.3
The door to Ironside's office opened and Billy Carson walked in. Ed turned to see him coming down the ramp. "Can I help you, Mr. Carson?"
"You are Sergeant Brown?"
"That is correct. This is Officer Whitfield and Mark Sanger," Ed said, introducing his colleagues.
Billy looked around the office. "Is Chief Ironside in?"
"He is at the hospital. Sister Agatha was having surgery this morning," Eve explained.
"Yes, of course. I should have realized he would be there. Well, will you tell him I was here to see him and that I will be back?" He turned to leave.
"Just a minute, Mr. Carson. Maybe we can help you," Ed told the young man. "We work for Chief Ironside."
"I am aware of that but I only want to talk to him. He is the only one that can help me. You see, I have gotten myself in a bit of a jam and I cannot get out of it without his help. I do not trust…" He stopped and said nothing further. "Anyway, tell him I need to see him." He walked up the ramp and left the office.
Eve could not believe it. "Why did you let him walk out of here?"
Ed looked at Eve and said, "Just how was I supposed to stop him?"
"You could have made him wait until the chief got back, Ed. You know he is one of the suspects in what has been going on at St Mary's. I don't believe you just let him walk out."
"If you did not want him to walk out, then why didn't you stop him?" Ed asked defensively.
"You are the ranking officer with the chief out of the office."
"That has never stopped you before," Ed pointed out.
"He knows something, Ed. The chief is not going to be happy."
Mark set coffee down in front of his friends. "You still have time to follow him."
Ed took a sip of the coffee and set it down. "Tell the chief I'll be back." Brown got up and left the office. He took the elevator down to the main floor and looked around. Carson was nowhere in sight. Figuring he could not have gotten far, he went out the front door of headquarters and looked down the street to his left and then to his right. Still, he did not see Billy Carson. Ed got a bad feeling. Maybe Eve was right. Maybe he should have found a way to stop him from leaving the chief's office. Knowing that this was not accomplishing anything, he went to the police garage, got into his car and drove away.
9.4
Morgan Haynes sat across the desk from his boss. "I did what you told me. Carson will make a call to Ironside this afternoon after he gets back from the hospital. He will set the wheels in motion."
"Good. You were right. I should not have had Jody Dent killed while Ironside was at that damn charity event. The money was just too inviting."
"Killing Dent was bad enough, although you might have gotten away with it. The real mistake was sending him to kill that nun. We now have a problem. He botched the job. She made it through surgery. She is going to make it."
The man sat behind his desk. "I told the damn fool to make it look like an accident."
"He pushed her off that shelf in the pharmacy. Unfortunately, Ironside didn't believe she fell off by accident."
"Ironside… that damn cripple is trouble."
Haynes grunted. "I told you that from the beginning and we agreed to stay under his radar. You should have listened to me. He will want to find the man that tried to kill the nun. She was the one who cared for him after he was shot."
"I don't need you to tell me ancient history. I already know that. What we need to do is figure out how to get out of this mess," he snapped at Haynes.
"That is your department, not mine. I just follow orders."
"I wish you would remember that more often."
"If you had listened to me, we would not be in this mess," Haynes snapped back.
"Alright, alright. This is not getting us anywhere. What are our options?"
Morgan could not believe he was asking. Nor was he sure he would even listen. "Ironside is the biggest problem."
"You think we should kill him?"
Haynes shook his head. He could not believe this man. "It has been tried many times and he still rolls around in that go-cart of his. It is not as easy as you think. He is rarely alone. One of his detectives is almost always with him and we can't just waltz into police headquarters and shoot him in a building full of cops."
"Then what do you suggest?"
"Billy Carson. I did what you told me to do but I think you are wrong."
"What do you mean, wrong?"
"He can't be trusted."
"He followed orders, didn't he?"
"Not according to him. He says he didn't kill any of those people," Haynes said.
"That's ridiculous! Every one of them is dead, aren't they? If he did not kill them, then who did?"
"You tell me."
"If you are suggesting that I had someone else do the dirty work, you are wrong."
Haynes lit a cigarette. "I don't think he killed them."
"He must have. Who else would have done it?"
"What about that doctor?"
"Todd Prentis? He knows nothing about the operation. All he knows is that he is supposed to pronounce them dead of natural causes. He did it for us at San Francisco General and we had him transferred to St Mary's to avert any suspicion."
"How well do you know either of them?" Haynes asked.
"I have worked with Todd at several hospitals before coming here to San Francisco. He is reliable. I do not believe for one minute that he killed them. First, for someone with his education, he is rather naive. He thinks if this operation were to be exposed, he would be untouchable since he is not killing anyone. He thinks it can't be proven that he did anything but pronounce them dead of a heart attack since that is how we have arranged it."
"Hasn't he ever heard of an accessory?"
"I told you, he isn't very bright. No, he is not killing them."
"Alright, leave him out for the sake of argument but I don't think that Billy Carson is killing them either. He did not buy getting out of this by planting evidence for Ironside either. You cannot plant evidence for Ironside. This cop is not stupid. He will figure out it is planted. Carson knows that."
"Just exactly what are you suggesting, Morgan?"
"I am suggesting that Carson will betray us. He will try to save his own skin by going to Ironside with what he knows."
"If he does that, we will be finished."
"Exactly. I don't think we should take the chance. Carson should be eliminated."
The man nodded. "Alright, then do it."
9.5
Ironside wheeled into the office and down the ramp. He looked around. "Where's Ed?"
"Following Billy Carson," Mark told the boss.
"Carson?"
Eve handed Ironside a cup of coffee as soon as he wheeled to the table. "He came in to see you, Chief."
"And you let him leave?" Ironside roared.
"Ed didn't think we could hold him." Eve shrugged.
"That's just great. If whoever is ordering these killings is watching him, then he was as good as dead the minute he stepped into this office."
"How's Sister Agatha?" Mark asked.
"As good as can be expected," Ironside said, barely paying attention to Mark. "Eve, get Ed on his cell phone. I want him to stick to Billy Carson like glue."
9.6
Sergeant Brown drove up and down the streets trying to get a glimpse of Billy Carson. He had called the Department of Motor Vehicles to find out what make and model of car that Carson drove. He reached for his car phone and called in an APB to have him picked up immediately.
He never should have let him leave the chief's office. Eve was right. If anything happened to Carson, he would have to answer to Chief Ironside for a serious error in judgment. Ed worried that if the people responsible knew he had gone to see the chief, they might decide to eliminate him as a potential problem.
His cell phone began ringing. Ed reached into his pocket and pulled it out. He glanced at the number. It was the chief. "Brown," he said as he answered.
"Ed, where in the blazes are you?" Ironside snarled.
"Looking for Billy Carson. He was nowhere in sight when I got downstairs."
"Damn it!" Ironside roared. "Put out an APB and have him picked up!"
"Already done, Chief. Look, sir, I am sorry. I never should have let him leave the office."
"Never mind that now. We have to find him before they do. You have been handling that part of the investigation. Where does he frequent that would make it easy for someone to kill him?"
"He works out at a gym," Brown suggested.
"Where is it?"
"Downtown."
"No good. They would not take a chance of witnesses." Brown heard Chief Ironside tell Eve to call St Mary's and find out when he was expected on duty.
"His house is on the edge of town. If he had to go into work, he would have to take a road that is pretty deserted," Ed told him.
"Chief, according to hospital staff, he is supposed to report to duty within the hour," Eve informed Ironside.
"Did you hear that Ed?" Ironside shouted.
"On my way, Chief," Ed said and hung up his phone. He grabbed the siren, reached out the window and hooked it to the top of his Ford.
"Mark, Eve! Let's go!" Ironside thundered.
9.7
Morgan Haynes was always aware of Billy Carson's schedule at the hospital. Right now, he knew that Billy would be headed towards Sonoma County to report for duty. That would provide the perfect opportunity for him to take care of him. Hardly anybody traveled that road. The chances of being seen were minimal. Haynes turned down the road and picked up speed. If Carson were to be on time, he would be just a ways up the road. His speed reached ninety miles an hour but he did not care. The highway patrol rarely bothered with this road.
Up ahead he could see a vehicle. He figured it was Billy but he did not want to take any chances of being wrong. There had been so many screw-ups in this operation now that they certainly could not afford any more. As he came closer to the vehicle, he could see that it was the same make, model and color as Billy's car. He smiled to himself. It was time to start tying up loose ends. He did not care what the man wanted anymore. He wanted out. He had to remove anyone that could tie him to the hospital killings.
He would take care of Billy first. Todd Prentis would be next. Finally, he would have to find a way to eliminate that damn nun. He had known from the beginning Billy would never kill those people. He was too much of a coward. The fool running this operation was right about Prentis. When he had approached him about filling in for Billy, the man turned to putty. That left Morgan with no choice but to do the job himself. Fortunately, Billy had gotten him a phony doctor's badge. Morgan had roamed around the hospital at will. People were so busy; they did not even notice him. How easy it had been to kill those people.
This whole operation had been so profitable for him and now it was about to come down around his ears. When he was done eliminating those that could identify him, he would go back to take care of that idiot who thought he was in charge. He should have known he would get him in trouble eventually. He did not think things through. Killing Jody Dent was absolute stupidity. He should have refused. Yet, Morgan knew that he would only have blackmailed him into doing it.
For years, he had been forced to work with that moron. This could have been far more lucrative if only he had been able to work with someone who had patience and did not just see immediate monetary gain. Someone who could see the big picture could have made millions for both of them. Why, oh why did he not just kill his blackmailer in the beginning? Well, he would remedy that just as soon as the others were taken care of. The killing he would enjoy the most was Robert T. Ironside's nun. He could not believe he had botched the job. He should have made sure that damn nun was dead before he left that pharmacy. What he did not understand was how in the world Ironside knew it was not an accident. It did not make sense. He simply grabbed her ankle, lifted her and threw her backwards.
Billy had been useful up to now. He would never have had the access to the hospital that he had. He did not know how Billy got him that key to the pharmacy but it did not matter. He had been lying in wait for Sister Agatha, as he knew Ironside had ordered the inventory on the drugs. It was only a matter of time before he figured out how the patients were being killed and ordered an inventory of the syringes.
The nun had been the cause of all the problems and Ironside was fond of her. He would kill her and more importantly, he would get away with it. He would beat the great Robert T. Ironside at his own game.
Morgan Haynes was now directly behind Billy Carson. He pulled out his gun, floored the car and swerved out around Carson's vehicle. Haynes pointed the gun and pulled the trigger.