Chapter 37

"I don't feel comfortable Steve going out into the field to work on this alone," Kate muttered as she looked up the clinics details on her phone.

"Are you worried it could compromise evidence logged given his connection to Lottie?" Ted asked. Kate glanced at him and he could see the worry in her eyes. "Steve has collected evidence and been a part of this investigation from day dot. He is a part of this team and it is this team that have formed and developed this case. A judge isn't going to throw out evidence of a police officer doing his job and it has been all done by the book."

"I hope you're right," Kate replied and texted the details to Steve. "Clinic doesn't open for another couple of hours but hopefully staff will get there early. We might need to detain Holly here until then," Kate warned.

"Shall we get that kettle on then and leave her waiting a bit longer?" Ted asked making Katie smile softly. "I'll do it," he clarified and headed for the kitchen.

Steve took the last bite of an almond croissant when his phone beeped. It was a text from Kate with the details of the clinic and its open times. With it came another text.

Please be careful mate. Call me if you need anything.

He couldn't help feeling good seeing those words. He quickly replied back.

I will. I promise. Thanks for the info.

He forwarded the recording shortly after to Ted and Kate and headed for Peel Court. The clinic wasn't far away meaning that it was a clinic for a higher clientele not an ordinary older lady who didn't look like she belonged there. If it was Liz then Steve could believe it given her style and elegance. That made it more concrete to him that Holly had money and even more concrete to him that she was a pathological liar. When he got to the clinic there were no vehicles around so there was no point trying, it was shut until further notice. He couldn't break in as that would mean access to the records would be impossible with a trespass order against him. He'd have to wait it out. It was when he glanced around for a bench to sit on and wait that he saw a house in the distance he recognised. He was meant to be doing the cross over with his parents in an hour or so. No way would he make it. He needed help.

He went over to the gate to Alex's home and hit the buzzer unsure if anyone would be awake yet. Luckily for him, someone was. A screen turned on above the buzzer and Steve saw Alex's father, David.

"David, hi it's Steve. Lottie's brother."

"Steve, hi! You're up early. Is everything ok with Lottie? I'm so sorry for everything that's happened."

"She's still as she was, thanks for asking. Can I come in? I need to talk to Alex."

"Of course, I'll go get him." David hit a button that turned off the screen and the gate swung open. By the time Steve did the long walk down the driveway, Alex was waiting for him at the door in a hoodie and jogger bottoms.

"What's happened? Is Lottie ok?" Alex asked as soon as he saw Steve appear through the darkness.

"She's fine, but I need your help with something." Alex beckoned Steve inside and led him to the kitchen. David was there pouring a cup of coffee in a dressing down over a set of pale blue cotton pyjamas.

"What can I do?" Alex asked.

"I can't tell you explicitly but we are close to capturing the person behind everything. In order to do that I need to speak with someone but it means that I can't be with Lottie today. I don't know how long I will be but we are really close now. The cross over with mum and dad so they can rest is in an hour. My car, my keys, everything is back at the flat and given the restrictions on my building, you won't be able to go in. So can I beg a favour? Can you give me a ride to my place, I can get the keys, and you can use them and drive my car to the hospital? You will need to give them to my mum and dad and then they can drive my car back to my flat to be able to get some sleep. You can then have the whole day with Lottie, well 12 hours to be exact. Is that ok?" Steve asked.

"No it's not ok," David said. Steve turned to David and felt annoyance start to bottle up in him but he kept it pinned down. "If that means you are back at your flat how are you going to get back here then?" David asked and Steve realised that David wasn't trying to be a hindrance, he was trying to help. "No point running around like a blue arsed fly if you have somewhere you need to be! Alex can drive his mum's car, I will drive mine. We will both go to the hospital. I will bring your parents back here and they can rest here Steve. Like we said before, this house is far too big for our family size with the kids in school and such. They won't be disturbed and they are welcome to stay as long as they want."

"I am sure they won't want to put you out."

David shook his head. "Nothing of the sort happening here. We have plenty of room, extra clothes and toiletries. You name it we have you covered. Your parents can access the flat right and I gather have a spare key?" Steve nodded. "Well I'm more than happy to swing them by your place to pick up their clothes and such. We are in debt to you and Lottie for what you did with helping Alex, please let us help you."

Knowing there was no point in arguing and thankful for the generosity Steve nodded. "Thank you, David. You are very kind."

"No worries. Here, have a brew and I'll change into something more suitable." David handed Steve a cup of coffee.

"Who was it you were trying to talk to at this time of the morning? Or can't you say?" Alex asked.

"Sorry I can't. Do you know what time the staff at Oakwood clinic tends to arrive?" Steve asked hoping for an indication of how long he would be waiting.

"Maybe an hour or so before. If it helps I have their out of office emergency number. Did my shoulder in a few years ago and Doctor Rush gave it to me," David explained before heading for the door.

"David, wait!" Steve said stopping him in the doorway. "Did you say Rush?"

"Yeah that's right. I don't visit the clinic often but I remember his name because I did my shoulder in a motorbike accident rushing about at high speed like an idiot. Do you want it then?" David asked not realising that he possessed the golden chalice of the case.

"Yes, please." Steve took a big gulp of his coffee before texting Kate and Ted.

Thanks to the emergency telephone number for the clinic, within half an hour Steve found himself back at the clinic door and watched a Mercedes drive into the car park. Doctor Rush was much younger than he expected, maybe in his mid 30s at a push.

"DS Arnott?" he asked approaching Steve. Steve nodded and showed his badge.

"You must be Doctor Rush. Sorry to get you here so early but as I explained this could be very important to the case we are investigating."

"Of course, I am glad to help. I also contacted my boss who is on the way as well. Not out of disbelief, we have had dealings with police investigations before you understand, it's just protocol. She contacted your boss Ted Hastings, again because of protocol so I can let you in. She should be here soon. In the meantime we can get the computer up and running. Follow me."

Doctor Rush got them inside and by the time they got the alarm off, lights on and his office computer on, Doctor Harding, a woman in her 50s had joined them.

"Do you hold all the records of patients on your books or do you only have the them covering a certain period of time?" Steve asked.

"We go all the way back. I believe you are going all the way back to the 1970s?" Doctor Harding asked.

"That's right. Specifically 1974 but any information before and after that point will be of great help."

"Who is it that I need to search for?" Doctor Rush asked now with the internal records system up on his screen.

"Her name is Holly Lightstone. She did marry in 1976 to become Holly Bennett and then changed her name back to Lightstone in 1986. So she could be on the system as one or the other name."

Doctor Rush did some typing. "That's interesting. We have both listed."

"Is there a chance they could be two completely different people who happen to share the name?" Steve clarified.

"Well there is always that chance but look." Doctor Rush pointed to the screen where he had the profiles side by side. "They have the same date of birth, same details in most areas. Addresses are different but that may not be surprising as people move houses. The Holly Bennett has indicated that she is going overseas in 1976 and then no record of an appointment after."

"That sounds to me that it is her. Why would a second record be made?" Steve asked Doctor Harding.

"You are asking about a system that was entirely paper based used when I was a child. Maybe whoever was sorting out the name change couldn't find her original record so created a new one temporarily and didn't log it correctly so it looked like two different people? Given we already had a Lightstone entry everything then went over to that one. Look, there is a ten year gap between 1976 and 1986 in the Lightstone record."

Steve looked back and the Lightstone entry and clear as day there was a ten year gap.

"Can I ask, what is Holly like as a patient?"

"A handful I think is fair to say, wouldn't you agree Rachel?" Doctor Rush asked with a smirk.

"Oh yeah. A gomer we wish we didn't have. Been trying to get her out of the clinic for years but no matter what we try nothing works."

"Gomer?" Steve asked, confused.

"It's a medical term. It stands for 'get out of my emergency room'. Ok, we are a doctor's clinic not an emergency room, but still, the slang stands. Even the rich had messed up mental health and addictions. Just because they have money doesn't mean they are immune. In fact it means they have more access to the thing that fuels them so it is harder for us to get them on the straight and narrow," Doctor Harding explained.

Steve looked back at the record and saw Holly had seen many doctors over the years and had been passed from pillar to post. It was from when Doctor Rush started treating her that a letter 'P' appeared next to each prescription entry.

"What does this mean?"

"Placebo. We cut off Holly's drugs years ago but she hasn't noticed," Doctor Hastings said.

"You can do that?" Steve asked surprised.

"We had to. When we file an official report with the police the drugs stop."

"What police report?" Steve asked.

"As mentioned we had tried to get her out of the clinic before because we felt she was trying to use the system to fuel an addiction. So we stopped her drugs without her knowing to confirm our notions of her actions, compiled our evidence and handed it over to the police. They said there was nothing in their investigation to prove that any such abuse was happening and the case was closed. We thought Holly would leave on her own accord given the investigation but no. She was back and her visits went once or twice a week to four times a week. So given she didn't know about the placebos we carried on that way. She has basically been taking the equivalent of breath mints every time she pops a pill," Doctor Rush explained.

"Do you have a copy of the report?" Steve asked.

"I'll print you off a copy now," Doctor Hastings said and from the laptop she had with her she looked up the report and printed it off.

"Can you show me the 1974 log please?" Steve asked and Doctor Rush nodded. He pulled up the details and Steve's mouth fell open. Not only was Holly visiting for pain issues multiple times a week, every time her doctor was prescribing her codine with an amount that should last about a month. She she was getting two months worth of pills every week at least.

"Holy …. " Steve muttered under his breath.

"I know. I don't know what the doctor was thinking who prescribed them. Maybe he thought he was helping? Maybe he had issues himself? God knows. The 1970s feels like a world away compared to where we are now with things," Doctor Rush commented sadly.

'Or maybe she knew something about him to blackmail for the drugs,' Steve thought to himself.

"Can I get this printed off as well?" Steve asked.

"Of course. Happy to forward on digital copies as well if that will help."

"It will thank you. You have no idea how happy I am that you keep your records the way you do."

"Speaking of being ill, no offense, but you are looking a bit off colour yourself. Anything we can help with at all while you're here?" Doctor Harding asked now returned to the desk with the print of for Steve.

"No thank you. These records are the medicine I needed."

As soon as Steve was out of the clinic he was on the phone to Kate and explained everything. It wasn't a long phone call as he knew she had to get back to the interview so he quickly sent pictures through the Ted and Kate and got a taxi back to the AC-12 building he flagged down during the call. The more he looked over the records the more he was blown away by how no one wondered why her doctors were giving her so many drugs. It was the police report though that was like winning the lottery. Right there in black and white, over several pages, Doctor Rush, Doctor Harding and other doctors at the clinic outlined that they believed Holly had Munchausen's Syndrome.

Steve's hands shook when he met Kate at the AC-12 building entry and gave her the file.

"We got her Kate. We got her," he smiled. Kate, not knowing what to say gave Steve a big hug and she felt his chest heave a few times from his emotions. Now he could properly rest.

"Go home and I'll be there as soon as I can," she said softly. She kissed his cheek before they parted and quickly turned back into the building to get the file up to Ted as quickly as possible. Steve had to take a few deep breaths before he turned away and began the walk home basking in the beauty of the day in the morning light. He was half way home walking by the calm still river when his phone bleeped. It was a text from Kate with one word.

CHARGED

He took a minute to lean up against the brick work of the bridge he was on and process the weight of that one word. He rang his parents before ringing Alex and hearing his mothers' tired voice at the end of the line triggered Steve's emotions.

"It's over mum. We got them."

For the first time ever, he was happy to hear his mum burst into tears because it meant for the first time in a week they could breathe again. Yes they still had to wait for Lottie to wake up, if she would, but they didn't have to live in fear for their lives anymore.