Page 48 of Chosen Path
“One more question: why were you surprised he’s diabetic? Doesn’t that run in families?”
Bodhi thought for a moment. “Yes, there have been studies that suggest a genetic connection between LADA and Type 1 diabetes. So, Derek may have had an elevated risk because his father developed LADA.”
“Well, what about if both parents have diabetes? Wouldn’t it be even more likely?”
“It would, but Corrine Wolf wasn’t diabetic.”
“Sure she was.”
As it happened, Corrine’s file was sitting inches away on the desk. He flipped it open to confirm what he was about to tell the police officer. “No. She’s not. I’m looking at her patient records right now.”
“Then why did Perth find an empty vial of insulin and a used syringe in her kitchen trash?”
“Wait. What?”
“Perth must’ve gotten bored measuring the rooms or something because he actually decided to investigate. He bagged up the trash from the can in the kitchen. If Corrine didn’t inject herself, how did that bottle get in the trash?”
Bodhi’s heart ticked up. “Can you get me and Doctor Hart into the mortuary to see Corrine’s body? Just to examine her closely. No autopsy.”
“I could. I’d want to know why, though.”
“Corrine may have committed suicide.”
“What are you talking about?”
“She’s not diabetic. If she did inject herself with insulin, it could kill her.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Positive. You can search online if you want to. You and I produce insulin naturally to control our blood sugar. Wait, I’m assuming you don’t have diabetes.”
“I don’t,” she confirmed. “Go on.”
“People with diabetes—Type 1, Type 2, or LADA don’t produce insulin in their bodies or they produce too little. So they aren’t able to regulate their blood sugar. That’s why they take insulin.” Bodhi knew he was oversimplifying, but he needed to keep her focus on the critical facts. “It can be tricky to get the dose right, especially at first, and it’s very important to calibrate it properly. Because too much insulincanbe fatal for a diabetic. Too much insulin will cause a hypoglycemic event—dangerously low blood sugar. For a non-diabetic, an insulin injection almost certainlywillbe fatal unless there’s someone on hand with an emergency glucagon kit.”
“So, you think Corrine got her hands on some insulin and killed herself, basically the same way her husband died?”
“We know she got her hands on insulin,” he countered.
“We thought she did. But Perth didn’t dust that vial for prints. We just assumed it was hers. Maybe she had a visitor who has diabetes and maybe they took their insulin at her place, left, and then she died of natural causes.”
“That’s a lot of maybes. Aside from that, I know she had access to insulin because that’s what was in the package the mail carrier gave me yesterday.”
“The one that needed to be refrigerated?”
“Right.”
He listened to Officer Booth breathing as she weighed what he’d told her against her busy morning and the pushback he knew she’d get from the villagers.
After a long pause, she huffed out a breath. “Didn’t you examine Corrine’s body at her house?”
“I did a cursory exam. The lighting was poor and at that point I wasn’t sure whether I was at a crime scene. Best practices dictated that I not contaminate anything.”
“Fine. I’ll get you and Doctor Hart fifteen minutes with the corpse. Meet me in the lot behind the mortuary at seven thirty. I’ll call and wake Ed up now.”
“Thank—”
She ended the call before he finished thanking her. He returned the phone to its base and crept from the room to go upstairs and wake Molly up.
